A Qualitative Exploration of Addiction Disclosure and Stigma among Faculty Members in a Canadian University Context

Addiction is one of the most stigmatized public health issues, which serves to silence individuals who need help. Despite emerging global interest in workplace mental health and addiction, scholarship examining addiction among university faculty members (FMs) is lacking, particularly in a Canadian context. Using a Communication Privacy Management (CPM) framework and semi-structured interviews with key informants (deans and campus mental health professionals), this qualitative study aimed to answer the following research questions: (1) What is the experience of key informants who encounter FM addiction? (2) How may addiction stigma affect FM disclosure and help-seeking? and (3) What may help reduce addiction stigma for FMs? Thematic analysis was used to identify three main themes: (1) Disclosure was rare, and most often involved alcohol; (2) Addiction stigma and non-disclosure were reported to be affected by university alcohol and productivity cultures, faculty type, and gender; (3) Reducing addiction stigma may involve peer support, vulnerable leadership (e.g., openly sharing addiction-recovery stories), and non-discriminatory protective policies. This study offers novel insights into how addiction stigma may operate for FMs in relation to university-specific norms (e.g., drinking and productivity culture), and outlines some recommendations for creating more recovery-friendly campuses.