Become a member of Allies in Recovery and we’ll teach you how to intervene, communicate and guide your loved one toward treatment.Become a member of Allies in Recovery today.

Hunter Biden and the National Conversation About SUD

rredick August 20, 2024
Photo credit: Getty Images

The fighting is dirty and the stakes are high before most U.S. national elections, and 2024 certainly won’t buck the trend. These facts may go some way toward explaining the attention lavished on the troubles of President Biden’s son Hunter, who has suffered from substance use disorder (SUD) for many years. But there’s a chance we can learn from his story.

Hunter’s struggle, like that of every SUD sufferer, is unique and specific, but the contours may seem painfully familiar to those touched by the disease. Tragedy marked his life from childhood, when he lost his mother and baby sister to a tragic accident. His drug use began as a young adult, but increased greatly after his older brother, Beau, died of brain cancer in 2015. Life in the public eye and a sense of unmet expectations likely played their part as well. Brushes with the law came next, culminating in three convictions in mid-2024.

The trajectory is far from unheard of, but the important point made by this BBC News article is that such hard looks at public figures matter. Handled well, they can help open and change the conversation around addiction. Handled carelessly, they can reinforce stigma and do greater harm. This short article is well worth a look.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2qql56elv5o 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tagged: , , ,
Loading
rredick

Related Posts from "What's News"

Fentanyl Deaths In Communities of Color: A Crisis “Decades In the Making”

A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveals the unequal effects of the opioid crisis on Black, Native American, Hispanic, and white populations in the United States. Fentanyl deaths in particular have skyrocketed for all groups—but far more so in Black communities. Understanding the lasting effects of discrimination is essential, both for grasping the problem and seeking solutions.

rredick September 5, 2023

Borderline Personality Disorder: A Family Takes Its Caring to the Next Level

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) affects nearly 6% of Americans at some point in their lives, but research, treatment, and support for the condition lags far behind other serious mental illnesses. Paula Tusiani-Eng and her parents know first-hand what it’s like to live with, and eventually lose, a loved one suffering from BPD. Their story is remarkable not just because of those challenges, but because of what they decided to do next.

rredick August 22, 2023

Debunked in 3 ½ Minutes: Harmful Myths About Family and Recovery

It can’t be said too often: substance use disorder is a disease. Yet unlike nearly all other diseases, it’s still often treated as a moral failure, or even a lifestyle choice. This short video illustrates this double standard in the starkest terms. It reminds us that showing care, commitment, and understanding to a Loved One with SUD is not just natural, but also the foundation for helping them at all.

Allies in Recovery April 12, 2023
0 Comments

Mental Health: Just How Much Have We Got Wrong?

Everyone knows that great ideas can spread. But bad ones can also “hang around so long that you can forget you have the option of questioning them.” In this arresting Ted Talk, the entrepreneur and mental health leader Khaliya takes on some ideas that certainly merit questioning, and make a passionate case for trying to “remove our mental health blinders.”

rredick February 1, 2023
0 Comments

Material Rewards Can Make Recovery Fun — and Lead To Dramatically Better Outcomes

The research is clear: tangible rewards can greatly improve recovery efforts. Such programs are at last being given a chance. It’s called contingency management: the use of modest but far from trivial rewards for progress toward recovery. And for many suffering from SUD, it works. Now, after decades of resistance in the U.S., the approach is being adopted in states and cities across the country.