Addiction. It's a scary word, right? Just the word alone can paint pictures in our minds of

bombed outlooking city streets and comatose, zombie-fied figures huddled under bridges, covered in dirty

blankets. It can conjure up images of blighted neighborhoods and writhing figures and hospitals,

or of the angry, unpredictable person in our community that we suspect may be struggling, but we don't want to get close enough to really find out. As many of the angry, unpredictable person in our community that we suspect may be struggling,

but we don't want to get close enough to really find out. As many of us know now,

addiction is not a character fault. It's literally a disease. And it's been recognized as such

by the American Psychiatric Association, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the World Health

Organization. But sometimes it also seems like an almost supernatural concept, something that can come

for you and practically overnight, rob you of your impulse control, drive you to make

choices that you would not ordinarily make, and eventually make what used to be your life

look unrecognizable. And because it's so scary and still misunderstood,

many of us convince ourselves that it can never happen to me. We tell ourselves that that person,

that addict, they made a bad choice or bad choices. We would never make those bad choices

because we're better than that. We're stronger than that. More responsible and not lacking

in the necessary self-discipline.

But the numbers say something different about that logic.

In 2023, an estimated 54.2 million people in the U.S. alone needed some form of treatment for some type of a substance use disorder.

In addition, substance use disorders affect more Americans age 12 and older each year than heart

conditions, diabetes, or even cancer.

How could 54.2 million people?

Why would they simply be making bad choices with known horrific consequences?

If it's simply a matter of not learning to make better choices, why does it affect so

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