Go Back to – Face It!
One of the fatal powers of stigma is the label it carries. Alcoholics and drug addicts are an example of such labels. These labels can influence all aspects of your life from holding down a job to sustaining supportive relationships regardless of your current condition. In many cases the label itself can be as destructive as the condition. Fearing the label of an alcoholic or drug addict has lead to one of the most dangerous forms of stigma.
Labels are placed on those who are singled out, but at a second glance, it becomes clear that very often the ones labelled as ‘alcoholics’ or ‘drug addicts’ are the ones who have admitted to their problem and are doing something about it. Obviously there are exceptions to this statement, but the bigger threat to society are those who hide from the label, who live in denial of their condition and
quietly spiral out of control.
Any society will face this to some extent. To accommodate their condition the deviant introduces a social serial role – a concept of self – which is liked by those around him/her and accepts substance habits without recognition of the effect they have on their lives or the dangers involved. The procedudes of intoxication are ritualised, and the substance glorified. This happens legally and illegally, in broad day light and behind closed doors.
A reality so great it is impossible to hide, so it is placed on a pedestal of denial.