People struggling with opioid addiction often need support from health professionals, but new research suggests they may face judgment from some of the very workers they turn to for help.
A University of Georgia study found that mental health workers reported more negative attitudes toward people with opioid problems than members of the general public.
The finding matters because stigma can become a major barrier to treatment. People who expect to be blamed, judged or treated differently may delay asking for help, even when effective treatments are available.
Opioid addiction, also known as opioid use disorder, is a long-term health condition involving powerful drugs such as heroin, fentanyl and prescription opioid painkillers. These drugs can change brain systems involved in reward, stress and self-control, making it extremely difficult for some people to reduce or stop their use without treatment.
The United States continues to face a serious opioid crisis. More than 82,000 people died from opioid overdoses in 2024, while millions of Americans are estimated to be living with opioid use disorder.
Treatment can include counseling, social support and medicines such as methadone or buprenorphine. These medicines can reduce cravings and withdrawal symptoms and help people stabilize their lives, yet they are sometimes misunderstood as simply replacing one drug with another.
Researchers wanted to understand how common these attitudes are, particularly among people whose jobs bring them into contact with individuals affected by opioid addiction. They surveyed about 1,600 people living across 13 southern U.S. states.
Participants were asked how strongly they agreed or disagreed with statements expressing negative beliefs about opioid use disorder. Some statements suggested that people were personally to blame for their addiction, while others questioned the use of medicines such as methadone.
The survey also asked whether participants tended to judge people with opioid problems negatively. When the researchers compared different groups, mental health workers and first responders were more likely than other participants to agree with several stigmatizing statements.
Lead author Virginia Brown, an evaluation specialist with University of Georgia Cooperative Extension, said the result is especially important because people generally enter helping professions because they want to support others. Negative beliefs about addiction may therefore exist even alongside a genuine desire to help.
Such attitudes are not merely a matter of language or politeness. If stigma influences professional decisions, patients may feel less respected, receive poorer communication or encounter greater difficulty accessing treatments that research has shown can reduce harm and improve recovery.
The researchers suggest that better education could help. Training can explain addiction as a health condition, correct myths about medications used to treat opioid use disorder and teach workers how to communicate without blame.
Programs can also help professionals recognize signs of addiction and respond in ways that encourage people to seek care. The goal is not to ignore the serious consequences of opioid misuse, but to separate harmful behavior from assumptions about a person’s character or worth.
The study was published in the Community Mental Health Journal. It was led by Virginia Brown and co-authored by Thuy Dung Pham, Diane Bales, Maria Bowie and Anna Scheyett.
The findings provide useful evidence, but they should be interpreted with some caution. The research was based on survey responses, which measure reported beliefs rather than directly showing how workers actually behave when treating a patient.
The study also focused on 13 southern states, so the results may not represent mental health workers throughout the entire United States or in other countries. Attitudes may differ according to profession, workplace, training, personal experience and access to addiction services.
Even with these limitations, the study highlights an important weakness in the health system. Effective addiction treatment depends not only on having medicines and services available, but also on creating an environment where people feel safe enough to use them.
Reducing stigma among professionals could therefore have practical health benefits. If patients expect understanding rather than judgment, they may be more willing to seek treatment earlier, remain in care and talk openly about the problems they are facing.
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