The Hindrances To Complete Recovery From Drug Addiction
It is a fact that a person who experiments with drugs becomes more deeply involved the longer he continues his use of the substances. Along the way, the user becomes aware of the harm drugs are causing him. When not under the influence of the drugs, the user regrets that he started using them and wishes he might stay away from them.
Some drug abusers come to this realization after their first few trials. For them, it may be relatively easy to quit. But the longer a person continues to use drugs, the more difficult it becomes for him to give them up.
Dealing with drug addiction is quite a challenge, and there are a number of real hindrances to complete recovery. These include some unsolved personal problems, the fear of ridicule by friends who are also into drugs, and the fear of failure. Let's examine how each of these factors can hinder recovery from drug addiction:
Unsolved personal problems:
This factor constitutes a great hindrance to recovery from drug addiction. After the user has experimented with the drugs and has indulged for a time, it becomes even more difficult for him to solve the very problems that prompted him to continue his use of the drugs in the first place.
The person's continued use of the drugs has taken away his courage and weakened his stamina. Worse, it caused him to lose time in the personal development that would have enabled him to make improvement.
Fear of ridicule by drug-using friends:
In the likeliest of possibilities, a young person who is into drugs belongs to a group of drug users. There are instances when some of them also wish to quit, but are not successful in their attempt to do so. Understandably, they are not willing to see anyone in their group succeed where they have failed.
The drug users who wanted to quit but failed may even be afraid that the one who successfully gave up the habit will turn against them by becoming an informer. It is not difficult to understand that a drug pusher will make it as hard as possible for his "clients" to quit.
We have to remember that people in their teens need friends. If they discontinue the use of drugs, their friends, who are also drug users, will no longer allow them to take part in their social activities. By this time, the drug user has already established an unpleasant reputation, which makes it difficult for him to develop new friends. This is because a teenager who has not used drugs fears that his influence will be a disadvantage to those who do.
Fear of failure:
The habitual drug user is at a disadvantage when it comes to continuing his education or finding work. There is a very slim chance that he'll get a scholarship or land a decent job. He is easily hurt emotionally by such failures that he yields easily to pressures to continue using drugs.
This, of course, is not to say that there's no hope for a chronic drug user to recover from his addiction. There are therapies and professional help available to make him succeed in "kicking" the habit.