"Ain't That a Shame" That It’s a Shame...

...when it should be just another medical diagnosis: Substance Use Disorder.

Instead, it’s a Shame that Prince had to die.

Imagine that Prince suffered a heart attack on that flight back from Atlanta. They’d have flown him in a helicopter, with a full air-evacuation crew, to the nearest heart hospital, publicity be damned.  After the necessary procedure, he would have been recovering at home. But, no. He had to keep this problem a secret, because, you know, he had this shameful issue with drugs.

It's a Shame that due to moral judgments about a physical illness, people with a Substance Use Disorder hide their problem instead of seeking help.

Prince’s death was not his Shame. It is society’s Shame that we made a Shame out of a Substance Use Disorder. A physical illness. Not a moral failing.

If it wasn’t a “Shame,” Prince and a lot of other people might be alive and thriving today. 

*I wrote this during the week, to post Saturday night, but apparently everyone one from hip-hop artists to the President share my concern with “Shame.” Here are excerpts from the link below. (My emphases)

You can watch President Obama’s weekly address above.

Read the transcript of President Obama’s Weekly Address below.

POTUS: Hi, everybody. I’ve got a special guest with me this week – Macklemore. For those of you who don’t share the same love for hip-hop, he’s a Grammy-winning artist – but he’s also an advocate who’s giving voice to a disease we too often just whisper about: the disease of addiction.

MACKLEMORE: Hey, everybody. I’m here with President Obama because I take this personally. I have abused prescription drugs and battled addiction. If I hadn’t gotten the help I needed when I needed it, I might not be here today. And I want to help others facing the same challenges I did.

POTUS: Overdoses now take more lives every year than traffic accidents.

MACKLEMORE: I didn’t just know someone – I lost someone. My friend Kevin overdosed on painkillers when he was just 21 years old…

POTUS: On top of funding, doctors also need more training about the power of the pain medication they prescribe, and the risks they carry. And another way our country can help those suffering in private is to make this conversation public.

MACKLEMORE: When you’re going through it, it’s hard to imagine there could be anything worse than addiction. Shame and the stigma associated with the disease keeps too many people from seeking the help they need. Addiction isn’t a personal choice or a personal failing. And sometimes it takes more than a strong will to get better – it takes a strong community and accessible resources.

POTUS: When we talk about opioid abuse as the public health problem it is, more people will seek the help they need. More people will find the strength to recover, just like Ben and millions of Americans have. We’ll see fewer preventable deaths and fewer broken families.

MACKLEMORE: We have to tell people who need help that it’s OK to ask for it. We’ve got to make sure they know where to get it.

Read More: Macklemore Joins President Obama's Weekly Address to Talk Opioid Addiction | http://theboombox.com/macklemore-president-obamas-weekly-address-opioid-addiction/?trackback=tsmclip