Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Addiction Article Published On EzineArticles.com
I was finally able to get up enough guts to put together an article and publish it on EzineArticles.com. I'm hoping this will also be away to generate traffic back to this blog. If I can make contact with even just one compulsive gambler or their loved ones it'll all be worth it.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Suffering From Addiction
When I read this article I thought It was written for me. I suffer from a gambling addiction, but could relate to all that was being said. Of all the different types of addictions there are I believe each and everyone of us who suffers all experience the same type of feelings. This thing called an Addiction is definitely a Monster!
Thursday, May 8, 2008
The Addiction Monster-Beware!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
He came creeping into our lives, slowly, stealthily, insidiously, with no advance warning. No triumphal heraldry alerting us to his imminent arrival. No fanfare. No clues. Okay, well maybe there were some subtle clues but we were too busy with our perfect little lives to pay much notice to them.
He counted on that! He thrives on secrecy and subterfuge. He knew that if he alerted us to his presence we would call on all our resources and strengths to defeat him, to slay him, to banish him from our lives and yes, from the very earth where he lives and thrives, and grows more menacing and powerful with each passing day.
He counts on society's lackadaisical attitude toward him, believing that he cannot sneak into their homes. He depends on us ignoring his presence or believing that he lives on the other side of the tracks, surely not in our ideal communities.
He knew we would divest ourselves of every penny we had to expose him, to cripple him and kill him, that we would do anything within our power to stop his onslaught.
He attacks the most vulnerable of our society: our children. He preys on them, luring them into his grasp with promises of ecstasy and escape from their humdrum lives, while parents go blithely about their daily routine, unaware of the chaos, heartbreak and destruction of the family unit that awaits them.
He is the most hideous of all monsters, yet he exhibits no external evidence of his cruelty, no demonic horns on his head, no red flashing eyes, no mien any different from anyone else's in the communities where he plies his vicious trade. He shows us nothing to forewarn us of the monumental destruction of which he is so capable of inflicting upon us, and in which he takes such absolute delight.
No, he is far too clever to expose himself, to let us see him for what he truly is until it is too late, until he has consumed us all and engulfed us in his wickedness and destroyed our once peaceful lives.
He takes our children's and the parents' present and future. He destroys our communities. He robs us of our money and jobs. He steals our self-esteem and dignity. He keeps us on a rollercoaster of emotions, of hope and fear.
Don't think for a second that he can't or won't invade your home. Don't think that you've locked all the doors and fastened all the windows and done everything you're supposed to do to prevent his unwelcome entrance into your lives. Oh no, he's already there, waiting to pounce. He stalks unrelentingly. He strikes when we're at our most vulnerable.
He is the Addiction Monster! And he comes in many forms. He befriends our children slowly and carefully, enticing them with empty promises of exciting highs. He depends on children's sense of invincibility and belief in their own immortality that they can trifle with him and remain untouched by his poison.
The Addiction Monster is an equal opportunity destroyer of lives. And not just the addicted people's lives. But the lives of everyone with whom he is intertwined, be it parents, spouse, children, siblings, friends, relatives or co-workers. Nobody is immune.
Nobody can escape the tentacles of the Addiction Monster. Like an octopus it wraps its deadly arms around us and consumes us all, either wittingly or unwittingly.
Children from the right side of the tracks can be derailed by drugs. It happens all the time. The stereotypical image of the dysfunctional drug addict cloaked in the darkness of despair on the streets, quickly gives way to the boy and girl next door, the athlete, the musician, the smart kids, the good kids. These are your kids. These are my kids. These are everybody's kids. And they're dying in unprecedented numbers leaving sorrow and mass destruction in their wake.
Parents are not supposed to survive their children. It is not the natural order of things, but life takes strange and twisting turns along its path like a maze that we enter and have no idea where the end is or how to get there unscathed.
Many children succumb to the charms of the Addiction Monster because there is something lacking within them. Some have very low levels of dopamine, the "feel good" property of our brain. Some shake hands with the Addiction Monster because they think it's cool or because their friends entice them into doing so.
But nobody welcomes the Addiction Monster into their life knowing how cruel and deadly this master is. Nobody thinks they will become addicted. Nobody wakes up one day and decides to be an addict. Who in their right mind would do that? The Addiction Monster just smiles and adds another name to his list of victims, nay, for each addicted person, he also adds the names of those other unwilling victims.
Nancy Reagan almost had it right with her "Just Say No" campaign during her husband, Ronnie Reagan's presidency. A better mantra would have been "Just Say Know." Know what the Addiction Monster is really like. Know the havoc that he wreaks in everybody's lives. Know how he will enslave you, daring you to escape his death grip on you and laughing at each feeble attempt you make to free yourself from his choke hold.
The outlook for addicted people is very bleak. Nobody wants to hear that. It's too disheartening. But the recidivism rate for heroin addicted people is an astounding 98%!! The Addiction Monster just revels in these statistics.
So what can you do to destroy this monster? This monster who is more vicious and cruel than any of the Chuckys or Freddys or Michael Myers' or Hannibal Lecters? How can you make sure he never seizes you in his grip and holds your head under water until your eyes start to bulge and you can't hold your breath any longer and then he releases you momentarily, only to plunge you into absolute fear and hopelessness again?
There is only one way, one sure, proven way to escape this horror and that is, of course, to never take that first step down that slippery slope!! The Addiction Monster doesn't want you to know this. He wants you to think he's your friend, someone who will make you feel good and take you away from whatever miseries you think you have.
But you won't know true misery, true hell, or true hopelessness, until you have become a slave to the Addiction Monster. Once you've joined his legions, your life as you knew it, will have evaporated into a dark, swirling mass of regrets and despair.
The choice is ours! Our future is in our hands.
Don't let our present and our future be held captive by the Addiction Monster, for once he gains control over us, our chances of slaying him are a mere 2%. Think about it.
Be smart - Don't start!
Sheryl Letzgus McGinnis is the author of the book "I Am Your Disease (The Many Faces of Addiction)" published by Outskirts Press. You can read about, and purchase the book at http://www.iamyourdisease.com/
I am a retired medical transcriptionist and radio DJ who also did voice overs for TV. Married, with one living son, having lost my youngest son Scott, who was a paramedic and an RN to the disease of addiction. Happily married for 41 years to Jack, retired 8th grade science teacher. Our oldest son Dale is a graduate student in Environmental Sciences.
Born in Australia, lived most of my life in New Jersey and now living in Florida. We are owned by one beautiful black lab and four delightful cats.
He came creeping into our lives, slowly, stealthily, insidiously, with no advance warning. No triumphal heraldry alerting us to his imminent arrival. No fanfare. No clues. Okay, well maybe there were some subtle clues but we were too busy with our perfect little lives to pay much notice to them.
He counted on that! He thrives on secrecy and subterfuge. He knew that if he alerted us to his presence we would call on all our resources and strengths to defeat him, to slay him, to banish him from our lives and yes, from the very earth where he lives and thrives, and grows more menacing and powerful with each passing day.
He counts on society's lackadaisical attitude toward him, believing that he cannot sneak into their homes. He depends on us ignoring his presence or believing that he lives on the other side of the tracks, surely not in our ideal communities.
He knew we would divest ourselves of every penny we had to expose him, to cripple him and kill him, that we would do anything within our power to stop his onslaught.
He attacks the most vulnerable of our society: our children. He preys on them, luring them into his grasp with promises of ecstasy and escape from their humdrum lives, while parents go blithely about their daily routine, unaware of the chaos, heartbreak and destruction of the family unit that awaits them.
He is the most hideous of all monsters, yet he exhibits no external evidence of his cruelty, no demonic horns on his head, no red flashing eyes, no mien any different from anyone else's in the communities where he plies his vicious trade. He shows us nothing to forewarn us of the monumental destruction of which he is so capable of inflicting upon us, and in which he takes such absolute delight.
No, he is far too clever to expose himself, to let us see him for what he truly is until it is too late, until he has consumed us all and engulfed us in his wickedness and destroyed our once peaceful lives.
He takes our children's and the parents' present and future. He destroys our communities. He robs us of our money and jobs. He steals our self-esteem and dignity. He keeps us on a rollercoaster of emotions, of hope and fear.
Don't think for a second that he can't or won't invade your home. Don't think that you've locked all the doors and fastened all the windows and done everything you're supposed to do to prevent his unwelcome entrance into your lives. Oh no, he's already there, waiting to pounce. He stalks unrelentingly. He strikes when we're at our most vulnerable.
He is the Addiction Monster! And he comes in many forms. He befriends our children slowly and carefully, enticing them with empty promises of exciting highs. He depends on children's sense of invincibility and belief in their own immortality that they can trifle with him and remain untouched by his poison.
The Addiction Monster is an equal opportunity destroyer of lives. And not just the addicted people's lives. But the lives of everyone with whom he is intertwined, be it parents, spouse, children, siblings, friends, relatives or co-workers. Nobody is immune.
Nobody can escape the tentacles of the Addiction Monster. Like an octopus it wraps its deadly arms around us and consumes us all, either wittingly or unwittingly.
Children from the right side of the tracks can be derailed by drugs. It happens all the time. The stereotypical image of the dysfunctional drug addict cloaked in the darkness of despair on the streets, quickly gives way to the boy and girl next door, the athlete, the musician, the smart kids, the good kids. These are your kids. These are my kids. These are everybody's kids. And they're dying in unprecedented numbers leaving sorrow and mass destruction in their wake.
Parents are not supposed to survive their children. It is not the natural order of things, but life takes strange and twisting turns along its path like a maze that we enter and have no idea where the end is or how to get there unscathed.
Many children succumb to the charms of the Addiction Monster because there is something lacking within them. Some have very low levels of dopamine, the "feel good" property of our brain. Some shake hands with the Addiction Monster because they think it's cool or because their friends entice them into doing so.
But nobody welcomes the Addiction Monster into their life knowing how cruel and deadly this master is. Nobody thinks they will become addicted. Nobody wakes up one day and decides to be an addict. Who in their right mind would do that? The Addiction Monster just smiles and adds another name to his list of victims, nay, for each addicted person, he also adds the names of those other unwilling victims.
Nancy Reagan almost had it right with her "Just Say No" campaign during her husband, Ronnie Reagan's presidency. A better mantra would have been "Just Say Know." Know what the Addiction Monster is really like. Know the havoc that he wreaks in everybody's lives. Know how he will enslave you, daring you to escape his death grip on you and laughing at each feeble attempt you make to free yourself from his choke hold.
The outlook for addicted people is very bleak. Nobody wants to hear that. It's too disheartening. But the recidivism rate for heroin addicted people is an astounding 98%!! The Addiction Monster just revels in these statistics.
So what can you do to destroy this monster? This monster who is more vicious and cruel than any of the Chuckys or Freddys or Michael Myers' or Hannibal Lecters? How can you make sure he never seizes you in his grip and holds your head under water until your eyes start to bulge and you can't hold your breath any longer and then he releases you momentarily, only to plunge you into absolute fear and hopelessness again?
There is only one way, one sure, proven way to escape this horror and that is, of course, to never take that first step down that slippery slope!! The Addiction Monster doesn't want you to know this. He wants you to think he's your friend, someone who will make you feel good and take you away from whatever miseries you think you have.
But you won't know true misery, true hell, or true hopelessness, until you have become a slave to the Addiction Monster. Once you've joined his legions, your life as you knew it, will have evaporated into a dark, swirling mass of regrets and despair.
The choice is ours! Our future is in our hands.
Don't let our present and our future be held captive by the Addiction Monster, for once he gains control over us, our chances of slaying him are a mere 2%. Think about it.
Be smart - Don't start!
Sheryl Letzgus McGinnis is the author of the book "I Am Your Disease (The Many Faces of Addiction)" published by Outskirts Press. You can read about, and purchase the book at http://www.iamyourdisease.com/
I am a retired medical transcriptionist and radio DJ who also did voice overs for TV. Married, with one living son, having lost my youngest son Scott, who was a paramedic and an RN to the disease of addiction. Happily married for 41 years to Jack, retired 8th grade science teacher. Our oldest son Dale is a graduate student in Environmental Sciences.
Born in Australia, lived most of my life in New Jersey and now living in Florida. We are owned by one beautiful black lab and four delightful cats.
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