Just recently, Massachusetts General Hospital enacted the ATOD (Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs) initiative to provide education and resources relevant to substance abuse. One main goal of this program is to eradicate the dehumanizing stigma that comes with suffering from addiction. There's no doubt that negative connotations spring to mind when we hear the word "addict". What many people don't realize is that addiction isn't an excuse, it’s a debilitating condition.

I used to have very limited knowledge of what it was like to have a substance abuse disorder. I used to view it a lot more as a choice than what it really is. The fact is that substance abuse is governed by more than mere exposure. Genetic vulnerability, circumstantial factors, early exposure to substances, are all a few of the risk factors for substance abuse. However, none of these aforementioned risk factors or the addiction itself justify labeling the sufferer as deadbeat, worthless, lazy, or weak.

This semester I've been volunteering at a respite for the homeless and I have had the pleasure of working with some of the kindest and most resilient people I have ever met. A lot of the people I’ve worked with are addicted to some substance. What makes these people so great is their genuine appreciation for life, their amiability, and their intense desire to make a better life for themselves.

I count myself as very lucky to have been able to sit in on some AA meetings and what goes on is really incredible. What I see when I go to these meetings are people that can recognize when they’re in trouble and reach out for help—they’ve definitely taught me a thing or two. I see people that work hard to heal themselves and support others in reaching that same goal. Overcoming alcoholism is more than just not drinking; it’s also about overcoming physical and emotional discomfort that comes from abstaining, and sometimes giving up a vital coping mechanism, recognizing that this addiction is taking you away from where you want to be and who you want to be with. I have been able to see that much clearer from hearing others' stories, and I can say that the stigma associated with addiction doesn’t begin to describe the truth.

Before a recent AA meeting, a woman asked me what I had learned through volunteering. I wasn’t able to answer her right away, but after the meeting I had a pretty good idea of what everyone at the respite has taught me so far: the amazing thing about adversity is that it can bring out the best in some and the worst in others. The even more incredible thing is that when adversity ends up revealing the dark side in us, it gives us a chance to redeem ourselves with double the glory; not only must we fight through the external, but we must also fight against ourselves.