### person | advocate:

Addict
* Many addicts are unwilling to give up their addiction
  - do stop using drugs
* Many addicts feel that the only people who understand addicts are other addicts
  - their joy in life is over when they quit drinking or using substances
* Many addicts have imperfect social skills
  - obsessive compulsive disorder
  - leave treatment because of the persistent, demoralizing urge to find drugs
  - use opium because they have no access to public health care facilities
* Most addicts are unemployed
  - begin to use drugs, usually marijuana, in their school days
  - do want to give up their addiction
  - have an underlying clinical depression and require antidepressant therapy
* Some addicts even die from the effects of addiction
  - say that the craving for cocaine is more powerful than that for other drugs
* already cause harm to themselves and present a danger to others.
* also use powdered formula to mix with heroin, authorities say.
* always tend to live in a state of denial.
* are a discriminated-against minority
  - bad people
  - drug users
  - enthusiasts
  - highly likely to unintentionally promote personality splitting in dependent kids
  - human beings who have fallen off the path and drug courts are the solution
  - immature
  - more likely to want help when they have to face the painful consequences of their using
  - people, too, with a right to get well
  - sick people
  - sick, but they too can get well and stay well
* are, however, afraid of the rain which causes.them to catch cold easily.
* break the law because they are bad.
* burglarize homes and trade stolen guns for drugs.
* choose their addictions and life style
  - to remain addicted
* come from all walks of life
  - diverse backgrounds
  - to miss the rituals surrounding their acting out behaviors
* commit crimes and criminals are addicted.
* compulsively use drugs for non-medical purposes despite harmful effects.
* constantly display selfishness and pride.
* continue taking narcotics as much to avoid pain as to feel pleasure.
* derive ego-satisfaction from serial sexual conquests.
* desire drugs.
* drink daily doses of the liquid narcotic
  - or use because they are addicted
* feel powerless to control their behavior.
* find the pill easy to abuse because of the ease with which the opiate can be extracted.
* generally have poor eating habits, loose weight, and suffer vitamin deficiencies.
* get sober and become spokespersons.
* go without treatment.
* have an oil dependancy
  - no problem talking about the addiction and pain it has caused
  - to replace their drug habits, with new, healthy habits
  - underlying mental illness
* is an enthusiast
* learn only about how to protect their addictions.
* lie to themselves about how much they are drinking or using.
* miss work and recreational activities because of their drug use.
* often become unable to function sexually
  - deny that there is an addiction
  - feel isolated from the people they love
  - start shooting up the drug because they get a more potent high for their money
* readily sacrifice all their moral and ethical values for drugs.
* seem to have certain beliefs and attitudes which make up their personal mythology.
* share a compulsion to use and a lack of control over use.
* sometimes commit crimes to obtain quick cash for drug purchases.
* spend most of their waking days either doing, recovering from, or seeking out drugs.
* suffer from paranoia and delusions, are frequently armed, and are prone to violence.
* tend to make things complicated, wanting to avoid certain simple truths.
* typically experience diminished interest in reading, sleeping, and proper hygiene.
* use drugs to avoid their psychological lives
  - escape from reality
  - sex to feel better or to escape feelings of depression, guilt, or anxiety
  - the spoons to heat heroin into a liquid
  - their substance recklessly and compulsively, but have no intrinsic desire to humiliate