The Senate’s unanimous confirmation of Michael Botticelli as the Director of the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy is a milestone to celebrate.

Whether you personally struggle with the disease of addiction or you are a family member trying to help a loved one who is, Mr. Botticelli’s appointment is proof positive that addiction is a treatable brain disease.

Not only that, but he’s proof positive that being open about one’s long-term recovery is okay (not that everyone need be public about their recovery, but if they so choose, it’s okay). As Director Botticelli described his decision in his message, “The Work Before Us,”

Michael Botticelli – Director of the White House’s National Drug Control Policy

“I am open about my recovery not to be self-congratulatory, I am open about my recovery to change public policy. I have dedicated my life to treating drug use as a public health issue, and that’s how I approach this new role, as well.  I hope that many more of the millions of Americans in recovery like me will also choose to “come out” and to fight to be treated like anyone else with a chronic disease. By putting faces and voices to the disease of addiction and the promise of recovery, we can lift the curtain of conventional wisdom that continues to keep too many of us hidden and without access to lifesaving treatment.” Michael Botticelli, Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy

Addiction is a Treatable Brain Disease

As exciting as Director Botticelli’s unanimous Senate confirmation is, so, too, is his example of the life a person can live when they treat their addiction.

Thanks to new imaging technologies, funding opportunities and the collaborative work of brilliant minds in the recent 15-20 years, there’s a whole new body of scientific research that explains the treatable brain disease of addiction and effective treatment options.

Below, please find a few key resources that introduce or share this work.

The first is a short video from the NIH/National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) titled, “Anyone Can Become Addicted to Drugs,”

This next one is also a short video from NIH/NIDA, “Why Drugs are So Hard to Quit,”

These next three are online resources:

• NIDA: Drugs, Brains, and Behaviors: the Science of Addiction
• NIDA: Principles of Effective Treatment
• NIDA/NIAAA/The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/HBO: The Addiction Project

And this last one is a Quick Guide I’ve written, which will be of help to families wanting to understand what has happened to them (the family member), as well:

• Quick Guide to Addiction Recovery: What Helps, What Doesn’t [this is the Kindle version; it comes in most eReader formats, as well]

Truly exciting times we’re living in, I’d say. As I explain in my About section on why I founded BreakingTheCycles.com in 2008…

We Now Have the Science to Break the Cycles

Recall the early 1970s – many adults smoked cigarettes, we didn’t use bike helmets, infant car seats hadn’t been invented and we rarely used our seat belts. And think about how we viewed and treated HIV-Aids!

All of that changed drastically in just 20+ years — simply because people started talking about and sharing the new research and taking action as they gathered knowledge. Today, bike helmets are mandatory for children under 18, seat belts are mandatory for every passenger, fire departments install infant car seats, and HIV-Aids is recognized as a body fluid-to-body fluid transmitted disease that is “treated like this” and “prevented like this.”

It is Lisa’s hope we can do the same with addiction, which in turn will help the more than 100 million people who are also affected by a loved one’s alcohol or drug addiction or misuse, what Lisa Frederiksen has identified as Secondhand Drinking | Secondhand Drugging. These 100 million people – roughly one-third the American population – are the husbands, wives, children, parents, siblings, grandparents, boyfriends, girlfriends, aunts, uncles, close friends and in-laws of a loved one who misuses drugs or alcohol.

Today, there are 1.1 million Americans living with HIV. By contrast, there are 23.2 million Americans struggling with the brain disease of addiction (whether to drugs or alcohol), of which only 10 percent seek help.

The science is now available to boldly, unequivocally state, addiction is a chronic, often relapsing brain disease that can be “prevented like this” and “treated like this.” The science is now here to also help the 100 million Americans who struggle with Secondhand Drinking | Secondhand Drugging change how they cope and how they protect themselves from the negative impacts of a person’s drinking (or drugging) behaviors.

It’s time.

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Lisa Frederiksen

Author | Speaker | Consultant | Founder at BreakingTheCycles.com

Lisa Frederiksen is the author of hundreds of articles and 12 books, including her latest, "10th Anniversary Edition If You Loved Me, You'd Stop! What you really need to know when your loved one drinks too much,” and "Loved One In Treatment? Now What!” She is a national keynote speaker with over 30 years speaking experience, consultant and founder of BreakingTheCycles.com. Lisa has spent the last 19+ years studying and simplifying breakthrough research on the brain, substance use and other mental health disorders, secondhand drinking, toxic stress, trauma/ACEs and related topics.

Latest posts by Lisa Frederiksen (see all)

• Does a Loved One Have to Hit Bottom? - November 20, 2022
• Resources for Parents of Children with Substance Use and Mental Disorders - October 18, 2022
• 4 Things to Support Brain Health and Function for Recovery - August 30, 2022