R.I.P. Philip Seymour Hoffman

Out of context: Reply #85

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  • d_rek0

    @instrumntl

    Outside of that being a terribly sweeping generalization...

    What non-addicts do not often understand about addicts, and this is particularly true of heroin addiction, is that they often piggy-back different addictions off of each other.

    It is not as simple as saying 'The dr. prescribed him something and it caused him to relapse.'

    What is more likely is that the Dr. was either aware of his prior history of addiction or they weren't. With my dad, even though he had a prior history of addiction, he was still able to convince different doctors over the last 16 years that he was in enough pain/suffering for them to write a prescription. Not all doctors have immediate access to medical records and history, as much as we'd like to think our healthcare system is modernized with easily available records to every doctor, that isn't always the case.

    The other side is that PHS probably willingly accepted (perhaps even manipulated his dr.) for a prescription. So is he completely blame free if this is what happened? No, he must bear some of the responsibility.

    But back to piggy-backing addictions. Often heroin addicts piggyback addictions in duplicity - when they can't get their heroin they will turn to alcohol or prescription drugs, when they can't get those it will be something else. The prescription drugs may have been a stepping stone to the heroin. But my guess is there was probably some major red flags that were either missed or ignored, either out of pure ignorance or in my case, denial, up to the point of his eventual relapse into heroin.

    Ultimately a heroin addict has one goal: get more heroin. Everything else is secondary to that goal. For someone who has not been addicted to heroin you just can't understand what that's like. It's as simple as that.

    So for everyone who is passing judgement on PHS or anyone else who's life has been affected by heroin addiction: unless you've been there either as an addict or lived life with one you don't know what you're talking about.

    d_rek 0Permalink
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