Re:With a 10-day supply of opioids, 1 in 5 become long-term ...
by mercer on Sunday March 19, 2017 @10:02AM
(#13907116)
Sadly, in my experience addiction is often fed, if not caused, by pain avoidance. This in no way is meant to reflect on your particular situation, but I just want to point it out for the benefit of those who struggle with addiction and opt for it over alternatives.
My personal struggles in this area, in hindsight, were not primarily fed by a desire to satiate a craving or desire or need, but rather much more by a fear of future pain.
Ideally, this comment shouldn't lessen the struggle of those who have to deal with pain, but it should increase our empathy with those who struggle with addiction, because I'm willing to bet that in many if not most cases, there's a crippling, intense fear of pain underlying it. How rational that fear is doesn't really matter.
I've seen people with a legitimate need to alleviate pain succumb to addiction. I've also seen people who 'should' be fine succumb to addiction because of less-visible, mental anguish. It seems to me both cases, and the usual murky area in between, deserve study, empathy, and solutions.
My personal struggles in this area, in hindsight, were not primarily fed by a desire to satiate a craving or desire or need, but rather much more by a fear of future pain.
Ideally, this comment shouldn't lessen the struggle of those who have to deal with pain, but it should increase our empathy with those who struggle with addiction, because I'm willing to bet that in many if not most cases, there's a crippling, intense fear of pain underlying it. How rational that fear is doesn't really matter.
I've seen people with a legitimate need to alleviate pain succumb to addiction. I've also seen people who 'should' be fine succumb to addiction because of less-visible, mental anguish. It seems to me both cases, and the usual murky area in between, deserve study, empathy, and solutions.