30/05/2026
๐ ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐น ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ต ๐ฉ๐ ๐ ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐น ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ถ๐น๐น๐ป๐ฒ๐๐
Over the last few weeks, these images have been shared hundreds, maybe thousands of times
They have also been criticised
Too simplistic
Too polarising
Too behavioural
Not behavioural enough
Not scientific enough
Too scientific
Not nuanced enough
Fair, but I think there is a more interesting question
Why are so many people sharing them?
Because people rarely share clinical frameworks
They share things that make them feel seen
Something in these images seems to resonate with therapists, people struggling, people in recovery, families, and professionals
Not because everyone agrees with every word
Because many people recognise something in their own lived experience
That addiction did not feel like random irrationality
That behaviour was often doing something
Regulating overwhelm
Managing shame
Creating relief
Producing belonging
Organising chaos
Making survival possible in the only way the system knew how
That does not make addiction harmless
It does not romanticise suffering
It does not deny biology, consequences, responsibility, or complexity
๐๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ธ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐พ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป
๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ผ๐ป?
Because many people already know how to stop
Many have stopped repeatedly
Many have been abstinent
Many understand triggers, diagnoses, coping skills, neuroscience, recovery language
And still something underneath remains unchanged
Maybe that is part of what people are responding to
Not a perfect model
Not an infographic
A shift in posture
From 'what is wrong with you?' toward what makes sense here?
From managing symptoms alone toward understanding the system producing them
Whatever side of the debate you stand on, I think the scale of response points to something ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ต ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ผ
