The Internalization of Stigma and the Shaping of the Grief Experience for Peers Bereaved by a Drug-Related Death

People who use drugs form a significant part of the community who are impacted by drug-related deaths, but their stigmatized positioning in society yields implications for their access to support and the social recognition of their grief. This project explores how the internalization of drug-related stigmas shapes the grief experience for peers bereaved by a DRD. Six individuals who experienced the drug death of a peer during their own time in active addiction participated in semi-structured interviews, analyzed by interpretative phenomenological analysis. Three superordinate themes are reported in this paper: (i) Forged Connections; (ii) The Condemnation Script; and (iii) Nowhere Left to Turn. Participants reported grief responses such as survivor’s guilt, shame, and increased drug use against the wider social invalidation of their close peer bonds. This paper appeals for a more health-based approach to supporting people in active addiction that recognizes and validates their grief experiences.