Addiction is a disease, not a choice. Matthew Perry’s public battle helped alleviate stigma, Northeastern experts say

Actor Matthew Perry speaks during a session on prescription drug abuse. AP Photo/Jeff Roberson

A year before his sudden death, “Friends” co-star Matthew Perry appeared on a podcast where he shared that he didn’t want to be remembered for his time on the sitcom, but for his work helping others with addiction.

When Perry died last month, people did recall his acting work, but also remembered him as an advocate for those with addiction. During his lifetime, Perry was vocal about his own battle with alcohol and drugs, documenting his struggles in his 2022 memoir, “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing,” and serving as a sponsor for others in recovery.

Headshot of Allison Bauer.
Northeastern associate professor Allison Bauer, who used to work for Massachusetts’ Bureau of Substance Addiction Services, said speaking out about addiction can help others. Photo by Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University

These efforts made a difference, according to Allison Bauer, an associate teaching professor in Northeastern University’s department of health sciences and former director of the Bureau of Substance Addiction Services of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

When people — especially celebrities — speak out about addiction, Bauer says, it can help alleviate the stigma surrounding the disease.

“I gave 75 different talks over two years (with the Bureau),” Bauer says. “(My talks) would not carry the weight of the words of somebody like Matthew Perry. He was someone with the illness, and that carries weight, regardless of whether you are a celebrity or not. … But I think celebrities carry this level of believability that makes people listen.”

There is often a stigma surrounding addiction, leading people to think negatively of those with the disease, Bauer says.

“If somebody is suffering from a vascular condition, we don’t attach stigma to illness,” she says. “But for whatever reason, stigma has been attached to the illness of addiction for many years, in part because people don’t call it the illness of addiction. 

“There’s a lot of judgment that comes along with addiction, a belief that somebody’s making the choice to be addicted. And as a result, there’s kind of this negative lens that gets attached to it.”

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