Subtheme 3b: Enduring negative perceptions of substance use disorder in society
opioid use disorder, drug abuse, drug addiction, Drug [addiction
DISORDER, DISEASE
Participants related experiences in society where they were judged for their substance use disorder as a moral failing, a misunderstanding of the basis of substance use disorder as a physiologic medical condition, as one participant summarized:A lot of people have no education about drugs, all they know is from movies… Drug [addiction] is a disease… People think it's not a disease or that this is what you want to do, and you can stop at any moment with no problem. And if you don't want to stop, then you are a drug addict, you're a bad person and selfish. Of course, it's wrong.A participant shared his/her view of society's assumptions about substance use as a psychological condition that persists even if someone is well on their way to recovery. ‘It is in their mind… They assume that what you were is still a part of you now’. Another participant concurred and clarified society's misunderstandings of people with substance use disorder:[Others have] misconceptions about drug abuse, they think an addict is somebody who hangs [out] in the street all day. I work, I've worked all my life. I come from a family that worked, I went to college. Yet it's the stigma, the attitudes and preconceptions that come with drug addiction.One participant also elaborated on societal misconceptions surrounding the treatment of substance use disorder, specifically methadone:[Methadone] does raise eyebrows… I'll have to explain about being on [methadone], it's not smoking crystal meth… Sometimes, that's what police officers will think… You have to actually say ‘I am Indeed, participants learned to state that they were ‘Thus, although opioid use disorder affects every aspect of participants' lives, through treatment of substance use disorder and co‐occurring conditions, such as HCV, participants develop self‐awareness of the negative attitudes of those around them and begin to develop strategies to mitigate the shame.