nursingforsocialjustice

Is connection? This concept, addiction as the opposite of connection, gained a lot of traction following a 2015 TED Talk by journalist Johan Hari titled “Everything You Think You Know About Addiction Is Wrong“. But is it? In some respects, maybe because drug can become very lonely. As a society we tend to demonize and stigmatize people who use drugs (certain socioeconomic, ethic and cultural groups to a greater extent) which leads to shame, social isolation, and in turn, extreme loneliness. But this also ignores the communities that exist that resist such notions, those communities that reject the idea that drug use and drug users are problems, social pariahs that we give ultimatums to becaue they are soul sucking and selfish, because this type of black and white thinking is wrong. Inherently people who use drugs, people living with addictions are people, they are still the human beings that we love, and that should be okay.

So are people who live with addictions disconnected? Or is this just another idea that perpetuates stigma? Maybe this is a helpful way to reframe the conversation for people who take a strong moral stance against drug use as inherently problematic? What is an opposite anyway? And is it problematic that this dichotomous thinking consumes us? Johan Hari’s TED talk got a lot of views, his book also sold a lot of copies. It’s a good soundbyte. In 2023 should we still be aspiring to embrace the notion that human disconnection is the cause and thus connection is th solution to addiction? (As an aside, what happened to Johan Hari anyway?)

Is drug use inherently lonely? That question is rhetorical because we all know that it’s not. The one shining example of a very pro social drug that is widely used, accepted and even promoted, is alcohol. There are television shows that revolve on the pro social nature of alcohol and it’s ability to strengthen the social fabric of our society (I mean Cheers). So…is it possible to feel connected and wanted and loved in the ebb and flow of relationships with drug use? Drug use exists on a spectrum. This is not controversial, this is fact. Drug use has a place in our lives, it always has. We all have our relationships with drug use, whether that means our own drug use or that of friends, family, acquintances, etc. We know that drug use does not inevitably lead to addictive behviour…logically we know this. But cognitively reconciling this is more complicated with the murky waters of mass media.

Opposites. What a strange concept.

Two camps seem to exist in the construction of substance use as a medical problem. Camp one is driven by a diease model, focused on recovery which is a path to a drug free life. And camp two is a public health approach, focusing on harm reduction aimed at reducing harms (health, social, legal) associated with drug use. Are these mutually exclusive camps? They don’t have to be. But this is how it’s playing out…politically.

A parallel that continually resurfaces is trying to draw a line between alcohol (legal drug) and cocaine/crystal meth/heroin/etc. (illegal drugs). It’s a cognitive leap for many who for years had the 1980s Regan-era “This is your brain on drugs,” “just say no,” messaging drilled into their brains in their formative cognitive development in grade school. We don’t conceptualize problem alcohol use in the same way as we do illegal drugs. One of the distinguishing features is legal/illegal. Many narratives haves been constructed over decades about what drug use and drugs users are and how they negatively impact society.

Nurses hold an integral role in changing social understanding of drugs and human relationships with them. Taking a step back to inventory personal biases is an important part of the professional development process for nurses.

Love,

Michelle D.

P.S. One time (in 2013) I was having a conversation with one of my family members about supervised drug consumption sites. Their understanding at that time was that these services were skin to, “helping someone get drunk at the bar and then giving them their care keys, putting them in their car and hoping for the best”. I let them know that in their metaphor the supervised consumption site is the bar, and the bartender is healthcare workers who monitor the safety of the site patron and actually helps mitigate risks like someone being acutely intoxicated or poisoned by their substance.