R.I.P. Philip Seymour Hoffman
Out of context: Reply #111
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- d_rek0
Heroin addiction is not merely an addiction to a substance - it is generally accompanied by a multitude of other psychological and physiological ailments, diseases, and illnesses.
The substance itself has been shown to alter the physiology of the human brain. There are a host of other physiological conditions that can develop as a result of heroin addiction, the least of which are a result of actually penetrating the skin with a needle.
In addition to substance addiction heroin addicts often develop depressive psychiatric disorders, often which persist well after (if not for the rest of the affected individuals life) they have stopped abusing a substance.
This confluence of psychological and physiological ailments often persist long after a heroin addict stops using the actual substance, and is one of the major reasons why there is such an astoundingly high rate of - as much as 80% - relapse for individuals with a prior history of heroin addiction.