This DP Original article explores the stigmatizing attitudes and behaviors that have historically contributed to the disparities experienced by ethnic/minority populations in the mental health and substance use systems of care.
“Unlike alcohol and drugs, where many people strive for total abstinence, individuals “addicted” to food cannot completely abstain from eating. They need to use food (their “drug of choice”) without over- or under-eating. But recovery is possible.”
“A final piece of the puzzle is the need to overcome the societal stigma of addiction. ‘If you talk to kids in recovery, they will tell you the first time they felt… not necessarily singled out for having a substance use disorder is when they arrived at a recovery school.’”
THE ANONYMOUS PEOPLE is a feature documentary film about the over 23 million Americans living in long-term recovery from alcohol and other drug addiction. Deeply entrenched social stigma have kept recovery voices silent and faces hidden for decades.
