So the next moment you think about the drug epidemic, keep in mind the next addict could be sitting next to you in the doctor's office, in the grocery store or even under the same roof you live in. Let us start building an atmosphere where we can have open discussions which each other about addiction and recovery and help aid in making certain others don’t feel embarrassed about revealing what’s happening to them if they are struggling with this epidemic themselves. Let us direct them to the appropriate treatment they may demand. Narrow mindedness for the heroin epidemic we are presently encountering in the world needs to change, we all need to adjust our perspective.

As children, we are informed about addiction through DARE or drug programs that depict this picture for us of what a drug addict looks like, but what they don’t tell you is it can happen to anybody, maybe even you. they do not inform the youth or public that addiction does not discriminate. We ignore that drug addicts are individuals too and have feelings, emotions and opinions. They have made the wrong decisions and are confronting those poor choices every day. They are their own worst enemy and they don't need you as an enemy either. The things I did during my addiction is appalling to me, I was not myself. I felt as if I was being taken over by someone or something else and I no longer had control over my actions, thoughts, desires, enjoyment, instincts, soul, body and mind. I no longer had any control over my life. I was residing in purgatory for 6 long-ass years. But having an addiction does not mean I’m weak, morally flawed or a bad person. It simply means I’m human. I'm here today to celebrate the story of my recovery and how damn far I have come today.

I want to help assist in stopping the social stigma that drug addicts experience in our world today. Social stigma is the intense disapproval of a person or group on the grounds of a specific characteristic that distinguishes them from others in society. There are so many negative misconceptions that surround addiction, drug misuse, and the struggles of those who are dealing with addiction in our modern-day society. This stigma is so prevalent that it carries negative consequences, especially for those who are too afraid to ask for help for fear of being damagingly labeled. I have felt this stigma every day in my life and even during my recovery years I was still ashamed to come out and say it to the world. The stigma of being a heroin addict will always be with me. Those who are uneducated about addiction (which is most of the United States today) speak of it as if it were a mere choice and completely disregard the chemical and internal way that drugs alter the human brain. People should not feel ashamed to seek help for a medical condition just because society has upheld false beliefs for too long. Most of us feel as if we are forced to deal with our addiction and recovery in silence all on our own as I have. I have faced this stigma by my family, friends, coworkers, doctors and the general public. Feeling degraded, judged, a bad person, and weak for this disease I had is completely unfair and inhumane. It's discouraging and immoral behavior by those who inflict it and honestly makes them no better than I am.

It's time we start to change this way of thinking in our society or we will only keep losing people we love dearly to abuse, addiction, and overdose. Let's stop the social stigma that has been created around drug addicts. Ways we can help to combat this is by educating our youth about this issue and the honest truth about drugs. No more dare or drug programs that only hide the issue from our youth and not talk wholeheartedly about what’s really happening. Let's be honest with them and not scare them, such as they had tried to do in my youth (which didn't work out so well) Lets inform our youth and general public of what is actually going on in society today, inform them of ways to help someone they may know that is going through addiction and how to break the cycle of the stigma that's created around addiction. That’s truthfully all I remember about the dare program in school, them trying to scare the shit out of us about drugs and showing us extremely outdated videos about drugs. I remember still to this day watching a video on marijuana that was literally from the 1970s and all us kids did the whole time was laugh about it. Now that’s not the proper way to educate anyone. Let's educate the public more as a whole about new ways to help aid in the addiction epidemic we are facing today. Offer compassion and support, lend an ear to someone who is struggling and leave all judgments at the door can all be ways to help make a huge difference. Politely correct others’ misconceptions about stigma. These are all different ways we can eliminate this stigma.

That’s one of the number one reasons I wanted to create this blog, to help in any way I can whether that be helping guide or reassure an addict they are not alone or help a family member whose son, daughter, aunt or uncle may be an addict and they just don't understand what life is like for them or how they can help aid them back on to the right path to recovery. We are not alone and drug addiction has hit home for almost everyone in America today. That could either be you personally, a family member or a friend that you know who has delt with addiction or has even passed on because of overdose or not seeking the treatment they may have been needing. If you have a personal story about addiction and how it has affected you in your life, I would love to hear about it and discuss with you further on how it can be published on this blog. Email me your story at gratefulmomintraining@gmail.com. Remember to stay strong and keep fighting every day! Namaste