Attitudes Toward Addiction Recovery Affected by the Words We Use
Health professionals participating in a survey leaarned that referring to people with addictions as "substance abusers" was much more likely to get punitive responses to drug use than those who used the term "substance-use disorders," according to researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).
The associate director of MGH's Center for Addiction Medicine, John F. Kelly, Ph.D., noted that over 30 years ago the World Health Organization declared the term "abuser" as being stigmatizing. Thirty years later and the term is still commonly used to describe those addicted to illicit drugs. Using recovery as an example, Kelly said, "There's an old proverb that says if you want something to survive and flourish, call it a flower; if you want to kill it, call it a weed."
More than 700 mental-health professionals attending a conference on addiction and mental illness were surveyed. Half received a survey that referred to a hypothetical patient as a "substance abuser," while the remainder recieved a survey referring to the patient as having a "substance use disorder." In all other areas the surveys were the same.
Those who received the "substance abuser" version were more likely to say that the patient should be punished for failing to follow a treatment plan and to agree that the patient shouldered blame for having trouble complying with court-ordered treatment requirements.
"The results suggest that these punitive attitudes may be sparked by use of the 'abuser' term. The results also suggest that this term perpetuates that type of thinking. And from the perspective of the individual sufferers who feel intense self-loathing and self-blame, such terminology may add to the feelings that prevent them from seeking help at all.
The study was published in the International Journal of Drug Policy, and originally reported in JoinTogether.
PRESCRIPTION DRUG ABUSE
HEROIN ADDICTION AND WITHDRAWAL
OPIATE PAINKILLER MISUSE
LORTAB AND PERCOSET ADDICTION
