Addiction can be a funny thing; it comes in many different forms, anybody can get addicted to any little thing, it could be eating, drinking coffee, shopping, watching TV, exercising, social media, or drugs. For example, I am addicted to my phone anywhere I go, I have to have my phone with me or I won’t be able to focus because all I will be thinking about is what’s going on the internet. I know most of y’all have y'alls phone with y’all right now and are just eager to text your friends like “omg this girl is so annoying,” “how’s it going with you and your boo,” etc.
But addiction is something very serious and very scary because not everybody can concur it. I know someone very special in my life that is now in a wheelchair paralyzed from his left side. When I was little he would always pop pills, smoke, drink, he would do everything you can think of. As I grew up I would see everything without him knowing I saw and he never stopped, not even after having seizures right in front of his daughters. In 2014 he had 3 very bad convulsions and that’s what left him paralyzed from his left side, but that didn’t stop him from doing drugs or drinking.
Therefore, let me tell you the major side effect addiction has, brain diseases. When you get a disease in the brain it can cause you to start behaving differently. You will lose the ability to learn, judge, and make decisions on your own. You're going to be needing to do drugs to be able to function and that is not healthy. There are a lot of people that have very bad memory loss as is, and when doing drugs that worsens for them. Most addicts are already poor so they have to ask for money, but they don't spend the money on food, clothes, or things they need. They spend that little money they have or get to buy drugs because they like how it makes them feel.
In conclusion, listen to someone when they say you are addicted to something and seek help. Don’t wait till it’s too late and you have to go to an addiction home. I get that you could be going through a tough time but turning to drugs is never the answer. Take it from a person that had to deal with someone they love falling harder and harder into drugs over the years and now is not able to walk because they're left side is all paralyzed, so now he's just sitting on his bed doing nothing.
I liked how the author used something personal to prove her point on addiction. I also like how she talked about the effect drugs can have on our brain at a young age.
--Melissa Galvan
I like how she added a real life situation that connects with the writing and that drugs aren't the only thing that you can get addicted to.
--Kevin Gomez