The term “stigma” has a long and complicated history, and countless definitions to describe it. Researchers across time have broken down stigma into differing types, including internal and external (or public) stigma, vicarious stigma (or courtesy stigma), professional and institutional stigma, structural stigma, and more.
When it comes to understanding the relationship between stigma and substance use, an awareness of how stigma manifests and is understood both historically and in our current time and place is critical. The Oxford Learner’s Dictionary currently defines stigma as “negative feelings that people have about particular circumstances or characteristics that somebody may have”—the first example it gives is “the social stigma of alcoholism.” In navigating the impacts of stigma on help-seeking behaviors and social support amongst parents of children struggling with substance use, it is important to first understand how stigma influences the ways we perceive, talk about, and respond to substance use more broadly.