Allison Walsh: I struggled with the eating disorder while I was in high school, so our foundation started because of that. As my career progressed and as different opportunities to really help people became very apparent, there was a lot of crossover in the eating disorder world and in the addiction and substance abuse world.
My name is Allison Kreiger Walsh and I started a non-profit about 12 years ago. That was how I ended up now working in the substance abuse world and addiction world. I currently work for the Recovery village which is a treatment center that is opening in the central Florida community. Still, I'm working with local law enforcement, with the court systems, to again, provide a treatment alternative for those that are struggling with some type of substance abuse problem or addiction. Also, with a rapid increase, there's been over a 500% increase in eating disorders and substance abuse together co-occurring disorders. That's what I spend my days doing. I think a lot comes down to talking to your family members and knowing your history as well. I think, genetics load the gun and society pulls the trigger. I think, having a heightened awareness of who in your family has struggled so far with any type of substance abuse or addiction issue or any other mental health issue, you have a predisposition at that point to also face the same thing. I think, encouraging that level of communication with every family member, saying, "Did uncle Bob struggle with this?" Your, great grandma and so and so, struggled with this. Knowing your family history, knowing what you could potentially be predisposed to will help address the issue earlier on. Then I agree with you, 100% education, talk about it. The more you're going to talk about it, the more you're going to start to arise the stigma, so that people are more comfortable addressing the issues that they might personally have.
My name is Allison Kreiger Walsh and I started a non-profit about 12 years ago. That was how I ended up now working in the substance abuse world and addiction world. I currently work for the Recovery village which is a treatment center that is opening in the central Florida community. Still, I'm working with local law enforcement, with the court systems, to again, provide a treatment alternative for those that are struggling with some type of substance abuse problem or addiction. Also, with a rapid increase, there's been over a 500% increase in eating disorders and substance abuse together co-occurring disorders. That's what I spend my days doing. I think a lot comes down to talking to your family members and knowing your history as well. I think, genetics load the gun and society pulls the trigger. I think, having a heightened awareness of who in your family has struggled so far with any type of substance abuse or addiction issue or any other mental health issue, you have a predisposition at that point to also face the same thing. I think, encouraging that level of communication with every family member, saying, "Did uncle Bob struggle with this?" Your, great grandma and so and so, struggled with this. Knowing your family history, knowing what you could potentially be predisposed to will help address the issue earlier on. Then I agree with you, 100% education, talk about it. The more you're going to talk about it, the more you're going to start to arise the stigma, so that people are more comfortable addressing the issues that they might personally have.