20 March 2018

Rollercoaster Ride

Poor old Ant's in the news again.  It's no surprise to me. Addiction is a roller-coaster. One minute you're down in the depths and the next minute you've recovered and on a high again. Being in the public eye makes it a thousand times worse, I am sure, but it is no different to the ordinary man in the street really. Every one including the addict hopes rehab will solve the problem, but it's not usually the case. Nine in ten people will succumb to the demon again. Up, down, up, down.

It does not make Ant or any other addict a bad person. They would give anything not to be like that. It's an illness, a mental illness, that they don't have a lot of control over, although many who have never been in that situation will disagree. I am sure he will be mortified that a  young child's life was put in danger. Many's the time Greg wanted to go out in the car to get more whisky, whilst ten times over the drink-drive limit. Instead I "enabled" him by doing the driving myself to get his supplies. It did not sit easily with me that I was fueling his addiction. But his addiction meant that I could not have someone's life endangered or on my conscience. 

3 comments:

Linda d said...

While in the middle of those things it is not always easy to see what is smart or right. Sometimes you just do whatever it is you need to do to get by in the very moment. I don't know of Ant but I wish him recovery.

Yorkshire Pudding said...

Interesting reflections from a woman who knows what she is talking about.

Swennyandcher said...

Swenny has said he would never wish alcoholism on anyone. It's a terrible disease. You made the right choice to do the driving. Love your blog...