{"quotes":[{"text":"I will be living with chronic pain for the rest of my life. I don’t have the mobility, energy or life options I used to have. I work hard to manage the pain, and I want the medical system to be a respectful and effective partner, not a jailer. The opioid crisis is not my doing.","author":"Sonya Huber","tags":["addiction","chronic-illness","chronic-pain","chronic-pain-stigma","judgemental-people","opioid-use","opioids","pain-killer-pills","pain-management","painkillers","stigmatization","stigmatized"],"id":60988,"author_id":"Sonya+Huber"},{"text":"Chronic pain patients like me are not the cause of the opioid crisis; only 22% of those who misuse opioids are prescribed them by a doctor, and only 13% of ER visits for opiate overdoses were chronic pain patients. Most chronic pain patients are rule-followers who just want to function.","author":"Sonya Huber","tags":["addiction","chronic-pain","chronic-pain-stigma","opiates","opioids","pain-management","painkillers"],"id":179358,"author_id":"Sonya+Huber"},{"text":"There are a lot of victims when it comes to addiction. I know there's an overdose epidemic. We see those faces. But then I see these other faces - the ones who commit suicide because they can't handle the pain. Those faces mean just as much to me.","author":"Donna Marsh","tags":["addiction","chronic-pain","chronic-pain-stigma","opiates","opioid-use","opioids","pain-killer-pills","pain-management","painkillers","suicide","unbearable-pain"],"id":239828,"author_id":"Donna+Marsh"},{"text":"Sometimes, this disapproval of how you are managing your pain crosses over to disbelief that you are in as much pain as you say you are. They don’t believe that your pain is a legitimate enough reason to rest or nap or cry or take narcotic medications or not go to work or to go to the doctor. They might think that you are making too big of a deal out of it. They doubt the legitimacy of the pain itself.This kind of stigma is the source of the dreaded accusation that chronic pain is “all in your head.” It’s as if to say that you are making a mountain out of a molehill.","author":"Murray J. McAlister","tags":["accusation","all-in-your-head","analogy","chronic-pain","chronic-pain-stigma","debelief","disbelief","invalidation","it-s-all-in-your-head","judgemental-people","lack-of-compassion","marginalized","narcotics","opioid-use","opioids","pain","pain-killer-pills","pain","pain-relief","painkillers","physical-pain","questioning-your-reality","stigma","stigmatization","stigmatized"],"id":243564,"author_id":"Murray+J.+McAlister"},{"text":"There’s a saying that goes something like: ‘We are all one drink or pill away from addiction,’ and I know this is meant to destigmatize what addicts go through, but I feel like I’ve been seeing variations on this ‘common knowledge’ more and more lately being used (on social media) as a cudgel to remind patients to not overdo it,” Anna says, speaking to the dual-edged sword of awareness. A motto designed to humanize the experience of addiction has been turned into a weapon that targets people who rely on opioids for pain management, and that translates to real-world stigma.","author":"S. E. Smith","tags":["addiction","anti-stigma","chronic-pain","chronic-pain-stigma","opiates","opioid-use","opioids","pain-killer-pills","pain-management","painkiller","stigmatization","stigmatized"],"id":271732,"author_id":"S.+E.+Smith"}],"pagination":{"page":1,"page_size":10,"total":5,"pages":1}}