Battling Stigmas: Deaunte Damper hopes to encourage those fighting addiction by sharing his story

Deaunte Damper is set to make his return to the set of We Live In Color Wednesday night at 8:30 pm with special guest Nikkita Oliver. Damper had taken leave to pursue treatment for addiction, and is now back to share his story as well as the stories of others. 

“I feel rejuvenated,” Damper said. “I’d been dealing with addiction for a while and I felt like it was finally time to learn to really take care of myself.”

Damper, who along with hosting his show is a strong voice in the LGBTQIA+ community, said that during the pandemic the isolation worsened his habits. Despite having a support system which checked in on him, he continued to use methamphetamines periodically and eventually got to the point where he looked in the mirror and didn’t like what he saw.

“Every time I’d go back the usage would get worse, and the cycles would get worse,” Damper said. 

Damper said for a while he continued to throw himself into projects, adding more and more work into his life to keep his mind occupied. Eventually, though, he hit a point where he knew he needed help. He read articles on burnout and was inspired to take a step back and focus on self-care. 

Now, Damper is ready to share his story with the community and hopefully inspire others who may be dealing with similar struggles.

“I'm coming here as my full self. I'm coming to you as a person in recovery,” Damper said. “I'm being open with the community to let you know where I was, because I know that there are other people that are going through spaces of isolation.”

He also wants to break some of the stigma around addiction and mental-health struggles. 

“Especially in the LGBTQIA+ community, I think we’re sometimes seen as these robots that always show up for Pride events and all that stuff,” Damper said. “I'm a real person that goes through stuff, I’ve gone through depression and I've been through a lot of things that have really impacted me over the past couple of years.”

Converge Media CEO, Omari Salisbury said that he is proud that Deauntae has chosen to make his struggles public and hopeful that it will reduce stigma around rehab and how people view those suffering with addiction.

“It is not easy to share with the world the personal struggles around addiction, the fact that Deaunte is being so open not only with his close friends and family but also the general public speaks volumes to his character and also his want to do what he can to encourage those seeking help to take the steps to find it” said Salisbury

Damper says he will use his platform to continue connecting with individuals in the community, as well as to inspire and empower people who may still be sitting in isolation.

Don’t miss Deaunte’s return show Wednesday night at 8:30 PM live on all Converge platforms and below

You can find out more about We Live In Color here