"I just like to get high"

I recently had a conversation with a family member of an addict and he related this story. His family member had been an addict for several years and over the course of that time had been in an out of several treatment programs at a cost of many thousands of dollars. Each treatment failure was an emotional and financial setback for the family but the addict seemed never to share their pain. Finally after another relapse the family member sat the addict down and asked him, "why after all these years are you still doing drugs despite all that we have done to try to help you?" The addict simply answered, "Because I just like to get high". the family member looked at him, shook his head and said, "If you just told me that to begin with I would have saved a lot of money!"

I like to exercise. I run, I bike, I play tennis and golf , and I do yoga. i like to read. I even like work.

An addict likes to get high. An alcoholic likes to drink.

Clearly there is a significant difference between my likes and theirs.

To say that you get are an addict simply because you like to get high is as simplistically immature and moronic as you can get. Every addict and alcoholic has a "real" answer to the question "why?". A legitimate answer to that question is ,or at least should be, the answer that every well designed, well run treatment program strives for. Until an addict is willing to look for that answer then every family that is willing to bear the cost of treatment is really just wasting their money like the family above. One of the unifying aspects of many addicts is that they lack insight. They also often lack maturity and an understanding of the consequences of their actions. Under those circumstances situations like the one described above are common place and a huge source frustration for the family. Consider this before you send a loved one to treatment and send them to a program that can help them find the answer to the question "why?" when they are ready.