Sharing Stories, Stamping Out Stigma, and Saving Lives: Live Tampa Bay's New Campaign

Tampa Bay nonprofit uses real people’s stories to help others overcome addiction

How Personal Stories on Social Media are Fighting the Opioid Epidemic

Live Tampa Bay

TAMPA, Fla. — Sharing stories, stamping out stigma, and saving lives: that’s the goal of a new social media campaign just launched by Live Tampa Bay, a non-profit organization dedicated to fighting the opioid epidemic. Their innovative approach aims to reach people where they spend a significant portion of their time — scrolling online.

The campaign highlights personal stories to emphasize that addiction struggles are not unique and can be overcome with support. The stories shared on Live Tampa Bay’s website, Instagram, and TikTok are roughly a minute long, featuring individuals connected to the Tampa Bay region who share their journeys through addiction and recovery.

Sean Daniels, Live Tampa Bay’s Anti-Stigma Program Director, explained, “So the idea is, you know, it’s four in the morning, you’re struggling, you don’t know what to do, and you see a story of someone that looks like you telling you that recovery is possible.”

Daniels mentioned that they are working with an algorithm to target people in areas where the messaging is needed most. “We looked at where the overdose deaths were, and all the zip codes in the areas, and then we’re really trying to focus on places where it’s the highest, where we feel like we can make the most change,” he said.

According to Live Tampa Bay, nearly three people die every day in the Tampa Bay region from drug overdoses. The organization hopes that by sharing these personal stories, they can reach those who are struggling and encourage them to seek help.

Social media campaign shares stories to stamp out addiction stigma

Casey Murphy and Kendra Simpkins, both residents of Sarasota, were moved to share their stories as part of the anti-stigma campaign. Murphy said, “I think the more that we can talk about it frankly and openly, it’s helpful to people to even acknowledge to themselves, like, oh, I may have an issue.”

Simpkins added, “Oftentimes, when we’re in our addiction, we can feel like, ‘Wow, I’m the only one that’s struggling with this and nobody would understand what I’m going through.’ So when you find out, oh, there are other people out there, and there’s a lot of other people who are dealing with the same thing that I’m dealing with, and that I am not alone and that we can support one another.”

Live Tampa Bay has collected more than 100 videos from people in recovery and plans to release them periodically over social media in the coming weeks. If you’d like to contribute your own story, they’re still accepting submissions. To upload your own video, click here.

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