Addiction-Using Isn't the Only Way This is a Problem

Addiction Is NOT a One-Way Street

When we think of "addiction" we assume drug use almost immediately. Maybe this is because of the media outlets using this to gain viewership and showing the horrific scenes that drug abuse portrays. To me, I think that it is just a way of life in believing that the biggest problem addiction in the world is drug use...there are documentaries, celebrities dying of overdoses, everyday people committing suicide, families torn apart...all used to make the drug use and issues of it "hit home". However, addiction is more than just the issues of use and the sad results, it can be so many other things as well.

My family is currently dealing with a relative who is involved with drugs. To our knowledge she doesn't use. What she does do is cause everyone hell and heartache, including her two children, and it's because of her issues of insecurity and the need to be the center of attention. Recently, she was arrested and now going through a nice felony court case for trafficking. This now has ripped the kids from the home, put stress on older family members to help raise these kids and more importantly, destroy the life of the kids even more.

For the longest time, their mom has done very little, even less than the bare minimum for them. Dropping them off at family members' houses for extended periods of time, screaming at them constantly and just being a horrible person (I'd say parent but she is undeserving of that title and calling her one would insult true parents everywhere). She is all about "me, me, me"...everyone else in the world is dead last. But, when she is in trouble, now she expects the pitty party, she expects the help and it's everyone elses' fault; not hers.

I wish for once in her life she would stop and see the damage and carnage she has caused. I wish she would actually look at her kids and see how upside down their life is. All they want is to be loved. My wife and I do what we can but having a family of our own, unfortunately we must try to distance ourselves as our youngest doesn't understand and we want to avoid her seeing as much of the bullshit as possible. I don't want to see our family fall victim to being sucked in and thankfully, my wife has cut ties. She has made it well known that she doesn't want to deal with it and she is only here for the kids to help give them a chance. It is not their fault that their mother chose to destroy their lives. They truly do deserve a fighting chance to be a successful part of society for now and in the future.

To me, being a parent was the greatest gift in the world...so many take it for granted and not as a responsibility. Raise the children right today and tomorrow we all will be rewarded. Teach them that everyone will bail them out of trouble no matter what, and watch the future be destroyed. I hope someday the mother to these kids realizes that being a part of her children's lives would be the best addiction and putting them first, instead of herself, would ultimately be the best choice she has ever made.