Tonight, Kensington Palace released a video message by the Princess of Wales to mark the start of Addiction Awareness Week 2022. The Princess, filmed at Kensington Palace earlier this month with several family photographs in the background, stated: "Please know that addiction is not a choice. No one chooses to be an addict." Kate stressed that the stigma of shame should not hold anyone back from seeking the help they need.
The Princess added: "Attitudes are changing, but we're not there yet, and we need to be. We as a society need to recognise that the only way to help those suffering is to try to understand what has led them to addiction. To empathise with them and to be compassionate. I know this was not a choice. Recovery is possible."
Addiction Awareness Week runs from 30 October until 6 November.
Throughout the week, charities and organizations supporting people and families affected by addiction will explore the complex "causes and nature of addiction". Kate's patronage Action on Addiction notes: "This year we are looking at why addiction awareness matters -- how tackling stigma and misunderstanding will help more people and families access the help they need. We want to show the world that addiction can happen to anyone and it is not a choice, but recovery is possible with the right support!"
The Duchess chose Action on Addiction as one of her very first patronages as a working royal over a decade ago. As Kate undertook various engagements and visits for the charity, she began to link addiction to her early years work and the impact on the family as a whole. In 2013, the Duchess said: "Those who are addicted are not the only victims. I have been struck by the profound and deeply damaging impact it has on the children of affected parents. Research has shown that children of those who are addicted are seven times more likely to have addiction problems themselves. They are also brought up surrounded by fear, instability and chaos." In February 2018, she officially opened Action on Addiction's new treatment centre in Wickford, Essex, and reflected on her first meetings with those involved in the charity as "the start of my learning", adding: "You're very special to me."
The charitable sector was rocked to the core during the pandemic and AoA was sadly no exception. In March 2021, it was announced Action on Addiction had merged with the Forward Trust, another charity doing the same vital work supporting those in the fight against addiction and their loved ones. Their combined name moving forward is the Forward Trust, however the Action on Addiction name continues to feature due to its prominence in the UK. Below, the Princess visiting last October to mark the launch of the Forward Trust's Taking Action on Addiction campaign.
The Forward Trust has led the More Than My Past campaign, which strives to prove your past does not have to determine your future. A central part of this has been a deeply open podcast series. Click here to listen to the inspiring episodes and life-changing stories.
"A poll last year found that 59 percent of people in Britain know someone with an addiction. Drink, drugs, tobacco and gambling are best known but others are addicted to anything from solvents, to work, the internet, or shopping in a way that affects their health and relationships".
In the video, Kate is wearing the Tory Burch blouse she debuted in May 2021 for engagements in the West Midlands to mark Mental Health Awareness Week.
Below, a closer look at the scallop-edged, polka-dot blouse which has been sold out for some time.
Kate accessorized with pearl earrings.
William and Kate have been off from public duties for the past fortnight, coinciding with Lambrook's school holidays. The children return to school tomorrow and engagements will resume this week. A visit to Scarborough to launch funding to support mental health initiatives is penciled in for Thursday.
It is a beautiful message. On a fashion point, I am not a fan of this hair colour on Kate. I like it better with a darker brown.
ReplyDeleteI am growing tired of the polka dot prints.
DeleteCatherine has never got enough credit for the causes she chose to support. Addiction keeps being taboo and if you read comments under this video on twitter you'll see lots of people blaming addicts and failing to recognize this is a disease. I am sure organizations and families are extremely grateful to have the princess of Wales on their side.
ReplyDeleteFrom the moment she chose this patronage, and it was right at the beginning, I thought she was someone of common sense. She didn't jump on the bandwagon of the causes that were glamorous at the time, I forget what they were, but certainly not addiction. It isn't a popular cause but it is one of the greatest problems of our time.
DeleteHer message, recovery is possible, ask for help is directed to people with an addiction and is very powerful. But I would like to see also what can be done in prevention. For there is a choice right at the beginning. As a mother of teenagers, I know no matter how stable and caring theenvironment, there is an age where you feel lost and were peer pressure is the strongest. Having tools to resist is absolutely needed.
Agree. I value that all her causes are not quantifiable. It would be so easy for her or any royal to sell staff or call for money. Instead she wants to raise awareness and help people in trouble to build a happier and healthier society. It's still early days for her foundation but I guess with time all her causes will be integrated and worked with in one way or another.
DeleteFundamentally as well as technically the phrasing, "No one chooses to be an addict" is false. People make deliberate or inadvertent deleterious choices that have an adverse effect on their life. To choose is to make a choice and that is demonstrative of human agency and free will. Is she suggesting that it's some amorphous, invisible force that targets some people and not others that makes them addicts –– the exception being babies born to mothers who did drugs while they were in utero. A more accurate phrasing would be, "No one *wants* to be an addict"; however, that is also not always true. Married loving parents, good schooling and community, job opportunity and good future prospects can help people make better choices and not turn to drugs. Also, I wonder why the Church of England is not part of this wider dialogue. The church is about helping the broken in spirit, the poor, the widows, the fatherless, etc.
ReplyDeleteRestricting addiction to drugs is so wrong. There are many types of addiction and even people who take drugs don't start taking them thinking of becoming so dependent on those substances that they would die before stop taking them. Addiction is a disease. Even if it starts with a choice, it becomes a disease. And yes. There are studies that talk about predisposition to certain conditions such as addiction or depression.
DeleteI receive the point you are making here about free will and choices. We ALL indeed have choices…to an extent. I think your assertion oversimplifies the reality, and can lead us to shame those caught in addiction. I used to be of this thought, but as I have taken a deeper look at the evidence from a neuropsychological and trauma-informed perspective, my paradigm is shifting.
DeleteThe list you stated—loving parents, access to education, job opportunities, and the like—is full of indicators of an individual’s ability to develop healthy coping strategies in life. These make the empirically-based list of PCEs (Positive Childhood Experiences).
Tragically, so many individuals don’t have these PCEs as a part of their lived experience. Rather, their lives are filled with the opposite: ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences). When our ACEs are not counterbalanced with a substantial number of PCEs, the result is trauma. Trauma changes the brain physiologically as well as chemically.
A growing body of evidence—evidence that Kate has been pursuing from the leading developmental experts who are doing the research and connecting the data-based dots—is giving us new insights into the neurobiological origins of addiction. The work of Dr. Daniel Siegel, Dr. Bruce Perry, Dr. Bessel Van der Kolk, and Dr. Stephen Porges are great starting points if you’d like to dig deeper!
Lacey
Anonymous 17.58, I think you are missing the whole point that Kate is trying to make. I agree with Kate that no one chooses to be an addict. Nobody says to themselves, "For my future I'll become an addict." Yes, a person does choose to take that first cigarette, that first drink of alcohol, that first drug, or the first trip to a casino to gamble etc. Some of those first moves might be to blot out pain, trauma, a mental illness. The relief it gives can bring calm to a troubled mind, so it is tried again, and again, until the person cannot stop. The inability to stop is then an illness, that becomes out of control and takes over causing physical and emotional consequences. So although the first step is a choice, the downward slide, is not a choice.
DeleteSome people can drink alcohol occasionally, others take that first drink and can’t drink in moderation. Most people in my extended family drink socially, a few drink more than they probably should and another few are alcoholics who no longer drink after interventions and lots of support. The alcoholics all had middle class lives with loving families, but could not control their drinking when they still drank alcohol. That is how they are wired. Yes, they chose sobriety finally but they did not choose addiction to alcohol.
DeleteThis is an out if date and privileged opinion. Addiction is a biological brain based disease. My sons friend came from a well-to-do stable family with two parents. He had the best education and a loving community. He died from an accidental over dose. He was an addict.
DeleteSo many of messages like this seem futile but I thought this was very well said and I could feel compassion. I thought it was well done.
ReplyDeleteAs an Early Childhood Developmental Specialist, I see how her work in various areas is already connected. Brain and trauma researchers have shown us without question the relationship between the experiences and relationships we have in the earliest years of our lives, and our mental and emotional health as adults. Addiction does not begin in our teens or adulthood; rather, the stage for such destructive coping strategies is set in our childhoods. The Princess is doing vital work in strategic ways, and I am grateful for her!
ReplyDeleteLacey
I find that people are often critical of Kate because she isn’t visible enough for their tastes. Just because she isn’t turning up in public places doesn’t mean she isn’t quietly meeting with charities, learning what’s being done, what people are experiencing, on their issues and I think asking people who are more in the know what THEY think is important to highlight. We all have some kind of addiction, some are deadlier and more shunned than others. I have a dear friend who is obese; she is addicted to food to mask a lot of pain. She doesn’t choose to be obese and often isn’t “choosing” to eat too much. She can’t help herself although she has tried over and over. It’s going to kill her one day and leave grieving friends and relatives. Bravo to Kate for highlighting that we don’t choose to become addicts and for offering warm sympathy instead of judgement. Valerie in Arizona
ReplyDeleteThen she should be a private philanthropist. Her job is to be visible. The RF survives almost exclusively on optics. And I’m sorry despite the fairly constant defense and praise of Kate she is relatively low engagement in her public work. That’s just a fact whether we want to see it or not. I’m not sure how much longer this will be palatable to the public especially during a dire economic and cost of living crisis. And coming on the heels of the somewhat mixed messages and obfuscation from the Wales camp about their future plans for work (or lack thereof). The questions are only going to become louder about what exactly the public gets from this highly subsidized family who live in immense privilege and wealth at the expense of others.
DeleteShe is the most popular member of the BRF, so she must be doing something right.
DeleteI think people want more than optics from their RF. And Kate gives them that, take for instance the hold still project. No private philanthropist could have put it together.
Also the job description is supporting her husband in supporting the monarch. She is very good at it.
The public gets stability, continuity and life long service from a neutral and apolitical head of state and his family. Interestingly, comparative studies have been made and the system is much cheaper than a republic.
Agree, Natacha. I think she should be out much more frequently but the public opinion seems ok with her work and schedule. And they're the ones she's working for, the UK people, not for followers of this blog or any other.
DeleteThe RF cost the UK taxpayer 77pence each for carrying out their royal duties in 2020-21. I suspect we will see an increase in her duties now The Queen has gone
DeleteIf you have listened at all to anything Harry has said over the past two years + about his childhood, the very best thing the Princess of Wales can do for the monarchy and her country is to raise a stable, emotionally healthy next generation. I have always hated the implication that being a full time, present wife and mom isn’t really working or indeed even worth anything. If she was constantly out, you’d have to pay for all the staff she’d need to do all the things she’s currently doing for her family. This is a lifelong role. If she lives as long as the queen, you’ll get another 56 years of service out of her. Louis is just 4. He needs his mum a while longer, and she has the ability to be there with and for him and his siblings.
DeleteA large number of people need to research how the Sovereign Grant actually works and where the money for it comes from.
-PB
Well done, Kate. Very important topic!
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to the Scarborough visit.
Thank you, Charlotte! Zora
I saw on Twitter that some of Kate's dresses she had worn over the years are included in a Princess Diana display. That was quite interesting since many of us have wondered what happens too her dresses.
ReplyDelete