The Stigma is Real. Deadly.
Labels are for bottles and cans, not people.
What is stigma? Stigma is a perceived negative attribute that causes someone to devalue or think less of the whole person. Stigma can be defined as prejudicial attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, and even discrimination against people experiencing addiction.
Fortunately, decades of research have given us a deeper understanding of what drives an individual’s compulsion to continue using drugs or alcohol despite negative consequences. This deeper understanding has also shone a light on the harm caused by negative labels.
Surprisingly, research has shown that even some medical professionals judge a person differently depending on whether they’ve been labeled as a substance abuser or as suffering from a substance use disorder.
In a 2016 paper Michael P. Botticelli, who served as the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, co-wrote for the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) entitled ‘Changing the Language of Addiction,’ states, “Stigma isolates people, discourages people from coming forward for treatment and leads some clinicians, knowingly or unknowingly, to resist delivering evidence-based treatment services.”
An article in U.S. News & World Report by Ruben Castaneda quotes Dr. John F. Kelly, director of the Recovery Research Institute at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School as stating that avoiding stigmatizing labels “can save lives.” Kelly cautions that calling someone a substance abuser unfairly labels them as deliberately choosing to continue misusing a substance, “which some people believe should be punished, not treated.”
A research paper published in the International Journal of Drug Policy supports Dr. Kelly’s conclusion. Over 500 mental health practitioners attending a conference completed a survey asking for their treatment recommendations for two individuals who had relapsed. The patients were identical except one was described as a substance abuser and the other as having a SUD. The clinicians who evaluated the “substance abuser” recommended a “more punitive” approach, including jail or community service rather than continued treatment.
Mental health professionals have long argued that labeling someone as a substance abuser or addict is defining the entire person by their disease. However, when a person is said to have a substance use disorder, it is understood they have a medical problem that does not define their entire person. Just like a person with cancer or heart disease is far more than their diagnosis, a person with an alcohol or drug use problem has an entire identity apart from their illness, no matter what their label.
As Botticelli writes in ‘Changing the Language of Addiction,’ “This is not just about being politically correct. There’s scientific evidence to show that language matters. We know stigma plays a huge role in why some people with substance use disorders avoid or delay seeking treatment.”
The 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) data found that of the 21.7 million people aged 12 or older who identified as needing substance use treatment in the past year, only about 2.3 million people received treatment. The majority of those not receiving treatment said they didn’t feel they needed it. The survey identified some reasons for not seeking treatment as including the fear that others would view them negatively and that the perceived “stigma” could interfere with job or personal opportunities.
The Mayo Clinic warns that “stigma can lead to discrimination.” According to their website, the harmful effects of stigma may include:
- Reluctance to seek help or treatment
- Lack of understanding by family, friends, co-workers, or others
- Fewer opportunities for work, school or social activities or trouble finding housing
- Bullying, physical violence, or harassment
- Health insurance that doesn’t adequately cover your mental illness treatment
- The belief that you’ll never succeed at certain challenges or that you can’t improve your situation
It’s clear there’s a great need for raising awareness on the harm caused by negative labels and that stigmatizing those suffering from a substance use disorder, or any disorder, is unfair, traumatic and may threaten their decision to seek help.
