Untreated substance abuse contributes to several deaths around the world every year. The lives of so many people go downhill due to this. It is important to acknowledge how much this issue affects the world population and damages the quality of their life.
However, what is also very important is getting help for substance use. They need to fully understand how and why this is detrimental. Getting any kind of help can really help them deal with the trauma that comes with it.
The Stigma Around Getting Help
In the society that we live in today, there is a great stigma around getting help for substance abuse. It is considered a highly taboo topic, which is why there is very little discussion about it. This is highly concerning, especially in the current day and age when there has been a considerable amount of advancement and awareness.
People with any type of addiction are the most in need of help, and extending to them the help they need is very important for them to break free from addiction and start over a new leaf.
People with addiction are looked down upon and blamed for their own situation. What most people don’t realize is that getting addiction help is very important for them to revive themselves and be able to bring their lives back to normal.
They need to be seen as people who are just like the others. They struggle in life due to their substance abuse, but with the right kind of help, it is possible to pull them out of the situation that they are in.
So, how can we remove the stigma around getting help for substance abuse? Here are a few ways to make the situation better.
Awareness Programs on Social Media
There should be more awareness programs on different platforms like social media to educate people about how people with addiction need not be looked down upon. They should be directed to the right places so that they can get the help that they need.
These awareness programs should be directed towards how getting help is nothing to be ashamed of. People need to understand that counseling can really help them channel their thoughts in the right direction and work towards improving their lives’ quality.
In the day and age that we live in, social media plays a vital role in our lives.
Awareness Programs in Schools
People from a young age need to be counseled and taught things to understand them well and further work towards not considering this taboo.
In schools, there should be mandatory sessions that young students should attend, in which they are educated about mental health and how addiction is something that needs to be addressed in the right way by giving people the means to get the help they need.
If students are educated about this early, they can indeed understand things with a more open mind.
Online Counseling
To be able to remove the stigma around getting help for substance abuse, it is also important that counselors become much more accessible to people.
If counseling is provided online by trained professionals in great quantities, then more and more people would be willing to go and get help from them. Accessibility is a huge issue in the current times, so more people must work towards this.
Encouragement
People should be encouraged to talk about their feelings instead of being alienated. They should be made to become more open about their feelings so that they can very well understand what all goes behind it and how they can further work towards things in the best possible way. If people know others with substance abuse issues, they should reach out to them and talk about it.
Normalizing discussions about this is something that is very important to ensure that people start to become more open about it. Not just that, but people should also show more compassion to those struggling.
That way, they will be able to come out more in the open and share their story. This way, when more people start talking about it, the stigma can be greatly reduced.
When the stigma around getting help for substance abuse is reduced, people will understand that no person is defined by their drug use. They get into it as a bad habit and get so deep into the whirlpool that coming out of it becomes very difficult.
So, in times like these, people need to get the right kind of help. Even today, most people have negative things to say about those who seek help.
However, this needs to change so that everyone can view getting help as the right thing to do rather than something that they should be hesitant about. So, speak up now and do your duty to society!