
09/02/2025
It's Truth Talk Tuesday, and today we're getting honest about something in our culture that can create a stigma surrounding addiction. That is self-reliance culture in America.
With individuality being at the heart of it, self-reliance fosters attitudes of solving problems on our own. This can build a kind of strength and resiliency, garner rewards if done successfully, and sometimes it feels like the only option when we're in dire circumstances.
The problem is that it can be very isolating as it encourages us to bottle up emotions and struggles, which creates more shame around them. Moreover, it can compound the shame because when we see we don't have the strength to overcome an addiction by a shear act of our own will, we may feel bad for not living up to something our culture values.
To actually break free from addiction, it's crucial to uncover the underlying emotions and work through them, and this is always done best with the connection of a trusted person or persons. Connection, humility to ask for help, patience in the process of connecting with others, and trust are incredible tools to have that help us fight addiction, breaking the stigma surrounding it.