Are All Drug Addicts Homeless?

When many people think of the term “drug addict”, negative thoughts automatically come to mind. Unless you are close to someone who struggles with a substance abuse problem, your knowledge is likely to be very limited on the subject. You drive by that homeless man holding the sign on the median and you think to yourself, “He’s probably a drug addict or an alcoholic”. You very well could be right – or maybe not. What you may NOT know, is that there are many more drug addicts who are NOT homeless and that live relatively normal lives in all other aspects. These are people who are married, have children, who hold down jobs, and who may look completely normal to you on the outside.

Being homeless does not necessarily mean you are a drug addict. Anyone – and I do mean anyone – could fall into the trap of drug addiction. Sometimes it happens because of who their friends are and the situations they put themselves in. Other times it can happen just as easily when a person is prescribed medication by a doctor and they are unable to stop using it when it is no longer needed. For example, a new mother who has just given birth is sent home with a prescription for pain killers to help ease the pain she will likely experience in the weeks after child birth as she heals. While taking those pain killers, it is quite possible that she could become addicted to the medication and want to take the pills well after she is healed and does not need them any longer. She may try to go back to her doctor and say she is still in pain and needs a refill – and if one is not given, she may go to different measures to get what she wants.

If you are reading this because there is someone you know who you think may have a drug addiction, here are a few warning signs to look for:

•    The person begins to consistently fail to meet certain obligations to their families or places of employment
•    Gradual poor work performance that gets worse and worse over time
•    A person begins to neglect their children when they have always been a good or decent parent
•    A person begins to give bizarre excuses for their failure to meet certain obligations whether social, employment or familial related
•    A person has a sudden change in mood or behavior that persists over time

If any of these be the case, you or your loved one should seek drug or alcohol treatment. There are detox and treatment facilities throughout the United States. Many of them are in the warmer climate states like Florida, California, Georgia and Texas. But if those states are not feasible, there are definitely rehab centers in your area.

There is a certain stereo-type involved with being a drug addict that so many outsiders have in their mind; being homeless is does not make you a drug addict and all drug addicts are definitely not homeless. The bottom line is – and as the old cliché goes – you can not judge a book by its cover.

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Tags: alcohol treatment, drug addicts, homeless