Dr. Don WoodResolving Your Trauma-Based Challenges So You Can Unlock Peak Performance

It’s the Substance That’s Destructive, Not the Person

6 Feb 2025 · 1 min

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Dr. Don Wood recounts an interaction with a patient who used heroin and had been labeled as having "self-destructive behavior." He reframes the act as an attempt to feel better and argues the substance is destructive rather than the person, urging clinicians and listeners to stop shaming, blaming, or moralizing addiction.

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A lady who came in who'd been on heroin for seven years, she said to me, when she first came in, my therapist told me to make sure that I let you know I have self destructive behavior. And I smiled. I said, really? What would make you think you're self destructive? And she was surprised by that. And she looked at me and she goes, well, I'm sticking a needle with heroin in my arm. Don't you think that's self destructive? And I said, actually, no, I don't. I think you're trying to feel better. And I'll bet you when you stuck the needle in your arm, you actually did feel better. And she sort of smiled and she goes, well, yeah. And I said, that's what you were trying to do. The substance is destructive, you're not destructive. And you could see the shift in her face. We have to stop shaming and guilting and blaming these people and understanding why they got into addiction in the first place. It's not about their characters, morals, willpower or ethics, yet that's the common perception of what addiction is all about.