Addiction kills
Last week, the death of Paul Danan, aged 46, was announced and his funeral was this week. It is yet to be confirmed as to what the precise cause of his death was, but Paul was a self confessed addict who had struggled with addiction all his adult life. He himself said that he had spent over £1 million on various rehabs throughout his life. In 2024 he nearly died from respiratory failure which he said was a result of his smoking all his life and his latest addiction to vapes.
At the time of his death he was due in court for driving under the influence of drugs and possession of cocaine and cannabis. It is rumoured that he died as a result of an accidental fall. Given his promise as a young teenage actor on Hollyoaks, his death is particularly tragic. However, the untimely death of all alcoholics and addicts is a tragedy for anyone who loves and cares for them and in this respect, Paul’s death is just another. He joins the many thousands of alcoholics and addicts that die before they should every year. Some of them hit the news because they are famous. The vast majority do not. All leave grieving families and friends.
It is not usually the body giving up that kills the alcoholic or the addict
Most people will think that people dying from alcoholism will die as a result of liver failure. This is not so. Alcoholism and addiction are mental illnesses first and foremost. The physical addiction follows but it is the mental side of the illness that leads people who can sometimes sober up or get clean (like Paul Danan) to continue to relapse back into their old habits. Addiction is usually due to people being unable to live in their reality. It is a form of mental escapism.
So, if it is not the body giving up on the addict, what is it?
Death from addiction is usually accidental or from suicide
There are two main causes of death: suicide and accident. Addicts in full addiction are very unhappy. Without help for their addiction, they will almost all come to a point where death is preferable to living. Some will deliberately overdose (successfully or not). Others will commit suicide by various other means available to them: hanging, shooting, jumping in front of a train, walking into the sea… you get the picture. In some cases this will be because they did not get the help they needed. Others may have received help but sadly decided they can no longer live with their alcohol or drugs – and nor without them.
Others – possibly like Paul Danan – die as a result of an accident. They may have a fatal fall, die as a result of a road traffic accident, accidentally overdose without meaning to, choke on their own vomit etc.
Sadly, working in the field of addiction, I could provide details of all these forms of death amongst people with whom I have had contact. As a result of this, this is a sad piece to write as I remember many of them. Some I just spoke to. They knew they needed help but did not get round to getting it – usually due to fear of what life would be like without their ‘crutch’ (even though it was clearly pretty awful with it). Others I knew personally. Some had young children. Others had not yet had the opportunity to have children. They died alone and lonely but usually their funerals were well attended. If only they knew how many people loved them and really wanted them to get well, to be happy and fulfilled.
It is true that some of them died as a result of their bodies giving up – liver failure, internal bleeding, sepsis which got the better of a body ravaged by drug use. However many more died from accident or, probably most common, suicide.
Death from addiction does not have to be your story
None of these deaths were necessary. All could have been avoided. Help is out there. Anyone – and I repeat anyone – can get well and stay well from addiction if they are open minded, willing to change and are willing to take advice on how to live their life in a new, challenging and different way.
If you are an alcoholic or addict reading this, please get help. Addiction is a killer illness. Let it not add you to its grim statistics.