most people seem to feel that there is a stigma associated with having an addiction or a psychological disorder. well the reason for a stigma are very few. one in three has an addiction of some kind, be it drugs, alcohol, gambling, cigarettes, food etc. just take a quick look at the numbers. in the united states 1 in 10 is an alcoholic. it is also estimated that about 1 in 20 has some form of street drug or prescription drug addiction. cigarette smokers are estimated to be at 22% of the population or about 2 in 10. so right there is 3.5 out of 10 people are addicted to alcohol, drugs or cigarettes alone. now what about food, gambling, coffee and sex addicts? i am being ultra conservative with the 1 in 3 being some sort of an addict. that figure is actually very low.
now what about mental illness? it is largely believed that 1 in five has some form of mental illness, be it anxiety, depression, panic attacks, manic depression etc. now not all mental illness is detectable by the untrained person. in fact many people who have some lessor forms of mental illness are not even aware that they have it. it is widely known in the medical community that about 35% of those with a diagnosed mental illness are also addicted to either drugs or alcohol. so 1/3 of all alcoholics are what is known as dual diagnosed. dual diagnosis is simply explained as a person who has an addiction to substances and a mental illness.
from these figures it is safe to make the conclusion that 50% of the population has either an addiction of some kind or a mental illness of some form. if 1 in 2 is affected like this then why is there a stigma attached to having an addiction or mental illness? that a good question. I'd rather you ask yourself that question and see what answer you can come up with. denial? ignorance? disbelief? well it's one of these 3. there are problems more common to the human race than we would care to believe. believe it! now what about medical illnesses? well i wont get into the statistics on those. but as living, breathing people with feelings, lets get to understand one another a lot better and realize that we all suffer to a major degree one way or the other. lets be a little kinder to each other because were all on the same boat ride together. bless you.
now what about mental illness? it is largely believed that 1 in five has some form of mental illness, be it anxiety, depression, panic attacks, manic depression etc. now not all mental illness is detectable by the untrained person. in fact many people who have some lessor forms of mental illness are not even aware that they have it. it is widely known in the medical community that about 35% of those with a diagnosed mental illness are also addicted to either drugs or alcohol. so 1/3 of all alcoholics are what is known as dual diagnosed. dual diagnosis is simply explained as a person who has an addiction to substances and a mental illness.
from these figures it is safe to make the conclusion that 50% of the population has either an addiction of some kind or a mental illness of some form. if 1 in 2 is affected like this then why is there a stigma attached to having an addiction or mental illness? that a good question. I'd rather you ask yourself that question and see what answer you can come up with. denial? ignorance? disbelief? well it's one of these 3. there are problems more common to the human race than we would care to believe. believe it! now what about medical illnesses? well i wont get into the statistics on those. but as living, breathing people with feelings, lets get to understand one another a lot better and realize that we all suffer to a major degree one way or the other. lets be a little kinder to each other because were all on the same boat ride together. bless you.
john carcerano, author of the upcoming book "A NEW JOURNEY" RECOVERY FROM ALCOHOL AND DRUG ADDICTION www.newjourneyrecovery.com
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