DeWine announces statewide campaign to combat addiction, mental illness stigma

Gov. Mike DeWine, along with health officials from across the state, announced a new campaign this week aiming to reduce the stigmas surrounding addiction and mental illness (Source: “Ohio launches statewide campaign to combat stigmas around addiction, mental illness,” WVXU radio, Nov. 10).

The "Beat The Stigma" campaign is the result of months of research and input from Ohio’s addiction and mental health experts. DeWine says addiction and mental health experts understand that these are diseases, not a moral failing or a result of weak character. He says the campaign attacks stigma directly.

In October, HPIO released a fact sheet titled “Refocusing Ohio’s Approach to Overdose Death” that found that drug overdose deaths in Ohio outpaced the national average over the past 20 years and stigma was a driver of those deaths.