On November 17th approximately 30 people and I congregated to the OSU College of Nursing to watch The Anonymous People, a documentary film about American’s who are living in long-term recovery from alcohol and other drug addiction. The film addressed the stigma related to alcoholics and drug addicts, including their experiences to the track of recovery. Applicable to what we have discussed in class, I was able to understand more into the healthcare stigma and healthcare disparities that people around us deal with daily. The eye opening video provided an example into the lives of people, famous or not, being mistreated and judged due to their life choices. As a group frequently misunderstood, the film tries to teach the audience to a new view …show more content…
From alcoholics, drug addicts, people of obesity, those carrying HIV/AIDS, or people of mental illness, stigma has caused discrimination and abuse to those characterized into these groups. Stereotyping, a form of stigma, is when something is labeled and linked with undesired characteristics. From the documentary, the audience learns that alcoholics and drug addicts are stereotyped in many parts of the community. In healthcare for example, addicts seeking help are only treated for addiction symptoms such as dehydration or anxiety, and not the underlying problem. An important part in in recovery is “the construction of a positive sense of self” (Hill, Leeming, 2014). Beverely Haberle, a former cancer patient in The Anonymous People, could not understand how she is offered support and outreach of treatment but those of addiction do not. The standard of care is found to be unequal do to public perception, and it must take those to speak out to make a differences in the stigma evolved around addiction. Until those attributes are addressed, many will suffer limited resources and unequal …show more content…
From interviewing celebrities such as actress Kristen Johnston and politician Bill White, the film identified substance abuse can happen to anyone. I found more sympathy to those once I learned the facts, not opinions, of substance abuse users. It was interesting to find how the physiology of ones’ brain may change over time, thus proving it is not always a person’s free will of choice to use. People of addiction are like anyone else who may have fallen down the wrong path. Some who have found substance abuse for coping, did not realize they were becoming addicts. Others have found the media and advertisement placing pressure on them because it looks entertaining and fun. With limited outreach programs, it is crucial to increase the awareness among young groups for prevention. With fear of being judged, the stigma and health disparities of addiction cause many to not seek help. Equal opportunity should be available to everyone. As a future nurse, I find an important role for me is to lead in educating and being opened minded to the struggles of each one of my patients. My job is to refrain from stereotyping and being an advocate. As healthcare is always evolving to provide the most adequate care, I look forward towards the future as more people are educating and trying to eliminate those struggling through addiction
Drug addiction is on the largest contributing factors for the deaths of millions of people throughout out the ages. Todays day in age drugs have become more dangerously more potent than they were a decade back. The majority of the population believe that the reason addicts become hooked on drugs because the the chemical triggers found in the drug. This has caused many society as a whole to look down on drug addicts and treat them with less respect than anyone who is not a drug addict. Johann Hari is an english author and journalist who was published articles in newspapers like the New York times, Huffington post and the Guardian, Hari has published his own book Chasing the Scream were he goes into a three year journey on the war on drugs.
This stereotype contributes to the stigma individuals’ face and encourages social exclusion and intolerance, especially in schizophrenia (Ray & Brooks Dollar, 2014). Ken sought out help and went to the emergency room because he recognized he was severely depressed. There, the doctor promised he would not be put in restraints, yet when he was taken to the hospital, he was placed in restraints because it was company policy (Steele & Berman, 2001). Due the stigma that individuals with mental illness are violent, Ken was not treated fairly (Stuart & Arboleda-Florez, 2012). Stuart and Arboleda-Florez (2012) are very credible authors to be writing on the effects of stigma in mental health. Both authors have experience in psychiatry, combatting stigma and mental health issues.
Less Than Zero is a film that demonstrates how powerful a drug addiction can be and that no amount of lecturing, pleading and care can change someone’s drug habit. Addicts need support systems but the decision to get clean comes from within. In the end, Julian was in too deep and the only person who could have ended his drug addiction was
Marley, J. (2008, November 6). Book Review: Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity. Retrieved March 9, 2011, from The Amazing World of Psychiatry: A Psychiatry Blog: http://theamazingworldofpsychiatry.wordpress.com/2008/11/06/book-review-stigma-notes-on-the-management-of-spoiled-identity/
Throughout her presentation, she explains how public stigmas, once again, cause label avoidance pushing many who need help away from treatment. She then goes on to explain how these stereotyped behaviors cause discrimination towards people with a mental illness from employment to housing which only leads to the creation of more stigmas. Finally, she states how the impact of stigmas is associated with the reduction of self-esteem, overall poor health, and problems with interpersonal relationships (Willits). By using this presentation I am able to connect what we have learned about mental health stigmas to my article. First off, for example, Morris explains how psychiatric units invoke people to imagine a frightening place where insane patients are strapped down and poked and prodded for care (Morris). This stereotypical idea relates to how Willits described general stereotypes associated with mental illness such as crazy and dangerous (Willits). On top of that, Willits explained how these stigmas have negative consequences for patients (Willits). This relates to Morris’s explanation on how the stigma around institutions has caused these units to shut down forcing many people to be homeless or live in jail
I agreed with Johann with the fact that we have to be compassionate towards addicts rather than discriminating them. No one is perfect and it is just not right making a space goat out of an individual because they messed up. I believe that no one is perfect but with the standards that the government and public are setting, they are trying to create a perfect citizen, which is far for realistic. When looking at the former assignment we had to do, we talked about how college students abused Adderall and when thinking towards those lines, there are college students whom are addicted to various things like alcohol Or
Young adults with opioid addictions worry what their friends, family and even doctors will think of them and hesitate to seek professional help. The result is that teen addiction often remains unaddressed, and it inevitably worsens without treatment. As a society, there is a lack of education about addiction as a disease, so most people simply don’t know how recovery works. Recovery from addiction is long and painful, and the stigma around addiction only prevents people from getting the help they need making it crucial for society to look past the stigma that people in recovery are always on the brink of relapse, a false conception that affects self-esteem and relationships. According to the Institute of Medicine, “Stigma is most likely to diminish as a result of public education and broader acceptance of addiction as a treatable disease” (The Stigma of Addiction 1). By reducing the stigma of opioid addiction, young adults will no longer fear judgement from seeking
Coming into the substance abuse meeting the student nurse was scared and nervous. She was scared of the reaction of the consumers and feared all the stereotypes she heard about typical alcoholics. Innervison gave the student nurse a new outlook on these types of consumers. She no longer looked at them as people who were just drunks and wanted to use AA as an excuse to make it seem like they are getting help. She never really looked at alcoholism as a true addiction; it seemed like more of an excuse to escape life’s problems. Sitting in and listening to these consumers gave the student nurse a dose of reality. The student nurse now understands alcoholism better and AA helped her realize recovery is truly a process that takes one day and one step at a time.
Dr. Carl Hart had a very rocky childhood and through his own determination to not repeat the past has gotten to where he is now in life. He comes from a broken family plagued by domestic violence, divorce, and a lack of support while he was growing up. Dr. Hart’s views on; social support, addiction and the physiological effects on the brain, factors to take into account when assessing drug abusers, drug policies influencing discrimination, and decriminalizing drug use are well articulated through his book High Life; in which enabled the audience to have raw reactions to his personal views.
“Harm reduction is based on the premise that people are responsible for their behaviour, that they maker personal choices that affect their health and well-being, and that they can make safer and better decisions if given useful and honest information” (Mathre, 2002, p. 106). Harm reduction recognizes people’s unhealthy choices while also attempting to reduce the harmful effects that come from these unhealthy behaviours (Marlatt, 1998 as cited in Brown, Luna, Ramirez, Vail, and Williams, 2005). Using a harm reduction approach has a positive effect on drug users, as it helps to reduce the negative consequences that come from using drugs. Although harm reduction aims to reduce the harm from illegal drug using, it is viewed as “unethical and inconsistent with the ethical practices of health-care providers” (Lightfoot et al., 2009, p.17). In this paper, the strengths and limitations of using harm reduction as an approach to reduce the negative effects of (illegal) substance abuse and the implications this has on nursing will be discussed.
Personal recovery capital includes factors such as safe and secure accommodation, purposeful and meaningful activity, physical and mental wellbeing, a belief that recovery is possible, self-belief, and active engagement in recovery strategies. Conversely, psychological problems such as mental distress, or an absence of strengths, such as self-efficacy and self-esteem represent barriers to recovery. Ingrained problematic drug use can create an identity for people who have been forced to see their drug taking as central to their lives, as an ‘addict’ or ‘junkie’. For people to move towards ‘recovery’ new identities may need to be forged. The lifestyle of procuring and taking drugs can create a structure and purpose to a person’s life, as well
In the map I detailed several connections that were tied to the social issue of drug and alcohol abuse. These connections helped me to clarify the issue to better understand it and its impact on society. The first connection was cultural beliefs and biases; which based off old stereotypes it is thought that people who become addicted to drugs or alcohol are weak, immoral or tragically flawed. And many people believe that substance abuse only affects the user and doesn’t have a larger impact on society. Now the relationship between these beliefs and the social issue is a negative one as they are negative assumptions about lifestyles that include drugs and alcohol. When in reality substance abusers are just like everyone else. They are parents, children, friends, workmates, sisters and brothers. They hold down jobs, have friends, go to social functions and enjoy their weekends. Some fail to manage their addiction and do become entrenched in a lifestyle that the stereotypes embody, but many do not. An addiction does not discriminate between rich and poor, young or old.
Stigma is a powerful tool of social control. Stigma can be used to marginalize, exclude and exercise power over individuals who show certain characteristics. While the societal rejection of certain social groups (e.g. 'homosexuals, injecting drug users, sex workers') may predate HIV/AIDS, the disease has, in many cases, reinforced this stigma. By blaming certain individuals or groups, society can excuse itself from the responsibility of caring for and looking after such populations. This is seen not only in the manner in which 'outsider' groups are often blamed for bringing HIV into a country, but also in how such groups are denied access to the services and treatment they need.
Both mental illness and substance abuse remain stigmatized with major gender, racial-ethnic and economic inequalities in access, use and quality of services and support. Therefore, my goal is to collaborate with educational institutions, health organizations and government agencies to create, study, and disseminate interventions that reduce the risk, increase resilience, provide effective treatment, and aid in-long term recovery. In particular, I am interested in creating policies that will help bridge the economic inequalities face by those who experience mental illnesses and substance abuse disorders. With these plans in mind, I am currently studying French and will continue working with underserved communities to gain valuable field experience in public
Drug addiction is a very big problem in today’s society. Many people have had their lives ruined due to drug addiction. The people that use the drugs don’t even realize that they have an addiction. They continue to use the drug not even realizing that their whole world is crashing down around them. Drug addicts normally lose their family and friends due to drug addiction.