While heroin use has destructive impacts on its users, the consequences of its use have equally devastating effects on the families of addicts.
This was evidenced by the heartbreaking account of a Nelson Mandela Bay mother who is today still dealing with the effects of addiction, long after her daughter was rehabilitated from the drug.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the mother revealed her experience.
“They say every drug addict eventually hits rock bottom. Sadly, the parents of addicts know that the same can be said of them.
“My daughter was a functioning addict from her late teens, but you would never know until something really dramatic happened.
“I dealt with that many times, spending nights weeping in hospital waiting rooms, relief gradually setting in as we knew that, once again, she would make it.
“But then my personal rock-bottom moment arrived. I went into my daughter's dishevelled room and found her semi-naked with a needle sticking out of her leg.
“She was unconscious, cool to the touch, and I didn’t react. I simply couldn’t.
“At that moment all the gut-churning moments of being the single parent of a heroin addict hit home,” the mother said.
“From that frozen moment in time, I was unable to show emotion to my daughter or anyone else, which had a huge knock-on effect on the rest of my family.”
The mother said her lack of emotion – a barrier to protect myself – remained, occasionally being replaced by cold anger.
She said today, her daughter has been clean for almost a year and is, by and large, a pleasure to be around.
“But because of the ongoing drug abuse, she has demons in her head.
“She hears voices and needs occasional psychiatric help to avoid committing suicide.
“Like many addicts she is bright and beautiful. Like many addicts, clean though she may be, her future is not assured.
“One dark day I fear that the demons may win. She does too.”