Choosing appropriate language to reduce the stigma around mental illness and substance use disorders

Volkow, Nora D.; Gordon, Joshua A.; Koob, George F.

doi:10.1038/s41386-021-01069-4

Cited by 98 publications

(80 citation statements)

References 13 publications

(13 reference statements)

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“…This will require engagement at multiple levels, from prevention to public education about AUD and the available treatments. Researchers and clinicians can help in these efforts by reducing stigma surrounding AUD and other substance use disorders by choosing appropriate language to describe these disorders and the people who are affected by them [ 285 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel Agents for the Pharmacological Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorder

Burnette

Nieto

Grodin

et al. 2022

Drugs

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Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a highly prevalent but severely under-treated disorder, with only three widely-approved pharmacotherapies. Given that AUD is a very heterogeneous disorder, it is unlikely that one single medication will be effective for all individuals with an AUD. As such, there is a need to develop new, more effective, and diverse pharmacological treatment options for AUD with the hopes of increasing utilization and improving care. In this qualitative literature review, we discuss the efficacy, mechanism of action, and tolerability of approved, repurposed, and novel pharmacotherapies for the treatment of AUD with a clinical perspective. Pharmacotherapies discussed include: disulfiram, acamprosate, naltrexone, nalmefene, topiramate, gabapentin, varenicline, baclofen, sodium oxybate, aripiprazole, ondansetron, mifepristone, ibudilast, suvorexant, prazosin, doxazosin, N-acetylcysteine, GET73, ASP8062, ABT-436, PF-5190457, and cannabidiol. Overall, many repurposed and novel agents discussed in this review demonstrate clinical effectiveness and promise for the future of AUD treatment. Importantly, these medications also offer potential improvements towards the advancement of precision medicine and personalized treatment for the heterogeneous AUD population. However, there remains a great need to improve access to treatment, increase the menu of approved pharmacological treatments, and de-stigmatize and increase treatment-seeking for AUD.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel Agents for the Pharmacological Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorder

Burnette

Nieto

Grodin

et al. 2022

Drugs

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Expert opinion, stories of personal recovery, and emphasis on facts from surveys that might reduce public stigma, were seldom used in media reports (Corrigan & Nieweglowski, 2018 ). Language plays a significant role in shaping peoples’ beliefs and attitudes; thus, use of negative, pejorative language maybe an inadvertent vector of propagating negative stereotypes and assumptions (Volkow et al, 2021 ). Use of stigmatizing and discriminatory language in media reports may shape harmful stereotypes in public care providers and policy makers (Yang et al, 2017 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does Online Newsmedia Portrayal of Substance Use and Persons with Substance Misuse Endorse Stigma? A Qualitative Study from India

Ghosh

Naskar

Sharma

et al. 2022

Int J Ment Health Addiction

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Media provides and shapes public knowledge, perceptions, and attitude towards people with substance misuse. We aimed to explore the content and specific themes of Indian online news articles on substance use or persons with substance misuse. We followed an exploratory qualitative design to analyze online news media reports published between July 1 2020 and June 30 2021. Hundred articles met the selection criteria. Our content analysis was based on a checklist. Thematic analysis was done by the coding, categorization, and theme generation after meticulous data immersion and triangulation. Sixty percent of articles had pessimistic headlines and portrayed substance use or persons with substance use negatively. Fifty-one percent articles were on alcohol. Twenty-seven percent articles focussed supply reduction, whereas only 5% positively discussed the role of treatment. We identified seven themes. Most frequent themes were legal-criminal aspects of substance use ( n = 39), psychosocial and health hazards of substance use ( n = 30), and propagation of public stigma ( n = 25). Two other prevalent themes were the business and marketing of alcohol ( n = 20) and sociocultural aspects of substance use ( n = 9). The theme, treatment strategy, appeared in only five articles. There is an urgent need for media guidelines for responsible reporting of substance misuse. We suggested a set of recommendations for media reporting.

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“…We argue that the addiction medicine field (and patients and families) would like to avoid confusing this practice with that of initiating treatment for OUD. The term poses a threat to the progress in the field of addiction towards adopting the use of science-based language and practices [13][14][15]. We contend that a more appropriate terms for buprenorphine induction should be 'low-dose' or 'very low-dose'.…”

Section: 'Microdose' Is An Inaccurate and Loaded Termmentioning

confidence: 99%