Media depictions of substance use are often far removed from the reality of dependence and addiction, rarely reflecting the actual experience of those suffering from this condition. Media images can reinforce negative stereotypes and obscure effective pathways to recovery. Here are some common media misconceptions about addiction and recovery:
Myth #1:在开始恢复之前，您必须点击“岩石底部”。
The myth:The “hitting rock bottom” metaphor is commonly used in Alcoholics Anonymous/Narcotics Anonymous (AA/NA) to describe the moment when a person finds themselves facing such dire consequences of their addiction that they finally recognize the need to make a change. In the movie28天, Sandra Bullock’s inebriated character topples her sister’s wedding cake before entering the rehabilitation that eventually frees her from her addiction;一个明星诞生了展示了布拉德利·库珀（Bradley Cooper）在舞台上的醉酒角色在颁奖典礼上小便，以表彰他的妻子和观众的恐怖，之后他终于进入了住宅设施。
The truth:虽然可以用一致的概念,达到圣ate of total desperation is neither universal nor necessary to seek treatment for substance use disorders. Moreover, the disease trajectory of a downward slope to rock bottom, followed by a steady upward recovery, is not backed by science; instead, the成瘾科学支持a chronic disease model, where periods of improvement are punctuated by worsening disease or relapse.
治疗在药物使用障碍的任何阶段都可以有效。寻求治疗的最佳时间是，一旦有人意识到存在问题，例如，当典型的止痛药处方无法持续到应有的时间时，就会导致药物用尽时恢复疼痛和戒断。然而，即使在发生严重的后果，过量的后果，注射药物的感染和生活活动损害之后，阿片类药物使用障碍谱系的任何部分都应得到护理标准治疗。
神话＃2：Shame and punishment are gateways to healing.
The myth:People with substance use disorders respond well to aggressive confrontation, which open’s the individual’s mind to their failings and facilitates a clear pathway to recovery. The A&E showIntervention也许是该媒体神话中最新的例子，但它遵循了1978年的“害怕的直截了当”纪录片的示例，该纪录片使用恐惧策略鼓励高危少年改善其行为。
The truth:According to thefifth Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (DSM5), criteria for substance use disorders includes “continued use despite knowledge of having a persistent or recurrent physical or psychological problem that is likely to have been caused or exacerbated by opioids” and “recurrent use in situations in which it is physically hazardous.” These criteria define addiction as a condition that is not responsive to negative consequences; it then stands to reason that shame and other punitive approaches are not effective approaches to curing people of the disease.
这个基本的事实使人们质疑使用监禁作为对毒品使用的回应。虽然执法对物质使用的反应可能是善意的，但批量监禁对激发个人康复的措施少于使他们恢复，进一步将其推向吸毒和负面行为。
虽然他们可能是善意的，高风险，高压的策略，而不是证据，也可能造成比好处更多的弊端。害怕的生产者与他们的队列获得了成功，但2013年对此类程序的分析显示an increase in delinquent behavior instead, leading the authors to conclude that “we cannot recommend this program as a crime prevention strategy.”
Likewise, while “tough love” tactics may be necessary (for example, barring a family member who has exposed young children to an unsecured drug supply from a home), they should be understood as benefiting the family but not necessarily the person suffering from substance dependence.
神话＃3：People with substance use disorders are irrational.
The myth:Substance use causes people to become crazed beings that are incapable of following logic or making decisions for themselves. As far back as the 1930s, films about “reefer madness” portrayed cannabis users as unhinged and murderous. Since then, drug users have been routinely described using the imagery of demonic possession and superhuman strength in an attempt to justify police force against drug users, a perception that has been glorified in theshow Cops for over 30 years.
言辞the 1980s referred to drug-using urban youths as “superpredators”without capacity for remorse or compassion. When a “bath salt” variant called flakka came on the scene a few years ago, media referred to it as the “zombie cannibal drug” based on a couple of unusual events that did not reflect overall use.
More recently, the “Free Britney Spears” movement has认识到由法律保护行为置于法律保护下的名人的极端情况(where her father controls her assets and personal freedom) after a substance-related mental health breakdown in 2008 that remains in place well over a decade later.
长矛案是对残疾，自决和使用（或使用过）物质的人的权利之间的十字路口的令人着迷的看法，被认为是充分的人类并控制自己的命运。
The truth:By definition, substance use disorders include a withdrawal state when the substance is stopped, which can drastically shift the focus of a person’s needs and priorities. Far from “wanting to just get high,” the problematic behaviors seen in people with substance use disorder are largely related to avoiding withdrawal.
退出阿片类药物, for example, can be so profoundly unpleasant (combining the worst symptoms of conditions like the flu, gastroenteritis, and panic attacks), that people may sacrifice critical life activities such as child care, work, and engagement with family in order to obtain the drugs that stave off withdrawal. In fact, impairment of various key life activities makes up nearly half of the criteria for opioid use disorderaccording to the DSM5.
In understanding behaviors around substance use, it can be useful to presume that most human behavior is essentially rational – that is, that people are following the most sensical pathway presented to their mind in whatever state the mind finds itself.
即使药物像迷幻剂改变感觉perceptions, a person generally reacts in the most logical way they can – enjoying pleasant imagery or attempting to escape from frightening visions. When a person is faced with the profoundly unpleasant possibility of withdrawal from opioids (or the life-threatening possibility of withdrawal from benzodiazepines), it becomes logical that they may prioritize obtaining and taking drugs even at the expense of key life activities.
对于面临撤离的人来说，从这种情况下寻求缓解可能是他们可以看到的最合乎逻辑的途径，以保持工作，学校或家庭生活。
神话＃4：Trauma is the only path to addiction.
The myth:患有药物使用障碍的人总是受到严重创伤的受害者，这些受害者驱使他们麻木并逃脱现实。Gabor Mate博士，受人尊敬的成瘾专家，已经说了“all addictions are attempts to escape the deep pain of the hurt child,” and “the urge to escape pain shared by all addicts.”
The truth:People come to substance use disorders through a variety of pathways, including recreational overuse, poorly managed treatment for chronic pain, and problematic life circumstances that make drugs an attractive alternative to feeling difficult emotions. Genetic vulnerability also plays a role in determining who is more likely to go onto opioid use disorder from casual or short-term use.
尽管创伤和创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）对于康复开始至关重要，但如果创伤作为成瘾的单一途径，则强调创伤，如果他们的经历不符合这种叙述，则可以使人们无法寻求治疗。
A patient once told me that she wished she had some kind of trauma in her past to justify her opioid problem; the lack of any explanatory trauma left her feeling more shamed, as she felt she could not explain dependence that started with simply liking the energy she got from opioids, then taking enough to become dependent. In the end, no matter how individuals arrive at substance dependence, everyone deserves the standard-of-care treatment that best meets them in their current circumstance.
误解5：人们只有一次使用后立即上瘾。
The myth:Some substances are so powerfully addictive that one use dooms a person to hopeless dependence. “Moral panic”invokes such over-exaggerations and is routinely resurrectedabout new drugs or drug classes that arise over time.
PBS’s America Addicted seriesinvoked this falsehood in a 2017 documentary segment that was partially filmed at the rural community health center where I worked at the time; after a clip invoking patient-centered approaches to recovery and relapse, the scene next switched over to a law enforcement officer who reiterated the tired myth about heroin users that “once they use it, it’s like it takes control of them.”
The truth:Addiction is a learned behavior involving predictable rewards in response to repeated stimuli. While individuals may greatly enjoy a substance and desire to take it again, repeated regular doses are required to alter the body’s basic equilibrium to the extent that a person feels true withdrawal if they miss a customary dose.
在迈亚Szalavitz的开创性书籍不间断的大脑，将成瘾描述为一种学习障碍，其中适应不良的模式通过反复的强化而学习 - 而不是通过一次暴露而进行深刻的改变。
Columbia neuroscientist Carl Hart质疑他的书中的高价上的硬性药物的真正上瘾性，该研究表明，许多人可以在不依赖的情况下保持随意使用，甚至依赖某些物质的人都可以在提供药物时做出时刻的选择亚搏电子电竞官网其他有意义的替代方案。
结论：
这些媒体神话（以及许多其他媒体）可以在阿片类药物依赖人及其康复途径之间造成障碍。但是，这些比喻不是通用的，并且可以准确地描绘药物使用和恢复。无论是否看到他们的经历反映在媒体中，对吸毒的普遍看法都不应阻止个人寻求应有的护理来应对用药物使用来应对挑战。
To learn more about the success rates and safety of Bicycle Health’s telemedicine addiction treatment incomparison to other common treatment options, call us at (844) 943-2514 or schedule an appointmenthere.
