The Need to Destigmatize Rehab

“At the end of the day, if we could solve the inner problems of people in isolation and loss and fear and trauma and insecurity and sadness and darkness of heart, drugs would not be the problem they are.” - Jeff Knapp

Crazy. Psycho. Deranged. Mental. Loser. Failure. 

These are words that used to cross my ignorant mind when thinking of rehab. How could people get addicted? They should just stop. Stop smoking weed. Stop snorting cocaine. Stop harming themself. Stop drinking alcohol. Stop binge eating. Stop starving yourself. Stop smoking cigarettes. Just stop. It is not that hard, right? 

No. These were thoughts rooted in ignorance, a lack of sympathy, and judgment. I am embarrassed that I ever felt this way. Recently, I have come to know far more about the recovery process, learning that addiction is not a choice, and we must not look down upon those suffering. And stigmatizing treatment for said addictions will send individuals further into their addiction. As a society, we must destigmatize addiction rehabilitation facilities. 

To understand addiction better, I spoke with Jeff Knapp,  program developer and recovering addict at Pathways2Life, an organization devoted to providing addiction prevention strategies for young adults.

The sentiment of “just stop” is embedded in the fallacy that addiction is a choice and not a disease.When one experiences pain, whether it be mental or physical, our body's natural response is to release endorphins, activating opioid receptors and slowing down the pain, preventing panic. Drugs do the same thing, releasing vast amounts of dopamine in our brain, resulting in a momentary and artificial feeling of relief and euphoria. When access to this opioid is denied, the dopamine release shuts down completely, and the individual is left without any source of joy, or rather, withdrawal symptoms. While many can suffer through withdrawal, some fall beneath in, unable to recover, and seek more and harder drugs. Until drugs become their world. The only way to find a new world is rehab. No one can “just stop.” This is the first step to destigmatizing rehab; understanding it as a brain disease.

“Just because something may be a choice, does not prevent it from also being a disease,”  Knapp told me. Type 2 diabetes does not lose its categorization as a disease just because the person suffering from it made poor eating decisions and lung cancer is still a disease for those who have it because of smoking. Like these diseases, addiction fits the scientific disease model which, in layman's terms, details ‘something’  attacking a vital organ, changing its function/structure, leading to an operation flaw, and without proper treatment, death. When undeveloped brains become adjusted to drugs, brains wire to understand drugs as necessary, prohibiting abusers from recognizing the drug as the issue. 

The biggest misconception within this field, according to Knapp, is that drugs are the problem, when in reality drugs are simply the bandage. The belief that if people did not abuse drugs, they would not need treatment is wrong: if it is not drugs, people could overuse other easing techniques. A focus on confronting debilitating emotions is the way to stop drug usage; that is rehab. It is not ripping a pill bottle out of an abuser's hand. It is asking the abuser why they need a pill bottle, not because rehab tells them to put the bottle down, but because it stops them from wanting to pick it up. We are fighting the war on the wrong things.

Knapp added that rehab is like chemotherapy in this way; Chemotherapy kills part of you in hopes to save the rest of you. Rehab kills the part of a person which believes they need drugs to live. But only in order to save the rest of that person. The opposite of addiction is not sobriety, but rather connection. Knowing you have people who are rooting for your sobriety is the most effective way to obliterate drug dependence. No matter how much information, rehab, or tools someone has, a feeling of loneliness will almost always plant someone back into their addiction.

Though there is a real need for society to destigmatize addiction, we must simultaneously not enable addiction. Holding someone accountable for their actions while not judging is a difficult balance to achieve. As loved ones battle addiction, it is common to want to stay by their side no matter their choices, to justify within yourself being their friend or family before their doctor or regulator. That is easier. It feels better. But the best thing to do for someone is to take away what they think they need the most. The most painful thing one can do is put someone in rehab nonconsensually; it is also the kindest thing. 

There is no answer key to rehabilitation nor to who is subject to addiction. Addiction's existence is far from a strange thing; our brain naturally wants to stop pain, and drugs just happen to be an easy way . out And addiction is not a sign of weakness, it is simply a poor choice of a solution. Addiction is a disease with an abundance of mystery and confusion and a lack of treatment accessibility. So long as this imbalance remains intact we must focus on the following.

Acknowledge the addicted. Acknowledge the addiction. Support the addicted. Support the fight against addiction. Love the addicted. Hate the addiction. Destigmatize the addicted and addiction. 

By Ruby Kaufman