Bias Against Recovered Alcoholics and Other Drug Addicts

Dear Dr. Bill,

A couple of weeks ago, I watched the program "West Wing" on TV. It was an excellent segment, depicting the character of the president's chief-of-staff as an alcoholic in recovery for over 8 years following in patient treatment. It clearly demonstrated the bigotry harbored by far too many of our "holier than thou" politicians, fortified in their attitudes by an equally intolerant group intermixed within a generally misinformed public.

The reason I speak of being in "recovery" from addition is that, like the diabetic, who should monitor sugar intake, I must not drink alcohol. That is the nature of both of our diseases. We didn't "choose" our illnesses, our genes took care of the major part of that. If we don't follow the rules which maintain recovery, we will likely relapse. It is well know by the medical profession that the relapse rate for diabetics is far higher than that of recovering alcoholics. Yet, should I get drunk and end up in an emergency room somewhere, I can expect to be treated like a bum... while the relapsed diabetic in coma will receive medical attention worthy of the most dramatic segment of "E.R."

Anonymous from Englewood

Dear Anonymous:

Thank you for your note, friend. I know the personal details surrounding your recovery so I also know of your past and present good works... what you were doing before you found sobriety in treatment and what you have been accomplishing since. I also recall too well, your terrible emergency room experience. I wish I could hear that things are different now. A "drunk" still stays in a stretcher in the hallway until after the diabetic in a self-imposed coma has been take care of.

Although most Americans believe alcoholism is a disease, a new national survey conducted by the Minnesota-based Hazelden Foundation found that, although 79 percent of respondents agreed that alcoholism is a disease, many people are still biased against recovering alcoholics and addicts.

When asked to choose between two equally qualified job candidates, one a recovering alcoholic, the other someone who never needed treatment, 47 percent said they would hire the one who never needed treatment. Only 14 percent said they would hire the recovering alcoholic, while 34 percent said they had no preference.

When the same question was presented for a recovering drug addict versus someone who never needed treatment, 60 percent said they would hire the person who never needed drug treatment, while 10 percent said they would hire the recovering drug addict and 26 percent had no preference.

IN addition, the survey showed that more education is needed in getting people to recognize addiction as a treatable disease. According to the poll, 62 percent of respondents said insurance coverage for chemical dependency treatment is just as important as that for diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. The percentage has not changed much since a 1982 Gallup poll, when 59 percent responded favorably to a similar question. While public opinion hasn't changed much since then, the health care industry, to its disgrace, has... Now, in the year 2000, most people find it harder to receive adequate coverage for treatment of this disease. There are still a lot of people who need help taming their addition.

The good news is treatment works... as do prevention programs which focus on education parents BEFORE their kids experiment with alcohol and other drugs. But, this is an election year, so bet your money on the fact that our conservative politicians will seek to pass more legislation to fund headline-grabbing punishment measures (be "tough on drugs") while our more liberal polls will take no risks and do nothing (look "soft on drugs").

Obviously more education needs to be done to help the public understand addiction and recovery. It is unfair to discriminate against people who are recovering from this disease. Thousands of alcoholics and addicts go through treatment each year and return to healthy, productive lives. The Van Ost Institute has been waging this battle against public opinion for over 16 years, and while great strides have been made, there is clearly more work to be done. Recovering people don't need special privileges -- they just need to be treated equally.