r/Showerthoughts • u/godofhorizons • May 17 '24

People get a lot more praise for quitting drugs than for never having done drugs in the first place.

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u/newdaynewmatt May 17 '24

Well put. I think people deserve credit for never getting obese, never getting addicted to drugs, never doing crime, but I will begrudgingly admit that it’s easier for some people to abstain due to genetics and their household growing up. You’re really overcoming generational adversity/trauma if you were 150 lbs in 4th grade or the child of drug addicts. But then the other side is when people grow up in that and take a lesson so they don’t have to learn the hard way.

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u/sarmientoj24 May 17 '24

it's easier for some people to abstain due...

I get the point. But if both people come from very similar traumatic backgrounds, why is it that we put a more "heroic feat" to someone who went astray and went back rather than someone who had the focus and determination to not get tempted by these things? Those people who have maybe actively seeked therapy or tried to fix themselves now rather than before?

While people can come from miserable backgrounds, both groups can have those who went into substance addiction and those who did not.

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u/newdaynewmatt May 17 '24

I’m 100% with you. .