Alice Cooper six-stringer and highly respected solo artist Nita Strauss took to social media earlier today, October 3rd, with the following message:

"With one of our rock family members, the mighty James Hetfield (of Metallica), entering rehab this week, I’ve been seeing a lot of talk about addiction and I wanted to share a thought on the subject with you guys.

Not everyone is an alcoholic or an addict.
In fact - most people have no problem having a couple beers with friends or a glass of wine with dinner and letting that be the end of it.
However, other people aren’t wired the same way. The compulsion to drink or get high is too overwhelming unless they abstain completely.
Neither type of person is wrong... they’re just drawn that way.
I’m the second type of person. Some people are compulsive like that. Alcohol. Gambling. Food. All things that some people can enjoy in moderation, and others can’t.

The first type will probably never fully understand the second type. They can be supportive, but part of them may always think 'well I can have a few... why can’t she?'

Some might even choose to cruelly project this thought onto struggling people trying to live some version of a normal life. Case in point: on one of my recent Instagram posts, a person in recovery asked an innocent question about resisting temptation, which turned into a 50+ comment melee about sobriety not being 'cool' with a couple gems like 'just let your hair down and have a few beers... you’ll enjoy it I promise.'

Setting aside the absolute thoughtlessness of saying that to someone who is struggling, the bottom line is this:

We must all be supportive of other people’s choices to try and better themselves. Some people meditate. Some people work out. Some people abstain. Some people still drink. And all of that is ok! What’s not ok is telling someone that you do not know how to live their life, in any way, shape, or form. Support each other. Elevate each other. Don’t judge each other.

I for one think that James Hetfield is rock and roll as fuck for getting his demons under control, and I hope to see him back and firing on all cylinders soon."

(Photo by Larry Dimarzio)