Breaking Down Stigmas Around Addiction

By Kaia Wright 

For so long, my brother didn’t want to accept care because of stigmas. 

Being from a small town in Florida, it’s hard to have any kind of moral failing without everyone dissecting your every flaw. Because of my brother’s issue with substance abuse, he experienced people constantly discussing his “failings.”  Stigmas were hung over him from a young age, making him feel outcasted. This kind of harmful speech only worked to further his feeling of isolation. 

As a society, we have worked hard to rid our world of hateful stigmas, from race to gender to class. Yet why as a society have we allowed Substance Abuse Disorder to be the final frontier of socially acceptable shame? 

Stigmas can result in poor mental health, physical harm, lack of understanding  and fewer opportunities. I saw this firsthand with my brother and the stigmas that were put onto him and by extension my family. 

Substance Abuse Disorder, or SUD,  has been defined as a medical condition of the brain by the American Addiction Center, yet there is still debate whether addiction is a true medical condition or simply a choice someone makes. 

“Teaching addiction according to a medical model of chronic disease, and developing stigma-focused training, could reduce stigma.” Says the National Library of Medicine. 

Yet today with all the research and training individuals have, SUD is viewed as a significant moral failing. This kind of stigmatization especially affected my brother and thousands who struggle with addiction.  

“A staggering 43% of U.S. adults who say they needed substance use or mental health care in the past 12 months did not receive that care,” says the National Council for Mental Wellbeing. 

Stigmas can greatly affect how individuals seek to help themselves. For so long, my brother did not want to receive proper care for fear that he would be painted as second-class citizen or viewed differently by our community. He didn’t want the label of “addict” or “abuser” to be the determining factor of his personality. 

If this were any other medical condition you would simply go to the hospital, clinic, or rehabilitation to receive the care you need. Yet because of how we view addicts as a society this was not an easy thing for my brother and others affected to feel comfortable and safe enough to receive the care they needed. 

“People with substance use disorders may face mistreatment, stereotyping, and negative bias from society, including in healthcare settings. These challenges may lead them to avoid seeking medical help,” says the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Many of these treatments require individuals who struggle to go away for some time which can be difficult for those who already feel secluded and isolated from their community. 

For a while, it made me feel cut off from the rest of my community and even close friends. People have one view of what addiction or what an “addict” should look like and do not understand why I stood by my brother even when he relapsed. Many will start to look at your family in a different light due to a narrow view of addiction. 

Many will ask harmful questions such as “Why can’t he just get better” or “he chose this life” when I open up about my brother without knowing how this can be harmful. People act as if this is something my brother, and even I should be ashamed of. 

Addiction is completely unique from anything I have seen someone go through. Many believe addiction  is a straightforward road from struggle to recovery. It takes constant work within the individual as it has for my brother. They need constant support from their community and family to help them achieve sobriety. Yet when stigmas come into the recovery process it causes people with SUD to relapse or not even seek help initially. 

The personal biases I have experienced have done nothing but negatively affect my brother and thousands of others who struggle with SUD, causing them to feel secluded from society. 

We as a community have to change the language that surrounds addiction to be more accepting of individuals’ struggles. People can no longer associate harmful stereotypes, biases, or prejudices towards people with SUD. This is the only way we’ll start to see real change within our world. Not just for my family or my brother, but for all who have experienced just how harmful stigmas can truly be.