There’s a different pandemic on the rise that no one seems to be talking about, and that’s addiction.
Overdose deaths caused by synthetic opioids (primarily fentanyl, which my son became addicted to six years ago) has risen from about 5,000 in 2015 to over 80,000 in 2020. That’s a serious increase in reported deaths. Overdose deaths have increased in almost every state, with a nationwide increase of 33 percent from 2019 to 2020. The past year of COVID and total isolation has only catered to this issue, with 13 percent of Americans reporting that they started or increased substance use as a way of “coping with stress or emotions related to COVID-19,” according to the CDC.
There are so many misconceptions surrounding addiction, so much ignorance surrounding the topic in part due to a lack of awareness and understanding what addiction is, what addiction isn’t, the forms addiction takes, and the fact that it can happen to anyone. I never imagined my son struggling with an addiction to heroin. Maybe someone else’s son, but not my son. Walking through this road has been filled with lots of different things, one of those things is actually learning the truth about addiction. I’ve written this blog in the firm belief that if we as a nation want to beat addiction, we need to actually understand it.
It’s undeniable we have a drug pandemic. But why? And what role are we going to play, individually and collectively, in solving it?
Misconceptions Of Addiction
One of the biggest misconceptions under the umbrella of addiction is that it’s a choice. Jillian Hardee, a professor in psychiatry, writes that “addiction does not occur because of moral weakness, a lack of willpower, or an unwillingness to stop.” While the initial action might be voluntary, addiction alters the brain on a physical level. Substance abuse alters the brain function, affecting normal perceptual, emotional, and motivational brain processes.
I didn’t understand the science behind it, the way drugs interfere with neurons and neurotransmitters, sending abnormal messages that can significantly affect different parts of the brain. At first, I truly believed the lie that my son was “just experimenting.” Since he was pretty open in telling us initially, I assumed that honesty would continue, that I could trust him. I didn’t have any idea it would become a problem or what that experimenting would lead into. We had -- and still have -- such a close relationship, I think my initial lack of knowledge in addiction led me to believe this was one of those things that wouldn’t be taken to the addiction level.
When it did, it challenged everything I knew and opened my eyes into really considering what was important to me. I began realizing through Johnny’s different rehabs and through learning about addiction that rather than it being a choice, it’s more so a disease, one that rots and eats away the body, mind, and soul unless someone intervenes. Some are fortunate in trying out substances and being able to walk away from them. However, environmental and other predisposed factors can open up the door for a lifelong battle against addiction. No matter what leads someone down this road, it’s important that we understand the battle they’re facing. With addiction, there’s often not a “quick-fix” solution like we so desperately want. It takes time walking out the complexities of this disease and really learning what victory looks like within the confines of each unique situation.
There have been curved lines, relapses, rehab changes, sober weeks, hard weeks, isolating weeks, and beautiful weeks. But praise God, we’re on this road to recovery. We know the fight. We understand what we’re up against, and there’s a certain freedom in that, in knowing that despite the uphill battle to lifelong sobriety, it can be done. It may take hard days, it may take environmental changes, it may take finding a new community, it may even take new thought patterns. But it can be done. One day at a time.
The Forms Of Addiction
It’s important to recognize the fact that addiction takes all sorts of forms besides drugs or alcohol. People can be addicted to gambling, news, shopping, sex, gaming, technology, working out, and really anything. We as a society have a problem scaling these addictions from acceptable to unacceptable, deciding which ‘form’ of enslavement is okay. Someone may be completely bound to their phone, unable to separate themselves from it (even when in the midst of family and friends), and our society normalizes the action.
We forget that the issue lay not in the form, because the form isn’t bad in and of itself. The form becomes bad when it’s abused to fill a gap it isn’t meant to fill. All of the sudden, instead of fentanyl being used to treat severe pain for those on their deathbed with cancer, it’s being used for a teen to escape his/her circumstances and feel loved. Instead of playing the occasional video game with friends, someone is glued to that screen 24/7, using Call of Duty to escape reality. There’s an unhealthy dependency in the form, and that rewires our brains and mental space towards toxic patterns and seemingly impossible-to-break cycles. Those toxic cycles need to be exposed for the danger that they create, no matter the form. Sure, there’s different consequences for each form. But the unhealthy patterns they can create not only affect the one addicted but those around them.
Life is a beautiful gift meant to be lived to the fullest. We forget the power behind purpose, behind living our days intentionally. Addiction falsely promises this, then strips a person from actually experiencing it, keeping them confined to escapism and being entrapped to the thing they’re addicted to. We need to recognize the forms of addiction, the root behind addiction, and the freedom experienced as we learn how to help those overcome addiction.
Dancing With Change
So how do we use this knowledge to take action? The first step is in using this awareness to break our own toxic thought cycles, whether that’s in how we define addiction or how we perceive those who struggle with addiction. Instead of labeling struggles as worthy vs. unworthy, it’s important that we start understanding the strongholds created from addiction. That means choosing to open our eyes towards “ugly” struggles, lifting a hand to those in need instead of turning the other way.
We so often wait for an invitation to change. We sit on the sidelines delaying action until we’re forced to step into the game. But what could we prevent by taking action now? What freedom and healing could we help those around us experience by stepping into the addiction battle with our love and our presence? We can read this and have lofty thoughts on what we’ll one day do, but real change happens once we take the first step...and then the next...and then the next. It’s called living life abundantly, boldly pushing past fear to pursue and serve others.
- Regina <3
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