In recent closed-door testimony during the House Oversight Committee’s impeachment inquiry into his business dealings, Hunter Biden stated, “To be clear, I have made mistakes in my life, and I have squandered opportunities and privileges that were afforded to me. I know that. I am responsible for that. And I am making amends for that.”
Hunter Biden did not explicitly say he felt shame for his actions, but we can infer the association based on his desire to make “amends,” common AA lingo for efforts to undo the harms caused to others as a result of addictive behaviors. And similar recent quotes about his past highlight the role of prosocial shame in recovery from addiction. As a doctor who specializes in addiction treatment, I am familiar with this concept.
What makes Hunter Biden’s experience even more notable, of course, is that it is inevitably linked to an important and consequential presidential election.
Shame is a gut-punch emotion we feel when we anticipate or experience disapproval, especially when accompanied by the fear of rejection and/or punishment. In reference to a text he sent to a business partner, claiming his father President Joe Biden was sitting next to him when he wasn’t, Hunter Biden stated, “My addiction is not an excuse, but I can tell you this: I am more embarrassed of this text message, if it actually did come from me, than any text message I’ve ever sent…. My father was not sitting next to me. My father had no awareness. My father had no awareness of the business that I was doing. My father never benefited from any of the business that I was doing. And so, I take full responsibility for being an absolute ass and idiot when I sent this message.”
I have not worked with Hunter Biden, and therefore cannot diagnose or speak to many specifics of his experience. But the public nature of his struggle, and its potential fallout, present valuable opportunities for us all to understand the strife of addiction that so many in…
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