Current Events > It's kind of true that society in general has no sympathy for alcoholics and

(+) Yeah! (+)

drug addicts.

Whether or not these things are a "disease" is often debated. But people would seriously rather distance themselves from these kinds of people than offer any type of help, even if it's family.

Jobs claim to have programs and go through the drug and alcohol awareness months, yet terminate people instantly and cut all ties with them if they come up dirty. Government programs are a complete joke. There's really not much one on one counselling. You sit in a room with a bunch of people while someone plays videos and talks down to you. Maybe some guest speakers show up.

At the end of the day, we're all responsible for ourselves no matter what the situation. Anything people tell you is for their gain in some way. They're just doing a job

This is a Wendy's.

People think that they did that to themselves.

I think substance abuse, severe mental illness, and homelessness all garner mixed reactions because many people have very negative first-hand or second-hand experiences of them. Being homeless is terrible, and there are plenty of chill homeless folks that nobody minds; it's the aggressive, scary ones people think of. Same with drugs: are you down on your luck trying to get clean, or are you lying and manipulative? Most people don't care about drinking because it's common, but in people's minds alcoholism is often related to violence or a lack of dependability.

It can be hard to have sympathy for someone if you think they might be dangerous or hurt you in some way. It's not fair to lump everyone from any group together like that, but human nature is kind of hard to overcome.

Society didnt give me any help or slow down for me one bit when I overcame substance abuse issues years ago. I dont have special consideration for work or housing (not that Im claiming that I should), and Im not protected in any sense. Life was an uphill battle for years and even though I brought it on myself, I can tell you firsthand that people who have the courage to clean up are not respected one bit.

There definitely should be some sort of free fast-track program for recovering addicts to VERY quickly get you into a good job with fair pay. Many people I know were addicts in the first place over the fact that nobody wants to pay anymore.

Payzmaykr posted...

There definitely should be some sort of free fast-track program for recovering addicts to VERY quickly get you into a good job with fair pay. Many people I know were addicts in the first place over the fact that nobody wants to pay anymore.

No. There should a government mandated shift toward requiring employers to pay everyone fairly. Absolutely everyone needs a good job with fair pay (as you yourself said, many addicts became addicts in the first place because of poor pay). I mean, it's great that someone is beating an addiction, but everyone needs a decent job that provides enough money to live on. There are an insane number of people packed in with extended relatives because even couples with dual incomes and no kids can't afford rent or food. It's a society-wide problem right now the world over.

It might make sense to add recovering addict to the class of people that can't be discriminated against for housing or hiring, but that will only do so much good. Workers don't have many rights in the US, and it can be hard to prove you were discriminated against. Disabled people are treated like garbage because they aren't "useful"; old people get a dose of the same. Racism and bigotry need no explanation. And in the minds of the citizenry, felons and ex-cons are never done paying their debt to society no matter what they've done or how they've changed.

Ultimately, we need some kind of big shake up in society and the government to make things fairer and more equitable.