There is a cultural conspiracy in our nation: We talk endlessly about everything … but addiction. Yet addiction is the No. 1 health issue in America. September, National Recovery Month, provides an opportunity to break the taboos and get this family health problem out of the closet.
Other diseases are acceptable subjects for discussion, and people go for help as a matter of course. But families of addicts, and addicts themselves, twist themselves into pretzels pretending to others and themselves that everything’s OK and they don’t need treatment.
Treatment, however, is exactly what all family members do need. Children of addicts and alcoholics can’t bring friends home, and are often afraid to go home themselves, fearful of the violence and neglect they face. Parents desperately try to keep kids in school or college, when treatment is needed far more than homework assignments. Husbands and wives routinely cover up for their spouses’ absences and problems at work.
Hiding only makes things worse, because addiction is a deadly chronic and progressive disease. Without treatment, tragedy is all too often the end result. Addiction may present a confusing picture, but it is never a phase that will pass with time. Why not get help instead of denying the problem?
Addiction still carries a lot of stigma and shame, and the public perception is that addiction and alcoholism are hopeless causes. After all, there is a plethora of media coverage about the wreckage and cost of addiction, but virtually no education or empowerment for at-risk teens or families in crisis.
People don’t know where to go or how to ask for help. We rarely hear the positive stories of recovery, or promote the prevention programs in our communities that are working to help teens make good choices about drugs and alcohol.
The battle rages on across the nation for legalization of marijuana, which is a known gateway drug for teens, and the tobacco industry creates new products to lure teens every day. Medical marijuana advocates promote cannabis as the new wonder drug to cure whatever ails you. Opiate addiction is on the rise for baby boomers and women.
And more college students perish in alcohol- and drug-related incidents on college campuses every year than U.S. soldiers die in war. That’s a fact. College is a new war zone for our children. But high schools and universities don’t want to spell out the risks.
As a new batch of freshmen arrives on high school and college campuses across the nation this month, parents should begin asking a lot of new questions about school and campus life. As a mother who traveled that journey long ago, and know the situation is far worse today, I would not be so trusting now.
At the beginning of every new movement, there is always a darkest hour. As a nation still largely ignoring the perils of addiction, we’re having our dark hour right now. But there is hope. For the first time in almost a hundred years since the war on drugs first began, our dark century of ignorance about addiction is beginning to brighten.
Last week Gil Kerilkowski, director of the President’s Office of National Drug Control Policy, spoke at the National Recovery Month Luncheon in Washington, D.C., hosted by the National Association of Children of Alcoholics and the Entertainment Industries Council. He said that 20 million Americans are in addiction recovery, but that 23 million Americans are still suffering without treatment.
In January 2014, The Parity Act will make it the law for doctors and insurance companies to cover mental health and addiction treatment, the same as treatment for any physical illness. Making coverage the law means people can demand ongoing addiction treatment for the first time, and they should start exploring those options right now.
Decriminalization of drug possession is a step forward for addiction sufferers. The Parity Act is a leap forward. Getting help is the first step toward speaking out.
As a family in long-term recovery, we know that families in crisis hide, while families in recovery speak up and help others reclaim their lives.
Leslie Glass is the producer of “The Silent Majority,” a documentary about teen empowerment premiering on PBS station WEDU on Sept. 19. She is the founder of www.reachoutrecovery.com, the only nonprofit daily Internet magazine and resource for addiction recovery. She lives in Sarasota.
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