In this podcast, we discuss the ways in which family members can educate themselves and support initiatives that will de-stigmatize addictive disorders.
We learn that:
- Family members must not buy into the myth that an alcoholic or addict has to hit bottom before they will accept help. Believing that dangerous myth could take years to play out and could result in death or jail, or somewhere in between.
- The alternative to standing by and watching the train wreck is to do an intervention in which the whole family participates, and it starts with education on the nature of the disease.
- Stigma may be the greatest obstacle to reversing the drug abuse epidemic (and include alcohol, too), and it is our collective task to fight the stigma that keeps addicts and alcoholics and their families in a state of needless shame.
- Choosing a professional to assess and treat the loved one whom you suspect is an addict or alcoholic is a critical decision. If the responsible family member ends up with a clinician not trained in addictive disease, the treatment may worsen the addict’s condition.
- Supporting the MATE Act and others that promote more rigorous education on the nature of addiction and alcoholism can go a long way to reversing the addiction epidemic. Clinicians will become better trained to identify and treat an addictive disorder, which helps all of society.