Writing Without Stigma: Why Language Matters in Medicine and Literature

When I started writing seriously, I didn’t set out to become a writer who tackled stigma head on. I was just trying to tell the truth, about what I saw, what I carried, and what lingered long after the shift ended.

But truth is tricky. Especially in medicine. Especially in addiction. Especially when words come with histories, judgments, and entire systems embedded in their syllables.

As both an emergency medicine and addiction medicine physician, I’ve seen firsthand how language can heal or harm. We don’t always realize the weight our words carry, especially when they’re spoken out of habit. We say “junkie” when we mean “person who uses drugs.” We say “clean” when we mean “in recovery.” These aren’t just semantics. They are narratives. They tell people who they are and how much they matter.

That is why I write with intention.

Whether I am drafting a clinical note or a poem, I am thinking not just about sound and shape, but about what my language makes possible. Does this phrase reinforce shame, or dismantle it? Does it center the person, or reduce them to a diagnosis?

I’ve also learned that the same principles apply in literature more broadly. When we call a character “broken,” we make a choice. When we romanticize suffering or simplify recovery, we tell a story that might stay with someone longer than we intended.

So here is what I believe:

• Language creates reality

• Precision is care

• People are not their conditions

• Stigma begins, and can end, with what we choose to say

This is not about policing anyone’s words. It is about listening. Learning. Editing with compassion. Writing in a way that holds both beauty and responsibility.

If literature has power, and I believe it does, then we owe it to our readers and to each other to use that power with care.

Additional statistics and reading on stigma and addiction, if you are interested:

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/stigma-of-addiction