Recovery Brands Commits $10,000 to End Stigma Surrounding Addiction and Behavioral Health Disorders

SAN DIEGO, Feb. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Recovery Brands today announced the LIVES (Leveraging Impactful Videos to End Stigma) Challenge, a three-month public video contest developed by the company to help inspire and generate a new message surrounding addiction and behavioral health disorders. The company is seeking video submissions that will reduce the stigma surrounding the disease and encourage individuals struggling with addiction to seek treatment. Participants have a chance at winning $10,000 as well as a featured video placement on the company's flagship site, Rehabs.com.

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), addiction affects approximately 23.5 million Americans every year, and roughly 11 percent receive treatment. While there are many factors that contribute to this addiction-treatment gap, stigma is one of the largest. Recovery Brands' proprietary research found that stigma is actually cited as the second largest barrier for individuals considering treatment. It is second only to cost. The company's findings also unveiled that 82.2 percent of individuals struggling with addiction have felt stigmatized, and 73.9 percent of these individuals have felt most stigmatized by family members.

"Despite efforts of the addiction treatment industry to make treatment more readily accessible, research and personal experience show us that stigma remains one of the largest barriers to seeking help," said Melanie Haber, vice president of brand development at Recovery Brands. "Until we begin to change the conversation and perception surrounding addiction and behavioral health disorders, lives will continue to be lost far too soon. We're committed to eliminating that barrier by bringing a new, empowering message to light through the LIVES Challenge."

To expand its anti-stigma efforts beyond the LIVES Challenge, Recovery Brands is donating additional funds to non-profit organizations with a focus on reducing the stigma associated with addiction and behavioral health disorders and aiding in the addiction recovery process. LIVES Challenge participants will receive a Pura Vida bracelet, designed and purchased by Recovery Brands, to serve as a reminder to spread the word and stand up to stigma. Through collaboration with Pura Vida, Recovery Brands is able to donate one-dollar worth of proceeds from each bracelet.

Two awards will be granted at the close of the LIVES Challenge: The Judge's Choice Award and The People's Choice Award. Each is paired with a prize of $5,000. To determine the Judge's Choice Award, submissions will be vetted on creativity, impact, clarity and quality by a panel of third-party judges. The panel includes Chris Henderson, lead guitar player of Three Doors Down; Justin Luke Riley, president and CEO of Young People in Recovery; David Sheff, author of New York Times best-seller Clean; and Anne Fletcher, M.S., R.D., a nationally known, award-winning health and medical writer, New York Times best-selling author, speaker, consultant, and author of Inside Rehab. Each panelist has intensive personal and/or professional experience with addiction and its associated stigma. The video that receives the most public votes within a set period of time will be presented The People's Choice Award.

Additional early-stage supporters of the LIVES Challenge include: Young People in Recovery, Kula for Karma, Pura Vida, National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), ATTCK, A New PATH, Moms United to End the War on Drugs and HealMyPTSD.com.

For more information on the Recovery Brands LIVES Challenge, visit http://recoverybrands.com/lives/.

About Recovery Brands

Recovery Brands, LLC owns and operates leading addiction treatment websites, providing resources to millions of people struggling with addiction to help facilitate informed decisions about treatment options and facilities. Its portfolio of authority websites, including Rehabs.com and Recovery.org, provides online directories, rehab reviews, forums and professional communities that have supported countless families in their decisions to pursue recovery. Treatment providers leverage its marketing platform to elevate their online brands through paid media packages across its network. Recovery Brands is now operating as part of Sober Media Group, LLC, a digital media arm of American Addiction Centers.

For more information, visit RecoveryBrands.com or follow @RecoveryBrands.

Press Contact:
Ashton Tupper
PR Manager
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Video: http://origin-qps.onstreammedia.com/origin/multivu_archive/PRNA/ENR/336174-474008185.mp4

SOURCE Recovery Brands

Related Links

http://rehabs.com