Joking about Addiction

How does everyone deal with people who joke about this? I have several friends who joke about 'being alcoholics' as if this is something funny or desirable. They get a bottle of wine to take to dinner and say things like "oh we'll need one each because I'm such an alcoholic!", or "You know me, I'll be wasted by 10pm and passed out because I'm such an alchy".

All of these friends do seem to have unhealthy relationships with alcohol - where they drink so much that they vomit, black out and make fools of themselves. I can absolutely relate as I have had those issues too, but I never thought it was something to be proud of and laugh about. I was always completely embarrassed in the morning. Feeling shame pushed me to recognizing I had a problem and addressing it. Without that I'm not sure what it would have taken for me to notice this.

I wonder if anyone else knows people who say things like this? How do you respond to it?

I knew some people who had an alcohol problem. These two, they were drunk almost every hour of the day. In the mornings all jokes were about the things they'd done when they were drunk the previous night. They even embraced superstition.

"Oh wow, you saw a black cat. You'll have lots of free booze today."

Such people who treat addiction with such levity have yet to realize they have problem. Sooner or later when alcohol start taking its toll on their bodies they'll finally learn that using drugs comes at a steep price.

How would one respond when they hear someone make fun of an addiction. Well, you remind them of the future — drugs will ruin their lives eventually.

I have no problem with addiction-related jokes, as long as they are not stupid nor overused. They're only jokes, and one should know they have to treat them as such. I don't laugh at most of them, but I don't get pissed off either. I can say I am neutral to them. After all, it's stupid to take an allusion or joke personally.

I personally don't take that kind of jokes so seriously, don't let jokes offend me so easily. But sometimes i do get irritated at some jokes, only when they are stupid and irritating. My fiance makes a lot jokes like those, then he wonders why I am not laughing. He sometimes jokes about addictions, but not so often, I just find his jokes irritating because they are not funny and always at my expense. A joke is not a joke until makes both the receiver and sender laugh.

I think the difficult aspect for me is that while they're joking about it, they will never realize that what they are doing is unhealthy. They'll need to come to the realization themselves, and it's absolutely up to them what they do with their lives, but hearing about their latest drunken dramas that have gotten them an official warning at work just doesn't seem funny to me.

I probably just need to be a bit more honest with my opinions of things like that! An honest comment from me could possibly help them in the long run.

I hate those kind of jokes. I actually don't find it funny one bit and I have quite a sense of humour. I likely would frown on it and if it's close to home I'd definitely have something to say about it. Anything that has the potential to cause so much harm should not be a laughing matter! That's coming from a real comedian....ME.

I have heard such annoying things people say about addiction and all but you should ignore them, because they're ignorant and inexperienced. people are going to say annoying things to you till the end of your life, so it's up to you to not get annoyed by it.

Well, I think most jokes are actually half-meant, and sometimes, you feel kind of insulted whenever people make fun of your addictions. But I think the best thing to do when you're in this situation is to just ignore those people. They aren't just worth it.

Oh well, I used to get jokes like this all the time whenever I drink. My friends used to (jokingly) say that I'm turning out to be like my dad (who was an alcoholic). It didn't bother me much though. It's not true anyway. I only drink occasionally. Although that part about my dad was true and sometimes it makes me sad that people remember him because of his addiction to alcohol. I just tell them, "Hey! Let my dad rest in peace, okay. His alcoholism is not something to make fun of."

I don't find addiction jokes to be funny. People rarely get any kind of response out of me let alone a laugh for making one.

@deanokat I really enjoyed your blog post, thanks for linking it! I totally agree too. I often cringe when I hear someone describe something like "it's like X, but on CRACK". I don't understand how this became something funny. I like a bit of black comedy but I feel like it reinforces a totally incorrect (and harmful) view of crack cocaine.

Also, yikes at the anonymous commenter on the blog!

Depends on how they're framed, I suppose. I absolutely agree that jokes in the midst of addiction are lousy. I've heard 'em before, and they always lead me to wonder if part of the person knows they're an addict, and just won't quite admit it to themselves. Humour as a means of overcoming addiction, however... that could be quite beneficial, depending on the jokes you're telling.

I dunno. I'm of the frame of mind that you should be able to joke about anything. But that doesn't mean the joke is always going to be funny.

I feel like you could be accurate with that @SLTE! That sometimes the person is subconsciously thinking they might be an addict, but are joking about it as a way to push the idea away.

I agree too - sometimes jokes about addiction can be funny! Especially when they're something that we all relate to. It's definitely a good thing to have a laugh.

There are quite a few people I know who joke about being drunk as if it is funny. I do not like to be around people like this. For instance, I have a friend, well you to be a close friend who always says that the bottle is his life and when he leave that he taking one with him. I do not think that this is a joking matter because that bottle is problem going be what takes him out of the world. Being an alcoholic is not a good thing already, but to act as if you are proud of it know that is ridiculous to me. I do feel sorry for these type of people.

There's not much you can do outside of tell them that you don't think it's funny and why you don't think it's funny. Humor is generally always negative, and when you're at the receiving end of the joke it totally sucks and I get it. The most you can do is back off or tell them to stop because it's a serious issue that a lot of people struggle with.

I honestly don't have a huge problem with it. People are always going to make jokes about certain situations and at times, they mean no harm. They will use certain phrases that might offend someone else, but we can't spend our lives getting offended over every little thing. I usually join in on the jokes because I know people aren't trying to bother me or single me out. It's just a common phrase, normally.

I hadn't noticed, but yes! they do use the ''x on crack'' thing so often it is really bothersome Crack is not something ot make fun of, it's a shame they named those fires crack fries, because well... it's pretty likely they mean they are as addictive as crack which is horrendous and bound to cause a lot stir. Plain awful!

I have seen people encourage alcoholics by joking about it. I was once at a gathering and one of the guys was served every 30 seconds. He clearly did not want to drink but the server was constantly taunting him that he claimed to finish a bottle of whisky before breakfast everyday. Does that happen often among peers?

It does bother me a bit. Living with an alcoholic and dealing with it on a daily bases it bothers me when people who don't drink much joke like that. All I can think is you have no idea what it is really like. It is no laughing matter. I never say anything though but I do get quite and don't respond to what they said. There is nothing funny about alcoholism and it is nothing to joke about.