I agree with Maine Millennial columnist Victoria Hugo-Vidal when she writes in her Oct. 11 column, “Addiction is not something to be ashamed of. It’s a medical condition, part physiological and part psychological, and it is treatable.”

In my community and throughout the state I have worked with individuals who have struggled with addiction in one way or another. Sometimes I am lucky enough to hear their stories about how they overcame their personal struggle with addiction. Each time I hear about how much their battle was as much physiological as it was psychological, it never fails to astonish me. It takes a lot of strength to persevere through this.

We as a society should not judge others for suffering from an addiction. Instead, it should be our duty to provide life lines to those in need to give them a way out when they are ready. We should be working to understand how to best help others in their time of need. It is not acceptable to use someone’s loved one’s struggle with addiction as a means of trying to discredit another. As a society we need to be helping others who might be struggling to improve their quality of life.

Whether it is in the form of a loved one, a friend or another individual, those suffering from addiction need support. They also deserve not to have what they have gone through made public unless they are ready to do so for their own reasons.

Ben W. Bucklin
Searsport

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