When one alcoholic/addict shares with another alcoholic/addict

[MajestyJo]

Shared this on another site in 2012, and while reading it, I thought how narrow minded people can be about the "addict" just like the stigma attached to alcoholics.

People see the guy on Skid Row, with his/her brown paper bag and bottle and they are all type cast and many stay in denial and die. They don't even recognize that the problem isn't what is in the bottle, it is but a symptom of their disease.

The same with the addict, it doesn't matter what substance he/she uses, it all leads to the same soul sickness. There are drugs that call attention to themselves and then there are those that people tend to overlook, and think that they don't have a problem. All those other 12 Step programs out there that seldom get mentioned: Gambling, sex, work, religion, food, computers, codependency, relationships, and the list goes on and on.

I am so glad that the 12 Steps are applicable to all areas of my life. Substitution doesn't work. I tried it, and all I did was have more addictions to deal with on a daily basis.

the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma.