It doesn’t matter what kind of abuse it is, abusive relationships and addiction to drugs or alcohol often go hand in hand, both for the abused and the abuser. It’s a cultural caricature – the alcoholic father who is also physically, sexually, or emotionally abusive. Like Jenny’s dad in the film, Forrest Gump, a destructive alcoholic and sexual predator, addiction and abuse are often an inseparable pair. Not only do they go together for the abuser, but also, often the abused. We see Jenny throughout the movie follow her father into addiction. There’s some controversy over her sexual exploits, and some people make an argument for her intimacy with Forrest being a kind of sexually predatory move.
Regardless how the character of Jenny in the movie Forrest Gump makes you feel, the move from abused daughter, robbed of her youth and innocence by an abusive, alcoholic father to a vulnerable, sexually promiscuous addict herself seems obvious, almost inevitable as you’re watching the film. It’s impossible to not be moved by what feels like the fate Jenny is served up. The addiction, abused, addiction abuser cycle is not inevitable, and if you look closer at the character of Jenny, she shows us that. She struggles and fights, and in the end, I would argue does indeed break the cycle for her child.
The heartbreaker of the Jenny story is that it feels like fate to begin with. This is perhaps a perfection of direction because this feeling that Jenny was always going to be broken like this is often how an addict feels in real life. Someone who experienced years of abuse at another addict’s hands, often feels irreversibly bad, destined to hurt themselves and others. It is this sense of hopelessness that keeps abuse victims right where they are, in the clutches of those hurting them, and when they do get away, often instead in the hands of addiction.
But you should know, if you have experienced significant abuse at the hands of an addict and you’ve become an addict yourself, your fate is not decided. You have options and we are here to help. You can break the cycle now. It’s not too late. We have treatment facilities in Florida near you. Our facility is the best drug rehab in South Florida, we also offer mental health rehab to support you as you go through changing your way of life and outlook for the future. Please call us today at (833) 596-3502. We can walk you through our drug treatment programs and tell you what it looks like to take your first steps toward sobriety and healthy living.
