Requiem for a Dream and Writing About Addiction

Tips for addressing addiction in your stories.

Arguably the most famous film about dealing with drug addiction is the 2000 film Requiem for a Dream, which features stellar performances by the likes of Marlon Wayans, Jared Leto and Jennifer Connelly. The movie (and the novel it was based on) tackle the subject with brutal honesty, showing the devastating physical, emotional, and psychological effects of drug addiction on the story's main cast. Writing about the effects of addiction in a way that treats the subject with the gravitas it deserves can seem like a daunting task, but there are ways to achieve the authenticity you are aiming for. Here are a few tips to get to that.

Understand the Addiction
Whether the addiction is drugs, gambling, food, pornography or something else, there are nuances to it that you need to understand for you to accurately depict it. Research the topic thoroughly, and get an in-depth understanding of its physical and psychological effects, withdrawal symptoms, and social and legal consequences. Start with the facts and hard data of how the addiction works and what it does in a real sense to the person who is addicted. You want to make sure these hard facts are represented in some way because that is the foundation of your accuracy. From there, you might want to look up real experience and firsthand accounts from people who suffered the addiction, as well as people who've had to interact with those that suffered the addiction. Read personal accounts, watch documentaries, and interview people if you can. This way you can get a more intimate understanding of the addiction at a personal level so you can understand the human element of the situation.

Throw out the Cliches
When writing about addicts, it's easy to dip into the usual bag of tricks and portray them the way you've normally seen them on stage, screen and prose. You can show a stereotypical crack addict acting like Pooky from the film New Jack City or the famous Dave Chapelle skit, or reduce an over-the-counter pill addiction to a trite problem-of-the-week situation like in the TV shows Glee and Saved By The bell, or speed through a gambling addict spiraling like in the movie Rounders. I advise against that. Addiction is a serious issue that should be taken seriously, and demands more nuance than how many mediums treat it. If you're thinking about obvious cliche's you've seen before, think very carefully about how you want to approach including them. A few examples of cliches you want to beware of:
- Your character hitting an extreme low point almost instantly and quitting almost as quickly. The show Gossip Girl was guilty of this.
- a fast rehab process or one moment of clarity fixing everything permanently. New Jack City's rehab montage for Pooky is an example of this, as was Buffy The Vampire Slayer's handling of Willow's magic addiction.
- treating an addiction as a “quirky” character flaw rather than a serious ongoing struggle. The TV show Californication is guilty of this with sex addiction.
- making an addiction look glamorous, rebellious or romantic. Marvel Comics and the MCU have at times done this with Iron Man's alcohol addiction.
- making your addict a stereotype. Try to resist making your addict fall into stigmas of the type of person that would be that kind of addict. addiction of any time can hit anybody, so don't limit it to a certain type of person. This also applies to the people who interact with addicts.
And also remember, addiction is NOT a character trait. Be sure your characters can stand alone on their own and are well developed aside from their addictions. Remembering this can keep things nuanced and help you avoid the cliches.

Internal and external impacts
The struggle with addiction should be most prevalent in Your characters' internal thought process. This includes how they handle temptation and triggers, what happens when their addiction "calls" them, along with any shame or guilt they have about succumbing to that addiction. How do they feel about people judging them based on their situation? How do they handle withdrawal? and how does the addiction affect their decision making process for other aspects of their life? A chainsmoker may avoid jobs that don't allow them to take smoke breaks, and a cannabis addict may have a problem with a job that has frequent or random drug testing. I once worked at a factory alongside a guy who would use his lunchbreaks to go to his car and get drunk, and was a a totally different person when he came back for the second half of the workday. What would drive a person to do that and risk losing their job that way? Taking a serious look at what goes through an addict's mind and heart as they deal with their issue is important to fleshing them out and making their situation real.
And externally, your character's addictions and their treatment of them affect the world and the people in their orbit. I'm a bit ashamed to admit that an addiction to pornography I struggled with got me fired from a job, and almost cost me another, which put a huge strain on my marriage. How does your character's addiction affect them at their workplace? And how do people react to it? Who are the enablers, the deniers, the punishers, the apologists? Who would want to help your addict recover and what are their motivations? Who would want to exploit your character's addiction to further their own agendas? Trust issues, emotional distance, and conflict are typical issues that come from dealing with addicts. Adding these aspects to your supporting cast can really give them some depth and nuance.

Other aspects of addiction
There are many other factors that can have an impact on how your characters handle addiction, and I advise you take them all into consideration. Each type of addiction can have an affect on your character's health, legal issues, finances and environment. How does a gambling addiction affect your character's finances? What does a sex addiction do to your character's body, especially if an STD or pregnancy comes as a result of it? What kind of damage is that drug addiction doing to your character's physiology?
What situations could trigger your character to jump down the rabbit hole of their addiction? Triggers can be emotional, environmental, or situational. I know for me personally, porn was at times an escape for me whenever life circumstances affected me mentally and emotionally. Indulging in those fantasies was my way of asserting control when so much of my life at the time was out of my control, and was really just an illusion of control, because once I started looking at it, I couldn't stop.
Does your character deny that they have a problem, or try to minimize the addiction? That can create a whole new set of problems for your characters and the people around them, especially if those people are trying to get them on the road to recovery.

Can your addict recover?
The cycle of addiction is real, and can take many different forms. You want to pay attention to that as your show your characters' struggles with it. How often does your character hit bottom and decide they want to stop? What steps do they take to achieve that, and what happens when those steps fail? what does a relapse look like? when do they feel like they can conquer their addiction, and when do they feel defeated or trapped by it? what do those moments look like?
If and when your character gets serious about overcoming their addiction, pay attention to that process. How do they seek help, or how is the opportunity for help presented to them? and what do those recovery opportunities look like? is there an intervention? Therapy? Support groups? Highlight the challenges, such as dealing with withdrawal, rebuilding relationships, and facing life without the substance. And not every character with an addiction successfully recovers from it.

Conclusion
Even as you address all of these aspects of your characters' battles with addiction, above all treat the subject with nuance and compassion. There are real people dealing with the issue you are presenting in your fictional story, so keep the fact that some of those people might be reading your story in mind. Try to avoid being judgmental or preachy with your story, and let the characters and situation speak for themselves. It's a daunting, complex topic to address in storytelling, but it can be done, and I have faith that you can do it.

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BTW, what are your favorite stories about addiction? tell me about them in the comments.