Breaking the Mental Health Stigma for People with Substance Use Disorders

Editorial

25 September 2024

Editorial: Breaking the mental health stigma for people with substance use disorders

Richard Appiah

Ottar Ness

and

Kofi E. Boakye

800 views

0 citations

Editors

Richard Appiah

University of Ghana

Ottar Ness

Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Kofi E Boakye

University of Leicester

Impact

Original Research

15 August 2024

Care, co-survival, and decency: expanding the understanding of outdoor life and smaller alcohol and drug scenes in Denmark and Norway

Jonas Strandholdt Bach

, 3 more and

Amanda Skjong

2,169 views

1 citations

Stigma domains, definitions, and corresponding survey items.

Original Research

08 January 2024

Persistence of stigma and the cessation of substance use: comparing stigma domains between those who currently use and those who no longer use substances

Krishna Patel

, 4 more and

Lawrence H. Yang

1,611 views

1 citations

Original Research

24 November 2023

Tailoring the continuum of care for substance use problems to persons with an Islamic migration background: a co-creative case study

Aline Pouille

, 3 more and

Wouter Vanderplasschen

1,913 views

0 citations

Original Research

25 October 2023

“A place without walls, only opportunities”: personal accounts of attending Recovery Colleges in Norway

Anne Schanche Selbekk

, 3 more and

Inger Eide Robertson

Introduction: Recovery colleges (RCs) are learning environments, first established in the UK, based on principles that support positive life changes and reduce stigma related to challenges with mental health and substance use problems. RCs offer courses based on co-production processes and are designed and delivered jointly by individuals with lived experience and professional experts. The courses are open to anyone, attracting people with a variety of life experiences. RCs are non-clinical environments that provide individuals with the identities of students and/or trainers as autonomous and independent agents. In this paper, we investigate experiences of being a part of a RC in Norway, either as a student and/or as a course trainer with lived experiences of mental health or substance use challenges. We ask the following research question: What kinds of personal and social processes are enabled by being part of a recovery college from the perspective of persons with experience-based competence?

Materials and methods: The study is qualitative and explorative based on 11 individual (N = 11) and two focus group interviews (N = 8). Participants were recruited from two of the first RCs in Norway between August 2021 and January 2022.

Results: Study participants describe how their involvement in a RC provided them with opportunities to assume new positions in their recovery process, both related to former institutional identities given in the course of treatment and related to the way they see themselves as people struggling with mental health and substances use challenges. Attending a RC represented significant transitions (1) from an institutional position as “sick” or as “what’s on the paper” into a position as “a whole person”; (2) from being in in a position as a recipient of care to the position as actively responsible for life changes; (3) from seeing themselves as worthless to seeing themselves as persons with resources; (4) from being alone to being part of a fellowship. Participants describe being part of a RC as an invaluable addition to other kind of support or help.

Discussion: It is important to provide alternative arenas like RC for facilitating work with life changes, as an invaluable addition to regular services.

Overview over study participants (N = 21).

2,315 views

5 citations

Hypothesis and Theory

27 September 2023

A conceptual framework for how structural changes in emerging acute substance use service models can reduce stigma of medications for opioid use disorder

Timothy D. Becker

, 2 more and

Lawrence H. Yang

Stigma toward people taking medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) is prevalent, harmful to the health and well-being of this population, and impedes MOUD treatment resource provision, help-seeking, and engagement in care. In recent years, clinicians have implemented new models of MOUD-based treatment in parts of the United States that integrate buprenorphine initiation into emergency departments and other acute general medical settings, with post-discharge linkage to office-based treatment. These service models increase access to MOUD and they have potential to mitigate stigma toward opioid use and MOUD. However, the empirical literature connecting these emerging service delivery models to stigma outcomes remains underdeveloped. This paper aims to bridge the stigma and health service literatures via a conceptual model delineating how elements of emerging MOUD service models can reduce stigma and increase behavior in pursuit of life goals. Specifically, we outline how new approaches to three key processes can counter structural, public, and self-stigma for this population: (1) community outreach with peer-to-peer influence, (2) clinical evaluation and induction of MOUD in acute care settings, and (3) transition to outpatient maintenance care and early recovery. Emerging service models that target these three processes can, in turn, foster patient empowerment and pursuit of life goals. There is great potential to increase the well-being of people who use opioids by reducing stigma against MOUD via these structural changes.

3,828 views

4 citations