Addiction is not a Moral Failing
Hey I'm going to throw this out there-- If you're concerned about someone having an addiction, to a substance, the internet, sex, an activity, food, whatever it is-- Confronting them by being like "I think you have an addiction to X" is not an actual, effective intervention. Accusing someone of having an addiction, however, is a great way to induce shame and make them defensive while perpetuating the stigma around addictions. Addiction often begins because someone is attempting to fulfill a need or address a problem in their life that they are lacking support around. Perhaps that problem is untreated pain, mental health struggles, financial burdens, overwork, experiencing abuse, or any number of other things that can lead to engaging with a particular substance/activity as a way of coping. The best ways of addressing addiction aren't to focus on whatever it is the person is addicted to, but address the "why" that got them there in the first place. Cigarettes are cheaper than groceries and suppress your appetite, scrolling endlessly through your feeds gives you good brain juice when you're too exhausted from working two jobs to have hobbies, heroin helps with pain when you can't get any doctor to take you seriously. You can't force someone to stop using a coping tool that is helping them. Even if that coping tool has negative consequences, it is still serving a function and other options to fulfill those needs must be introduced and established as effective before someone can start addressing their relationship with their addiction. If you want someone to stop smoking or cut back, make sure they can afford groceries. If you want someone to quit using cocaine in order to stay awake at their trucking job, fight for labor protections that give them fair pay without having to work dangerous hours. If you think heroin use is dangerous, fight for clean needle exchanges and safe suppliers. Fight for access to healthcare to prevent chronic pain problems from worsening. Fight against restriction of pain treatments as the solution to "drug seeking" behavior. Address the individual and social issues that contribute to addictions if you care about ended addiction. And yes, people with addictions are still accountable for the harm they cause other people, but that does not mean punishing them for their illness is the answer there. And also, someone having an addiction is not inherently them being a danger or a harm to you/their community that requires you to interrogate and attack them! Addiction should be met with empathy and compassion, not seen as an automatic moral failing of the person struggling.
