Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Scott Macpherson: Choose empathy over judgment to help people struggling with drugs and alcohol

During a difficult financial period, not enough has been said about the challenges facing people struggling with addiction.

We are still too quick to judge those living with alcohol and drug problems (Image: Followtheflow/Shutterstock)
We are still too quick to judge those living with alcohol and drug problems (Image: Followtheflow/Shutterstock)

During a difficult financial period, not enough has been said about the challenges facing people struggling with addiction, writes Scott Macpherson of RGU.

Times are tough for many of us, with rising prices causing added financial worry and mental distress.

It seems that, everywhere we look, there is an article about how to save money on heating or food this winter. Several of these have, rightly, highlighted the perilous situation of being faced with the choice between heating and eating. However, not enough has been said about the challenges faced by people struggling with drug and alcohol problems.

Working as a mental health nurse, I cared for a man who regularly begged for money in the city centre – to protect his real identity, let’s call him Jim. When Jim got a little money, he would get together with others in a similar situation to buy drugs or alcohol, which they would use as a temporary respite from their desperate situations.

Jim was roofless, and slept rough on the streets of Aberdeen, wearing all the clothes he owned to try to stay warm. During one of our appointments, I asked him what he had eaten recently. After some prompting, he shared that, in the last 48 hours, all he had eaten was half of a discarded white pudding he had found in a bin. This was not a one-off low point.

It would be easy to write off people like Jim, with drug or alcohol-related problems, as having made poor life choices, and believe that their issues are self-inflicted, but this view does not hold up to scrutiny.

I’ve been working in and around the substance abuse field for over 20 years, and evidence shows that people from deprived communities in Scotland are far more likely to develop drug or alcohol problems than those from more affluent backgrounds. They are also more than five times as likely to die an alcohol-related death, and 15 times more likely to die from a drug related-death.

We also know that they are more likely to have experienced multiple traumas and other mental health problems, and that there is lots of evidence to suggest links between these issues.

Set judgment aside and connect with another person

It would be condescending to suggest that this link between poverty, trauma, and problems with mental health and substance use is anything other than a systemic issue that needs to be addressed by tackling wider social and economic inequalities.

Strangely, though, there remains a commonly held view that people with drug or alcohol problems are living it up, making thousands of pounds by begging on the streets and making irresponsible, blasé choices to prioritise drug or alcohol use over proper dietary intake, heating, or other fundamental needs.

A ceremony held on International Overdose Awareness Day in 2018 displayed crosses to mark a record number of drug deaths in Dundee.
Scotland’s drugs death crisis continues, and many are calling for reform and a change in societal attitude (Image: Kris Miller/DC Thomson)

If there is one thing we can do to help, it is to challenge this notion, both in ourselves and in others. Rather than peddling a tired, judgmental narrative, we can instead choose the path of empathic understanding for fellow humans who find themselves experiencing difficulties.

Responding with empathy can be hard, because it requires us to set aside our judgments and try to connect with the feelings the other person (or people) may be experiencing. But, this exercise is ultimately rewarding, as, while judgment fuels division and conflict, empathy leads to connection and understanding.


Scott Macpherson is a lecturer in mental health nursing at Robert Gordon University

Conversation