Stigma and Addiction

A recent poll by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Health reported that of the more than 700 people surveyed for the poll, 64% believed that employers should be allowed to deny work to someone with a drug addiction, while only 57% believed that addicts should have the same access to health insurance as the general public.   Additionally, a 2010 poll by the United Kingdom Drug Policy Commission found that 58% of those surveyed believed that one of the root causes of drug addiction is a lack of self-discipline and willpower, while 43% of the respondents stated that they would not want to live near a person with a history of drug dependence.

The stigma of addiction persists!  That is STIGMA!

Drug, alcohol and all other addictions are not selective.  Any person can get caught up in an addiction.  Most people have come into contact with addictions at some level.  Ask any person randomly if they have ever dealt with someone who has an addiction and nearly all will answer in the affirmative!  That is difficult enough to hear yet what is even more difficult is learning that, in the majority of those cases, it was a secret not to be shared or discussed!  That is STIGMA!

So what can we do?  Talk about it – be load and clear!  No secrets should be kept about the addictions!  Support people in their struggles!  Learn more about addictions via such places as our website, SubstanceEducation.com.  Refuse to be lured into the stigma!

“When you have a choice to make and don’t make it, that is in itself a choice.” – William James