Thank you to Rob Ford
Watching Rob Ford has become a bit of a national pastime.
We did the same thing a couple of years ago with Charlie Sheen and a few years ago with Ralph Kline. What we are doing is looking at addiction (substance use disorder if you prefer that term).
Unfortunately many are looking at it with ridicule instead of trying to understand the disease. The disease word often confuses people, but addiction is a disease, one that effects the brain. The science is clear. We also seem to like to see people, particularly those in power, screw up.
The really unfortunate thing is that we are missing an opportunity to allow the population to better understand the nature of addiction, the fact that denial (which is not dishonesty about what is happening but the inability to see the cause of what is happening) is a big part of the disease and most importantly that there is treatment for this problem.
Addictive disorders are not something to be ashamed about, they are something to get help for. We need to feel compassion, not ridicule.
Nov 18 to 24 is National Addiction Awareness Week
