The Other Face of Stigma

I recently read an article in Women’s Health magazine about a triathlete whose friend suggested she have a growth on her arm looked at. The athlete disregarded the suggestion. Time went by, and now her brothers also expressed concern about the growth. At that point, if I’m recalling the article correctly, the athlete went to the doctor who indicated the growth was blood vessels, and there was nothing to worry about. Upshot: she had a biopsy and discovered she had stage 2C melanoma, the deadliest skin cancer there is.(https://www.womenshealthmag.com/beauty/a44097464/skin-cancer-prevention-outdoor-workout/)

I wonder if she resented her friend and brothers for mentioning their concerns. Doubtful, right? Why not?

My guess is because, as a society, we KNOW cancer is a disease that can affect ANYONE. Sure, we know there CAN be some causation: smoking cigarettes CAN cause lung cancer; tanning CAN cause skin cancer; drinking alcohol CAN cause at least seven different types of cancer.

Still, even though many kinds of cancer can be prevented, in our society cancer is generally accepted as a disease that can – and does – affect everyone.

I recently had a conversation when I suggested to a loved one that his drinking was causing negative consequences for him and that I was concerned for his well-being. He disregarded my concern. Time went by, and he was told by a family member that his drinking seemed to be causing problems and the family member was concerned. My loved one looked into it a bit…took an online test, brought up his concerns to his buddies…but, since a symptom of addiction is to continue use despite knowing the use is causing problems, he didn’t pay much attention. Upshot: he remains in active addiction. (https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/drug-addiction/symptoms-causes/syc-20365112)

Do you think he and others resent me and his sibling for bringing up his drinking? Prolly.

We have all sorts of reasons we don’t address substance use disorders, but I contend that the #1 reason is stigma, but not stigma in the way we usually think about it. We SAY we believe that addiction is a disease, but we don’t actually address it as one. We SAY there’s no test to determine addiction, but that’s nonsense. The test is a direct biomarker test on nails or bloodspots, like the ones that the United States Drug Testing Laboratories offer (https://www.usdtl.com/). Sure, it may take a few tests to determine the addiction, but if we tell a person with a substance use disorder to restrict use to one or two uses per day – drinks, bowls, lines – for six months, just as Marty Mann suggested in 1958, we’ll certainly have a diagnosis by the end of six months…but it will likely come much more quickly. (https://www.justloveaudio.com/resources/12_Steps_Recovery/Step_1/Marty_Mann_Test_for_Alcoholism.pdf)

The “test” is not white knuckling it for six months. It’s not saving up the doses for the weekend and getting wasted. It’s drinking or using once or twice per day, no more; no less. Then throw a few direct biomarker tests in, one at the start, one for alcohol about three months in, and one at the end of the “test” and there’s your test. We will know, virtually without a doubt, whether or not a person suffers from addiction if these testing measures are used.

Stigma is bad; it’s never okay to have a predetermined set of beliefs about others. And stigmatizing language leads to even worse stigma. That is, calling someone an “addict” leads to treating him even more poorly. But you know what else is stigmatizing? Not addressing a disease someone potentially has because addressing it makes us uncomfortable. THAT’S STIGMA. That shows that we already have a predetermined idea about a person or group who may suffer from the disease of addiction, so we fail to address it…because we are stigmatizing that population.

We really can do better…and we must. People are dying because we aren’t doing our part.