The Anonymous People

Last night I watched The Anonymous People.  If you don't know about it, it's a documentary (available for streaming on Netflix) about people in long term recovery from addiction.  If you love someone who struggles with addiction, I highly recommend that you watch this film.  It is about the need for an open, honest dialogue about addiction and recovery, and how the attitudes toward addiction and recovery need to change.

Addiction to drugs and alcohol is an illness.  Some would like to discount it, and say that it's a choice- people choose to become addicts.  They can stop if they really want to.  I've never known anyone who chose to become an addict.  I've known people who screwed up and made bad choices, but they never set out with the desire to destroy their lives.  I've known people that struggled with sobriety for years because they weren't ready to get help.  Or they got help, and then repeatedly fell back into the abyss that enveloped and smothered them.  Addiction is an illness, plain and simple.  Even after treatment, an addict has to work on their sobriety every day.  There is no cure.  Some are able to overcome it, and sadly some are not.

One of the recovering addicts in this film was the actress, Kristen Johnston (3rd Rock from the Sun and The Exes.)  She has become a very vocal champion for change by refusing to be silent about her own recovery.  She will not hide the fact that she almost died because of her drug and alcohol abuse (read her book, Guts if you haven't already.)  She is mostly known for being smart, outspoken, a bit of an over-actor, and incredibly funny  (and let's not forget her proper use of foul language!)  Even her book will make you laugh out loud in the midst of her horrifying life and death ordeal.  That being said, there was a moment in The Anonymous People that took my breath away.  There is a brief moment where all of that brashness and humor drops away, and we catch a glimpse of raw vulnerability from her.  I have always enjoyed Kristen's work for her ability to make me laugh, but seeing this small glimpse of a different side of her made me love her even more.

The main point of the documentary is that attitudes toward addiction and recovery need to change.  No longer should those in recovery hide themselves away, or be shamed into silence.  They need to speak out and be counted.  Addiction is a crisis in this country, and only when attitudes change will real progress be made in the treatment of this disease that destroys so many lives.