<p>Why, even in kity4’s link, this was said about smokers and lung cancer- “the gene for a nicotinic receptor subunit doubled the risk for nicotine addiction among smokers”.
The study she provided said that for some who choose to smoke, the risk of a nicotine addiction is doubled. That clearly demonstrates the difference between an automatic disease(as her article discussed) due to genetics, and a predisposition for an addiction- for those who choose ceretain behaviors. But nowhere in her article did it say genetics cause an addiction.</p>
<p>Here is a question …can a person abuse drugs for a long period of time without being addicted? if this is possible, then I would think Whitney was not addicted,just an abuser…</p>
<p>in re post 60- in post 49, CPU said no drug addictions were self-inflicted. That led me to believe the alternative to self-inflicted would be by force. For example, if I choose not to smoke cigs, how else can I get hooked on cigs? And if I do choose to smoke cigs, then if I get hooked, wasn’t it because I chose to smoke cigs? And wouldn’t my choice to smoke cigs be the very definition of a “self-inflicted” addiction?</p>
<p>soon we will have no sympathy for the families of heart attack deaths because they “should have done something about it.” Or, people caught in a war zone, because “why were they there?” Or, people in car accidents, because why did they not pay more attention?</p>
<p>Honestly. </p>
<p>Nobody gets out of here alive. Have some respect.</p>
<p>A person who drinks an alcoholic drink doesn’t drink it thinking it’s going to lead them to alcoholism. Its the same with drugs. Someone who tries a drug doesn’t do so with the belief that it will cause an addiction. Some people are predisposed to addiction and many times don’t understand this until they’re in the grips of it. I think this is what CPU is trying to convey. </p>
<p>Yes, Whitney Houston was a troubled woman. She was also a fantastic talent.</p>
<p>OMG so sad…She was the greatest in the 80s but when she was filming waiting to exhale she was already doing too much drugs…</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I thought the exact same thing. It’s horrifying to see what’s happened to her and I wish her own family had not enabled her for so long. I hope I’m wrong but I fear we may be hearing similar tragic news about her, sooner rather than later.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I was asking a question. Did you note the question mark at the end of the sentence? Did you answer it? I don’t see anywhere where you’ve said you have any sympathy; in fact, you said,</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>But you never said you had any sympathy (as most other posters on this thread have). So maybe the question is, do you believe she should get less sympathy than someone with stomach cancer (who, with my speculation, could come from someone who smoked all their life)? I still think that anyone who defines the amount of sympathy given to someone based on whether that person had an addiction or a non self-inflicted illness is making a huge judgment that is not based on factual information about addictions.</p>
<p>Tiger had an addiction also, though he didn’t realize it until he was caught. ;)</p>
<p>Charlie Sheen has an addiction, but fixed his problem himself. ;)</p>
<p>My point is addiction is a word that gets used often,but sometimes only when needed…Not to say addiction doesn’t exist…</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That was one of the first examples that came to my mind. I have really been struggling with this example over the last few days. Eight days after my nephew died in a car wreck (wasn’t wearing a seat belt and fell asleep at the wheel), D2 and I were rear-ended by a semi-truck while sitting in traffic on an expressway, out-of-town, on our way to the airport in a rental car. When I saw that semi coming at me in my rear-view window, in the split second I had to think before it hit us, I thought we were going to be #2 and #3 in our family to die in a car crash in eight days. Our luck was that that semi was not hauling a load… it was just the cab. I felt horrible, misplaced guilt for putting my daughter in that situation, of being stuck in traffic, in that lane, at that time. I realize now that I stuffed those feelings for the last five years, because I kept thinking, “How dare I admit my terror, fear and trauma, when my 25-year old nephew had just been killed?”</p>
<p>It was being my own worse enemy in trying to work through this trauma, judging myself for something I had no control over, other than being in this place, because we had just attended D2’s freshman orientation. But I now realize my it’s OK to admit the horror, fear, and trauma I experienced that afternoon; it doesn’t dismiss my brother’s pain, but it’s OK that I have my own, even if it was my ‘fault’ for being driving a car.</p>
<p>you are quite right, teriwtt, I have not said how much or how little sympathy I personally feel, other than to say I don’t see sympathy for an addiction as equal to sympathy for cancer, as kity4 had compared in post 30. Comparing addictions to cancer is her premise, not mine. I have said some feel different sympathy, and have carefully been discreet as to what I have experienced, and how I personally feel, or what I may have experienced from others.
Those who characterize my personal sympathy as either less or more are merely guessing at how I personally feel based on how I said “some feel”. Perhaps you disagree, teriwtt, when I was referring to comparing addictions to cancer by saying “some see ‘self-inflicted’ wounds differently”; and if you do, then I say good for you. Maybe in all your experiences every person has seen it as all the same. But I have seen some who see it differently, so I know the feeling does exist, and it isn’t always pretty.</p>
<p>Trying to follow the logic of being in an accident and abusing drugs for decades which leads to your death…What am i missing?</p>
<p>Alink to a performance from two nights ago.
Jennifer Hudson will perform a tribute at the Grammys.
[Whitney</a> Houston Dies at 48 | News | The Advocate](<a href=“http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2012/02/11/Whitney_Houston_Dies_at_48/]Whitney”>http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2012/02/11/Whitney_Houston_Dies_at_48/)</p>
<p>My brother called me early one Sunday morning about a year ago with horrible news. Our stepsister had died the night before. At the time, it wasn’t clear exactly what had killed her. The autopsy several weeks later confirmed the culprit: acute cocaine toxicity. We were not surprised, though we had all hoped she would hit rock bottom in another, less permanent way. She was 42. She left behind many who loved her, including a husband, an 18-year-old son, a sister, three step-siblings, a mother and many friends. Many people tried to help her as her life spun out of control. We were angry at her, we judged her choices, but we still loved her. </p>
<p>Whitney Houston’s failings as well as her great gifts were on display on a large stage. People all over the world admired her and undoubtedly many people loved her despite her flaws. It is possible to deplore the bad choices she made while also feeling sadness at the news of her death and empathy for the people she left behind.</p>
<p>These discussions about how much sympathy a drug addict deserves are bone-chilling to me. A woman has died. As poetgrl urged, “have some respect.”</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Death due to anything that could be avoided by making certain choices in life. Most of us choose to drive, or take properly prescribed prescription drugs, etc. Isn’t that why you suggest people might not have any sympathy for Houston? Because she made choices that put her in that situation? And many posters here are debating whether or not it was even a choice, just as some would argue not traveling by car is not a choice.</p>
<p>my answer to post 72- kity4 offered a premise in post 30 questioning the amount of sympathy for addicts compared to the amount of sympathy for those with cancer. It has expanded to other illnesses, other deaths and other what-ifs from there.</p>
<p>crossposted with #75</p>
<p>amazing talent… ruined by drugs. Not the first, and won’t be the last. Too bad, for everyone (her, her family and friends, and people who enjoy quality music).</p>
<p>I still remember her singing the National Anthem at the Superbowl. When I first realized she was the one to sing the Anthem, I thought this will be a disaster. After hearing her sing, I thought she may have delivered the best National Anthem I had ever heard.</p>
<p>In my work with a hospice agency, I had the privilege of caring for a few people who basically died from addictions (pancreatitis, hepatitis, etc.). I can guarantee you that I had no more or no less sympathy for those people, nor did the rest of our staff. They did not get any less care because they were addicts. Yes, some of their family members were angry with them, but the human psyche allows us feeling both anger and sadness at the same time. So we can be angry, frustrated, yet understand this is a person, born with weaknesses and limitations, just as we all are, and up until their last breath, deserves hope that they can heal. My definition of healing does not necessarily include curing. We don’t know what Houston’s last thoughts were, just as I could never presume to know what a dying addict’s last thoughts are. Perhaps it was suicide… we don’t know. As recently as last fall, I had some untreated health issues that were so debilitating that I could understand why someone would want to commit suicide (in actuality, untreated thyroid issues, such as I had, can manifest themselves as mental illness; in my case, it took over two months before I was diagnosed). We never know what goes through someone’s mind or what their body is going through in those times, and up until the last moments.</p>
<p>Seriously, had someone not finally diagnosed my problem (and believe me, I am a well-educated advocate for myself), I could have easily turned to alcohol or obtaining drugs illegally to cope. Until we know how she died and what her state of mind was when she did (that is likely to never happen, unless she left a note), then I’ll err on the side of caution and assume it was not within her control.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the competition hasn’t been too great lately!</p>