Isolation, solitude and social distancing for people who use drugs : an ethnographic perspective
Date
13/01/2021Author
Grant ID
ES/V011383/1
Keywords
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Abstract
COVID-19 has resulted in deepened states of crisis and vulnerability for people who use drugs throughout Europe and across the world, with social distancing measures having far-reaching implications for everyday life. Prolonged periods of isolation and solitude are acknowledged within much addiction literature as negatively impacting the experiences of those in recovery, while also causing harm to active users – many of whom depend on social contact for the purchasing and taking of substances, as well as myriad forms of support. Solitude, however, is proposed by the authors as inherent within some aspects of substance use, far from particular to the current pandemic. Certain forms of substance use engender solitary experience, even where use is predicated upon the presence of others. Adopting a cross-disciplinary perspective, this paper takes as its focus the urgent changes wrought by the pandemic upon everyday life for people who use drugs, drawing on recent ethnographic fieldwork with substance users in Scotland. Beyond the current crises, the paper proposes solitude, and by extension isolation, as an analytical framework for better apprehending lived experiences of substance use.
Citation
Roe , L , Proudfoot , J , Tay Wee Teck , J B , Irvine , R D G , Frankland , S & Baldacchino , A M 2021 , ' Isolation, solitude and social distancing for people who use drugs : an ethnographic perspective ' , Frontiers in Psychiatry , vol. 11 , 623032 . https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.623032
Publication
Frontiers in Psychiatry
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
1664-0640Type
Journal article
Rights
Copyright © 2021 Roe, Proudfoot, Tay Wee Teck, Irvine, Frankland and Baldacchino. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Description
Funding: Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC); Grant number ES/V011383/1; postdoctoral research fellowship.Collections
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