Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am HORRIFIED at the likening of cancer to addiction. I have lost family members to both and the ones who died of cancer, my extremely health-conscious mother included, could have done NOTHING to prevent it. That is simply not true with addiction - you can't always beat it, but you can TRY.

I'm actually shaking with anger at this comparison.

You're entitled to your feelings, however, no one is personally attacking you or your poor mother. The world is not so black and white, good vs. bad. It's naive to believe that there is never a correlation between addiction (or even behavior) and cancer. It's a fact that addiction is strongly associated with many forms of cancer. Liver cancer is linked to alcoholism, as well as obesity and diabetes (potentially caused by food addiction). Smoking--including smoking drugs--has has been linked to cancer of the lung, breast, bladder, cervix and kidney. Chewing tobacco has been linked to cancer of the oral cavity and pancreas. Cancer of the breast, prostate, lung, colon and kidney can be linked to obesity. Sex, alcohol, and drug addictions lead to risky behavior and can increase the risk of HIV, HPV, Hep B & C, which in turn can lead to numerous forms of cancer, e.g., anus, cervix, lung, penis, throat, vulva, vagina, liver.

fine, but that's not relevant or particularly rational. my mother's cancer was not caused by addiction, nor is addiction always, or even usually, a precursor to cancer. cancer kills the innocent.

Just want to point out that your anger is purely a function of your ignorance about addiction. It's a disease. No different than clinical depression, or anorexia/bulemia, or cancer. You can get as angry as you like that folks who know more than you won't let you turn it into a battle of good versus evil, but that's your problem.

I'm the one who posted about my mother's cancer, and others have agreed with me. Clearly - obvious by the tone, spacing etc - there's one person here likening addiction to cancer. They're both diseases, but they're not the same kind of disease, at all. I don't even know what your last sentence means, and I never said addicts were evil, but I don't have time for this. If you've struggled with addiction, I'm genuinely sorry. We all have our demons.

There are at least two of us, because I did not post all of those comments, but I did post the comment in bold above. You really haven't presented any kind of sound argument, other than sharing your raw emotions. Sadly, you must be hurting and missing your mother. I have lost people to cancer, HIV, and addiction. I miss them all dearly, but I'm able to separate the intensity of my feelings from medical evidence. Personally, I've never struggled with addiction. I'm not better than those who do, I'm just lucky.

What 'argument' are you asking PP to make? That addiction and cancer are different? If they're not, why is there no cancer rehab so that sufferers can clean themselves up?

Anonymous wrote:1. who cares 2. who's surprised?

well, obviously you cared enough to click on the link. does it make you feel AWESOME to act like you don't give a sh$t?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:George Bush
Jen Bush's daughter
Limbaugh
Glenn Beck
Cindy McCain

Who am I missing and what do they all have in common?

All of these people had drug & alcohol issues but attended rehab and are no longer users (as far as we know). What's your point?

That's the best thing about people with zero empathy. Everything's a cut-and-dried moral issue...that is until their child ends up with an addiction problem. Then suddenly it's a personal tragedy that we all should care about.

It's also one of the reasons I find American strain of conservativism so revolting.

Anonymous wrote:George Bush
Jen Bush's daughter
Limbaugh
Glenn Beck
Cindy McCain

Who am I missing and what do they all have in common?

All of these people had drug & alcohol issues but attended rehab and are no longer users (as far as we know). What's your point?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am HORRIFIED at the likening of cancer to addiction. I have lost family members to both and the ones who died of cancer, my extremely health-conscious mother included, could have done NOTHING to prevent it. That is simply not true with addiction - you can't always beat it, but you can TRY.

I'm actually shaking with anger at this comparison.

You're entitled to your feelings, however, no one is personally attacking you or your poor mother. The world is not so black and white, good vs. bad. It's naive to believe that there is never a correlation between addiction (or even behavior) and cancer. It's a fact that addiction is strongly associated with many forms of cancer. Liver cancer is linked to alcoholism, as well as obesity and diabetes (potentially caused by food addiction). Smoking--including smoking drugs--has has been linked to cancer of the lung, breast, bladder, cervix and kidney. Chewing tobacco has been linked to cancer of the oral cavity and pancreas. Cancer of the breast, prostate, lung, colon and kidney can be linked to obesity. Sex, alcohol, and drug addictions lead to risky behavior and can increase the risk of HIV, HPV, Hep B & C, which in turn can lead to numerous forms of cancer, e.g., anus, cervix, lung, penis, throat, vulva, vagina, liver.

fine, but that's not relevant or particularly rational. my mother's cancer was not caused by addiction, nor is addiction always, or even usually, a precursor to cancer. cancer kills the innocent.

Just want to point out that your anger is purely a function of your ignorance about addiction. It's a disease. No different than clinical depression, or anorexia/bulemia, or cancer. You can get as angry as you like that folks who know more than you won't let you turn it into a battle of good versus evil, but that's your problem.

I'm the one who posted about my mother's cancer, and others have agreed with me. Clearly - obvious by the tone, spacing etc - there's one person here likening addiction to cancer. They're both diseases, but they're not the same kind of disease, at all. I don't even know what your last sentence means, and I never said addicts were evil, but I don't have time for this. If you've struggled with addiction, I'm genuinely sorry. We all have our demons.

There are at least two of us, because I did not post all of those comments, but I did post the comment in bold above. You really haven't presented any kind of sound argument, other than sharing your raw emotions. Sadly, you must be hurting and missing your mother. I have lost people to cancer, HIV, and addiction. I miss them all dearly, but I'm able to separate the intensity of my feelings from medical evidence. Personally, I've never struggled with addiction. I'm not better than those who do, I'm just lucky.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sad, but I'm not sure she was very talented. Her song "Rehab" was fun because it was ironic to see someone in a Beehive singing on a Phil Spector-like song singing about rehab. Unfortunately it appears that she was being literal. She was a druggie who refused to change, and somehow she got lucky enough to be put in a hairdo and on a record.


She sure squandered an opportunity in life, and I don't have much respect for that.

Addiction is a terrible disease, and it is really sad when it kills. Unfortunately, it kills lots of people - but we really get a look at it when someone famous dies. It is a mental issue though, and although we tend to feel like addicts should just kick the habit, it's really hard and requires a lifetime of work. Plus, it's really hard to convince an addict they need to change while in the midst of their habit. Overall I think blaming the addict is just as bad as blaming someone who is depressed for not "snapping out of it".

That's the best thing about people with zero empathy. Everything's a cut-and-dried moral issue...that is until their child ends up with an addiction problem. Then suddenly it's a personal tragedy that we all should care about.

It's also one of the reasons I find American strain of conservativism so revolting.

Conservativism does not equal zero empathy. You have no idea of the political leanings of those who have posted.
Let's not make this political.

Bullshit. Cultural conservativism in America is a symptom of an immaturely developed sense of empathy.

If there were an appropriate time for a THIS, this is it. THIS.

Hell yea. I'm totally stealing that quote.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:George Bush
Jen Bush's daughter
Limbaugh
Glenn Beck
Cindy McCain

Who am I missing and what do they all have in common?

Too much money, power and privilege? And flip that around to the poverty end of the spectrum and you also have a recipe for disaster.

Conservatives that at one point were also drug abusing addicts.

Anonymous wrote:George Bush
Jen Bush's daughter
Limbaugh
Glenn Beck
Cindy McCain

Who am I missing and what do they all have in common?

Too much money, power and privilege? And flip that around to the poverty end of the spectrum and you also have a recipe for disaster.

George Bush
Jen Bush's daughter
Limbaugh
Glenn Beck
Cindy McCain

Who am I missing and what do they all have in common?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sad, but I'm not sure she was very talented. Her song "Rehab" was fun because it was ironic to see someone in a Beehive singing on a Phil Spector-like song singing about rehab. Unfortunately it appears that she was being literal. She was a druggie who refused to change, and somehow she got lucky enough to be put in a hairdo and on a record.


She sure squandered an opportunity in life, and I don't have much respect for that.

Addiction is a terrible disease, and it is really sad when it kills. Unfortunately, it kills lots of people - but we really get a look at it when someone famous dies. It is a mental issue though, and although we tend to feel like addicts should just kick the habit, it's really hard and requires a lifetime of work. Plus, it's really hard to convince an addict they need to change while in the midst of their habit. Overall I think blaming the addict is just as bad as blaming someone who is depressed for not "snapping out of it".

That's the best thing about people with zero empathy. Everything's a cut-and-dried moral issue...that is until their child ends up with an addiction problem. Then suddenly it's a personal tragedy that we all should care about.

It's also one of the reasons I find American strain of conservativism so revolting.

Conservativism does not equal zero empathy. You have no idea of the political leanings of those who have posted.
Let's not make this political.

Bullshit. Cultural conservativism in America is a symptom of an immaturely developed sense of empathy.

If there were an appropriate time for a THIS, this is it. THIS.

Anonymous wrote:Holy shit, you have not been to al anon if that's what you think, PP. If you are, I want to know what chapter so I can report them. Have you read any of the posts? A milky way and heroin are not the same thing.

I mean, really. I can't even bear to educate you. Totally pointless.

I have addicts in my family. They take opiates so no need to educate me. Please just stop taking every comparison and analogy so literal. Sometimes when people speak they are just trying to express an idea or thought, not make an accurate to the letter no wiggle room metaphorically correct notarized statement. Sheesh.

Nope! I just choose NEVER to sympathise with celebrities.Don't even care whether they are people like me, doing drugs just doesn't add up.

BTW sister of addict here, yes, we forcibly put my brother into rehab - about 10 times. We are well into the tough love stage and we've all been to al anon, my parents still go weekly.

Nobody here is talking about coddling an addict or not holding them responsible. We're saying addiction IS a disease (and it's not the same as diabetes, though certainly folks who have diabetes can have a very very hard time following their diet and many DO suffer and die from it, though I guess you think that makes it their fault). The objection here is to the people saying she deserved to die and now to people who have their knickers in a twist because some of us say cancer, diabetes, mental illness, addiction - they've all got a lot in common. They ruin lives, they can be terribly hard or impossible to manage for some people, and people die from them.

You know, death is inevitable for all of us. And we all probably could be doing things to prolong our lives. Something to think about.

Holy shit, you have not been to al anon if that's what you think, PP. If you are, I want to know what chapter so I can report them. Have you read any of the posts? A milky way and heroin are not the same thing.

I mean, really. I can't even bear to educate you. Totally pointless.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am HORRIFIED at the likening of cancer to addiction. I have lost family members to both and the ones who died of cancer, my extremely health-conscious mother included, could have done NOTHING to prevent it. That is simply not true with addiction - you can't always beat it, but you can TRY.

I'm actually shaking with anger at this comparison.

You're entitled to your feelings, however, no one is personally attacking you or your poor mother. The world is not so black and white, good vs. bad. It's naive to believe that there is never a correlation between addiction (or even behavior) and cancer. It's a fact that addiction is strongly associated with many forms of cancer. Liver cancer is linked to alcoholism, as well as obesity and diabetes (potentially caused by food addiction). Smoking--including smoking drugs--has has been linked to cancer of the lung, breast, bladder, cervix and kidney. Chewing tobacco has been linked to cancer of the oral cavity and pancreas. Cancer of the breast, prostate, lung, colon and kidney can be linked to obesity. Sex, alcohol, and drug addictions lead to risky behavior and can increase the risk of HIV, HPV, Hep B & C, which in turn can lead to numerous forms of cancer, e.g., anus, cervix, lung, penis, throat, vulva, vagina, liver.

fine, but that's not relevant or particularly rational. my mother's cancer was not caused by addiction, nor is addiction always, or even usually, a precursor to cancer. cancer kills the innocent.

Just want to point out that your anger is purely a function of your ignorance about addiction. It's a disease. No different than clinical depression, or anorexia/bulemia, or cancer. You can get as angry as you like that folks who know more than you won't let you turn it into a battle of good versus evil, but that's your problem.

I'm the one who posted about my mother's cancer, and others have agreed with me. Clearly - obvious by the tone, spacing etc - there's one person here likening addiction to cancer. They're both diseases, but they're not the same kind of disease, at all. I don't even know what your last sentence means, and I never said addicts were evil, but I don't have time for this. If you've struggled with addiction, I'm genuinely sorry. We all have our demons.

I don't care if others have agreed with you. There are dumb people. Look around. You're irrationally upset because you think the disease of cancer should be provided some sort of rarified moral space that anorexia and depression (and addiction) should not be. That's wrong.

I actually don't think that, at all. I think eating disorders, depression, and addiction are all very real diseases. But, thanks for telling me what I believe! Calm down.

New poster here, well, new to this topic area on this thread. I'm going to throw this opinion in the pot. I agree that all of the above are diseases and therefore the people suffering are just as responsible as a diabetic, cancer patient, stroke sufferer, heart disease sufferer, or some one with a cataract to go to the doctor and manage their disease. If a diabetic stuffs a milky way in their face then goes into a coma do we say "poor them, they couldn't help themselves"? No! They knew full well they'd go into coma. Why are addicts held to a lower standard? Because they are addicts? You help them over and over and over and over and over and over again until WHAT? Until one of two things happens... they either say "I am ready to heal my disease for good" or they die. Death is unfortunate but it is a very real effect of addiction. How about holding addicts responsible for their behavior rather than always making up excuses and reasons as to why they cannot manage to kick the habit? If you have an addict in the family do you enable them or if you love them do you forcibly, for their own good put them into rehab? I don't know the correct answer, I'm just throwing it out there for you to think about. We have addicts in my family and you cannot coddle and enable them forever at the expense of the healthy members and children in your family.

Treat the disease just like you would any other disease and stop allowing the addicts to control your lives. I KNOW it's not easy but if you LOVE them you can find away. Start with Al Anon.