Between 1999 and 2019, the opioid epidemic killed nearly 841,000 people in the US. Opioids change the physical structure of the brain so that people with Opioid Use Disorder feel like they will die without opioids. People cannot just will themselves out of an addiction. How might we break stigmas so we can support people with Opioid Use Disorder during social isolation?
This was a group project created in 2020 with Lafayette Doty and Alexander Twaddle.
Stigmas lead to loss of support systems, which lead to isolation. During social distancing, feelings of isolation are heightened.
During the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is when this project was created, many people placed signs and drawings in their windows to create community.
Drawing on that premise, we sought to bring a sense of solidarity to those suffering with Opioid Use Disorder. The goal was to create something low to no cost that could help people suffering know that they were not alone.
Our window campaign allows people to print out signs at home. We looked at displaying a number of messages in windows and settled on shorter phrases since window space is limited and the letters have to be large in order to be seen from the street.
Keeping our messages short was an opportunity. People with substance abuse disorders know that their drug use isn’t healthy. Telling them that it’s going to negatively impact their lives could come across as preachy. Instad, we chose messages that would validate their struggles while connecting them to pre-existing networks of people through commonly used hashtags.
I photoshopped the signs into a stock photo by Joss Woodhead. Thank you to Joss and Unsplash. Lafayette and Alexander each made their own versions of the signs.
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