South Carolina Bar News June 2012 : Page 19
LHL , continued from previous page. the message that recovery can be a reality for people in the grip of addiction, we offer support and encouragement to those who need it most. Hope inspires the realization that “Other people can do this, and so can I.” And that is the begin-ning of addiction recovery. Fighting stigma with awareness Some people argue that calling addiction a brain disease has done little to reduce stigma. But this doesn’t mean we should stop defining addiction in this way—it means we need to call greater attention to the fact that addiction is a treatable disease that has been managed by millions of people. We’ve made significant strides in understand-ing the disease of addiction, but there is more progress to be made. We are seeing the begin-nings of a movement to understand recovery and bring the type of treatment that we know works to the people still struggling with this dis-ease. While this may seem un-newsworthy and insignificant to some, to me this is a message that cannot be repeated enough: There is life after addiction, and it’s one that is well worth living. Junee;2012e;|e; SC Bar News |e;www.scbar.orge;e;e; 19
