how to convince someone they are addicted?

[thelida]

Hello.  OK, before the question that is my title...tell me what this is all about:

Please limit your questions to no more than two questions within a 6 month period, so that others will have a chance at getting their questions answered.

Can I really ask no more questions on here for another 5 months?  

Appart from that, my boyfriend is on lortabs almost daily and oxys when he can get them.  I can't seem to convince him that he has a problem.  He's using the things illegally, and I think he uses too much. He's fallen into a deep depression and seems to have the beginnings of respitory problems.  Yet he doubts the opiats have anything to do with it even though I've tried explaining the effects they have on your bodys ability to produce its own endorphins.  So on so forth...I tried finding as much scientific evidence as I could to try to convince him, but apparently thats not good enough.

So, anyone have suggestions what or how i could help him?
BTW, he has no insurance, so ... that kinda limits our options.

[blitz6]

Hello and welcome to the m/b,most people say a person must hit bottom before they will admit to addiction,the bottom is not the same for all people,for some it may be the loss of family,others may be jail others od,you may want to try to get him to come here and read some post with you. If he can see the way others got into this monster maybe it will make sense to him. The most important thing is to take care of YOU,this is not your fault! It can make you crazy trying to help someone who does not want help,I wish you the very best of luck,come here and talk to people they have some great information and will try to help you all they can.

[IHaTePilLs]

I was in the same sitation once. Except I was the one poping the pills. I chose to go to rehab on my own and it is true that people gernally wont admit they have a problem till they hit rock bottom but it took me 4 years for me to get to that point of going to rehab. I would suggest if he wont listen to you about it. Get him on this post and have him read how much of a problem pill poping can become. I commend Blitz6 on his or her comments, this is not your fault and you have done nothing wrong. I must say you are very brave in trying to convince him that he is an addict and I am sorry to say that only he can be the one to make that choice but I know somewere inside of him he knows he has a problem TRUST ME even if its a little guilt everytime he pops of snorts a pill. I do commend you on trying that is awsome. I had a problem telling my current girlfiend about my stuggels with pills becuase you never know how they will view it. It is hard for someone who is not an addict to relate to someone who is an addict because our brains funtion totaly diffently. I wish you the best of luck and if you need to ask me anything further I am know on this post pretty much every few hours at some point. Good luck and God Bless

P.S. Stay on this post there are a lot of great people on hear that have a lot of addvice to give!!

Joey

[beachtowel]

Hi Thelida, you had a question what is an addict. I wrote this opening for a paper once maybe it will help.

                    Meeting the Devil

   Addicts are loathed and ostracized by most, they are thought of as a social stigma that walks the earth. Some people may have pity or compassion, where a very small minority of people may truly believe that addiction is a disease. Addicts live in the insanity amongst demons and a calling only heard by the addict. Sometimes considered psychotic but no anti psychotic medicine can stop the voice telling the addict to get high you will feel better, go get some heroin your pain will all go away or a prescription of heavy narcotic pain pills to get rid of the loneliness or depression while drowning in self pity. Another voice will tell you to go and steal money if you don’t have it, there your parents they will understand. The voice may say go into the department store and steal a CD player then take it back into the same store for a refund moments after. The voice may say steal it out of your wife’s purse she probably won’t notice. The voice will always say don’t worry about getting caught or loosing everything even though your conscience will tell you its wrong, you can always fix it later. Addicts are great Actors and will tell a thousand lies to get what they want because they have to! Most people including family members, friends, policeman, and Judges all think and believe the Addict is a choice and so are their decisions they make but I am here to tell you you’re wrong. The insane mind of an addict is a very scary place! It is a place where monsters are alive and breathe fire, it is a place where Satan himself dwells in all his glory.

[thelida]

Thanks for the advice and kind words.
My good friend just told me the same thing, he's gotta hit rock bottom.  I said it seemed like he had.  My friend said does he have a roof over his head?  Does he have food?  Can he still get his drugs?... Well my answer was yes to all of those, but only because I saved him from hitting rock bottom.  I guess I shouldn't have done that.  He was really addicted to the oxys, and couldn't get any.  He came over and told me he had just gone to the ER and was going to go through the rehab thing, but he didn't like the idea of being locked up there for a couple of days, so he walked out.  He told me he was about to go rob the pharmacy.
I said oh no, you are going to stay with me untill you get over the w/d.  That was a miserable 4 days.... I completely babied him, gave him massages, made him what ever he thought he could eat... all at the same time I was taking care of my own 2 kids and trying to pack because we were moving the next week.
So, on the 4th day his dealer calls.
And guess what he did.
Yup.
I should have never done all that for him.  I should have let him hit rock bottom. But I didn't want him to end up in jail or anything.
I don't think he's so bad with the oxys now, it's mostly that he's on the tabs all the time.  But then again, I haven't really seen him much lately so he could be on the oxys again as bad as he was before.  God I hope not.
I am just so thankful that all of you here are trying to help yourselves.  I wish he could do that.  
I might try to get him to come on here some day.  He really despises talking about any of his problems though.  But this is the best place to do it.  We can all be completely open and honest here and not have to worry.  I'm glad I found this place.

[beachtowel]

thelida reading posts like this really make me sad. It also reminds me how bad I was, and thank god it fuels me to never ever touch any of that **** again.

[thelida]

sorry, I don't want to make anyone sad.
I guess it is pretty sad though.
But I'm glad it gives you motivation to stay off the stuff.

[Atheist009]

In medical terminology, an addiction is a state in which the body depends on a substance for normal functioning and may occur along with physical dependence, as in drug addiction.

But if you want the Chistian deffinition, yeah beachtowel is right, if you listen to satan he will make you an addict, so you have to listen to god.
Just like gluttony, satan makes you eat too much.