Ryan Nielsen: Episode 5: Lack of Respect & Recognition at Work

Unsilencing Stories

In this episode, you'll hear Ryan Nielson talk to Thomas Chunyungco and Samantha Tsang about experiencing a lack of recognition and respect in previous workplaces when being upfront about his substance use. He discusses how the attitudes of his coworkers changed towards him and how he tried to compensate by working extra hard. Ryan discusses the way that stigma against people who use drugs affected his employment, his access to healthcare resources, and the feelings of social isolation he felt as a result.
Glossary:
CAT: Community Action Team
CBT: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
Chinatown (Vancouver, BC): A neighbourhood near Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, known for having a large unhoused population, many of whom are affected by substance use disorder.
CPI Training: Crisis Prevention and de-escalation training, through the Crisis Prevention Institute.
DBT: Dialectical Behavior Therapy.
Hoot: a single inhalation of a drug.
OPS: Overdose Prevention Site
Options: Options Community Services, an non-profit organization which provides social services primarily in Surrey, Delta, White Rock and Langley.
Purdue Pharma: A private American pharmaceutical company which manufactured pain medicines, most famously OxyContin, which the company claimed had very limited potential for addiction or abuse. Purdue is considered a major contributor to America's opioid crisis because of the company’s misleading marketing of OxyContin.
Oxycontin: A highly addictive opioid pain relief drug created by Purdue Pharma.
RCMP: Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Sources Program: part of the Sources Community Resource Centres, a community-based, non-profit society that offers a variety of social wellness programmes in White Rock, Surrey and other communities in BC.
This episode was recorded on February 6, 2023.