“There are bad behaviors associated with addiction. Those behaviors have created the stigma that makes it harder to get help, even from health professionals that are supposed to be helping. I think it’s a real problem.”
“There was a lot of drinking in my childhood. There was violence and I didn’t know it at the time, but later I found out there was sexual abuse. I was the youngest. My dad would beat my brothers. Everyone was drinking.
“I started using alcohol at the age of 11 because it was in the house. As I progressed through high school, I drank. It was definitely binge drinking. It wasn’t until I got to college that I started experimenting with drugs.”
“We’ve learned a lot about people’s ignorance and the stigma that goes with drug abuse and losing a child to drug abuse. But I don’t blame people; I used to feel that way about it too.” People just need to be educated.”