Stigma Part 1: If I can do it, so can you

<p>Ep #189 - Stigmatizing language is happening all around us and it can rear its ugly head in such a way that you won't even notice it happening.</p> <p>"If I can do it, so can you" is one you have undoubtedly heard before. "When I was a kid, I did this and that, and I didn't become an addict," is another I have heard many a time.</p> <p>"You don't even know what a bad childhood is," and, "they had a great childhood, what's their problem?" are others I am very attuned to catching when parents talk about their child's substance use disorder or compare their childhood to their kid's childhood.</p> <p>Minimizing another person's childhood and their lived experiences by comparing their life to someone else's is just plain rude. Comparing your life to another's is exhausting and when you or someone else does this you, or they, are not comparing apples to apples - you are deleting out a ton of information you are not privy to. There are things you do not know about that other person. What their adverse childhood experiences were may even sound similar to yours, or someone else's, but they were not exactly the same, and even if they do sound exactly the same, there is no way they are EXACTLY the same. Thus comparing your life to someone else's isn't serving you are their highest sense of self or human needs.</p> <p>"If I can do it, so can you," is saying to someone else, "no matter what you went through, I had it worse, so what's your issue?" I know it can sound like you are uplifting the other person, and they might even think they are taking it that way, but the unconscious mind isn't hearing it that way - it can read between the lines, and what it is hearing is comparative deletion, and its hurtful.</p> <p>Let's get into this because I think after this episode you will hear the stigmatizing language and now you will know how you can shift it so that you are listening without judgement.</p> <p>Just hit play and let's dive in with our open minds, hearts, and energies bringing everyone into the fold - you are in the ri