God delivered me completely from alcoholism when he saved me. I coming up to 38 years sober. But more than sober, I have never wanted another drink. That is totally the Holy Spirit, nothing to do with me.
As far as pain meds, I take them. But apparently, I do not get addicted. Seems weird, or maybe God is protecting me. I can miss a week or a month, and never notice. But, if I get some new kind of trauma, like my car accident 2 weeks ago, then I take them, until the chiropractor, physiotherapist and massage therapy start working, which has already happened.
I had some bad RA flares on the weekend. I have leaned that morphine won't touch them. After a night of not sleeping, I took my go-to drug, which is prednisone. Another highly addictive drug I have gotten off many times, although I am careful to wean, if the time has been too long, simply because it shuts off the adrenal gland and if you stop to quickly, you can actually die.
I know a lot of people addicted to Benzodiazepines, including my mother. The irony with that class of drugs? They are for anxiety, and they actually make you more anxious in the long run. Right in the diagnostic manual, yet psychiatrists continue to hand out these prescriptions like candy. So, many people need to wean off that, but they are too anxious to do it. Again, the irony!
I have personally not worked with people with addictions, although I know people who are in AA, or have worked through a lot. A friend of mine from church had an alcoholic husband, who was abusive, and got to a point where he could not work. He went into a Christian organization called "Freedom's Door." He also had bipolar disorder, and they would not let him take any bipolar meds. I know if someone told me I could not have my RA drugs, I would have walked out. He stayed, then decided to leave his wife and shack up with another woman. By then, he was a senior counsellor in that Christian organization. So, I guess putting "Christian" in front of something, doesn't always make it Christian.
I hate the distain people have for drug addicts. It is a very sad and tragic thing when people become addicted, usually with some kind of trauma in the background. My friend's husband, starting dreaming of Satanic ritual abuse, and one day his sister phoned him out of the blue and told him about her dreams and memories. Something really awful went on in that family. Any of us could have come from a background that led to addiction, or be addiction prone. There, but for the grace of God, go I!
