Reply
Honored Contributor
Posts: 15,345
Registered: ‎05-01-2010

@Irshgrl31201 wrote:

@LTT1 wrote:
@Irshgrl31201
Clark's Promise sounds like a wonderful group.

It really is. It isn't just surface stuff like getting people housing. They set them up with dentists, doctors, mental health, people who teach them how to budget, etc... Every move is thought out that can ensure the highest success. So many homeless return to homelessness because they aren't equipped for many different reasons. It has changed my life. The people I have met have changed my life. 


@Irshgrl31201 This does sound like a wonderful group. You seem like a wonderful, do good person. Helping people who need and want help with no judgements. I commend you. And to add, you are always so upbeat!

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 7,829
Registered: ‎03-18-2010

@proudlyfromNJ wrote:

@Irshgrl31201 wrote:

@LTT1 wrote:
@Irshgrl31201
Clark's Promise sounds like a wonderful group.

It really is. It isn't just surface stuff like getting people housing. They set them up with dentists, doctors, mental health, people who teach them how to budget, etc... Every move is thought out that can ensure the highest success. So many homeless return to homelessness because they aren't equipped for many different reasons. It has changed my life. The people I have met have changed my life. 


@Irshgrl31201 This does sound like a wonderful group. You seem like a wonderful, do good person. Helping people who need and want help with no judgements. I commend you. And to add, you are always so upbeat!


It is a good group! Oh Lord, I am as messed up as anyone else. I also can't say I don't judge others to some extent because I do. I work on that daily though!!! lol!

Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.
JFK
Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 7,829
Registered: ‎03-18-2010

@Mominohio wrote:

Haven't read all the replies yet, and will when I have more time, but I believe, bottom line, more and more people today are just plain weak.

 

Life overall has gotten easier over the last several generations. People have less hard intensive physical work to do in order to survive each day, and they are finding too much time on their hands for everything from "partying" which if you have an addictive personality will lead you there, to feeling sorry for themselves and unable or unwilling to suck it up and get through the tough stuff.

 

Yes, there are people who are sick (mentally and physically) who become addicted to getting rid of pain or symptoms, but so many more who just don't make the choice to say no, avoid the temptations, find meaning in their lives, and choose to become/stay involved with drugs.


I don't disagree with you. I do think there are some like that and then once addicted have had every option available to them to get well and refuse to take advantage. I find those people a lot more irritating now that I have seen those with nothing jump through hoops for even the smallest amount of help.

Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.
JFK
Honored Contributor
Posts: 34,519
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

@Irshgrl31201

 

 

 

Your post makes so much sense... it is easy to read and comprehend too, which really helped me.

I agree with and support everything you expressed. [about continuing to jail non-violent, etc.]

 

 

~Have a Kind Heart, Fierce Mind, Brave Spirit~
Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 7,829
Registered: ‎03-18-2010

@LTT1 wrote:

@Irshgrl31201

 

 

 

Your post makes so much sense... it is easy to read and comprehend too, which really helped me.

I agree with and support everything you expressed. [about continuing to jail non-violent, etc.]

 

 


Thanks @LTT1. Sorry it took me so long to respond. I am having a lot of troubles now with the QVC page (no other sites are giving me trouble). It is taking forever for pages to download. Once I hit reply to your posts, it took about 5 minutes for the page to download. Is anyone else having trouble?

Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.
JFK
Honored Contributor
Posts: 34,519
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

@goldensrbest wrote:

Do you think being spoiled, getting what you want all the time,would have anything to do with it?


@goldensrbest

I taught SPED kids and can only think of one "spoiled" example. He was a "skater boy" who was so great   (apparently) that he started getting endorsements.

 

Of course, by the time I got him as a sophomore in HS, it was hard to tell which had a more profound influence: parent enabling or TBI (traumatic brain injury) from accidents.

 

So trying to look back was impossible. As a little kid was he abused emotionally or physically? Did he just not like math so much that he manipulated his way out of coming to class? (truancy laws were not enforced for him.)

 

Here is another "case" story: a female student who flew loudly off the handle; screamed and threw desks; cussed when asked to complete assignments. I think this case was due to an actual chemical imbalance.

 

I guess I call being SPOILED being ENABLED.

~Have a Kind Heart, Fierce Mind, Brave Spirit~
Honored Contributor
Posts: 39,574
Registered: ‎08-23-2010

@goldensrbest wrote:

There is so much of this going on in society ,i wonder why it is?


@goldensrbest

 

Initially, I couldn't tell if you meant illegal drugs or just plain drugs in general ....  and what about all the other addictions?       Alcohol ... nicotine .... food .... shopping .... risky secksual behavior .....  television .... gambling.   Seems like many people have a "drug of choice".

 

Years ago I read a book about the history of drug use and it referenced a tribe in South America that developed a successful little business selling hallucinogenics.   They learned about what was growing in their own back yard, so to speak, by watching the wild life, especially goats.   The goats would gobble up berries on a certain plant and then run around acting playful and stupid ... they were getting high!!

 

Now, I think we can skip all the speculation about how the goats' parents treated them, or did they feel insecure,  or did they feel empty inside ....  or whatever.     If goats were getting high on a regular basis, it's safe to assume the hallucinogenic berries were affecting the pleasure center in their brains.   

 

Even one of the great thinkers, Sigmund Freud, got addicted to cocaine.  When Coca Cola first came out, it had cocaine in it.   For that matter, I recall how common cocaine use was in the 1980's here in Los Angeles.   It was as common as having a glass of wine.   

 

Like we all have different brain and body chemistry and may react differently to different substances  (example - I'm allergic to shellfish) some of us may have a stronger pre-disposition to addictions. 

 

And then there's just plain old experimentation .... some teens try cigarettes and cough & gasp .... and walk away.   Others end up decades later tethered to an oxygen tank!    It's common knowledge that nicotine addiction is harder to break than heroine addiction.

 

This is an extremely complex problem .....  but I think it has a lot to do with, and how any given substance affects, the pleasure center in our brains.    To dismiss addictions as "weakness" or "character flaws" is just too simplistic.  JMO  

Honored Contributor
Posts: 34,519
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

@TeezNu wrote:

IMO, many take drugs to cope with, or escape emotional pain.  They do not have, nor have been taught healthy life skills to deal with problems, setbacks, etc. that are just part of life, and that we all face.


@TeezNu

 

I agree with you so as always, I ask, who should teach these life skills to children? (Pardon, I'm agreeing with you that this is what is needed).

~Have a Kind Heart, Fierce Mind, Brave Spirit~
Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,960
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

@Mz iMac wrote:

@nun ya wrote:

@Mz iMac wrote:

@goldensrbest wrote:

he is about 27 , nothing parents can do.

Yes they can!

 

Kick is ass out before he starts stealing from them if he has not already done so.


Easier said than done


@nun ya

 

It's very easy.  The cops will be glad to help if there are no family members to do so!

 

 



@Mz iMac wrote:

@nun ya wrote:

@Mz iMac wrote:

@goldensrbest wrote:

he is about 27 , nothing parents can do.

Yes they can!

 

Kick is ass out before he starts stealing from them if he has not already done so.


Easier said than done


@nun ya

 

It's very easy.  The cops will be glad to help if there are no family members to do so!

 

 


well yes. Getting the cops involved but then what? An addict will sell and steal everything including themselves to get their next high. An addict will bounce around to whoever is giving them drugs. People use them like trash because that's what they see themselves as. I'd rather try to help a family member than know they are going to be someones trash. God knows it's not an easy road. I have watched it within my own family. Thankfully with support, love and rehab they made it out alive.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 15,523
Registered: ‎09-01-2010

My eyes were opened to the drug epidemic in the early 70's thru a beautiful girl about five years older than me, who was dating my cousin.   She was always looking to get high; took any kind of pill she could get her hands on, and drank anything with alcohol in it.   Mom and Dad refused to let her in our house after she was caught drinking vanilla flavoring from our kitchen, and my dads after shave!   I kid you not.   

 

I saw this girl, with my own eyes, pop a handful of pills from a kitchen serving bowl filled with multi colored pills, and swallow them without washing them down.  It was no surprise she was a frequent flyer in the ER, and psych unit; all local medical personnel knew this girl well, and saved her life over and over, and over, for more than 30 years.   She and my cousin split many years ago.  Surprisingly, this woman is now in her mid 60's, clean, sober, married within the last 10 years, and living a normal life.   

 

For years my family watched this girls destructive behavior and could only shake our heads in disbelief at the things she was doing.  We had never encountered anyone so disconnected and out of control, who used drugs for recreational purposes.  As I watched her sink lower and lower, and saw her physical appearance change, I knew I would never let drugs or alcohol control my life.   I never associated with anyone; male or female, who was into drugs or alcohol.