The “who,” “what,” and “why” behind our website.
Surrounding the intricate discussion of addiction and substance use disorders, this website addresses the isolation, silence, and stigma that goes hand in hand with the topic of drug abuse.
Addiction affects not only the person struggling with the disease, but their family, friends, and everyone else in their lives. Even though substance use disorders are extremely common, the introduction of large industries (Big Pharma, tobacco industries, and even the processed food industry) to society have irreparably altered people’s views on addiction. These industries, primarily focused on profit and marketing, initially targeted poor, working class Americans. These people would fall for the companies’ sweet promotions, only to later find themselves addicted to a substance they could not control. Although the wound runs deep within our society, reaching back through history to medicinal marijuana and opium poppy, the topic of addiction has a serious stigma surrounding it.
Substance abuse is rarely openly spoken of, making it immensely harder for people to heal mentally, as well as physically. Throughout my research, the inquiry that scratched at the back of my mind is: Where can people openly talk about their experiences without feeling judged or misunderstood?
The sad, but true, answer to that question is that there isn’t one.
There are resources like Narcotics Anonymous and other treatment centers that aim to help addicts work through that mental block, but these resources exclude the friends, family, and other people who have been deeply affected or changed by another person’s abuse. To explore this, or perhaps even solve it, I created a website where people can anonymously express themselves.
A website, in comparison to an essay or else, offers the chance for users to submit just about anything, even the things they aren’t comfortable actually verbalizing in casual conversation; personal stories, poetry, reflections on their own behavior, confessions.
I originally considered making a short, yet informative documentary, but in thought, realized that a lot of other mediums would limit my ability to fully capture the “need” to help others. Building a website provides the fluidity I need to truly put everything out there. In that, the writing aspect would offers me, as well as future users, time and space to process what we want to publish, as well as offering readers the chance to connect on their own terms. I wanted to do so many different things, and now I can, on one singular platform, all available to the public.
The goal in all of this is to create a nonjudgmental space where people (addicts, recovering addicts, and non-addicts alike) can be free to express themselves and hopefully, in turn, feel less isolated in their experiences. I want people to feel like their story matters, just as much as I feel mine matters. I want to challenge the intense stigma that surrounds addiction by humanizing those who are often misinterpreted or stereotyped. Ultimately, I hope this website raises awareness about the emotional complexity surrounding addiction, helping people better understand it while also giving them a voice.
articulateaddiction.com 