Heroin is one of the most addictive of all drugs, including both illicit and legal, controlled substances. With long-term use, heroin can cause a number of serious health problems, up to and including death from an accidental overdose. If someone you care about is using heroin, it’s never too late to help rescue her from her addiction. Help her see the problems that heroin is creating in her life and what it will do to both her mind and her body over time. The reality is scary, but anyone struggling with addiction to heroin can get treatment and begin to reverse the ill effects.
A common misconception about addiction is that those abusing drugs or alcohol must be degenerate, jobless and most likely homeless. Though the term “addict” implies multiple negative stereotypes, not everyone fits the mold of what an addicted person is assumed to look and act like. In fact, a 2007 study from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism discovered that only 9% of alcoholics seem to fit the “chronic severe” stereotype of having higher rates of psychiatric disorders and criminality.