The Princess of Wales has on the first day of Addiction Awareness Week sent a message of support for the Taking Action on Addiction campaign.
As part of her message, Her Royal Highness speaks directly to those suffering with an addiction, reminding them that they are dealing with a serious mental health condition, that can happen to anyone and urges them to seek out help. The Princess also highlights the role society has to play saying:
“Attitudes to addiction are changing. But we are not there yet, and we need to be. Still the shame of addiction is stopping people and families asking for help and people are still tragically losing their lives.
“We as a society need to recognise that the only way to help those suffering is to try and understand what has led them to addiction, to empathise with them and to be compassionate to their struggles.”
Her Royal Highness goes on to reiterate her support for the campaign saying:
“Addiction is a serious mental health condition that can happen to anyone, no matter what age, gender, race or nationality.”
Led by the Forward Trust alongside a number of charity partners, Taking Action on Addiction aims to reframe existing perceptions of addiction, build awareness of the causes and nature of addiction, improve understanding, reduce prejudice and enable more people to ask for and receive help. Now in its second year, the campaign runs during Addiction Awareness Week from Sunday 30th October to Sunday 7th November.
Mike Trace, Chief Executive of The Forward Trust, launches the week saying:
“Addiction Awareness Week speaks directly to people impacted by addiction, offering support and understanding so that more people ask for and receive help.
“At a time when addiction is growing across the UK it is crucial we build awareness of its causes and act quickly to stop this tide, to get in early to reduce the impact on families and children, and make sure that people are able to access the support and treatment that we know makes recovery from addiction possible.”
Over the last ten years The Princess’ experience working with addiction charities has helped lay the groundwork for her understanding of the complexities of mental health and has informed much of her work on the early years. Experiences in early childhood, before the age of five, are proven to have significant impact on adult lives, including resilience and the ability to cope with adversity.
Visit the Taking Action on Addiction campaign website.
Read the full blog post here.
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