There is no such thing as an accidental overdose
Ike Turner, Brad Refeno and now Heath Ledger…sad…tragic….unthinkable…
To call any one of these deaths an accidental overdose flies directly in the face of the reality of addiction. As a recovering addict for more than ten years, I can tell you there is nothing accidental about an addict’s choice to overmedicate. It is in fact the inherent nature of the disease. To call it accidental just goes to further prove how little society understands about addiction. No addict takes a drink, pill or drug without absolute and solid intent. The intent is most likely not suicide or a desire to die, rather, to escape and run away.
We don’t always know our boundaries and limits in terms of dosages and to be frank, an addict doesn’t care. That switch that some people have that goes off in your brain to tell you when you have had too much is faulty in the brains of addicts. We consume and over-consume because our intent is different. The intent is to completely disappear even if momentarily, to escape from emotion, feeling, pain etc.
Our intent is to get hammered and we will obtain that state at any cause…there is nothing accidental about it.
Our society still does not have an adequate handle on truly understanding the disease of addiction. After all, that would mean far too many people might have to take a step back and look at their own behavior on any given Friday night during Happy Hour!
I pray that the recent events in Hollywood open a greater dialogue about addiction as it is long overdue and much needed. If we don’t, more people will fall victim to this disease.
Love and Respect…