15 Things That Are Ewww

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There are a lot of things in this world and the recovery community that are just ew. I’ve thought of 15 things that are ewww – as told by Jimmy Fallon and friends.15 Things That Are Ewww…

1. Diet Mountain Dew (just EWWW!)

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2. Decaf Espresso (like, what’s the point, EWWW!)

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3. 13^th steppers (people with time preying on newcomers, EWWW!)

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4. Drugs and alcohol (alcoholics and addicts in active addiction, EWWW!)

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5. Messy and dirty halfway house roommates (like ones that wear your underwear, EWWW!)

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6. Monday mornings (the worst day of the week, EWWW!)

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7. Toothpaste stuck in the sink (it always gets stuck there, EWWW!)

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8. Pizza with anchovies (anchovies are EWWW!)

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9. Drug and alcohol withdrawals (hot and cold sweats, EWWW!)

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10. Nails on a chalkboard (ughhh, EWWW!)

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11. Loud eaters (chew with your mouth shut, EWWW!)

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12. People who talk during movies (just watch the movie, EWWW!)

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13. Gas station bathrooms (so dirty, EWWW!)

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14. People who are negative all the time (being a negative Nancy is EWWW!)

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15. Stigma against addiction, mental health disorders, eating disorders and more (stigma is EWWW!)

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Now, on a serious note I wanted to say a little bit about the stigma with addiction, mental health disorders, eating disorders and more. Stigma is defined as a mark of disgrace or infamy; a stain or reproach, as on one’s reputation. There is a very large stigma with mental health disorders. While 1 in 5 Americans live with a mental disorder, estimations show that nearly two-thirds of all people with a diagnosable mental illness do not seek treatment, particularly people from diverse societies. Absence of information, fear of revelation, dismissal of friends, and discrimination are a small number of reasons why people with mental illness don’t seek help.

With addiction, stigma towards it has always been there. Addicts are rejected by communities and celebrities with addictions are demoralized or pursued by paparazzi. And while the government makes implications to view addiction as a disease, it often works in resistance to that position through the “War on Drugs,” which counts most drug users as delinquents. Even those of us in the treatment community still engage in stigmatizing programming and language; such as when we put emphasis on “dirty” urine. So in spite of common agreement that addiction is best understood as a complex behavioral-biological situation that necessitates treatment, the system is hard-wired to persist stigmatization, and stigma adds to addiction’s lethality.

The stigma that surrounds eating disorders decorates them as insignificant “girl problems,” diets gone awry, adolescent rites of passage, or the acting out of young rebels or “control freaks.” Anorexia, bulimia and binge-eating disorders are dramatized by the media as celebrity spectacles. Even the medical occupation, by and large, still disregards disordered eating as a behavioral fluke and thus fails to identify the severe mental threat this behavior signifies. Stigma overpowers funding and attention to eating-disorder study and is a prime hurdle to sufficient treatment and avoidance efforts.

Stigma towards any type of disease, disorder, behavioral issue or anything similar to that needs to come to an end. It is definitely ewww and hopefully one day – stigma won’t exist anymore! If you or a loved one are struggling with substance abuse or addiction, please call toll free 1-800-951-6135.