April 10, 2013: I have this friend…

I suspect that someone I know may have a drug dependency issue.  I can’t say for certain because I can’t really talk to her about it. Confronting her with my suspicions won’t do any good because she just wouldn’t understand.  In the fourteen years I’ve known her, she’s been obstinate, set in her ways, and simply unwilling to listen to reason.

My “friend”, let’s call her “J”, started taking Percocet for the pain associated with a chronic hip condition a little while ago – not much, maybe a quarter tablet every eight hours mixed with some dog food. She seemed better after a while, certainly much happier, and eventually stopped taking the medication.  Then, last night, she started acting strangely – crying, pacing, bouncing, panting, barking. The fact that she was on the move suggested it wasn’t the hip issue – so what was it?  Seemingly sensing my confusion, she scampered over to the kitchen island and stared up at the Percocet.  Could it be?  Was she jonesing for a fix?

Another friend who was over at the time (let’s call him Lawren Bancroft-Wilson) to watch a certain television show (let’s call it American Horror Story, season 2) suggested that might be the case.  J seemed unusually agitated.  And noisy.  Eventually, I relented and gave her a hit.  Moments later, she was back in her bed, relaxed and quiet, neither bothered by the anxiety nor the onscreen potpourri of horror genre trappings.

Getting down with the get down

I’d like to head this off before it balloons into a bigger problem so I consulted a website to identify some symptoms of addiction, just to be sure:

Dependence: Signs point to yes.

Mood and behavior changes: Absolutely.  See above.

Financial problems associated with having to purchase more and more pills: Unable to confirm – however, I think I’m missing five dollars from my wallet.

Neglecting responsibilities: She doesn’t have any responsibilities per se outside of making sure she doesn’t mess inside the house and even then her adherence to this simple rule has been spotty over the past few years.

Unusual smells on breath or body: Yes!  Further compounded by a reluctance to take baths!

Borrowing or stealing money: See Exhibit A below -

Hmmm.  I think an intervention is in order.