History Main / FunctionalAddict

* ''RequiemForADream'': All the characters begin their addictions completely functional, and most of them are arguably functional for almost the entire film.

* Arguably, Homer from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' is one, but DependingOnTheWriter, this can vary greatly.
* Almost as arguably, Brian on ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''—if he's not shown holding a drink or in a bar during an episode, chances are that there will be some reference to him smoking weed.

* Frank Fontaine from ''{{BioShock1}}'' is on ADAM, like the rest of Rapture, but has used just enough of it to survive while avoiding going into full-on Splicer status. [[spoiler:When you corner him at the end, though, he overdoses on all of the ADAM in his possession, becoming superhuman... and utterly insane.]]

* You could make the argument that just about every main character on ''{{MASH}}'' is one of these. However, in one episode Margaret catches an old friend drinking during surgery and busts her. The withdrawal symptoms she goes through are...a bit disturbing.

* Theodore Dalrymple's ''Romancing the Opiates'', among other interesting facts, describes studies in which people with opiate addictions were able to maintain jobs for years, quite sufficient to maintain their habits. Compared to other abused substances, the short-term effects of opiates is not all that debilitating (compared to say, alcohol). And there is a theory that most opiate addicts are actually depressive who are unwittingly self-medicating (opiates being a mild antidepressant), which means that drug use might actually ''improve'' their life, for a while, at least. The problem only appears when these people suffer some crisis like divorce or loss of employment, which will send them over the edge and make recovery so much more difficult if not downright impossible (with a lot of the problems stemming from their need to get money to fund their addiction, which would often lead to illegal activity, and it goes downhill from there).

* Theodore Dalrymple's ''Romancing the Opiates'', among other interesting facts, describes studies in which people with opiate addictions were able to maintain jobs for years, quite sufficient to maintain their habits. compared to other abused substances, the short-term effects of opiates is not all that debilitating (compared to say, alcohol). And there is a theory that most opiate addicts are actually depressive who are self-medicating (opiates being a mild antidepressant), which means that drug use might actually ''improve'' their life, for a while, at least. The problem only appears when these people suffer some crisis like divorce or loss of employment, which will send them over the edge and make recovery so much more difficult if not downright impossible (with a lot of the problems stemming from their need to get money to fund their addiction, which would often lead to illegal activity, and it goes downhill from there).

* Theodore Dalrymple's ''Romancing the Opiates'', among other interesting facts, describes studies in which people with opiate addictions were able to maintain jobs for years, quite sufficient to maintain their habits. The problem only appears when these people suffer some crisis like divorce or loss of employment, which will send them over the edge and make recovery so much more difficult if not downright impossible.

* TomClancy's Literature/JackRyan has a heroin problem, acquired through a pain medication regimen after a gunshot wound. Clancy's been criticized for this plot element, as he's supportive of the [[DrugsAreBad War On Drugs]] and dismissive of real-life chronic pain victims.

[[folder: Video Games]]
* ''TheElderScrollsFour'': Being turned into a vampire could be considered this. The PlayerCharacter is just fine as long as he feeds once every few days.

* TomClancy's Literature/JackRyan has a heroin problem, acquired through a pain medication regimen after a gunshot wound. Clancy's been criticized for this plot element, as he's supportive of the WarOnDrugs and dismissive of real-life chronic pain victims.

* ''TheExpendables'': Gunnar is heavily suggested to be a junkie (a heroin addiction, presumably, based on the typical understanding of the word "junkie", but his exact addiction is a mystery), which heavily clouds his sense of better judgment and seriously afflicts his personality, yet he was still able to take on Ying Yang, and would have beaten him in one-on-one combat had Barney not interfered.
* ''GhostsOfMars'': Melanie Ballard (Natasha Henstridge) is a drug addict, but manages to hold down a job as a police officer.

It's common for none of the other characters in the work to [[DarkSecret even know]] that there is an issue until [[ItGotWorse it gets worse]]. It is also commonly used as TheReveal for a particular character on a VerySpecialEpisode, where it is revealed they have been a functional addict throughout the series and are now coming to terms with it.

* Despite his [[NeverLiveItDown far more well-known breakdowns]], [[IronMan Tony Stark]] actually spent a lot of time beforehand as a ''functioning'' alcoholic. Of course, as typical of works of fiction, [[ItGotWorse that went downhill so steeply]] that he [[DespairEventHorizon slammed straight into rock bottom]]. '''''[[DeathSeeker H]][[HeroicBSOD a]][[SurvivorGuilt r]][[DrowningMySorrows d]]'''''. Granted, Tony's gone through [[TraumaCongaLine a lot of awful shit]], so his descent into [[TheAlcoholic full-blown alcoholism]] wasn't unjustified.

* ''TheWire'': [[CowboyCop Jimmy McNulty]] is a particularly believable example; hard-drinking and described by his best friend as "an emotional train-wreck of a human being", he clearly has many issues. While he is obviously alcoholic, it's not until season 5 that his alcoholism is explicitly called such (it mostly gets accepted as typical "cop" behaviour), but in a scene where the FBI are investigating [[spoiler: a fake serial killer [=McNulty=] has invented to gain access to funding that would otherwise be denied to less glamourous cases]]. The FBI only listens to a short piece of [[spoiler: "serial killer"]][[CreateYourOwnVillain McNulty]] talking, but they use it to nail his personality almost exactly, describing him as an arrogant, high-functioning alcoholic. [[WhatHaveIBecome McNulty]] is visibly shaken by how accurate they are, especially given that he was loudly proclaiming the inaccuracy of FBI profiles not a minute earlier.
** What about Bubbles? I mean, sure, the guy had quite a run of bad luck as the series progressed, but on an average day, he functioned just fine. In spite of how much some police underestimated and even dismissed him, he provided invaluable information and aid on many occasions. In the meantime, he was adept at scrounging up enough money to pay for his drugs through some ingenious scams, good with math, and ran a modestly successful business from a shopping cart for a time.

* Series/NurseJackie is a functional addict to Oxycodone.

** Wait, she's dependent on ''tryptophan''? The one that causes depression and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pellagra pellagra]] (no muscle spasms there) when deficient?

* Doctor Stephen Franklin on ''{{Babylon 5}}'' is addicted to Stims during the third season, having started on them in the second season to keep up with the crushing burden of running an understaffed hospital and dealing with the many crises that occur on the station. When he nearly [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone gets a patient killed]] due to being strung out from lack of rest and having dangerous amounts of the stuff in his system, [[spoiler: he tenders his resignation and goes on a [[WalkingTheEarth walkabout]] to detox.]]

* The Templars of the "DragonAge" series are essentially this. They get their anti-magic powers from lyrium, which is extremely addictive. All active-duty templars are functional addicts, but for every one of them, there's several for whom the years of enforced lyrium dependency have lead to becoming burnt-out shells.

* ''{{Futurama}}'': Bender is essentially a commentary on functional alcoholism, as he [[ExaggeratedTrope literally needs alcohol in order to function]], or else his fuel cells run dry, even though it makes him surly and he could actually survive on mineral oil.

* Arguably, Homer from ''TheSimpsons'' is one, but DependingOnTheWriter, this can vary greatly.

* Theodore Dalrymple's ''Romancing the Opiates'', among other interesting facts, describes studies in which people with opiate addictions were able to maintain jobs for years, quite sufficient to maintain their habits.

* In ''ACruelGodReigns'' Jeremy becomes a drug addict and prostitute to help him cope with the {{Post Traumatic Stress Disorder}} he suffers from due to months of torture and rape at the hands of his step-father. So not quite "functional," but more functional than he would have been.

-->-- '''GeorgeCarlin'''

* Misato of ''NeonGenesisEvangelion'' drinks ''a lot'' of alcohol, to the point of having a fridge full of nothing but beer, but it's never shown to interfere with her job, where she's actually quite competent and is one of the (relatively speaking) more well adjusted members of an extremely dysfunctional cast. She also seems to quit near the end of the show, [[AddictionDisplacement replacing alcohol with coffee and cigarettes]].
* In ''{{A Cruel God Reigns}}'' Jeremy becomes a drug addict and prostitute to help him cope with the {{Post Traumatic Stress Disorder}} he suffers from due to months of torture and rape at the hands of his step-father. So not quite "functional," but more functional than he would have been.
* Bird's Nest in ''{{Copernicus Breathing}}'' takes drugs when he is overwhelmed by the memory/ghost of his little brother Michel and is borderline {{Driven to Suicide}}.

* ''{{Leverage}}'': [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] by Nate:

* TomClancy's Literature/JackRyan has a heroin problem, acquired through a pain medication regimen after a gunshot wound. Clancy's been criticized for this plot element, as he's supportive of the WarOnDrugs and [[DidNotDoTheResearch dismissive of real-life chronic pain victims.]]

** Wait, she's dependent on ''tryptophan''? The one that causes depression and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pellagra pellagra]] ([[DidNotDoTheResearch no muscle spasms there]]) when deficient?

** Not to mention some things so integrated into society that addiction is the norm, such as easy telecommunication, the Internet, social media, and so on. Drawing a distinct line between addiction and necessity however is hard, meaning only severely dysfunctional addicts are acknowledged as such.
*** The fact that you can hardly get through a television or internet presentation about a vaguely collected concept of "cyber-addiction" without any number of advertisements for Yahoo, Facebook, Google, Twitter, etc. goes to show that the popular concept of where the levels of "hobbyist", "functional addict" and "non-functional addict" seem to always lag a bit behind the research. Just take a look back to alcohol advertisements of the 80's and early 90's, and before that, ''the characters of family shows'' such as {{Lassie}} and TheFlintstones taking breaks to advertise cigarettes among other wares.

* Misato of ''NeonGenesisEvangelion'' drinks ''a lot'' of alcohol, to the point of having a fridge full of nothing but beer, but it's never shown to interfere with her job, where she's actually quite competent and is one of the (relatively speaking) more well adjusted members of an extremely dysfunctional cast.

* NurseJackie is a functional addict to Oxycodone.
* ''WillAndGrace'': Karen's complete addiction to pills and alcohol is a RunningGag, but she is entirely functional and coherent in her daily life. Oddly, not [[LampshadedTrope lampshaded]] at all in the episode [[HypocriticalHumor where Will gets addicted]] to pain pills.

* While generally not vilified, coffee (caffeine) and cigarette (nicotine) addicts count, in addition to common place things such as sugar, salt, and fat, all of which the body naturally craves.

Because DrugsAreBad, the world of fiction is famous for treating drug addicts as feeble, broken people living in disheveled apartments (or in a worst scenario, [[CrazyHomelessPeople homeless]]) and constantly muttering to themselves. However, there has been a general trend lately towards portraying addicts in a more positive light. These drug users, with addictions just as serious, can lead very normal lives, at least to the strangers on the street. They can wake up in the morning, go to work, have a family, and interact socially without any noticeable problems, as long as they are getting their "fix" when necessary.

Simply put, the addiction does not rule this person's life. Typically, this kind of addict can go long periods of time without getting their "medicine" and doesn't depend on their drugs as a "crutch". Often, this is because they can always get the drug when they need it or have the willpower to keep themselves from getting out of control.

In RealLife these kinds of addicts can go their entire lives without ever becoming dysfunctional. It isn't real likely, but it can happen. Fiction, on the other hand, almost always treats them as ticking time-bombs, slowly working up to the one event that will send them over the edge. While crossing the line into dysfunctional territory definitely happens in RealLife as well, the key difference is that fictional sources treat this as inevitable.

It's common for none of the other characters in the work to [[DarkSecret even know]] that there is an issue until [[ItGotWorse it gets worse]]. It is also commonly used as TheReveal for a particular character on a VerySpecialEpisode, where it is revealed they have been a functional addict throughout the series and are now coming to terms with it.

Compare DarkSecret, for characters with any kind of sinister secret in hiding, and DrugsAreBad, for when problematic drug use is the ''only'' kind of drug use.
----
!! Examples:

[[folder: AnimeAndManga]]
* ''HyakujitsuNoBara'': Klaus exhibits the [[DeconstructedTrope Descontructed]] form of this trope. He is implied to have been addicted to morphine in the past, so that once he is injured and needs it to help enhance his performance it's not very effective and he has to increase dosages. As one would expect, he doesn't stop using it after that and it's still up in the air whether he'll be able to curb the addiction again or not.

[[folder: {{Comics}}]]

[[folder: {{Film}}]]
* ''CarlitosWay'': Sean Penn's character David Kleinfeld
* ''TheExpendables'': Gunnar is heavily suggested to be a junkie (a heroin addiction, presumably, based on the typical understanding of the word "junkie", but his exact addiction is a mystery), which heavily clouds his sense of better judgment and seriously afflicts his personality, yet he was still able to take on Ying Yang, and would have beaten him in one-on-one combat had Barney not interfered.
* ''GhostsOfMars'': Melanie Ballard (Natasha Henstridge) is a drug addict, but manages to hold down a job as a police officer.

* ''RequiemForADream'': All the characters begin their addictions completely functional, and most of them are arguably functional for almost the entire film.
* ''TropicThunder'': Jack Black's character Jeff Portnoy.

[[folder: Literature]]

[[folder: LiveActionTV]]
* [[TwentyFour 24]]: Jack Bauer battles a heroin addiction after having to go under a cover as a Junkie just before season 3, but remains functional.

* ''Series/{{Heroes}}'': [[ExaggeratedTrope Exaggerated]] with heroin addict Isaac Mendez, who is actually '''most''' functional when he is using heroin.
* ''Series/{{House}}'': Prior to season 6 and [[spoiler:his being detoxed at the asylum]], Dr. House bounced between functional, barely functional, and "holy-crap-I-need-my-Vicodin-''right''-'''now'''".

*** Bubbles is still a homeless junkie, despite all that. He has a lot of intelligence and ability but he only ever uses his skills to get more dope, and it's been shown several times that he completely falls apart when he can't feed his habit.
* ''{{Leverage}}'': [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] by Nate:
-->"I'm a functioning alcoholic, you know? And the trick is not to get hung up on the alcoholic but celebrate the function part of the sentence."
* NurseJackie is a functional addict to Oxycodone.

* Played with in ''DarkAngel.'' A flaw in Max's engineered genetics means she has [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tryptophan tryptophan]] deficiencies. Without ''large'' regular doses, she has crippling muscle spasms. Because of the state of America AfterTheEnd, the stuff is expensive and hard to come by - though not ''quite'' as much as the steady supplies of chocolate, milk, yogurt, red meat, eggs, fish, poultry, and/or peanuts she'd need to get by without supplements. Because she keeps her condition a secret from her friends, they think she's addicted to recreational drugs and throw away her pills before even confronting her. It comes across as kind of a dick move, though it doesn't help that she won't even explain herself even when they stage an intervention for her.

* Doctor Stephen Franklin on ''{{Babylon 5}}'' is addicted to Stims during the third season, having started on them in the second season to keep up with the crushing burden of running an understaffed hospital and dealing with the many crises that occur on the station. When he nearly [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone gets a patient killed]] due to being strung out from lack of rest and having dangerous amounts of the stuff in his system, [[spoiler: he tenders his resignation and goes on a [[WalkingTheEarth walkabout]] to detox.]]

[[folder: Newspaper Comics]]
* ''{{Doonesbury}}'': Duke has consumed an enormous amount of alcohol and drugs throughout his life, in accordance with the HunterSThompson caricature he was originally. While few of his many schemes and high-profile jobs have proved successful in the end, that hasn't been due to Duke's substance abuse so much as his arrogance, {{jerkass}}ery and poor judgment even when sober.

[[folder: Video Games]]
* ''TheElderScrollsFour'': Being turned into a vampire could be considered this. The PlayerCharacter is just fine as long as he feeds once every few days.
* ''HeavyRain'': Norman Jayden is apparently a functional addict of Triptocaine [[spoiler:(however, ARI is what's actually causing the withdrawal effects)]], though he can die from overuse.

[[folder: Western Animation]]
* ''{{Futurama}}'': Bender is essentially a commentary on functional alcoholism, as he [[ExaggeratedTrope literally needs alcohol in order to function]], or else his fuel cells run dry, even though it makes him surly and he could actually survive on mineral oil.

[[folder: {{Real Life}}]]

Compare DarkSecret, for characters with any kind of sinister secret in hiding, and DrugsAreBad, for all forms of fiction dealing with drug abuse.