Negating the stigma associated with certain diseases

Researchers hope to tackle what many consider to be a major barrier between some patients and treatment.

By Victoria Stagg Elliott, AMNews staff. Nov. 5, 2001.

Every day, Norman S. Miller, MD, an attending physician with the addiction unit at St. Lawrence Health System in Lansing, Mich., is faced with patients who are at the end of their rope.

The shame of their drug addiction and alcoholism means that they have put off seeking treatment as long as possible. In the process, they have destroyed their social support network, and many have comorbidities connected to their addiction.

"I tell them they have a disease, and they're not bad people," said Dr. Miller, who is also professor of psychiatry and medicine with Michigan State University, East Lansing.

"It's not uncommon for my patients to break down and cry. They're so relieved," he said.

Experts believe that stigma affects all patients to varying degrees. Research into the impact of stigma with respect to individual medical conditions has been going on for a long time. Studies have found, for instance, that a fear of stigma from a cancer diagnosis means people are less likely look out for signs of the disease. Alcoholism and drug addiction is a significant risk factor for suicide. Several studies have associated obesity with reduced earnings.

The National Institutes of Health is now trying to bring it all together to create a comprehensive body of knowledge about stigma.

In September, Fogarty International Center for Advanced Study in the Health Sciences, a part of the NIH, hosted a conference in an attempt to develop a research agenda. Next year, the center will call for grant applications in order to research the issue. [...]