Stigma Towards Individuals with Substance Use Disorders

Kohrt Commons; Plyler Hall

The opioid epidemic is a continuously growing public health concern across the United States. Since 1999, the sales of prescription opioids have dramatically increased along with the number of overdose deaths from opioids. Just recently, a study on opioid overdoses was conducted and concluded that an individual residing in the United States is more likely to die from an opioid overdose than a motor vehicle crash. In the United States, 8 to 10% of individuals ages 12 years or older are addicted to alcohol or other drugs. This is resulting in annual spending of $700 billion in costs related to crime, lost work productivity, and healthcare. Stigma towards individuals with substance use disorders (SUD) is an extremely important component of this epidemic due to the fact that it plays a large role in the likelihood of an individual seeking treatment for their SUD as well as the quality of care received by a healthcare professional. Furthermore, public policies passed to directly benefit individuals with a SUD are also affected. In addition to an examination of these effects, this project focuses on the efforts being made to destigmatize and treat individuals with SUD in the Greenville/Spartanburg area and addresses potential mitigation strategies to tackle this opioid epidemic.