The Stigma of Addiction

Overview:

This is a 90-minute recording of a live webinar.

This webinar will explore the role of stigma and how it interacts with the disease of addiction. Addiction is a chronic medical condition characterized by relapses and remissions that is often misunderstood, unrecognized and seldom appropriately treated. We shall examine stigma from three perspectives. First at the level of the individual, where the shame and guilt of addiction keeps the person suffering from a substance use disorder from self-identifying as in need of treatment and appropriately accessing resources. Second, at the level of the family and friends, stigma can prevent advocating for their loved ones as well as keeps the patient in the shadows. And finally at the level of the society stigma may lead to failure in effective treatment policy, denial of services, discrimination and marginalization of our patients.