The Language of Recovery

(From the Partnership to End Addiction):

Addiction is a disease. It’s important that we use language that frames it as a health issue and shows respect to people with addiction and their families who are impacted - just like we would with any other disease, like diabetes or asthma.

A person shouldn’t be defined or labeled by his or her disease or illness - it is something they have. For example: Instead of calling someone a “diabetic,” it’s preferable to use person-first language and say “someone with diabetes.” The same goes with the word “addict.”

We have a choice when we communicate. We can use words that perpetuate the negative stigma around substance use – words that label people with an addiction in a negative, shameful, and judgmental way. Or we can use words that are compassionate, supportive and respectful – words that help others understand substance use disorder as the health issue that it is.

By choosing to rethink and reshape our language, we will allow people with an addiction to more easily regain their self-esteem and more comfortably seek treatment, allow lawmakers to appropriate funding, allow doctors to deliver better treatment, allow insurers to increase coverage of evidence-based treatment and help the public understand this is a medical condition and should be treated as such.

Together, with a unified language, we can help reshape the landscape and end the negative stereotypes and stigma of addiction. And by doing so, we can remove barriers that continue to hold back too many people from the lifesaving treatment they need.

The following is an examples from the Partnership to End Addiction website. Visit https://drugfree.org/article/shouldnt-use-word-addict/ for additional examples.

Word to Change: Addict

RELATED: alcoholic, crackhead, druggie, dopehead, doper, drunk, drunkard, junkie, pothead

WHY THE CHANGE? The word addict is stigmatizing, reducing a person’s identity down to their struggle with substance use and denies their dignity and humanity. In addition, these labels imply a permanency to the condition, leaving no room for change. It’s better to use words that reinforce the medical nature of the condition.

INSTEAD SAY: A person with a substance use disorder (SUD), with addiction, person with an alcohol/drug problem, a person struggling with addiction; patient (if receiving treatment services).