This is a guest post by Vince Horan.
Forty years ago, the image of an alcoholic was a middle-aged male who had lost everything important in life and was banished to a homeless life on “Skid Row”.
An addict was considered a burned-out junky in the back alley of the slums with a needle in his arm.
Addiction was believed to be a loss of willpower, so addicts were considered weak-minded individuals condemned to a life of pain and suffering caused by living a life of sin.
The “stigmatism” about addictions was born out of the ignorance and fear of a society that could not “figure out” an abnormality they could not understand.
The same stigmatism applies to mental health disorders as well. Out of fear, people make judgments about individuals and behaviors that act outside of the norm of their own beliefs.
The goal is to isolate and categorize these individuals and their behaviors so that society doesn’t have to take responsibility for their condition. It is easier to judge, condemn, and ostracize than to face the pain and grief of what is not working in our culture and reach out with compassion to those who suffer from these diseases.
Addictions are coping strategies that develop from an early age as a means to hide the pain, relieve fear and anxiety, repress traumatic memories, or mask shame and/or poor self-esteem. It is estimated that ten to twenty percent of the population has untreated addictions.
If there is an addiction in the family legacy, the percentages rise in a range from 50 – 90%. Addictions are an epidemic in American culture. Forty years ago, the average age of onset for alcohol or drug abuse was between 16 and 18. Today, the average onset is between 9 and 11 years of age.
Forty years ago, the average alcoholic was considered a middle-aged white male who had a severe drinking problem. Today, the average addict is between 20 and 30 years of age, a multi-cultural male or female with a history of polysubstance abuse. The definition of addiction has expanded to include other compulsive behaviors such as eating disorders, gambling, spending, sex, hoarding, workaholism, and many others.
The primary symptom common to all addictions is denial. Denial is also the first stage of the grief process. Codependency is another form of addiction labeled for those who live with the alcoholic or addict and also live in denial. Denial is the attempt of the mind to ignore, minimize, rationalize, excuse, or control the realities of addiction.
Stigmatism is a form of denial that judges addicts or refuses to accept addiction as a viable disease that exists in our culture. The stigmatism attached to addictions excuses mainstream America from any responsibility in diagnostics, care, and treatment for those who suffer from addictions.
This stigmatism is so prolific in the American culture that it has only been in recent years that the medical profession even admitted addictions as a viable diagnosis in their Diagnostics and Statistical Manuals. This Stigmatism and denial play a significant role in the epidemic that is addictions in this culture.
Most addicts suffer poor self-esteem and carry a great deal of shame about the behaviors and attitudes that have rendered their lives unmanageable. The general stigmatism about addiction only adds to their shame and poor self-esteem and fosters the need for avoidance, isolation, and secrecy.
Stigmatism is fear masquerading as critical judgment. If someone were diagnosed with diabetes, the dominant response would be compassion. When someone is diagnosed with addiction, the general response is usually disbelief, horror, denial, and disgust.
The stigmatism of addictions leads to shame.
The need is to reduce the fear of the general public and encourage the outpouring of compassion, time, energy, and resources to those who suffer from addictions.
Fear needs information.
Knowledge is power.
Only with accurate knowledge can we embrace the malady of addictions and provide the treatment resources necessary to intervene on this disease that has reached epidemic proportions in American Culture.
Vince Horn is a Certified Counselor in the State of Washington.
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