Don't Know the Word For It

There is an appropriate word to describe and give meaning to the process peeling Sarah apart, one layer at a time. Slippage? Reversal? Retrogression...I think maybe that word fits.

"Act or progress of deteriorating or declining" (American Heritage Dictionary)

How about an image of retrogression?

I saw this series of photos in a presentation at a meeting in Brown County this week. The person shown below has retrogressed from health and beauty to the skeletal appearance due to addiction to meth ... most recent to the initial arrest. The speaker said the photos were taken over a 10 year period. Once per arrest? YouTube sequence is at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23aD6zwlxrk Why do we know this? Ugh.

That's scary and perhaps an exaggeration: say 1 out of 20 meth addicts looks like that 10 years later. The missing footnote to this story leaves out the statistics for the number of meth addicts who do not live 10 years. Be assured the statistic is sad. Pretty sure there is a 0% survival rate for mice on meth over a decade.

Retrogression.
She says does not use meth. (I sure hope she doesn't!) Thank goodness it's only heroin.
My child doesn't use heroin. Thank goodness it's only oxy.
The kid swears she stays away from oxy. Only some prescription pills.
Nope, not perscription drugs. Mostly just marijuana. Thank goodness.
No drugs at all. She does like beer. Thank goodness.
I don't drink ... someone like, spiked my drink and I drank it all before I threw up!
I only tasted it around the campfire. I almost never drank before.

Not to worry, those are just symptoms of a problem. We really do need to address the underlying causes. Trouble is, I can't remember which those are.

I've retrogressed.