National Addictions Awareness Week is November 16th – 22nd this year, and the theme is Anchoring Hope. This is a time to shine a light on the current drug epidemic many people find themselves in, with particular focus on the realities of substance use, recovery, and resilience on both an individual and community level. Anchoring hope is not merely a theme, but a need for many people to remember when navigating these particular waters.
Hope can ground us when we feel lost at sea, unable to navigate the rough waters of addiction, whether you are dealing with it in your own life or know a family member or friend who is. That anchor of hope provides a way forward when it feels like there is only despair. It can be a motivating force for someone struggling with addiction to connect to a community of support, acceptance, and recovery. Hope is often the first step in healing, and without it, those seas become choppy and unnavigable once more.
There are reasons to remain hopeful as awareness continues to spread and treatment and recovery options become more innovative. There are novel and multifaceted approaches to addiction such as peer-led intervention, Indigenous healing models, and trauma-informed care that seeks to root out causes of addiction, which is often a symptom of something much deeper. These approaches show that hope does not necessarily need to remain abstract; there are real world applications that are suffused with hope to support and encourage recovery in communities across Canada.
So how can you make hope a long-lasting part of your life? Firstly, challenge your own stigmas about what addiction is. Educate yourself about the complexities of addiction and welcome different perspectives. We often generalize our opinion on those suffering, applying the same rules and assumptions for everyone. When this viewpoint shifts, addiction becomes a much more nuanced and personal issue, leaving room for empathy and, yes, hope.
Like any widespread, complicated issue in our society, there are no easy solutions, nor are there perfect treatment paths. Success is never guaranteed, and it can be easy to focus only on the shortcomings of how addictions are treated. While it is important to see where improvements can be made and policies can be modified, real change cannot be built out of this alone. There must be hope infused in every step forward; hope for change, hope for recovery, hope for healing.
If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, please consider mental health supports. You can connect directly with Walmsley EFAP at 1-800-481-5511 or by visiting www.walmsley.ca. For more information about National Addictions Awareness Week, please visit here (National Addictions Awareness Week | Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction).