In the immediate wake of Nelsan Ellis' death from complications following heart failure, his family did something remarkable.

In this country, there is still a lot of misperception and downright stigma around substance use disorders or addiction. The only way to counter that is with the truth.

On Monday, after news of Ellis' death spread, they chose to elaborate on how the 39-year-old True Blood actor experienced heart failure in the first place.

The health crisis was brought on by alcohol withdrawal, they said in a statement delivered to The Hollywood Reporter by Ellis' manager. In fact, Ellis had long battled addictions to both drugs and alcohol, and had made several previous attempts to receive treatment.

Indeed, despite years of progress toward reducing stigma, unforgiving judgment remains a common thread of public and private conversations about the chronic mental illness that is addiction.

Read the source article at Mashable

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Rebecca Ruiz is a Features Writer at Mashable covering gender, sexuality and equality.