Evidence-based programs like SMART Recovery Australia and traditional 12-step programs provide ongoing peer support. Key Components of Recovery
Loss of agency: The narrator repeatedly acknowledges choices made yet frames them as inevitable or compelled, illustrating addiction’s erosion of volition. Phrases that signal surrender—“I can’t stop,” “it takes me”—emphasize the internal conflict between wanting to quit and feeling powerless.
Identity and shame: Harwin interrogates how addiction becomes a lens through which the narrator views themself. Labels like “addict” are both self-applied and externally imposed, creating a cyclical shame that feeds the behavior it condemns.
Relationship and isolation: The piece often references other people—partners, friends, or society—whose reactions range from enabling to judgmental. These interactions highlight how addiction alienates the individual even as it becomes a maladaptive means of coping with loneliness.
Temporality and memory: Time in the piece feels compressed and cyclical; past traumas and rituals of use loop into present actions. This layering conveys how addiction collapses forward momentum, trapping the narrator in repeated patterns.
UN International Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI)
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