9.5 An Approach Emphasizing Wellness & Compassionate

The material in this chapter builds upon the critique from earlier course material of how we as a society deal with substance use and people with substance use issues. It points to the importance of taking an expanded, comprehensive view of substance use and SUDs, one that is more health-oriented. This is a more humane and compassionate approach that echoes the tenants of the SDoH (See Chapter on SDoH). By focusing on the person, rather than the substance, and taking into consideration the context and the reasons people begin to use and continue to use substances (CISUR, 2017), and the need for multi-sectorial strategies, we can better help address the needs of people experiencing SUDs, especially during public health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic (Jemberie et al., 2020; Reist & Reimer, 2013).

As part of a more humane and compassionate approach to substance use and SUDs, it is important to emphasize wellness, as opposed to illness. This means supporting people who use substances to do so more safely. It means focusing on “supporting health and well-being for everyone” (Reist & Reimer, 2013, pg. 7) . It means helping people who use substances to: make sense of the factors that impact their health, and to achieve the goals they set for themselves, rather than goals others may want to set for them. This can mean for example choosing a path that does not involve, or at least does not begin with, abstinence (See Chapter on Harm Reduction) (Reist & Reimer, 2013).

Changing the way society frames and/or approaches these issues (e.g., viewing SUDs as health as opposed to criminal justice issues) and how we view and respond to people experiencing SUDs (e.g., viewing people who use substances as people first), allows us to adopt an expanded view of substance use and SUDs. For example, with such changes we can orient our focus to both “upstream” and “downstream” interventions (See Chapter on SDoH), adopting “social protective policies,” and shifting to integrated care systems (Jemberie et al., 2020, pg. 714). This fits with the recommendation of the Canadian Mental Health Association, namely that we put an emphasis on “protective factors” – aspects of a person’s life that make them less likely to develop substance use issues (e.g., having positive role models and personal goals; being self-motivated and involved in meaningful activities; and having reliable connections to a supportive community) (CMHA, n.d.a).

VIDEO: Everything you Think you Know About Addiction is Wrong

In the following TED Talk, Johann Hari talks about how in order to overcome the harms associated with addiction we need to provide PWUS with support and love. (Warning: some stigmatizing language and concepts are used in this video, including the term “addict”)