I missed the origin of SFJ's "Meth gets too much credit"
I always assumed it was meant to basically say, "You are a human, you have heaps of issues, please don't blame Meth for all of them and the kitchen sink"
And I think that is very wise
BUT
I was thinking about that today. And I realized I see a flip side in both Addicts and Loved Ones...
And that's when Meth Addiction doesn't get enough credit.
Being a drug addict or loving one has to be one of the most stressful experiences a human can have.
After all, with most other life-threatening events and dramatic shifts...
...there are all sorts of cues from the world that something huge is happening.
You hear explosions, people slap you, someone walks in on you while you are cheating on them, you go to a funeral, you move...etc.
But with drug addiction, especially to the un-initiated...
You don't have those signs.
Granted, I'm not talking about once your teeth are gone, or you've been fired or incarcerated...
I mean for addicts who are keeping it "together"...
The addict is of course being fooled by Meth into thinking everything is okay
And the Loved Ones find themselves trying to figure out why the heck their partner is acting so hot and cold...etc.
AND YET
Meth addiction is this massive event (as life goes).
No wonder it is so perplexing and crazy-making. I mean, when lives are at stake it is supposed to be really easy to tell.
ALL OF WHICH MEANS TO ME
There is a flip-side to SFJ's proclamation.
And that is that sometimes Meth doesn't get enough credit.
Addicts have no clue as to the direction their life is going...
And Loved Ones are left with so much fear/anger that
it is easy for them to quickly think "there has to be more to my feelings than this".
How tempting it must be for a Loved One to get down on their life, or turn on their friends and family...
As their efforts to hold it together and minimize the nightmare send their minds reeling to justify this massive psychic blackhole.
And oh how I can remember how I, the Addict, was so sure that I really had messed up life forever. And that I'd never feel good again...
How after a few weeks clean when I looked at the world I was sure the bottomless pit in my stomach was real and justified...
And there was no way that it could still be the spectre of Meth.
MAYBE THE BEST WE CAN DO
Is try to keep ourselves patient, and right-sized.
Because whether you give Meth too much credit, or try to say the whole thing wasn't that big a deal...
Leaving stuff unresolved is enough to make a sane person think there is so much more to fight.
When all they're really feeling is a little off-balance as a result of the Earthquake
They managed to live through
