Words matter.

There’s no question about that – they’re a big driving force of stigma, and it’s always a heated debate when it comes to semantics with these touchy areas.

One of the many challenges is that while the healthcare guidelines move away from words like 'addict,' many popular 12-step fellowships have fully embedded that word into their culture, and a lot people choose to use it as a point of personal pride.

But despite of this, in recent years the culture has been shifting heavily against the use of that word. For example, most dictionaries have replaced all instances of addict used as a noun with “a person addicted to” or a “habitual user of.”

But why would a dictionary change a word that’s been around for centuries? The way we use language evolves—and so do dictionaries. And when it comes to words around addiction, there’s been a lot of evolution in recent years.

Episode 19 discusses the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA)'s recent updated guidelines on the language they recommend using and avoiding when talking about substance use disorders.

In this show I'll provide a review of the recommendations, personal perspectives on the topic of language, and of course some relatively unrelated tangents and personal stories that you've come to expect from these episodes :-)

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