What makes it so hard to say? What makes it so hard to admit? As long as addiction carries a stigma of shame, the healing for this disease will not begin for neither the addict nor the loved one of the addicts.

My son is an addict. This statement is freedom, but it is not actually free. This statement comes with tears, heartache and realization that my son is afflicted by a disease with no cure.

By opening your life to others, you allow others to help you and your child. I have found that people will continue to love you even when you are able to open yourself up for help. In fact, by opening up, I have found wonderful friends struggling with the same issue. Without the support of my family and friends, I know we would not be in the position we are in today with our son.

The fact is, if we as individuals and even as a nation continue to treat addiction as our “dirty little secret? and not recognize it as what it truly is, then we will forever struggle to provide the treatment someone struggling with addiction really needs for his or her disease.