The Perspectives of Recovered Drug Addicts on the Causes of Addictions and the Stigma Surrounding Addicts in the UAE

Abstract

This study aims to identify the causes of drug use and the forms of social stigma surrounding drug addiction from the point of view of recovered drug addicts. Adopting a descriptive approach, the researchers based their conclusions on the results of a questionnaire that was responded to by 200 recovered drug addicts who have attended rehabilitation centres in the Sharjah. The study revealed that that main reasons for drug use were peer influence, followed by curiosity and the desire to experiment with drugs. Meanwhile, the majority of the respondents (approximately 44.0%) reported that they first used drugs due to peer influence. It also found that the highest percentage of participants had a drug use duration of more than two years, accounting for approximately 41.5%. Furthermore, the most commonly used substance among the participants was Lyrica with a rate of approximately 36.5%, followed by Methamphetamine, or crystal meth, with a rate of approximately 21.0%, and cannabis or hashish (approximately 14.5%). Our findings indicate that friends were the primary individuals who stigmatized individuals in recovery, accounting for approximately 38.5%, while spouses represented the group that stigmatized the target population the least with a rate of approximately 1.5%. In addition, we found that the most common forms of social stigma experienced by individuals in recovery from drug use and their families in the UAE were: damaged reputation, continuous social discrimination, family embarrassment due to the presence of a recovered addict in the family, being reluctantly introduced to other members of society in certain situations, lacking communication with neighbours, and that members of the community are often unwilling to marry someone from the recovered individual’s family.