Celebrate Recovery Holds Seminar on Addiction
MARYVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) - A Maryville outreach ministry hosted a free seminar Friday on addiction.
Celebrate Outreach hosted "Hijacked: How Addiction Rewires the Brain and Poison's the Spirit" at First United Methodist Church.
It was designed to let attendees learn what drives addiction and to show those suffering from addiction what resources are available to them in Blount County.
"A fundamental misunderstanding of addiction is that it's about the substance. It's not about the substance. It's about what's wrong in the brain, what's wrong in the heart. And that's what a summit like this is designed to let people know," said emcee Steve Wildsmith. "It doesn't matter if it's alcohol or opioids. The end result is the same dereliction, degradation, jails, institutions and death. And it doesn't have to be that way. It's about understanding... to change the way they feel or not feel at all."
Many people at the summit said they had no experience with addiction themselves, btu wanted to learn more about a problem they see in their community.
The event featured speeches from Dr. James Choo, Sara Ridner with Cornerstone of Recovery, co-owner of Blount Discount Pharmacy Phil Lafoy and several others.
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