‘If I Wasn’t on Drugs or I Didn’t Take Anything, I Wouldn’t Be Here’: Mental Health ‘Problems’ as an Unfolding Dimension of Social Harm Generated by Stigma

Addison, Michelle; Lhussier, Monique

Abstract

This chapter discusses the impact of relational stigma on mental health as an unfolding dimension of social harm amongst people who use drugs (PWUD). In traditional models of Social Determinants of Health (SDoH), ‘social relations’ are often ignored in favour of a positivist worldview yet they constitute a messy ‘invisible reality’ that shapes a person’s experiences. Drawing on Wellcome Trust qualitative research, we show how relational stigma contributes to a worsening of mental health amongst PWUD and a widening of health inequalities. This chapter builds on Tyler’s theory of the ‘machinery of inequality’ (2020) to show how social relations act in synergy with SDoH, damaging the mental health of already marginalised individuals.

Citation

Addison, M., & Lhussier, M. (2025). ‘If I Wasn’t on Drugs or I Didn’t Take Anything, I Wouldn’t Be Here’: Mental Health ‘Problems’ as an Unfolding Dimension of Social Harm Generated by Stigma. In Mental Health, Crime and Justice (285-311). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-83390-8_13

• Online Publication Date: Mar 19, 2025
• Publication Date: 2025
• Deposit Date: Mar 19, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 19, 2025
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Pages: 285-311
• Series Title: Critical Criminological Perspectives
• Book Title: Mental Health, Crime and Justice
• ISBN: 9783031833892; 9783031833908
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-83390-8_13
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3717791
• Publisher URL: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-83390-8_13