A ROSE IS ROSE IS A ROSE –

Oct. 26, 2022 – The terms, of course, mean functionally the same thing. But in the field of addiction medicine, the question presents something of a crisis. Even as drugs and alcohol claim 200,000 lives each year, many who seek addiction treatment are greeted by the harsh, stigmatizing labels that many Americans don’t think twice about: Words like addict, alcoholic, junkie, abuser, or worse.

Even as the nation’s substance use crisis has escalated, however, new research has emerged showing that simple word choices can have a big impact on the way health professionals view their patients and, accordingly, the care they receive. And in recent years, a coalition of doctors, recovery advocates, researchers, and even government officials has pushed to swap out stigmatizing terms like “addict” in favor of language that recognizes addiction as a medical condition — and acknowledges those who suffer from it as human beings.

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