Is there is so much media attention being placed on the overprescribing of opioids and the new generation of addicts that it's spawning, that we are overlooking the rest of the population with substance use disorders? While I know how tragic the heroin epidemic is in the United States and am grateful to have been involved in the Fed Up! Rally in Washington DC the past two years, don't we need to look at the bigger picture? While it is painfully obvious that we need to reign in big pharmacy, it should be just as obvious that there are many addicts, myself included, that became so having never taken prescription painkillers.
I have looked up many statistics and I site this Addiction Figures research. The numbers are startling and I don't downplay the devastation that the opioid/heroin addiction has on our society, but what about the other almost 91% of people with a substance use disorders? Part of what I am trying to do with my business Active Recovery Consulting is focus on the underlying issues that cause people to continue to feel the need to use drugs in the first place. I don't have the resources to focus on who is to blame, nor is that my concern. I will leave that to the groups that are out there now to continue to fight that fight. I want to concentrate my efforts on helping those dealing with substance use issues, and their families by dealing with the underlying "why" factors and how to cope in today's society without abusing substances.
Some of the many reasons people use drugs!
- to fit in
- to escape or relax
- to experiment
- physical injury
- to rebel
- to avoid psychological pain
- to deal with external stressors
- to "numb" out
