Everyone has heard that cautionary saying, “Judge not lest ye be judged”, warning you to beware of condemning or judging others because you will also be judged in the same manner in which you look at others. After all, everyone — literally everyone — has a vice of some kind. Whether it’s continually choosing unhealthy, emotionally codependent relationships, promiscuity in terms of chasing after a fleeting feeling of being “loved”, sexual addiction, food addiction, chemical dependencies such as illegal and prescription drug addiction with cocaine addiction and Adderall addiction being common examples, and of course alcohol addiction.
Some forms of addiction, such as illegal drug addictions with heroine being a common example, are judged more harshly than others. Typically speaking, people view illegal and illicit drug users as dangerous criminals, low lives, or even losers, even though opiate addiction such as oxycodone addiction and OxyContin addiction run rampant in cookie cutter suburban communities with soccer moms and housewives being among the most common users. The link between socioeconomic status, location, and addiction are truly quite interesting, with people of higher income levels rarely being thought of as “dangerous criminals” despite their addiction compared to addictions living in urban areas or of lower socioeconomic classes.
This is where judging not lest be judged comes into play, because in reality, the unfortunate truth is that addiction can and does affect the lives of people from all walks of life, gender orientations, sexualities, socioeconomic backgrounds, races, ethnicities, nationalities, and locations. It is an illness, first and foremost, and it’s important for it to be thought of and treated as such. It’s crucial to remember that addiction is not a choice, but rather, it is a physical, mental, and emotional illness that requires medical as well as mental support and treatment.
Treatment programs for addiction are among the best and most common ways to treat addictions to substances as well as unhealthy emotional patterns. People often become frustrated with people who suffer from addiction, assuming that the choice to go a treatment program should be clear. It’s important to realize that what may be clear to you is not necessarily clear to others, especially to an addict in the throes of struggling with addiction. This is perhaps a vague oversimplification of how addiction and treatment programs work, but for example, how many times has your spouse or significant other told you that you were attractive or that you looked great in a certain outfit only for you to not believe it or question whether it was really true?
Again, this is a gross oversimplification of how addicts view their disease, but it’s important to realize that it’s a disease nonetheless. Many addicts simply do not know the severity of their condition, or refuse to acknowledge it altogether. They may not even fully realize that anything is wrong, especially in the case of codependency or emotional addictions. On the other hand, some addicts who have a severe chemical dependency may be aware of their disease and willing to seek help at a treatment program, but are simply too caught in the complexity of their illness to do so. Fear is often a common underlying factor, along with denial.
It’s often been said that admittance and acceptance is the first step on the road to recovery. After all, how can a disease even be treated if it’s not even diagnosed! However, even though it may be clear to family members and friends of an addict that an addiction is present, it’s often not clear to the addicts themselves. In these cases, it’s important for the family members and friends of the addict to work together in order to form a strong support system of encouragement, empathy, and patience. It’s also important for this support system to immediately stop any enabling behaviors immediately. This will help the addict on the path towards realization, in which case they can begin the road to recovery and eventually seeking help at a treatment program. It’s important to remember help is available and there is always hope.
