Recovery First Addictionologist: Call Addiction What It Is—A Brain Disease

When we talk about substance use disorders, the terms we use matter. And they matter a lot. Why? Because using outdated, stigmatizing terminology keeps people from seeking the help they need to recover. It also hinders medical providers from diagnosing substance use disorders and referring those struggling to treatment that can help them. In an op-ed for Behavioral Health News, Dr. Charles Smith, Addictionologist at Florida’s Recovery First Treatment Center and the author of Understanding Addiction: Know Science, No Stigma, explains why addiction is a brain disease and not a moral failing and how his lived experience with addiction and long-term recovery helped him come to that realization. Read the full article.