NIDA's Addiction Performance Project

Addiction is a complicated and widespread problem in the United States that affects people of every age, race, and socioeconomic group (Read Substance Abuse and Seniors, Teen Addiction and Rehab, and Executive Rehab: What to Expect).  Although, as a country, we have made substantial progress in decreasing the stigma associated with addiction and other mental health problems and discussing related issues in public forums (Read How Americans Perceive Addicts and Addiction), there is still much work to do. To this end, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has come up with a few creative approaches  to increasing awareness of the problem of drug abuse in America.

What is NIDA?

The National Institute on Drug Abuse is part of the National Institutes of Health, which is itself a division of the Department of Health and Human Services. Specifically, this agency encourages scientific research toward a better understanding of substance abuse and addiction in order to be able to implement this knowledge in practical applications related to prevention and treatment.  To disseminate this research quickly to the medical and scientific communities, NIDA publishes much of it on its website at www.nida.nih.gov.

What is NIDA’s Addiction Performance Project?

Using excerpts from Act 3 of Eugene O’Neill’s play entitled Long Day’s Journey into Night, this theatrical performance is intended to catalyze compassionate dialogue among physicians, medical professionals, and other stakeholders about topics related to treating patients with addictions. Among the issues that may be raised include doctors’ personal biases about addiction, the difficulties of caring for addicted patients at the primary-care level, and the best ways of doing so.  Cast members include actress Blythe Danner (credits include Meet the Fockers, Nurse Jackie, Will & Grace, and Two and a Half Men among many others) who plays the morphine addict, Mary Tyrone.

Where and when are performances held?

Performances, which are free and run from 2011 to 2012, have already occurred in Boston, Phoenix, and Washington, DC. Future performance information will be published on the NIDA website.

What else is NIDA doing to combat substance abuse?

In conjunction with the Grammy Foundation and MusiCares, NIDA will be holding a contest for adolescents (age 14-18) to create a song or music video (no more than 3 minutes in length) that deals with issues related to abuse of and addiction to drugs (Read NIH and the Grammy Foundation Team Up Against Teen Substance Abuse).  Additionally, NIDA provides much information for researchers, health care practitioners, parents, and teens on its website.

What other artistic representations of addiction have been done?

Because of its prevalence, drug abuse is a common topic in popular culture.  Music, books, television shows, and movies often incorporate aspects of addiction and reflect current related media controversies (Read Hollywood’s Take on Addiction and Beautiful Boy & Tweak Book Reviews: One Family’s Story).  Sadly, addiction is an all-too-common problem among many celebrities (Read The Media’s Portrayal of Celebrity Addictions, Lindsay Lohan and Betty Ford Rehab, Miley Cyrus and Salvia, and Michael Jackson & Dangers of Prescription Drug Abuse).