I'd like feedback on my article: Loving the Addict

1. 85

   ShyeAnneposted 6 years ago

   Hi Hubbers,
   
   I'd like some help with passing the Quality Assessment Process. Will you please give feedback on my article Loving the Addict. What can I do to improve? Thanks!

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      Glenis Rixposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      I think the article would be improved if you wrote something about treatment options and support groups that are available to addicts. Also, you have focussed on alcoholism, but there are other addictions that are similarly destructive. You could perhaps change the title so that is clear that your topic is restricted to a specific addiction, or expand the content to cover other addictions. At the moment it reads more  like a personal blog than an article that offers practical advice.

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2. 85

   ShyeAnneposted 6 years ago

   Thank you Glenis for your feedback.  I wrote it in the spirit of the 1st person and it is a bit of a personal blog.  I will take your suggestions into my consideration.

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      ShyeAnneposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Further to your suggestion Glenis, the person whose actions motivated me to write this hub has been through detox and treatment a minimum of 15 times so including suggestions for this avenue for help with addiction didn't enter my thoughts as I view it as useless information.  I see I clearly need to remove the 'personal' aspect of my hub.  I am not sure if my style of writing jives with the Hubpages criteria moving forward.  It may be time to embrace the blog.

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      1. 96

         theraggededgeposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         No, don't remove the personal aspect. Your readers want to hear your story, how you coped and survived. However, keep it to one part of the article - the beginning. Relate your story, then bring in information that will help others deal with their similar situations.
         
         HubPages wants informative and useful articles, not blog posts. So structure your piece as if it was a feature in a magazine.
         
         You have a the basis of a good article here, so build on it and make it better

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         1. 85

            ShyeAnneposted 6 years agoin reply to this

            Thank you for your words of encouragement.  I will re-work the article..

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         Glenis Rixposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         Never give up hope. I have close experience of a person who had a life threatening drug addiction for over twelve years. That person has now been clean for ten years. In terms of alcohol addiction, I understand that there is an aversion medication that causes very unpleasant but harmless reactions if alcohol is consumed. Of course, the addict needs to desperately want to be released from the prison of addiction and needs a will of iron to achieve a successful outcome. I believe that family support, though incredibly difficult to sustain, can be a vital part of the process. But, at the end of the day, not everyone can be saved and we need to know when it is time to walk away.

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         1. 85

            ShyeAnneposted 6 years agoin reply to this

            Fortunately there are also success stories among my personal circles, friends/family that have been able to separate themselves from their addictions. I am the eternal hoper of a return to sanity for the ones that appear to be floundering.  The Loving the Addict hub is such a tiny glimpse into the quagmire of people I interact with that have addictions.  My writing style tends to lead toward the personal and I need to work on changing that.  I feel jaded toward the helping organizations, treatment centers, detox etc as my experience shows me that quality recovery is an option more available to the middle class person or those that come from a family with money.  The 'poor' folk, the ones that rely on social services to live, the ones that do not have a strong family connection with money, and the working poor,  well, one needs to be a higher functioning person than most alcoholics to navigate the red tape to secure a bed in a facility and also chase the funding needed to make it happen.  This is a daunting prospect for an active alcoholic.  I know this first hand because when I took the leap to sobriety in 1991 I had advocates and it was still really challenging to get the funding to secure a spot in the facilities available for a recovery process.
            This particular thread is about feedback for my hub and I have strayed away from that with again, my personal experience.  Thank you for your feedback.  I truly appreciate it and will implement all the suggested insertions/changes if I decide to go back and work the hub.

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3. 96

   theraggededgeposted 6 years ago

   Hi ShyeAnne,
   
   To be honest, the article doesn't give very much information, and the content doesn't reflect the title much. It's too short really to address the topic in detail, and it's also disjointed and seems to leap about. The Canadian Info section is irrelevant as it isn't about loving an addict; it's just general figures about the number of people who drink - most people who drink are not alcoholics.
   
   My suggestion would be to write up a short version of your personal story, then take a step back and do some research about addicts and their relationships. Give some alternative scenarios. Offer some workable suggestions of what to do in an emergency situation, and then how to manage the relationship long-term.
   
   So to start with, you need to create a framework for the article using sub-headings as your guide. So it might go:
   
   My Story of Loving an Addict
   What Addicts Will Ask You To Do
   How to React in an Emergency
   How to Manage a Long-Term Relationship With an Addict
   
   You could always change or add in more. Once you start writing to the subtitles, the article will grow itself.

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4. 85

   ShyeAnneposted 6 years ago

   Thank you theraggededge.  The whole purpose of asking for feedback is to get honest input so I appreciate your candor. I see exactly what you are saying and if I decide to expand on this hub to get it featured I will take your suggestions into consideration.

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