I don’t know if I’m in the right place or not, but here goes. I haven’t read all of the introduction, but the site talked about addictions, and that is what I want to comment on.
I met “Tony” way back in 1970. He was a chiropractor, and I needed help for a bad back. After an initial treatment series, he had already eliminated the pain, but warned me of a recurring problem unless I “slowed down”. Me, being hard headed, I was back in Tonys office many more times that year. Finally, he told me that he would “make me a deal”. He said that if I didn’t change my way of living when it came to lifting heavy things, that he would buy me my first wheel chair for free within a year. Well, that got my attention, quick.
I did as he asked, and for many years, whenever I would “throw my back out” again, it was back to Tonys office for a realignment. Several years ago, looking to retire, Tony sold his practice to a co-hort, and got into cigarette boats. He would buy them at the factory, have them trucked down, finish the assembly, and resell them. He himself had a 31 footer. I even got to ride in it. What a boat. He then got into what was called “poker runs”. In such activity, a group of boaters would all put up money, and the group would go from place to place on the river, have a drink, and pick up a card. At the end of the day, the winning hand took all the money. Trouble was, there was more than drinking going on. Cocaine. I didn’t know it, and by the time I found out, Tony was totally hooked, had lost his boat business, his home, savings, and from what I heard, all his teeth.
My question is, how can someone who has worked all of his adult life building a business of helping people just go down like that? A respected individual in his profession for 40 years, called on many times by the courts for his expert opinions, and yet, within a very few years, turn it all into nothing. He died a couple of years ago from an operation that he just didn’t come out of.