Women with opioid use disorder face stigma in getting help, seeking treatment
CHICAGO — Heather Beaubien doesn’t believe in rock bottom.
Not when she dropped her son off at school in the morning and stopped at a liquor store five minutes later. Not during the moments she’d dig through clothing drawers for stashed drugs and liquor and light up with a Christmas-morning feeling upon finding it. And not when she went for months without a proper shower and found herself crawling naked to let the cops in at the door of her own home.
No matter how deep she sank into addiction, it was the recovery community that helped her find her way out. After decades of alcohol and opioid addiction, Beaubien said her life changed permanently when she finally got tired of digging, but also tired of hiding.
Now, as a resident at Phoenix Recovery Support Services and addiction and recovery support counselor at Family Guidance Centers, Beaubien doesn’t hide anything. She’s one of the lucky few in recovery who has been able to get residential treatment in Chicago, as many people in her situation aren’t housed because of a lack of insurance, insufficient government-supplied beds and space — and stigma, which disproportionately affects women.
“The stigma is huge and it’s a shame. A lot of
