Getting treated like an addict gets me down..

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When asking for help or catching up with friends,
people assume that because I don't have a wife and a lot of money, and I sometimes have sleep problems,
I am an addict when in truth I am just trying to work through trauma and communication problems.

It is really hard to maintain self-esteem when treated like this
even by healthcare professionals.
It is very stressful.

Last edited by __Elijahahahaho on 15 Feb 2025, 1:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Addicted to what?

This is the fault of healthcare systems and health professionals who wrongly assume, wrongly identify, and wrongly target individuals for one reason or another. There is a recent movie that highlights the bias of people even within their own family and community circles. The film shows a talented chef vomiting in a public bathroom. When the assistant chef finds her there with a bloody nose, hugging the toilet, she immediately flies into a rage and accuses her of being a drug addict. The ill woman shakes her head before eventually telling her that she has Stage 3 cancer.

Diabetic people are sometimes accused of being an alcoholic because their breath smells like alcohol when blood sugar drops.

Mental health diagnosis can be subjective to whim and bias too, without genuinely knowing the person or circumstances.

I worked very briefly at a place that had strange qualifications for employment there. I think they were only hiring people who fit a certain demographic. As I was cleaning out the cigarette bins one day I heard another employee say to management, “But she doesn’t even smoke.”

I don’t smoke or drink alcohol. I’m not addicted to anything that harms me. My only vices are coffee and the occasional escapism found in a book, a tabletop puzzle, or a friendly fantasy game.

Like you, trauma issues prevent me from mingling with people. If the environment doesn’t feel safe, I simply walk the other way. Not an addict, just self preservation.

They ask about everything.
They always assume I am lying because addicts lie.

Nothing I can say changes their mind because I get more and more stressed,
and that just makes them suspicious.

Never happened to me, but I can believe that kind of judgementalism happens. I guess all you can do is ask them how they come to their bizarre conclusions. For some reason a lot of people are in a tearing hurry these days, and they don't always think very carefully. But when it's a matter of weighing up another person, it would help if they slowed down a bit and used the brains they were born with. I won't stoop to their level and suggest that they're overdoing the stimulants.