Hardly a week goes by without the Coroner’s office getting another request for statistics on the opioid crisis. My office is tasked to the maximum right now and we don’t currently have additional personnel on staff dedicated to answering the growing number of inquiries.
As I write this, sitting on my desk are two stacks of case files. The higher one is of cases that need to be closed out after my review of newly returned toxicology reports. The much shorter stack is of homicide cases I must review. Looking at the difference between the two piles, I marvel at how much knowing the numbers, statistics and data matters. Yet simply knowing this information doesn’t save any lives. Ten years ago, I could see this coming. OxyContin became the solution to everyone’s pain, chronic or short-term. Suddenly, clinical treatment and all procedures were expected to be completely pain-free. When I had my wisdom teeth pulled as a kid, my dentist said to me as I left the office, “Now when the Novocain wears off, it’s going to hurt like hell for a day or two, but just keep washing out your mouth with salt water.” He was right. It hurt like hell, but in a few days, it was better. You just dealt with the pain. Of course, I realize that in certain cases medications are indispensable to patients with specific conditions. I’m not disputing that. But today’s insurance companies and the government now tie reimbursements to a hospital or doctor through a survey of the patient’s reported pain. This led to the expansion of opioids in clinical medicine which became the gateway to the abuse of pharmaceutical opioids. Even today, prescribed opioids are more abused than street drugs. In my view, the worst approach to this problem is for the federal government to throw money at it and build bureaucracies around it, as was recently suggested, to the tune of fifty-nine billion dollars. (Without, of course, any explanation of how the money would be spent, or for that matter, a clear definition about what the crisis really is. In reality the crisis is just another opportunity for the government to make more money.) Every time a politician or the press asks me about this issue it is clear they don’t understand what is really happening across America. We don’t have an “opioid epidemic” we have an “addiction epidemic.” Opioids exist to kill pain but we must define the pain. Why are the richest, most free people in all of history in such physical, emotional and (dare I say) spiritual pain? My friend Tommy Rosen has a marvelous definition of addiction, which is found in his comprehensive book entitled “Recovery 2.0: Move Beyond Addiction and Upgrade Your Life”. The definition is important because it takes us beyond the symptom (in this case, opioids) to the real dis-ease. Simply put by Tommy: “Addiction is any behavior you continue to do despite the fact that it brings negative consequences into your life.” Suddenly, it becomes clear we have an addiction epidemic and opioids are only one of the tools. This is subtle but very significant. I have seen this over the years because my job is to listen to the dead. I have seen that the patterns of addiction ultimately impact how, when and why we die. For example:
This list could go on but I think you get the point. As a society we are more anxious, less healthy and more prone to all of the above. Yes, we are addicted to drugs... but as Tommy points out, we are also addicted to alcohol, food, people (relationships, sex and intimacy), money and the insidious newcomer... technology. Tommy goes a step further to identify what he calls the four aggravations, or potential addiction triggers:
These root causes need to be deeply examined. The money we put into this epidemic should be block granted to the states, meaning that each state would determine the best use of the funds. This would provide us with fifty different laboratories to develop the best approaches for true rehabilitation. There should be some use of methadone and buprenorphine to help with the chemical transition to detoxification, but the real issue is the addictive personality and how we got here. I recently heard a public official say that the government was considering the development of a vaccine for addiction. Folks, there is no vaccine for the soul. One has to delve into the subconscious and realize their uncontrollable need to do negative things is the result of past pains. We must identify and face these pains. Pain can be a great teacher. The nationwide state of addiction we are in is an opportunity for each and every one of us to grow and evolve. Tommy Rosen has the right idea. He is holistic in his approach and he shares it with thousands by creating a virtual community. His website r20.com offers sanctuary to anyone seeking to dig deeper into patterns, thoughts, beliefs and behaviors that no longer serve them. I encourage everyone to check it out. Bottom line, there is no easy solution. There is no solution “from the government.” There is no pill and there is no vaccine. The only route is within. Recovery starts with each one of us, individually, and then as a community. Drug overdoses are now the leading cause of death among Americans under 50. To say this is a crisis is an understatement.
5 Comments
Eileen Lower
9/29/2017 11:32:36 pm
Well said. As a child of the 50s parents were respected...as we entered the 60s we lost that respect..not for mommy & daddy but for ourselves. Can't blame it all on Viet Nam ot Timothy Leary. We wanted our own life...as far from normal as possible. We invented the tune in turn on and drop out ...of our parent's work hard, save money and give the kids a better life. We became addicted to ourselves and have not yet figured out it was not about us. Now our kids are wrapped up in their me first addiction. Just my thoughts on the subject. Drugs are not the problem...me-ism is.
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Rosanne Govea
9/30/2017 06:40:45 am
That was a very interesting article. i agree with what you say. Addiction is something most don't understand. I can't comprehend the impulsiveness that causes people to become addicted to drugs, alcohol, sex, etc. no sense to me. I see the addictions in my own family. Two sisters, totally opposite of each other. Each with 2 children (1 has 2 girls, 1 has 2 boys). One sister smokes marijuana and has taught her daughters to do the same. But of those 2 daughters, one is a heroin user and lives on the streets. The other sister and her sons eschew drugs completely. Have only used prescription drugs when absolutely necessary. Even in the most normal of families, you have your addictive personalities and non addictive personalities. Have no idea what caused them. I've read some of Tommy Rosen's beliefs and they are spot on. Thank you for this article.
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Barbara Bennett
10/15/2017 04:25:00 am
You are the first professional, to share the same opinion I've had for several years now. Forget behavior modification, I had to go back to my childhood to understand why I had become an enabler, a victim, controlling, and yet a people pleaser, & attracted only to alcoholics. I started with her in 2000 & returned several times when something new popped up I couldn't figure out. If I had to pick one area where she helped me the most I'd say it's this: I can change no one but myself and it's a journey. I discovered though, by changing me, those closest to me have changed as well & we now have a healthier relationship. . I I I found a therapist a few years ago who has helped me in a dozen ways, and it's basically just changing how you think. I'm not sure if it's self hypnosis, but I was having severe pain from an abscessed tooth. (I decided to quit drinking, quit Xanax, which I had been on for 15 years; and Adderal, which I had a script for. In addition I also gave up any type of narcotic pain meds. I naively did this all at once, on my own, in one week. I'm lucky nothing happened.) Anyway, that why I was in so much pain, I couldn't take anything. He hypnotized me (I would have bet the farm he couldn't) and I was in this totally relaxed state where I wasn't asleep, but I was close. He planted seeds so to speak & I was literally able to rid myself of the pain. That opened my eyes to a whole new world; Ibhad an entire family of addicts in one form or another including me, But what really puzzled me was all rehabs are 12 step programs and when released you attend AA meetings. For those whom it helps, great. But I had watched people who wanted to quit drinking badly, but it seemed to really have it hooks in them, They did Rehab, ankle monitors etc & AA meetings after. But they weren't helping these people at all and that's when I knew AA wasn't for everybody. I felt sure that if they could get enough support to be willing to see the right kind of therapist (not easy), they could find out what happened in their life that caused them enough pain they looked for an escape. They could rid themselves of the shame and guilt we were raised to feel. When I found out I was going to be a grandmother I woke up the next morning and literally said the line from Shawshank Redemption "It's time to get busy living, or get busy dying." I left my husband because I wasn't going down with the ship. I'm watching my diet, I quit smoking, and harder yet I gave up pop lol, I only drink socially & I've quit taking (legally) prescribed Adderal. These were all addictions, & I wouldn't have been able to quit had I not been fortunate enough to land a brilliant therapist. I'm nothing like the young woman I used to be. I'm a whole different person. I don't feel sorry for myself anymore because I know now the quickest way to make yourself feel good is to do something for someone else. And not tell anyone! This blog makes me realize how few people there are who do know about addiction. Thank you!
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Kim Lewis
1/9/2018 02:45:51 am
While I definitely agree with what you've stated here, there has to be a solution that saves lives but also does not take medication away from those who truly need it.
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