Melissa Love: Trauma, Healthcare Stigma and a Nurse’s Journey Into Recovery ServicesMelissa Love: Trauma, Healthcare Stigma and a Nurse’s Journey Into Recovery Services
Believe in people podcast
Nurse Melissa Love shares how media, family history and her brother’s addiction once fed her own fears, and how working in recovery services reshaped those views. The conversation touches on trauma, stigma in healthcare, family guilt and the power of treating people with genuine care and respect.
40:43•12 May 2026
From Fear to Compassion: Nurse Melissa Love on Trauma, Stigma and Addiction
Episode Overview
- Media portrayals of people with addictions can feed fear and stigma, even in those who see themselves as non-judgemental.
- Working closely with people who use alcohol and drugs changed Melissa’s perception, showing her they are often "good people who've just had a bad life."
- Family members can feel powerless and guilty, but Melissa stresses that blame is less important than focusing on what can be done now.
- Open, honest apologies and a willingness to learn can help repair relationships strained by addiction and judgement.
- Healthcare workers are urged to treat the person in front of them first, rather than reducing them to their addiction history.
“They're the nicest people I've ever met in my life.”
Get ready to be moved by real-life accounts of family, stigma and second chances. This episode of Believe in People follows nurse Melissa Love as she talks about how working in addiction services completely rewired the way she sees people who use alcohol and drugs.
At first, Melissa admits she arrived for her interview terrified, clutching her handbag in the waiting room and assuming, "someone's gonna nick this." She traces that fear back to years of hospital documentaries and media headlines painting people with addictions as "the baddies" ruining the NHS. Yet once she started working with ReNew’s service users, that picture shattered.
As she puts it bluntly, "They're the nicest people I've ever met in my life" and "good people who've just had a bad life." The conversation digs into how her brother’s alcoholism, their dad’s rejection, and a childhood full of criticism shaped her earlier judgments. Melissa owns up to once "being the same as most people in society" towards her brother, even taking her handbag upstairs when he stayed over.
Melissa urges people to share it with relatives and friends, stressing that "knowledge is power" and that services like ReNew are there "to help everybody, not just the service user." She also has strong words for healthcare professionals, asking them to treat the person in front of them first, not just "look at the addiction." If you’ve ever wrestled with fear, guilt or judgement around addiction, this conversation might leave you asking: what stories have I been told about people who use substances, and who would I see if I actually listened to them?
Later, after learning more through her work, she sent him messages saying, "I'm starting to see things differently" and apologised "for being a bitch" and for not understanding what he needed. This episode speaks directly to families who feel powerless watching someone they love struggle.
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