Overdose Awareness
Addiction is such a stigmatized topic – yet people are so uninformed about it. Most of us were taught that “drugs are bad,” but that is about the most education we get or tend to remember. I am here to discuss the concept of the disease of addiction which goes far beyond the common stigmas about who “addicts” are. Yes, addiction is a disease due to the fact it is ongoing, not curable (only treatable), and a condition associated with signs and symptoms. Just like other diseases, it may run rampant in some families. Babies are sometimes directly affected if they are born while a parent is actively using substances. Some others have become victims of the opioid epidemic by trusting medical providers that were responsible for their care, without knowing the addictive personality or predispositions of some clients. Ongoing Epidemic People sometimes ask: “Why can’t people stop? Why won’t they just stop using or drinking?” If it were that easy, we would not have an epidemic. In 2019, nearly 70,000 people in the United States died from opioid-involved overdoses including prescription pain relievers, heroin, and synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, according to the National Institutes of Health. The addictive nature and side effects/symptoms make these substances challenging to recover from. This is important to know because although taking any drug is usually a [...]