Can we please stop devaluing the lives of addicts and just treat them with proven science?

[sabrina 1]

46. I have too, Sissyk, and it is a very difficult thing to watch someone you care about

destroying themselves and those who love them. But even if they are ready to get help, and I know that many have tried, there is really nothing that works for real addicts.

I remember reading that the statistics on success, even for AA, the most successful program, are only 12%. That led some researchers to believe that actual addicts cannot be 'talked' out of their illness. That the 12% are 'problem drinkers' which is not the same thing.

I was interested to read that as it was so puzzling to me that while people try to get help, it doesn't seem to work.

IF there is an underlying physical reason, no one yet knows what it is. Fatty liver in infants has been looked at, but there isn't enough research to determine whether that is a result of a family history of alcoholism, the effects passed on to the next generation, or a cause in itself.

I have a feeling that if there ever is enough research to determine the causes, there will be many different causes, depending on the addiction. Much like we have different kinds of cancer.

No problem btw, it is extremely frustrating for those having to deal with addiction, especially when the person seems to be intelligent, and often creative and in other ways, in possession of all that SHOULD cause them to turn their lives around.

I am sorry you have had to deal with it. It is a terrible disease for everyone concerned