Support worker M shares some insightful thoughts on begging and the complexities of addiction.
‘On my way to work this morning, I saw someone begging who I’ve not seen before. I had a quick chat with her, and she occasionally stopped mid-sentence to ask passers-by for spare change. One of these passers-by walked on, muttering something under his breath about her “clearly” being a drug addict. We both clearly heard this comment and I asked the lady begging how she felt about it. She said she was ‘used to it’. There is so much in the public eye at the moment around Leeds and in other places about begging. The council are running a clear anti-begging campaign. I don’t condone or condemn begging, I understand it as part of something far more complicated.
One of my clients has a health problem at the moment, she really needs to go to hospital, but is very reluctant. She’s reached a point where she realises she needs medical care, but she can’t go today. She has no money, and she needs heroin. If she goes to hospital without begging enough money together to score, she will start to withdraw, she will become very ill, and she will very likely leave the hospital without being seen so that she can go and try get money together to score. The longer she leaves this, the more desperate she will be, and it is likely she will resort to desperate measures to get her money together so she can rid herself of her withdrawal. My client has a long history of abuse and trauma behind her and got into using drugs to numb emotional pain. But now with her addiction, her drug use that causes her pain on every level and controls most of the thoughts and behaviours she has every day. She is desperate for this to change, my client does not want to be an addict.
My client has agreed to meet me tomorrow to go to hospital. She can spend today getting everything together that she needs, so that she can sit and wait as long as it may take to be seen at the hospital.
I am not advocating drug use here, or suggesting that it is right to give people money for drugs. What I am saying though, is that the principle of “giving people money for drugs doesn’t help” is not as black and white as it seems. If my client gets enough money together, it means she will allow me to support her to attend her appointments, and these include appointments with drug recovery services. Recovery from addiction is the longer term goal, but addiction doesn’t go away overnight just because enough money isn’t available. Sometimes we have to deal with the here and now, even if the here and now isn’t ideal, in order to start making steps towards the overall goal.’
Share your thoughts with us.
#Simon