Day 103 of 365 - Sage Magazine Advice
The January issue of the only women's magazine I still subscribe to, arrived awhile back, but I only started looking at it today. The big cover theme is Fresh New Start. The article themes in the header of the cover are: Make easy (and healthier) dinners; Tame your closet once and for all; Focus your distracted mind; and, Spend your money smarter. All typically expected topics for a January edition of a magazine, right?
But, the best articles in the magazine are not even mentioned on the cover. There is one about opioid
addiction and suicide, a heart wrenching story of a young woman whose husband died of an overdose. The purpose of her writing it was to reduce stigma, in the hope that people could be more open to talking about and admitting their addiction struggles without so much shame, and hopefully seek help rather than hiding. The other article, which I have not yet read, is about survivor led care in sexual exploitation and human trafficking cases.
I guess the magazine was concerned that having reference to those stories on the cover would deter sales? So much for reducing stigma about topics that cause people so much pain and suffering.
When I first picked up the magazine today as a prompt for a blog post, I thought it was going to be about those other typical January topics. But now, I feel obligated to mention those other articles to support the hope of reducing stigma by talking about them.
Many people suffer from addiction and most of us probably know or even live with them. Though nobody can 'make' an addict stop using if they are not ready, we might be able to support them better to seek help if we reduce our punitive and shaming tactics. When the author of the article shamefully revealed repeated relapses of her husband, she was often told to 'get rid of him'. She knew that the kind and loving man she married was still there and did not want to abandon him. Both of them struggled for years with pretending that their lives were great.
Another thing these articles bring up is our tendency to stereotype. The man who used and ultimately died from heroin, was a university educated career social worker. It's so easy to dismiss addicts as the losers of society, as damaged goods. But, we don't know their story.
Years ago, when we visited our son who lived in Vancouver at the time, we would see young people sleeping in doorways or begging on the streets as we walked in the downtown area. It broke my heart because I was aware that a lot of young people flee to big cities like that hoping to change their lives and instead ending up on the street and often substance addicted to numb their pain.
Now, a similar scenario is becoming more rampant in the conservative minded university city in which I live. This is no longer a big city problem. It's a country wide problem, which deserves more attention and compassion. I'm not claiming to have answers, but I at least wanted to shed a little light on the situation by writing about it here.
Addiction steals the health and vitality of people at any age. Let's try to be less judgmental and stigmatizing about it, shall we?
But, the best articles in the magazine are not even mentioned on the cover. There is one about opioid
addiction and suicide, a heart wrenching story of a young woman whose husband died of an overdose. The purpose of her writing it was to reduce stigma, in the hope that people could be more open to talking about and admitting their addiction struggles without so much shame, and hopefully seek help rather than hiding. The other article, which I have not yet read, is about survivor led care in sexual exploitation and human trafficking cases.
I guess the magazine was concerned that having reference to those stories on the cover would deter sales? So much for reducing stigma about topics that cause people so much pain and suffering.
When I first picked up the magazine today as a prompt for a blog post, I thought it was going to be about those other typical January topics. But now, I feel obligated to mention those other articles to support the hope of reducing stigma by talking about them.
Many people suffer from addiction and most of us probably know or even live with them. Though nobody can 'make' an addict stop using if they are not ready, we might be able to support them better to seek help if we reduce our punitive and shaming tactics. When the author of the article shamefully revealed repeated relapses of her husband, she was often told to 'get rid of him'. She knew that the kind and loving man she married was still there and did not want to abandon him. Both of them struggled for years with pretending that their lives were great.
Another thing these articles bring up is our tendency to stereotype. The man who used and ultimately died from heroin, was a university educated career social worker. It's so easy to dismiss addicts as the losers of society, as damaged goods. But, we don't know their story.
Years ago, when we visited our son who lived in Vancouver at the time, we would see young people sleeping in doorways or begging on the streets as we walked in the downtown area. It broke my heart because I was aware that a lot of young people flee to big cities like that hoping to change their lives and instead ending up on the street and often substance addicted to numb their pain.
Now, a similar scenario is becoming more rampant in the conservative minded university city in which I live. This is no longer a big city problem. It's a country wide problem, which deserves more attention and compassion. I'm not claiming to have answers, but I at least wanted to shed a little light on the situation by writing about it here.
Addiction steals the health and vitality of people at any age. Let's try to be less judgmental and stigmatizing about it, shall we?
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