The Cost of Addiction

Addiction actually costs more and more the longer it goes on. There are many costs related to addiction. For the few of us who have never had addiction touch our lives personally, the cost may be a pocketbook and societal matter. The costs of addiction can be expressed in terms of how many people can’t work because they’re addicted, how many mistakes or injuries occur on the job—each costing the company money—or how many emergency room visits are occasioned by drug overdoses, or how many people are dependent upon welfare and the health system or who are committing crimes because of their habit. The impacts of addiction are seen in higher taxes, unsafe neighborhoods and in accidents and errors which affect or harm those who, themselves, are drug-free.

But for someone who has a friend or family member or who themselves are addicted to drugs, the cost is far higher, far more personal and far more profound. And unfortunately, the longer it goes on, the more difficult and costly it is.

Speaking financially for a moment, drug addicts frequently steal from their family members and friends in order to support a habit that has spiraled so far out of control that they spend every cent they have on their payday (if they’re still able to work) and are left to get their fix between paychecks with no money left. To solve this they’ll either steal or they’ll simply depend on family for everything—which in a way is just another slightly more socially-acceptable form of theft.

Addiction also extracts an emotional toll. Not only does an addict lose his self-respect, but his friends and family feel like they’re on a constant roller-coaster. They never know when they’ll experience a turn for the worse, or get that dreadful call from the hospital, or find out he’s stolen from them again and disappeared for days. Life becomes unpredictable and even miserable. Life stops being the way it’s supposed to be and instead becomes a threatening, difficult existence. Drug addicts bring psychological trauma upon their family members. Oftentimes they will lose sleep, have trouble eating, and even experience depression, anxiety, and other emotional difficulties as a result of their family member’s addiction.

You also have the problem that drug rehabilitation programs are costly, even with insurance programs, and the typical drug rehab has the “industry standard” success rate of only 20%. This means there’s an overwhelming chance that unless your loved one goes to the right drug rehab, he or she will walk out that rehab’s door, after having spent thousands on the program, and revert to drugs within ninety days.

Many addicts have gone in and out of rehabs their entire lives.

There is no way to recuperate the costs of addiction. There is no way to regain the time that’s been lost. The truth is that there is no way to eliminate the heartache that you’ve gone through. Nothing can heal the damage that’s been done. You can’t get that back. But you can cut your losses. You can stop addiction from doing any more damage by getting your loved one into a drug rehab that’s proven effective.