STIGMA
A LOOK IN THE MIRROR
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JellyPics
Making progress on stigma means taking a long hard look at our own sector . Are we prepared for the challenge , asks DDN
M illwall fans used to sing “ no one likes us , we don ’ t care .” That ’ s how it feels to live with a substance use disorder , and I should know after 25 years of opiate addiction . I identify as being in recovery and have done for many years , but I remember .’ Tim Sampey is CEO of Build on Belief ( BoB ), a peer-led charity that ’ s developed a dynamic and interactive form of mutual aid . He is also a founding member of the Anti-Stigma Network ( ASN ). Sharing his story focuses the mind ; it ’ s one person ’ s history , but it represents the isolation of many .
‘ I pretended I didn ’ t care , but of course I did . Shouted at in GP surgeries , people standing rather than sitting next to you on the bus , never meeting your eyes in a shop . Judged , despised , and marginalised for something I didn ’ t understand , couldn ’ t control and which was , slowly inch by inch , killing me . How could I challenge my own self-hatred when the whole world seemed to make a point of agreeing with me ? I might have been permanently stoned , but I still had feelings .
‘ Of course I committed criminal acts – people like me do . It ’ s the only way to feed the monster , but it never felt like a choice , nor was it something I was proud of . My substance use disorder was a health problem and not a criminal one . I have watched my community die for decades – overdose , suicide , underlying health problems and simple self-neglect . I ’ ve had enough .
‘ I ’ ve worked with LEROs and service providers for 20 years . I ’ ve met hundreds of kind , compassionate , caring people who want nothing more than to do the right thing . I would suggest it ’ s time we collectively stood together and challenged this absurd stigma for once as for all .’
So here we are , a diverse group calling ourselves the ASN , keen to challenge . We ’ ve been putting our heads together for the best part of a year now , gathering resources , discussing a campaign , listening to everyone who ’ s got in touch with us . We know we ’ ve only started to scratch the surface – but to change hearts and minds we need you to get involved .
‘ How could I challenge my own self-hatred when the whole world seemed to make a point of agreeing with me ?’ Tim Sampey
BREAKING OUT ‘ For many years the sector has been discussing the issue of stigma , how it impacts people who use our services ( and the people who don ’ t ), the staff that work in them , the funding we ’ re given and the communities we work in ,’ says Karen Biggs , chief executive of Phoenix Futures and the network ’ s chair . ‘ We ’ ve tended to do that within our own huddles – our own localities or modalities , our own stakeholder groups or interest groups . When I first started to discuss the idea of the Anti-Stigma Network , someone asked me how ready I thought the sector was to look at itself . How ready were we to identify , and have identified to us , the thoughts , attitudes and behaviours held by us all that inadvertently stigmatise ?
‘ And that made me think of those huddles we ’ re in , or sometimes we ’ re put in , or we put
‘ How ready are we to identify , and have identified to us , the thoughts , attitudes and behaviours held by us all that inadvertently stigmatise ?’ Karen Biggs
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