Shaming Drug Addicts

There’s still a stigma placed on drug addiction — old ideas die hard. If anyone pays attention to what little news coverage drug addiction receives, they’ll know that people from all walks of life become addicted to drugs – preachers, police, judges, doctors, politicians, retired grandmothers, plumbers, lawyers, secretaries. Age doesn’t matter — young people become drug addicts, old people, middle aged people — nor does race matter, or religion or nationality, and so forth.

Looking down on drug addicts and shaming them into change is counterproductive and misguided. I hear it all the time, the way people talk about drug addicts, as if they’re an inferior, subhuman species. At other times the attitude toward drug addicts is more subtle, but the idea that drug addicts should be ashamed of their behavior is pervasive. In business circles when someone begins showing signs of alcoholism, the person is often shunned and viewed as weak willed. People gossip about the lady down the street who’s addicted to pain pills — she’s seen as a bad mother and wife.

One would think in 2016 that most people would understand addiction as a chronic brain disease, but that’s not the case with many in society who still place their own value judgments on addiction based on what they were taught growing up. Last night I was at an educational dinner regarding opiate addiction and medically assisted treatment. The speaker was a physician, and several in attendance were physicians. The doctors talked about their lack of training in medical school pertaining to addiction and addiction treatment. They all said the same thing, that addiction was an afterthought in medical school, yet hospitals are filled with patients who are there as a consequence of addiction. Sometimes, people in the helping profession are the worst shamers of all. They get burned out and develop disgust aimed at drug addicts who seek help. Addiction is complicated and difficult to deal with, but it’s very treatable if it’s done with kindness, understanding and competence.

It’s time to stop shaming people who are sick with addiction and start learning what addiction is and how it’s treated. You can take most anyone who feels superior to a drug addict and drill down into their lives to find something that you can shame them for, but rather than looking for ways to feel superior to others, many be we should look for understanding and ways to lend a helping hand.