“Philip Seymour Hoffman among thousands of addiction victims”
My heart is breaking again today with another “Beautiful, Talented man who was in recovery until recently, and is now passed, and gone way to soon. 46 is way to young to die of drug overdose. All of us in recovery fight our “Battles and Demons,” it seems the demon has won. When is this tragic loss of life trend going to end? What can I do more to help others in recovery STAY in recovery? It’s just so painful to see a person who had long-term recovery end their life this way. It hurts my heart to the very center.
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I have to say, the first movie I saw Philip in that caught my eye was, “Twister.” He played a weather storm chaser, and his humor is what caught my eye. And continued following his movie career with Stellar Performances and his Oscar-winning movie, “Capote” also movies “Punch Drunk Love”… and “Hard Eight.”
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*HERE ARE JUST A FEW SNIPPETS TO WHAT THE MEDIA IS SAYING ABOUT HIS PASSING*
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(AP-) “Academy Award winner Philip Seymour Hoffman, one of the most acclaimed character actors and ambitious performers of his generation, was found dead of an apparent drug overdose inside his New York apartment on Sunday, police said. He was 46.
A business associate discovered Hoffman in his bathroom with a needle stuck in his left forearm at about 11:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, police said. Two glassine envelopes containing what was thought to be heroin were near his body, and five empty envelopes were found in the trash, police said. The city medical examiner has not yet determined a cause of death.”
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“LOS ANGELES (AP) — Philip Seymour Hoffman suffered from a chronic medical condition that required ongoing treatment. An admitted drug addict who first sought professional help more than two decades ago, Hoffman apparently succumbed to his illness with an overdose despite a return to rehab last March.
A father of three with a thriving career, the Oscar winner died Sunday with a needle in his arm and baggies of what appeared to be heroin nearby. New York City medical examiners were conducting an autopsy on Hoffman’s body Monday as investigators scrutinize evidence found in his apartment.
His death, which came after a long period of sobriety that ended last year, “epitomizes the tragedy of drug addiction in our society,” said Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.”
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“Here you have an extraordinarily talented actor who had the resources, who had been in treatment, who obviously realized the problem of drugs and had been able to stay clean,” she said, adding that Hoffman’s case shows how devastating addiction can be.
Success has no more bearing on drug addiction than it does on heart failure, doctors say: Both can be fatal without consistent care. And while rehab may be part of treatment, it’s no antidote. Amy Winehouse and Cory Monteith had both been to rehab before eventually dying from overdoses.
“Addiction is a chronic, progressive illness. No one can be cured,” said Dr. Akikur Reza Mohammad, a psychiatrist and addiction-medicine specialist who works as a professor at USC’s Keck School of Medicine and is founding chief of Inspire Malibu Treatment Center. “If someone is suffering from addiction, they cannot relax at any time. The brain neurochemistry changes… so these people are prone to relapse.”
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*The above statement made about “Addiction” is Important and very True!*
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For myself, I was able to get a hold on the overuse of alcohol when I was addicted to gambling, but the gambling was my “Real Demon” to grasp long-term recovery from. Like above, all addictions can NOT be cured, but in our 12-step meetings and treatment, we find it CAN BE ARRESTED. I always tell my own people I sponsor who start their own recovery right up front, that the ONLY thing Addiction & Recovery have in common is being “Selfish”…You act selfish while in the middle of addiction, as you care about Nothing but that! And in Recovery, you have to BE selfish to recover. You have to make yourself and your recovery #1 in order to attain long-term recovery.
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**See, addiction has no bounds on who it claims. And it can be any type of addiction. Drugs, Alcohol, Gambling, Sex, Porn, Food, and the list goes on. For awareness and education purposes, this is the definition of the word “Addiction”**
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Addiction is the continued repetition of a behavior despite adverse consequences,[1] or a neurological impairment leading to such behaviors.[2]
Addictions can include, but are not limited to, drug abuse, exercise addiction, food addiction, sexual addiction, computer addiction and gambling. Classic hallmarks of addiction include impaired control over substances or behavior, preoccupation with substance or behavior, continued use despite consequences, and denial.[3] Habits and patterns associated with addiction are typically characterized by immediate gratification (short-term reward), coupled with delayed deleterious effects (long-term costs).[4]
Physiological dependence occurs when the body has to adjust to the substance by incorporating the substance into its ‘normal’ functioning.[5] This state creates the conditions of tolerance and withdrawal. Tolerance is the process by which the body continually adapts to the substance and requires increasingly larger amounts to achieve the original effects. Withdrawal refers to physical and psychological symptoms experienced when reducing or discontinuing a substance that the body has become dependent on. Symptoms of withdrawal generally include but are not limited to anxiety, irritability, intense cravings for the substance, nausea, hallucinations, headaches, cold sweats, and tremors.
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As I close, I feel that addiction doesn’t care about YOU, ME or anyone. No matter the vice, it will take lives. It doesn’t care if you’re an “Actor or a Mom.” If you are “Rich or Poor, Black or White, a Woman or a Man”…..
And I don’t know about you, but we need to continue to raise “awareness, share info, and educate” everyone on the dangers of “ALL ADDICTIONS”! And that’s what I intend to do! Yes, another LIFE gone to soon again…..
“R.I.P Philip ~ Your now home”
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GOD BLESS ALL,
AUTHOR, CATHERINE TOWNSEND-LYON
Sharing My Journey of Hope, Help & Recovery From Gambling Addiction, News & Resources. 
I’ve known a few who’ve left recovery and either struggled with the addiction until death or died horribly as a direct result of it. Drug addiction is no joke – and kicking it is certainly about more than will power. Anyone who’s even quit smoking, like myself, can tell you that.
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T.D. your spot on!
I just came by your awesome blog. As a person in long-term recovery myself, I know after that many years ( 23 ) in recovery, it truly is hard to start over again. It seems that was the case for Philip. As addicts we need to LEARN from our relapse, that is what I wish I could know from him.
Sadly, we won’t. There is always a starting point of a trigger or urges that build up before we relapse, so it would have been interesting to know what pushed him to use again after so much clean time. His career really was taking off after he won the Oscar for “Capote”……Just a heart breaking ending at only 46 years old.
Thank you for coming by and sharing your thoughts!
God Bless, Catherine 🙂
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Thank you. You’re right, of course. It’s all over my family, so the idea of ODing after double digits of sobriety is unnerving – but I can’t say it’s the first time I’ve seen it.
Thanks for checking out my blog. Best to you.
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Reblogged this on Gorgeous.
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