September is National Recovery Month: Families impacted by substance use deserve loving support

 In September of 2023, the Duluth News Tribune published my opinion piece: Those with substance-use disorders need support without judgment. I'm including a visual of the piece here.

Substance misuse in our communities is here and real. Avoiding the topic or couching these challenges in shame and stigma hurts rather than helps. Supporting families with love leads to healing.

Substance misuse, along with associated medical conditions called substance use disorders (SUDs), have social, medical/biological, behavioral, and spiritual components. SUD is often closely tied to mental health conditions and trauma. When substance misuse or SUD impact mothers and birthing people, the stigma and shame is complicated even further with the intense societal expectations about how women and birthing parents "should" behave to be "good" caregivers. 

But here's the thing: families are interconnected. Punishing or judging keeps these real health imbalances in the darkness and harms the entire family. If we are going to make inroads in addressing cycles of trauma, we have to talk about these issues and stop being afraid of them. There are evidence-based approaches available that can be customized to each individual and family. 

Medications, assessment and treatment for co-occurring mental health conditions and trauma, community support, harm reduction supplies and approaches, support groups, and attention to social and spiritual needs, all combine to help lift up people who are suffering from SUD. Many treatment pathways are available and safe for pregnant women and birthing people.

The Minnesota Perinatal Quality Collaborative (MPQC) has resources for both health providers and families. Here's a link to family supports around substance use disorder. 

The National Harm Reduction Coalition also has a toolkit for pregnancy and SUD.