Stigma and Substance Use Disorder

On this month’s episode, our host Elizabeth Hopkins shines a spotlight on America’s other pandemic, the opioid crisis. Even beyond the tens of thousands of deaths annually, the true effect of this wide-reaching crisis stretches far beyond calculable figures. The multifaceted problem of addiction can only be addressed when we begin with increasing empathy and rejecting the impulse to stigmatize. 

Elizabeth has a conversation with her colleague Elizabeth Green, and with Elizabeth’s client, Liz Pires, who tells the unimaginable story of losing both of her children, Megan and Matthew, to substance use disorder. 

Liz describes how frustrating it was  for her that despite having insurance, it wouldn’t pay for what the doctors and medical experts were recommending to treat her children. She wanted her children “to have every chance to overcome this.” Unfortunately, that was not the reality for Megan and Matthew. It’s Liz’s hope that through large-scale societal changes with insurance payments, medical care, and criminal justice reform other moms won’t have to go through what she went through with her own children’s diseases, and other young people can fully recover. 

You can find out more about Liz Pires’ foundations at:

https://lastoverdose.org/ and the Matthew and Megan Endowed Excellence Fund

 

Thank you for listening and look out for Episode 10 on December 3.