When someone you love is struggling with addiction, it is incredibly hard. It’s hard to talk to them. It’s hard to make them see sense. It’s hard to be around them. It’s hard to accept what they’re doing to their own lives. And it’s hard to remember that they’re still them; that their addiction has taken over their free will.
A new campaign called ‘Faces of Addiction’ is aimed at bringing awareness to drug addiction and reducing the stigma attached.
A 2013 statistic shows over 24 million Americans had abused illicit drugs in a month’s period. The proportions in Australia are sadly, not dissimilar.
It begins early. With 40% of 14 to 17-year-olds drinking alcohol, according to the Australian Drug Foundation, this is just the first step in what is a slippery slope into illicit drugs that never ends well.
Faces of Addiction spreads their message through interactive GIFs that show the deterioration of a person’s life when they abuse drugs.
They are confronting. But they’re also an important wake up call for anyone who abuses drugs.
If these haven’t sunk in yet, click through the below gallery for more confronting before-and-after images of addiction.
Top Comments
Looks like the third one down has a tumor in her eye...
I was a heroin addict for many years but in 2007 I got clean and had a baby. I lost all my friends during my addiction and now feel very isolated and lonely. I love my son and we are happy, but I do feel like an outcast from society. I went back to school to get my nursing degree and I was doing really well getting hd for every test then it came time to do practical placements and my past came back to haunt me because I couldn't get a clear police check and I had to drop out of the course. I was devastated and could barely find the will to get out of bed in the morning. Even now writing this I have tears in my eyes. All I want is to get a good job and provide for my son, but I do feel the odds are stacked against me. There needs to be more support for ex addicts to transition back into normal life
That really sucks - I am so sorry to hear this. I always think how hard it must be 're-entering' society. Do you feel caught between two worlds? As in, lost all your friends during addiction and then losing your addicted friends now you are clean?
It's lovely to hear about your son - maybe try and meet some new people through his school or sports and you never know, a job may follow. More often than not in the working world it's not what you know, it's who you know.
Good luck xx
Oh Guest I am so sorry to hear that :-( It makes me sad that when an addict does beat their addiction and stay clean, that they are punished in the future for it. There should be some sort of special clearance for people who have been clean for a period of time. You clearly have turned your life around and been clean since 2007. Addicts must feel like they can't win - they're criticised for being drug addicts and told to get clean, yet when they do the are still penalised for it. Having been there yourself, you would have made an amazing nurse, having had that life experience. I'm sorry you had to give up your nursing career. I don't know myself and I'm sorry if I sound insulting, but are there ways to get a police clearance having been clean for such a long time?
Thank you for your kind words tee jay. I don't feel caught between two worlds, I feel invisible to both. Having you respond to my post made me ridiculously happy, I really need to get out more