The Stigma of Substance Use Disorders

'Although those afflicted are at high risk of being discriminated against, substance use disorders have been neglected by stigma research for far too long. It is to the editors' credit that they have gathered an impressive group of scholars and people with lived experience, who provide a broad and in-depth analysis of substance use stigma, and how to overcome it.' Matthias C. Angermeyer, Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry, University of Leipzig, Germany 'Schomerus and Corrigan's new book provides a comprehensive, deeply thoughtful, consideration of stigma as it applies to substance use disorders. Its central point is that, rather than controlling substance use through shame and punishment, stigma represents an enormous impediment, blocking wise policy and impeding recovery.' Bruce Link, Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Public Policy, University of California, Riverside, USA 'This may be the one of the most salient descriptions of stigma that I have ever read. From the individual depths of self-stigma to the crushing weight and oppression of structural stigma, the authors wield a clear grasp of corrosive nature of societal response to the challenge presented by substance use disorder. Protest, contact, and education are strategies that make good, common sense, and are tenets that any recovery insurgent could live by.' Philip Rutherford, Chief Operating Officer at Faces & Voices of Recovery, USA