The Stigma of Addiction and the Impact on the Family

• Opioids
• Overdose
• Naloxone
• Fentanyl
• Stigma
• Canada's deportment
• Talking near drugs
• Become help
• Become the facts

On this folio

• Nearly stigma
• Stigma matters
• Habit is not a choice
• The three types of stigma
• Changing how you talk nearly drug apply
• Help end stigma

Near stigma

Overdose-related deaths and other harms are affecting our friends, families and communities. Addiction is non a option. It is a treatable medical condition yet many people affected by addiction face stigma.

Stigma is negative attitudes, beliefs or behaviours about or towards a group of people considering of their state of affairs in life. It includes discrimination, prejudice, judgment and stereotypes, which can isolate people who employ drugs.

Stigma makes it harder to achieve out for help

We can brand it easier for people to go back up by letting them know they are not alone, and that substance use does non ascertain who they are. Addiction is a treatable medical condition, not a selection.

Aid end the stigma

Stigma matters

People who employ drugs, peculiarly those struggling with habit face up discrimination and barriers to getting help.

Stigma tin:

• lead a person to avoid getting aid because they are agape of judgement or getting in problem with work, their loved ones or fifty-fifty the law
• cause a person to hide their drug use or use drugs alone
• bear on a person'south power to find housing and jobs, which affects their health and quality of life
• contribute to people who use drugs receiving a lower quality of intendance from the healthcare arrangement when they admission services

Habit is not a choice

There is a common misconception that addiction is a choice and that people can terminate using drugs when they want to. Addiction is complex. People develop addictions because of many reasons, including:

• events in life, particularly trauma and chronic stress
• environmental factors
• mental well-beingness (emotions, thoughts, feelings, and mental illness)
• genetics and biology

Some people try drugs once or use them occasionally. Others use drugs more oftentimes, sometimes to try to cope with trauma or pain. No matter the reason, no one chooses to go fond. Addiction and physical dependence go far hard to stop using drugs fifty-fifty when information technology's pain y'all or people in your life. Recovery is possible but it looks different for everyone.

The three types of stigma

Cocky stigma

• happens when someone internalizes negative letters about people who use drugs and apply them to themselves
• tin lead to low cocky-esteem and feelings of shame
• can cause someone to non access support because they fear being judged or discriminated confronting
• can cause someone to hibernate their drug employ or employ drugs solitary

Social stigma

• negative attitudes or behaviours towards people who utilise drugs or towards their friends and family members
• negative labels and images in everyday conversation and in the media
• talking almost addiction like information technology's a pick
• judgement and bigotry from other people can lead to self stigma, and crusade damage such as not reaching out for help or using drugs lonely

Structural stigma

• policies in health and social services that increase stigma, such as not providing services until drug utilize is better managed
• when healthcare providers or showtime responders do not take people affected by drug use seriously
• workplace policies that cause damage and unintentionally encourage people to hibernate their drug use or prevent them from seeking help (case: unnecessary drug tests)
• not connecting people with health or social services because of their drug use and lower quality of intendance when services are accessed

Changing how you lot talk about drug employ

The language you use has a direct and deep impact on people around you. Y'all tin reduce stigma by irresolute the words you use to talk well-nigh drug use. Using kind words can brand it easier for someone to speak upwardly, to feel understood or to receive help.

Y'all can:

• use person-first language, for instance say 'person who uses drugs' instead of 'drug user'
• use neutral, medically accurate words when describing drug use
• avoid slang such equally "addict" and "junkie"
• utilise language that shows care and business organization, rather than sentence
• speak up when you hear someone being treated or talked to in a disrespectful way
• use language that acknowledges and promotes the fact that recovery from addiction is possible, and looks dissimilar for anybody

Help terminate stigma

Have these of import steps to help reduce stigma:

• do not ascertain any person by their drug use
• exist respectful, compassionate and caring to those who use drugs
• educate your friends and family - laissez passer on facts and claiming stereotypes
• retrieve that habit is a treatable medical condition, not a choice, and is deserving of care just like whatever other medical condition
• exist enlightened of your attitudes and behaviours because they may be influenced past stereotypes, negative stories and images about people who apply drugs

Larn how to talk to a friend or family member about drugs.

Related Links

• Stigma: Why Words Matter (fact sheet)
• Explore existent stories on how stigma impacts people who apply substances
• Canadian Centre on Substance Employ and Addiction'south Overcoming Stigma Through Linguistic communication: A Primer
• A Primer to Reduce Substance Use Stigma in the Canadian Health System
• Communicating about Substance Use in Empathetic, Safe and Non-Stigmatizing Means: A Resource for Canadian Wellness Professional person Organizations and their Membership (2019)
• Chief Public Health Officer's Report on the Land of Public Health in Canada 2019: Addressing Stigma - Towards a More Inclusive Health Organisation
• Province of British Columbia: Overdose Awareness Reducing Stigma
• TowardTheHeart.com: Stigma Resources Page

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Source: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/opioids/stigma.html

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