Stigma: A Major Barrier to Treatment for Addiction By Christie Bates-MacKaskle Jermey flew into town one evening to interview for an executive position at a major corporation the next morning. Sonny from human resource met him at the airport and offered to take him to dinner. Even though Jeremy was hungry, he lied and said that he'd eaten on the plane. Jeremy was afraid that Sonny might want drinks with dinner, like a lot of guys do, and he would have to say, "No, thanks." Jeremy didn't want that to happen. He doesn't drink anymore, but he doesn't want anyone from the corporation to suspect he's ever had a problem with alcohol.  Addiction is a disease. No one asks to be addicted to alcohol, drugs or anything else. Hundreds of years ago, stigma was the name for a scar left by a hot iron. Today, that hot iron is the shame associated with addiction. In fact, stigma is now defined as a mark of shame. We live in a society that promotes drug use, such as the obligatory drink with dinner. But that same society brands people with same if they are unable to drink "normally" or use certain drugs as prescribed.
Sonny was relieved when Jeremy said no to dinner. That way, he could go home and drink alone, without anyone knowing how much he drank. After taking something to help him sleep, Sonny sits in front of the television with what he hopes is his last drink tonight. He sees an ad for an addiction treatment facility. Sonny has called the number on the screen before just after his wife took the kids and left, but he can't bring himself to go into treatment. He feels he can't afford to be gone in the middle of planning this year's job fair. The company counts on the fair to fill its many clerical positions. Besides, even if it might not be able to fire him outright, it sure would hurt him come promotion time if the company finds out he can't stop drinking by himself.
In spring of 2002, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Ontario, Canada, issue a final report on its "Project to Address the Stigma of Addiction." It had studied literature and interviewed addicts and their families. The project found that those who experienced addiction were affected by its stigma in a variety of ways. They had been denied their civil rights in terms of housing or medical treatment, for example. Many reported an inability to get or keep a job. They internalized the stigma, which only added to the self-loathing created by the disease. Worst of all, stigma had a direct impact on self-defeating patterns such as secrecy and the failure to seek help. Stigma silence both Jeremy and Sonny, when they might otherwise do each other some good.
Another troubling aspect of stigma is that it is not only evident in the masses. People who work in the helping professions such as law enforcement, social work, education and even medicine are just as likely to hold shame-based attitudes toward addiction as the rest of the population. Rather than recognize addicts as individuals with a medical condition, people who are unfamiliar with addiction are likely to stereotype them as derelict, anti-social criminals who bring nothing but suffering.
The Project did uncover some solutions to the problem of stigma, however. It concluded that the most effective ways to reduce stigma with regard to addiction are as follows: - Education and training to get the message out that addiction is a disease, that people with the disease must be treated with respect and compassion and that they need treatment just as they would for any other medical condition.
- Personalizing stigma with the help of well-known spokespeople who are willing to share their experience with addiction and stigma.
- Telling positive stories of people who have struggled with the disease of addiction, and yet have made wonderful contributions to the world.
In response to this sort of research, many public and private agencies throughout North America have recruited members of the recovery community to help de-stigmatize addiction using exactly those methods.
If there is an alcohol and drug council in your community, there is a probably an organization under its umbrella that seeks to lift the burden of stigma from those who suffer the most from addiction. You may find it valuable to your own recovery to volunteer your time there. Not only can you help ease the suffering of addicts still in the throes of the disease, you can help heal the scars of your own stigma.
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