The Addict by Anne Sexton

The only character is the addict or narrator.
In this poem you only know the details immediately pertinent to the narrators addiction. You know that she takes eight pills and that she knows there are problematic consequences to her situation.
There is not much left to imagination in this poem. One might wonder what condition warranted the prescriptions, I think it is clearly a mental disorder.
I think Sexton is trying to break into a counterintuitive dichotomy. The pills and the addiction are good and bad at the same time. It has positive and negative effects. She likes what is happening as a result of her meds while also not liking it. So she is a bit confused, she is torn between looking on her addiction as right or wrong. She wants to choose one or the other.
I think there is an emotion of confusion in this poem. I think generally it is not supposed to be emotional, but if there is an emotion in it, it would be scared confusion. The narrator seems to be scattered and torn between how to view her addiction. I don't think she has embraced it.
I have no struggles with addiction. I understand it's rough. It is tough to know how I would act with an addiction. I think I am good with asking for help if I get into trouble, and I know there is a lot of addiction treatment available because it is such a problem in our culture. I would probably be fine. I understand that many addicts are able to overcome their vice by replacing the undesired habit with a healthier one like exercise or music.
This really does not relate to my life at all. I am not on any prescriptions and I don't use any affect altering substances. I am very much in the dark when evaluationg addiction or drug use.