Ted Talks are a useful way to educate an audience about something that they did not know about before. It takes experts in the field of addiction or mental health to truly reach out to an audience and explain to them what addiction really means. Here are a couple of TedX talks about the true dangers of addiction and the toll they can take on a person’s life.
Addiction counselor Raj Mehta’s “Addiction 101”, a former heroin addict, educates audience on what it truly means to be an addict. He explains how we should not just link addiction with criminal activity but on how it truly is a disease for having a constant need of it. Mehta talks about all of the consequences that come from addiction socially, legally, physically, financially, and spiritually. He also said that addicts will never be able to successfully get high in that people can do substances at normal doses and feel euphoria without permanent damage to the body. You know an addict is unsuccessful if they end up with developing anxiety or depression from substances, organ failure, or if they cause the loved ones around them to suffer. He concludes his speech with how we need to view the mental health aspects of addiction in order to successfully treat it.
Ed Stevenson is the co-owner of Life Recovery Solutions and his speech “Seeing Drug and Alcohol Addiction in a New Light” is about how we need to change the way we view addiction in order to do something about it. He said that you can be rich or poor and still be an addict. Stevenson also goes to explain how broken the system is in the lack of treatment. It used to be a long time ago when talking about cancer used to be a taboo subject and now they have foundations and fundraisers.
Stevenson gave an example of how someone who grew up with abuse started abusing herself and those around her. When she wanted to seek help, she was turned away for showing up high and remained homeless. Only 11% of addicts are treated and the 89% either die or are in jail which is not going to make their problems go away. Stevenson closes off his speech saying we need to take addiction seriously and to be treated mentally as well instead of being given more medications or a prison sentence.
Smarmore Castle Private Clinic in County Louth, near Dublin was founded in 1988 as a residential rehabilitation hospital treating people suffering from drug and alcohol purposes. Smarmore Castle believes in helping patients lead a life of abstinence through 12 Step programs, detox and medical treatment, psychotherapy, and complementary therapies. For more information, please call 041-214-5111. For those who live out of the country, the international number is 00353-41-214-5111.
