One more time won’t hurt!!! No, it will Kill you!!!

One more time won’t hurt!!!  No, it will Kill you!!!

I am tired of seeing good people die from addiction, especially drugs. Public officials, rehab directors and judges all put a band-aid on the problem that is continuing to take the lives of the young and old. 

I've met 15-year old’s, and 50-year old’s who are addicted to drugs and have almost died, some have overdosed more than once. All of them have three things in common.  

1.   They are all hurting inside

2.   They have all got help from rehab and the courts 

3.   They are all still struggling

For these people, nothing the system has done has done much, if anything to help them, other than put a band aid on the wound.  These wounds are deep, way below the surface and a band aid only hides it from view temporarily. 

So, who benefits from these temporary superficial treatments?  Rehabs, doctors, pharmaceuticals and prisons.

Who loses... families, daughters, sons, sisters, brothers, moms and dads.  They get to see their daughters, sons, sisters and brother, who all had a bright future, die right before their eyes.  They feel helpless 

I get calls all the time from parents asking for help, saying “where can my son or daughter get help”.  People tell me about how many times they have been to jail, probation and rehab.  These same people have run out of options and resources and have nowhere to turn.  I hear parents say, “my son or daughter is going to die and I can't help them, I don't know who else to call, where to turn”.  They say, “I've tried everything and nothing is working and I can't have them in my house anymore, because they are destroying the rest of the family.”

Why are so many struggling to find help, to find treatment, resources and support. When we see the TV, daily, commercials saying, "I used to be an addict and now I'm not". and we hear politicians talk about all the government resources...  So where are these resources and why do so few have access?  Listening to the TV and politicians you would think there are resources on every corner.  

Well, if you have a lot of money or a rich uncle, you can go from one rehab to another... spending $15K to 50k a month on treatment. You think I am kidding, many of the rich and famous have been to 9 or 10 rehabs before they finally begin to heal. 

Kelly Osbourne: recently said “I’ve Been to Rehab Seven Times and Two Mental Institutions” “My mum even had me put in a padded cell once to scare me.” “But like a brat I just sat it out until she said, ‘Well, that’s not going to work.'” 

So, what about the rest of the world...  It's not available. 

So why are there no resources for those who really need it?

Well in my opinion there is not just one reason, the main reason is treatment is expensive and is not adequate and jail is cheap.  If you can get into treatment it is short term, 30 to 90 days and that is enough to get them clean and sober and give them the confidence that they have it under control. This confidence is ultimately their undoing. Once the pain of why they started using in the first place comes rushing back they turn back to self-medicating.   Why? Because they don't have the tools to handle the pressures of life or their pain. Sure, the rehab may have spent a few days working with them but it's simply not that easy.  Have you ever tried to break a habit, such as overeating, sugar, smoking or caffeine?   Multiple that difficulty by 100.  Even the experts say to start a habit you must do it for 21 days.  Some say as much as 66 days.  But this is for a healthy person who wants to change.  Try breaking a habit that has become your way of coping 

Remember for the first week of rehab they are fighting just to survive and week two they are in a fog.  If they make it to weeks 3 and 4 they begin to want to stay clean and then bam...  You’re done, your fixed, back home, you are now in what they call the pink cloud... there's a big celebration with all the families and everyone crying tears of joy.  It when you almost a high but without drugs, it’s when your brain starts to clear up and you start to feel good, something you haven't felt in a while and wow you can conquer the world. 

This is short lived and crash, back to reality.   Coming off that pink cloud is like driving 90 miles an hour and hitting a brick wall. 

Now let’s look at longer term rehab, like those 90 programs. Here's the problem, they teach you a few tools and you get to put them to use... but… The problem is you are using them in artificial environment, in short burst with people who are safe.  Anyone can survive in a safe controlled environment.  What happens when they are let go into the wild? The first thing that happens is you are hit with fear and anxiety, then comes real life and you forget those tools you spent a few weeks learning.   Now, there is no backup.  If the tools don't work well the first time what do they do?  Panic? 

It would be like wanting to be a carpenter and someone shows you how to use a hand saw and you cut a couple of 2x4s, you learn to use a hammer and you pound a box of nail. Now they show you how to use a level. Ok. You are ready. Now go build a house.  That's not how it works. You need to spend a couple years working next to someone who has been there and built 50 houses and knows what is involved. How to frame a wall, how to put up the trusses, they know how to build the entire house.

So, what make you think just because an addict has been given the tools that they are going to be able to build a house. 

Left without a mentor or sponsor, a safety net when they miss that first step, they fall off the roof of recovery and maybe to their death. 

Why do so many die after rehab?  Because their body was used to high doses and now after rehab their body has adjusted to zero.  Now they stubble and use the amount they used to and it's a fatal shock to their body and now they are dead...  

Some went to rehab to appease their boss, the family, wife or husband. 

I have met people who used drugs within two hours of leaving rehab. One guy, who was nurse, said within two hours of being released from a 90-day program.  Wow… within 2-hours he had a needle of Oxy in his arm.  Think about that for a minute, this guy was a nurse, who you trusted your life when you were in the hospital was addicted to OxyContin. 

Now here is the deal about relapse for most people, they don't use the first day, they don't jump back into the deep end of the pool day one.   They start making little missteps, hanging out with the wrong people, putting themselves in the wrong places and soon they say... oh one beer won't hurt, I never had a problem with alcohol, my problem was with pills or meth.  Next, they smoke a little pot just to unwind because their new job is stressing them out. The problem is, both the beer and the pot affect their impulse control. Soon, after a couple of beers and a bong hit, someone says, “hey hit this or take these”... this might be a meth pipe or a couple of pills and you say, “oh one time won't hurt anything”. Until the next time, and the next time and before they know it they are right back where they started.  

So, what’s the solution?  First, we need to stop pretending that the drugs and alcohol are the problem.  People who are in pain will find a way to get high. 

I have been in Bethel Alaska where the sale of alcohol is illegal and they have to keep vanilla extract under lock and key because of the alcohol content.  This is also where people will drink Lysol spray mixed with Nesbit Orange soda.  They spray the Lysol into the cap and add the Nesbit Orange soda and they call it an Alaska cocktail.  Others have died trying to drink mosquito repellent 

There are kids who take 50 tablets of Imodium AD to get high or the guy who now has brain damage and frostbite because of inhaling dust-off and was found unconscious in the parking lot of the hardware store.   Then there is the guy who is abusing Suboxone because his doctor prescribes it and if buys more on the street he gets a similar high as he got from heroin.  All because they are being drug tested and don’t want to get caught but are still in emotional pain.

What we need to do is to focus on the " WHY" why are so many self-medicating? For every person that "WHY" is different, it could be trauma from childhood abuse or neglect, maybe a divorce or the death of a loved one.  It could be a job loss and now they are homeless. 

We all deal with these things differently.

When I started talking about addiction, they said it was 1 out of 10 and now the Surgeon General says it is 1 in 7.  That’s a huge jump in just a few years. 

In federal report released November 17, 2016 they call for “a shift in the way America addresses substance addictions, finding one in seven Americans will face such disorders. Only 10% of those addicted receive treatment, the study said.”

"We have to recognize (addiction) isn't evidence of a character flaw or a moral failing,” Murthy said. “It’s a chronic disease of the brain that deserves the same compassion that any other chronic illness does, like diabetes or heart disease.”

 We don’t need more failed short term rehab programs; we need tools that work around the clock 24/7 so they can use their tools any time day or night.  These tools should also be able to capture their thoughts and feelings and reflect them back and share them with their loved ones and counselors.