We seem to view this problem as "junkies" crawling the streets and alleys. This is simply a myth. The great majority are (semi)functioning adults, even many heroin addicts. They are your coworkers, your athlete heroes, your neighbors, your family. And I promise you, you won't know, even those close to you. It's a really easy addiction to hide for a long time. (maybe not shooting up, but most aren't doing that)
There are more deaths from prescription opiods than from street opiods. But deaths are only the tip of the spear. This addiction digs deeper into the soul than you can imagine (pot? what?). And coming out of it is NOT just a week or 2 of withdrawal.
It is a battle to take your mind back and the Demon does not give up for a long, long time, if ever. Do opiates long enough (especially addictively), and it rewrites what it means to be a mammal, much less human. All pleasure, reward, motivation, lust, love gets tied to the Beast and removed from all other action.
It takes a lot of work and a lot of self-awareness (like only an addict can truely experience in some ways) to re-write the reward system in the brain. The longer away from reality, the longer the re-write takes. That's why the solutions are not simple, and why they go back 90% of the time. (PS. I volunteer in this field some and obviously have some experience)
Add: And all addictions have some element of this. It's just that opiates are just so effective at mimicking pure joy, but any drug can have similar struggles.
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