William H. Johnson, Folk Family

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November 8, 2008:

It's common for families of addicts to treat their unwell loved-one as the "omega dog" of the pack, the one the others are allowed to disrespect with impunity. That attitude is part of how the disease warps the moral senses of everyone it touches. All the more so among families who are unable to view the disease as physical, who see it instead as moral weakness or spiritual corruption. Superstitious, paternalistic attitudes which enable and validate the vicious pack-like behaviors I'm describing.

It sickens me to find myself doing the same thing.

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