Hulsey Jessica, Zawislak Kayla, Sawyer-Morris Ginnie, Earnshaw Valerie
Addiction Policy Forum, 4701 Sangamore Road, Suite 100N, Bethesda, MD, 20816, USA.
University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA.
Health Justice. 2023 Jul 4;11(1):28. doi: 10.1186/s40352-023-00229-6.
Stigma is a significant barrier to the treatment of individuals with substance use disorders. While prior efforts have been made to change stigmatizing language to refer to individuals with substance use disorders (SUD), little is known about the effects of stigmatizing imagery. There is a need for complementary qualitative research to identify both stigmatizing and non-stigmatizing imagery in the field of SUD.
This study used qualitative methods to identify stigmatizing and non-stigmatizing imagery for SUD and explore the reactions of people with lived experience with SUD to SUD-related imagery. We conducted focus groups and brief semi-structured qualitative interviews with 14 individuals in recovery from a range of SUD.
Participants identified images of substance use and criminal justice contact that are negative or stigmatizing, along with alternative images that were endorsed for use. The unanticipated concept of imagery-induced triggering and cue reactivity emerged in the interviews, along with an emphasis on diversity in race/ethnicity, gender, and age for representations of both patients and clinicians in all imagery.
The findings can be helpful in informing imagery that can depict addiction, individuals with SUD, and individuals involved in the justice system for various fields from research to media, public health, and community-based programming. Based on qualitative feedback from patients on triggering effects and reactivity to visual cues, it is never appropriate to use drug use and drug paraphernalia imagery to depict substance use or misuse or pictures of people in cages.
污名是物质使用障碍患者治疗的重大障碍。虽然此前已努力改变用于指代物质使用障碍（SUD）患者的污名化语言，但对于污名化形象的影响却知之甚少。需要开展补充性的定性研究，以确定SUD领域中的污名化和非污名化形象。
本研究采用定性方法来确定SUD的污名化和非污名化形象，并探讨有SUD生活经历的人对与SUD相关形象的反应。我们对14名从一系列SUD中康复的个体进行了焦点小组讨论和简短的半结构化定性访谈。
参与者识别出了负面或污名化的物质使用和刑事司法接触的形象，以及被认可使用的替代形象。访谈中出现了形象诱发触发和线索反应性这一意外概念，同时强调在所有形象中，患者和临床医生的种族/民族、性别和年龄的多样性。
这些发现有助于为各种领域（从研究到媒体、公共卫生和社区项目）描绘成瘾、SUD患者以及参与司法系统的人员的形象提供信息。根据患者对触发效应和对视觉线索反应性的定性反馈，使用吸毒和吸毒用具形象来描绘物质使用或滥用情况或笼子里的人的照片是绝对不合适的。
