# Demons aren't making you take drugs **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 26, 2010, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demons-arent-making-you-take-drugs/533920 "2010-03-26T19:04:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demons-arent-making-you-take-drugs/533920/41 "2010-03-27T03:03:31Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Oh, bullshit. It’s a METAPHOR. Saying that someone has personal demons means that she or he possesses psychological factors that impel her or him to destructive or unpleasant behavior. Nope. It’s like the difference between “I made a mistake” and “Mistakes were made”. It’s not really a big deal, but it is dodging responsibility. ---
**Author:** ![cwthree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demons-arent-making-you-take-drugs/533920/42 "2010-03-27T03:11:06Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > … it is dodging responsibility. Spoken like someone with no experience of mental illness or addiction. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demons-arent-making-you-take-drugs/533920/43 "2010-03-27T03:12:33Z")
We need more hard-headed realism in our obituaries. Instead of referring to ‘personal demons’, the obit should’ve mentioned that what’s-his-name is dead because he was weak, and probably not very smart, and all of y’all should take a lesson from it. Maybe throw in the word ‘loser’ somewhere… ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demons-arent-making-you-take-drugs/533920/44 "2010-03-27T03:27:34Z")
Who else was expecting _True Blood_? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demons-arent-making-you-take-drugs/533920/45 "2010-03-27T04:33:31Z")
> [@](#): > > We need more hard-headed realism in our obituaries. Instead of referring to ‘personal demons’, the obit should’ve mentioned that what’s-his-name is dead because he was weak, and probably not very smart, and all of y’all should take a lesson from it. Maybe throw in the word ‘loser’ somewhere… How about saying he struggled with drug addiction for several years? ---
**Author:** ![Apex\_Rogers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@Apex\_Rogers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apex_Rogers)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demons-arent-making-you-take-drugs/533920/46 "2010-03-27T05:27:20Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > How about saying he struggled with drug addiction for several years? That’s something of a taboo in obituaries, since there is such a stigma around drug use in general. If someone dies in a botched attempt at autoerotic asphyxiation, do you expect the obituary to spell out the details? Negative qualities are usually downplayed, if they’re even mentioned at all. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demons-arent-making-you-take-drugs/533920/47 "2010-03-27T07:05:53Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > How about saying he struggled with drug addiction for several years? What, and spoil my hyperbole? ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demons-arent-making-you-take-drugs/533920/48 "2010-03-27T08:07:41Z")
> [@cwthree](#): > > Spoken like someone with no experience of mental illness or addiction. Was that a compliment? ---
**Author:** ![fuzzypickles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9d8465/32.png) [@fuzzypickles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fuzzypickles)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demons-arent-making-you-take-drugs/533920/49 "2010-03-27T09:05:00Z")
> [@cwthree](#): > > Spoken like someone with no experience of mental illness or addiction. Spoken like someone who refuses to take responsibility for their mental illness or addiction. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demons-arent-making-you-take-drugs/533920/50 "2010-03-27T13:24:44Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > _Elvis_ comes from the same root as _elf_. Graceland is actually a failed attempt at recreating Lothlorien. You must not have been there at Christmas. It was EXACTLY Lothlorien! ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demons-arent-making-you-take-drugs/533920/51 "2010-03-27T14:09:44Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > How about saying he struggled with drug addiction for several years? I’ve never liked that phrasing much either, as it’s equally applied to those who didn’t struggle at all. Fell right into it, second nature, kept it up faithfully! “Destroyed his life and damaged the lives of those around him while abusing drugs” would be a better fit in those cases, but seldom seen while truth-in-obituary legislation is still pending. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demons-arent-making-you-take-drugs/533920/52 "2010-03-27T14:34:36Z")
> [@fuzzypickles](#): > > Spoken like someone who refuses to take responsibility for their mental illness or addiction. :rolleyes: Thanks for making his point for him. Saying mental illness is the fault of the person who has the illness is just as logical as saying someone chooses to be gay. May you never be caught in a mental illness, because, if you were, you don’t sound like someone who’d be able to take the fact that you are not completely in control of your mind. And, don’t take any benzodiazepines for over a week, because you couldn’t stand the addiction. Oh, and the next time you complain about being sick, I will be very sure to tell you that you are responsible for letting those germs touch you, and not living in an environmentally enclosed bubble. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demons-arent-making-you-take-drugs/533920/53 "2010-03-27T14:37:50Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > So Lothlorien is decorated in 70’s Kitsch? :dubious: Which part of “failed” was not clear to you? The King was only 1/262,144 Noldo. It’s not disturbing that I know what the 18th power of 2 is off the top of my head, is it? ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demons-arent-making-you-take-drugs/533920/54 "2010-03-27T14:56:05Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Please do not oblige me to report you to He Who Shall Not Be Named. Colonel Parker? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demons-arent-making-you-take-drugs/533920/55 "2010-03-27T15:00:11Z")
> [@42fish](#): > > Colonel Parker? Which part of “He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named” is unclear to you? Summon him not. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demons-arent-making-you-take-drugs/533920/56 "2010-03-27T15:30:59Z")
> [@](#): > > I’ve never liked that phrasing much either, as it’s equally applied to those who didn’t struggle at all. Fell right into it, second nature, kept it up faithfully! “Everyone who knew the deceased can recall how he enjoyed his addiction and spent many happy hours in drug-induced revelry.” ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demons-arent-making-you-take-drugs/533920/57 "2010-03-27T15:53:23Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Which part of “He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named” is unclear to you? > > Summon him not. The “shall” part. 🙂 Truth in obits, eh? Interesting. “He was a complete asshole. Most of the people at his funeral won’t be crying, they’ll have tears streaming down their faces from holding their laughter in. See ya, sucker.” ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demons-arent-making-you-take-drugs/533920/58 "2010-03-27T16:20:25Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > “He was a complete asshole. Most of the people at his funeral won’t be crying, they’ll have tears streaming down their faces from holding their laughter in. See ya, sucker.” I prefer the more succinct: “Good riddance to bad rubbish.” 😛 Let’s everyone more quickly get back to the business of caring about themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2010, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demons-arent-making-you-take-drugs/533920/59 "2010-03-27T17:12:50Z")
Maybe ‘struggled with personal demons’ is a truthful kind of useful euphemism for ‘And he lost that struggle, and is now being carried to Hell by those very same demons.’ Whereas ‘struggled with his addiction’ is reserved for people who honestly tried to give it up. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demons-arent-making-you-take-drugs/533920/60 "2010-03-29T04:18:07Z")
Demons tell people to take drugs _all the time_ in Jack Chick tracts. Then they go, “Haw haw haw!”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demons-arent-making-you-take-drugs/533920.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/demons-arent-making-you-take-drugs/533920.md?page=4)