Stigma

The following is a summary of what participants had to say. The comments reflect the observations and experiences of the people we spoke with. As such, the comments highlight many important issues but cannot be generalized to a larger population.
· People who have problems with substance use are judged and labeled in a negative way by society and often come to think of themselves in the same way.
· The substance users who are stigmatized most are :
o those who use illegal drugs (especially those who inject drugs, use crack or heroin or take methadone) or those who use any drug a lot
o women (especially if they are pregnant and/or ar
e mothers already)
o people of lower socioeconomic status
o younger people and older adults
o aboriginal people.
· The main ways in which stigma affects people with experience using drugs are:
o violations of human rights
o lack of employment
o development of negative feelings about themselves
o adoption of certain behaviours (e.g., avoiding needed services, becoming secretive, continued substance use).
· A few people with experience using drugs said they have never felt stigmatized while others said their experience of stigma was ongoing; many said they had experienced stigma within the past week.
· Those who have the most contact with substance users were mentioned as being the most stigmatizing and/or the most
supportive; specifically:
o The groups mentioned as stigmatizing substance users most are: people in the helping professions (e.g., physicians, psychiatrists, pharmacists and emergency room staff); family and friends; the legal system (e.g., the police, lawyers, probation and parole officers); government agencies (e.g., social services, Children's Aid, the current provincial government).
o Many participants said that counsellors, therapists and treatment agencies have given them a lot of support; some also cited family and friends, people in helping professions (e.g., family physician, psychiatrist, emergency department) and the legal system (e.g., police) as being supportive.
· The most effective ways to reduce stigma are through:
o educational initiatives — which highlight the reasons people develop problems with substance use; seek to promote understanding; address media biases and inaccuracies; and portray people with addictions as human beings
o personalizing the issue — by having people who have experienced substance use and stigma speak about it; using well-known people as spokespeople to raise awareness that addiction can affect anyone; showing the face of substance use on a variety of people in
society
o positive stories — which show people who have experienced problems with substance use contributing to society.
THE VOICE OF STIGMA
Here is a small sample of what people had to say in response to the question: "What is it that you would really like other people to know or think about someone who has (or has had) a problem with substance use?"
People with experience using drugs
"I have a sense of humour."
"I am much more than my addiction."
"I am on a voyage of discovery."
"I am dynamic and vibrant."
"I want people to say: ‘I'm glad I got to know him.’"
"I'm a human being. These are just some of my warts — but we all have them."
"The Greek concept of ‘agape’ means to ‘love in spite of.’ I want people to care about me and each other in that way. That makes recovering a lot easier."
"I would like people to understand the context of substance abuse."
"Don't push me to the back of the line. I'm just the same person as you are — only I had an addiction problem."
Family members
"They're not all bad. There is good in them. Look past that part to see what else is there."
"Look beyond the obvious and view the underlying problem."
"Families expend a lot of energy to keep the problem quiet."
"I like the expression: ‘It takes a whole village to raise a family.’ But that's not the way it is."
"Behaviours are a symptom of something. Instead of just looking at the person as a user or abuser, wonder why."
"They probably have a deeper problem than the one you're seeing. They need help and understanding rather than being shunned or having backs turned on them."
"Blame doesn't help. It doesn't help them to say: ‘you should do this.’ They're enmeshed and entangled in this whole set of behaviours."
Service providers
"How they survive on the streets makes me say, ‘wow.’ A lot of us couldn't even start surviving."
"The person just lacks resources. When opportunities are presented to people, they flourish."
"Just because somebody's an addict doesn't make them a bad person."
"They are doing the best that they can."

"It is incredibly difficult for clients to come in and look at themselves and to try and change, to be self-aware and to look at everything that they do. I think that makes them the strongest people that there are."
"No one chooses to develop an addiction or an alcohol or drug problem. What they are trying to do is address pain — but they don't seem to know any other way to deal with it. Alcohol and drug problems are about pain, not self-indulgence."
"Anybody can be affected. There are too many items, chemicals, activities in our world not to be exposed to something that can become very compulsive or addictive."