There are currently about twenty-four million people in the United States addicted to alcohol or drugs (“Abuse, National Institute on Drug”). However, only about eleven percent of these people will seek treatment; the remaining eight-nine percent of people continue their lives with this incurable disease. There are various reasons why they are not being treated, some are unable to afford the cost, some lack the support and family and friends and others are still in the state of denial. In the book Clean by Amy Read, the Documentary, Russell Brand from Addiction to Recovery and the short story, “A Counselor’s Personal Narrative on Drug Addiction,” by Lauren Armstrong express that until society accepts that addiction is a serious disease, the …show more content…
Kelly thinks that the other group members have had troubled pasts, and the road to drugs was an obvious choice for them. Another group member, Jason, with an abusive father says “There’s no magic math equations that make addicts, nothing that separates us from everybody else. We just are fuckups” (Reed 33). Jason, although he had a difficult childhood, refuses to believe this is the reason why he is a drug addict. The author demonstrates that each character was mentally unstable at the time when they were addicted to drugs. Drugs manipulate people and their minds, and Kelly shows the reader that taking drugs are uncontrollable. She was given everything for a perfect childhood, but the disease prevented her living her life. One of the counselors told the group, “Getting rid of drugs doesn't get rid of all the other ways you learned to deal with the world. It’s not that easy” (Reed 63). They turn to drugs believing it is their only escape. Some drug addicts tend to blame the drugs for all their problems. Eva has been suffering from depression since her mother died. After becoming clean, the author shows how Eva needed to address these problems in her life. The reader begins to see