Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

About a year and half ago I was at a dinner party and the couple across the table were updating the gathering about friends from days gone by. The wife’s name was Judy and when asked about one of her girlfriends she made a side-to-side menacing look, lowered her tone and said “drugs…rehab”. The other seven people at the table quickly nodded their heads in disgust. After a pause of silence, I broke the ice and said “I’m glad she got help, how is she doing”? Instead of answering my question, Judy said “so tell me Matt, what do you do for a living”? I quickly and cheerfully announced “I work at a drug and alcohol treatment center”. Judy was stunned but couldn’t resist making it worse by following up with “how did you get into that line of work”? I smiled and said “I am a recovering drug addict myself”. Now, that was a picture worth taking! Later, I would provide more details about my consumer marketing background in conversation. Yes, I could have stated earlier at dinner but this ignorant, judgmental and stigmatizing lady didn’t deserve it and got what she had coming.

Stigma means being turned out by our own. It is always a hurtful and painful experience to be made an outsider and shamed. People with addictions are among the most stigmatized of people with real illnesses that need to be recognized and treated – not blamed and outcast for their disease.

Americans and our media need to better understand and correct the damaging views so commonly held about people with addictions. There is an abundance of evidence that people with addictions can recover and lead fulfilling lives with lasting relationships and career achievements. Yet so many people fear, avoid, and otherwise label people with addictions, despite the fact that those suffering from this illness are no less a human being than any other.

Those suffering with addiction are not weak or moral failures. We didn’t sit in kindergarten class and raise our hand and tell everyone “I want to be a drug addict when I grow up”. We are people who got sick and can get better. Whether or not anyone believes addiction is a disease is irrelevant. What we do know is when we treat it as a disease (same as any medical illness), people can and do recover.

Safe Haven Recovery is a boutique Florida Treatment Center located in Miami, FL. We specialize in Suboxone Maintenance & Detox, along with, Couples Treatment. Call us today at 866-447-4650.

About the Author

Matthew Koenig is a freelance writer and principal of Last Call Marketing which devotes their efforts to Digital Marketing, SEO and Social Engagement. Concentrated in addiction recovery, Mr. Koenig is based out of South Florida. His sober date is June 10, 2013.