One of the obstacles to the rehabilitation of the drug addict is the lack of desire. By the time the addict gets into serious drug use, drugs have become an integral part of his life. In fact, he has built a whole new lifestyle around his drugs.

     His focus is on getting enough drugs to satisfy his cravings, his addiction. He loses his desire to do much of anything else. He drops out of the normal kind of living that you and I are into. Most often he stops working if he can afford to or if his family continues to support him. He no longer cares to strive to better himself.

     He is into an irresponsible lifestyle. Neglecting his family, his wife and kids, his drug-using friends become more important to him. Not only are they sources for his drugs, but they become partners and associates in the actual drug taking experience. He is more comfortable with them than he is with straight people.

     Crazy and self-destructive as his lifestyle might be, still it is what he has come to be accustomed to and feel at ease in. He feels alienated from the world of the straight people. In short, he has become a creature of the drug subculture and that is exactly where he wants to remain.

     Consequently, the Filipino addict will almost always have to be forced into rehab. Rare is the addict who walks into a rehab center and says “I need help, please take me in. “Families have to compel the addict to change. It is the family, the spouse who will seek help for him. Or, the courts will give him the choice: jail or rehab.

     The addict who arrives in the rehab center doesn’t want to be there. This is why almost all rehab centers are locked as tight as a drum. (Our Nazareth House is one of the few exceptions. No guards, no guns, no walls.) The challenge of the addiction therapist is to motivate the addict to want to change. This is no small task. You might think that addicts are easy to convince. Wrong! They cling like glue to their ways.

     This was made abundantly clear the other day when I held a session with my Nazareth House residents. I asked them to tell me what was more difficult for them to give up, their drugs or their lifestyle.