People fought against the pain of stigma with hugs and support during Friday’s Stop the Stigma rally, intended to combat negative attitudes and stereotypes of people who experience substance use disorders and addiction.
The theme of the event was 'support, not stigma.'
Substance use affects us all, said Jenn Greenwood, an SOS outreach worker at Guelph Community Health Centre to the approximately 250 people in attendance at Guelph City Hall for the fourth annual event.
“This is not an ‘over there’ problem, this is not an ‘in the back alleys’ problem,” said Greenwood, who noted she is also in recovery. “This is in our schools, our backyards, in our friends and families.”
Greenwood emceed Friday’s event, which featured speeches, displays by Guelph Wellington Drug Strategy partners, a tour of the Community Health Van and naloxone training.
The event also offered an opportunity at fellowship between people living with addiction, those who provide services to support them and the community at large.
Greenwood said substance users face stigma every day.
“Stigma can be as — if not more — harmful than the substances themselves,” she said. “We know when people face stigma they don’t access health care. We know that shaming, moralizing, criminalizing substance use does not create positive change.”
She said addiction must be seen as a health issue, not a criminal or moral issue.
“Substance users are members of our community. They deserve respect, compassion, love and support — just as anyone else does,” said Greenwood. “We need to get loud and we need to keep people alive. When we take these issues from the shadows, allow people to be seen, be heard and be valued.”
For years, a hallmark of the local Stop the Stigma events has been speeches from people living with addiction speaking about the stigma they have experienced in their lives.
Cathryn Haight said when she used her family and friends began avoiding her.
“They thought I was dangerous and unstable due to my substance use, which would make me in turn judge myself and I would be reluctant to seek help,” said Haight.
“Eventually I did seek help — not only because I needed to, but because the stigma I was facing on a daily basis was creating so much self-doubt and shame,” she said. I was afraid I wasn't going to come out of it, but I did — with a lot of support from organizations constantly reminding me that other people's judgments often come from a lack of understanding.”
Haight now helps others as a peer worker, encouraging others who are experiencing similar challenges to the ones she has faced.
“It has made a huge difference in my own life and recovery,” she said.
Ken Lynch spoke about the generational effects his family has felt as a result of drug addiction.
Lynch said he became ‘clean’ in 2004 and is now 52 years old.
“Today I have a daughter who is in active addiction and suffers from mental illness,” said Lynch. “I am reliving it all over again with her.”
He said it is critically important to let people know they have worth.
“Give them a smile, give them a hug. Give them a handshake. Let them know the space they take up — they are worthwhile to take up that space,” said Lynch.
He added: “If somebody would have given me a hug, given me a helping hand, a smile, showed me some love, told me I am worth something — maybe I wouldn’t have been in some of those places I went to.”
A speaker who identified himself to GuelphToday only as Red also told the crowd about his own drug use and the generational effects on his family. At age 16 he began to use hard drugs and alcohol.
“I am still working on mine and I am 65,” he said. “I hope you never get a phone call like mine. They told me my son overdosed on drugs. He never made it. “
Teri Horowitz told the crowd she looked much different eight years ago, before she chose a path of abstaining from drug use.
“Although you might think addiction looks a certain way — we’re everywhere,” said Horowitz.
When she got well, Horowitz promised herself that she would be transparent about her experience to normalize the image of what an addict might look like.
“I am really grateful because not everybody gets to get well,” she said. “A lot of people die and I have gone to a lot of funerals.”
She noted that while a path of abstinence worked for her, it may not work for everyone. She wants to see less stigma coming from within the recovering community.
“We need to stop shooting our wounded, so when people come and have relapsed or something isn’t working for them anymore, instead of lecturing or judging — even if you don’t know you are doing it — we need to see how we can just be there for each other and step up and support each other, even if our paths are completely different,” said Horowitz.
“Although I choose to be abstinent today, not everyone necessarily needs or wants that — and that is okay too, it’s just a different path. It’s really important for us to remember that,” she said.
