Changing the way people think about substance misuse starts with changing the language. That’s not easy, Charlie Harding, SEK Recovery House manager, said.
“I come from a 12-step background so that’s a lot of ‘hi, I’m an alcoholic’ or ‘I’m an addict.’ I’ve had to break that habit and use person-first terms like substance misuse,” Harding told a group gathered for a Community Conversation on Wednesday evening about issues related to “substance use disorder.”
That’s a less disparaging way to describe an “addict,” which often brings to mind inaccurate stereotypes and beliefs. It implies addiction is a moral failing, rather than a chronic, treatable disease.
Dr. Erik Unruh is a family physician with Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas in Iola. He tries to use language that “respects people where they are and gives them the benefit of doubt.” The right language can show that someone “has” a problem, rather than “is” a problem.
“We’re trained in our culture that it’s an individual choice and a moral failure, and if you would just make a better decision then you would heal yourself,” Unruh said.
“It’s way more complex and way more layered than that. I try to talk to patients to be more forgiving of themselves even though society tells you you’ve failed and you’re not worthy.
“It takes a lot of education and hard work to teach ourselves and to teach everybody around us that people are struggling with a disease, not just bad decisions.”
How do you not take it personally, asked Summer Boren, a community health worker with Thrive Allen County. She has family members who have battled addiction. It’s one thing to recognize someone has a disease; it’s quite another to understand how a disease can result in someone stealing from you or hurting you or people you care about.
“I think that’s where some of the judgment comes from,” Boren said.
