If not and dont wish to talk about it , click out of the thread. Its a sensitive issue. i know it affects alot more people then you think
I live in Union County, my town borders Morris County as well. Anyway, everytime I catch up with a HS buddy or a friend I hear about more and more kids I know (and I know their families) getting hooked on oxycontin then moving to heroin. Some of these kids are the ones who come from great families and have been brought up as best as possible. Addiction sure doesn't discriminate.
My cousin lives in Ocean County and just came out to my Aunt and Uncle that he is addicted to opiates( pills, heroin) Basically any opiate to calm down his withdrawal. He says that cars are constantly running from Toms River up to Newark and bringing back dope and pills daily. I know the State Police just stepped into Newark and are going to try and lock down the gangs and what not. He told me its easier to find heroin then pot down there. Thats crazy
Anyway, he is going into a rehab, but I literally know of so many kids who are having to do this. HS coaches, insurance brokers, to Fire Squad guys I went to HS with or one of their brother or sisters. I live in a small town.
Ive seen it ruin some friends lives in less then a year. Why is this happening? Ive already had at least 5 kids I graduated with overdose and die the past 5 years. One was a dear friend.
And to think all these thugs making that money is sickening. Dishing out poison to make a living?
I know people will say its due to parenting, but that's not true for all. Many of these young adults come from the best. Great dads and mothers. Supportive brothers and sisters. They just cant stop
I hope our government can come out with a remedy for these physically addicting substances. Opiate users just use to function. They dont even get 'high' after they become addicted. My cousin told me that after he realized he had a problem that he only continued to use so he wouldn't have to lose his job and he did the dope just to function during the work day so he wouldnt suffer withdrawal effects in front of co-workers like sweating and shaking, to throwing up and having cold spells
My mother does some volunteer work in my area and the numbers just keep growing. And the medicines they have to combat it suck. Ive heard of some horror stories of kids trying to kick this crap. I signed up to start volunteering at a local rehab, strictly dealing with people looking to live in a clean house, halfway house - whatever you may call it after they complete their 30 day rehab and 7 day detox.
Its depressing honestly, nothing seems to be working. Now my Uncle who is the best guy, is heartbroken. He thought he had a wrap on his kid. I tried talking sense into him several times but once their hooked, talking is only that- talking. So he lost a good job working for the local town municipality.
More of me ranting, but where is the answer to this? Anyone else have a family member battling this crap? The numbers keep rising by the month. Especially the northeastern part of our country.
Cocaine and pot are being replaced by opiates. Starting with percocets and ending with a needle in their arm shooting heroin or snorting heroin. So terrible. If anyone has any advice Ive probably heard it, but you never know.
It boggles my mind knowing that you will end up in prison, rehab, or a morgue and yet sooo many kids are doing this. Ive got like 5 cousins who are entering HS over the next few years and their parents(my cousins) are so worried.
Had a high school friend die from heroin addiction. Was an all star baseball player. Died 3 years after high school. I use to drive him to Paramus to get his methadone treatments. He always said he would kick the shit out any of us who even thought of trying the stuff. He died in 73'.
If anyone remembers, good old Joe Friday had a episode on Dragnet on trying to close down a pill mill doctor in LA. How long ago was that?
Pain pill mills in Fla. are basically done. Feds cracked down on them a few years back.
Buford. I'm like you. I still have vicodin left from a prescription from 2 years ago. Every once and a while I'll take a half of pill at bedtime if I'm sore somewhere. They do nothing to me but take pain away. Never had a feeling of getting "high" or have an urge to "need" one. Guess we are lucky that way.
http://www.shatterproof.org/
You can also hear him talk at the Clinton Foundation in 2013 where he tells his story and his son Brian's, when the organization was called Brian's Wish.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wGjtajI0IE
Sorry if there's a way to embed link. I'm not that savvy!
This is a huge issue for our communities. It's robbing many of us of our key investment, resource and love.
We need to have a national response to this that moves beyond the simple stigma of moral failing to a rational approach to "getting high" whether pills, powders or even alcohol.
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with lots of money who don't fall into this, so this group of people are the least likely for me to feel sorry for. Good luck, I guess.
I guess you didn't feel bad for rich parents who had their kids killed by Adam Lanza. Some people are so retarded.
I do feel bad when people's lives get messed up no matter what their financial status--tragedy is tragedy.
However, this isn't a no-solution scenario that so many people find themselves in--without the means to address this from a medical standpoint. Without the education to know what to do. This group of folks is in a scenario where the means, the ability and the knowledge are there to a) try to avoid the situation from starting (see it coming; communicating with the kids), as it is happening, be aware of it and address it by every means possible. To me it sounded a little like Robert Downey Jr started a thread telling us how rough it was being wealthy because it is so easy to fall into the trap of drugs when you have a ton of dough and are bored.
Best of luck to the thread starter--I didn't mean to be a dick.
Good luck to you.
that's why you see so few smokers or fat people these days.
that's why you see so few smokers or fat people these days.
Being wealthy doesn't make you a great parent or immune to falling victim to drugs or alcohol..it actually makes them more accessible because you have the means to get them..
Being wealthy doesn't make you a great parent or immune to falling victim to drugs or alcohol..it actually makes them more accessible because you have the means to get them..
It amazes me how many people don't get this. Whenever I saw dealing going down in the projects, there was a common thread - expensive car that wasn't from around there. For some reason, people think living in a good neighborhood and having some money automatically insulates you from every evil the world has to offer.
To this day I still reach out to help her, I know it's not easy and I feel an obligation to assist. Marriage vows don't last and I'm not a church goer but I do firmly believe in the promise I made that day, it is that oath I took in front of my family and friends that keeps me helping her. It's the whole "What GOd has joined, no man may break" thing that really struck me and it still pushes me to help.
addiction is not a class issue. it hits every possible combo of class, race, sex, out there. It doesn't care if you're intelligent, stupid, hopeless, or have it all going for you. rules of logic need not apply.
that doesn't mean the individual doesn't hold a great deal of responsibility in the matter. It does, however, mean you're a big dumbass if your view is that 'you can afford rehab, what's your fucking problem?'.
I wasnt saying anything in regards to rich/poor families. I noted several times that this addiction doesnt discriminate. The poor, the rich, whoever. Im just saying it seems kids from great families(and a great family doesnt have to be 'rich' with money) are falling prey to this.
Its time the government really tries to find an opiate cure bc i've seen too many pointless 30 day rehabs not work. It has for some though so kudos to them. It just seems more then a month is needed to recover.
Thanks to those who can relate or have noticed this disturbing trend and added some advice or information to the convo. Why some people have to be dicks about everything is beyond me. I told those that didnt want to post about to exit. At yet i get a message telling me that someone doesnt care about my situation bc the user was rich? ADDICTION DOESNT DISCRIMINATE. Rich, poor, blck, white, latino, The homeless to CEO's to NFL players are all in the same situation. Thanks for the input guys
Special thanks also to Joey for the intimate revelation and heart wrenching story, and Kudos! to Sonic Youth for fixing himself. There's a lot of wisdom and insight above.
One general comment to add. I think the root or underlining of addiction is a mental disorder, and I think it's a mistake to just try to separate the "addiction" itself from some form of mental illness that precedes or at least coexists with it. We as Americans have far, far too little sympathy and support systems for mental illness in our culture, and I think it's sad. This I have dealt with, a little brother who I've been out of touch with for years because he's mentally ill, and I fear potentially violent.
Joey, watch out that you have not been sucked into some kind of "hero" thing regarding your soon to be ex-wife. You gotta take care of yourself man. Like Sonic said, the path to recovery HAS TO start within. I am a bit afraid that all you do for your wife is enabling her. I hope you have had the opportunity to get some psychological therapy yourself while you have undergone this nightmare...
I hope that comes off ok, I am not a psych/shrink and have zero training in that area. But I have lived with mental illness in my immediate family. I think family members need counseling almost as much as the ill ones do.
I firmly believe that some people are more prone to addiction than others. I don't know if it's 100% biology, some combination of nature/nurture, or whatever, but it's scary.
Pill Ring - ( New Window )
This paragraph alone makes me want them thrown in jail and forgotten. OH THE PRESTIGE.
That being said, there are plenty of success stories out there, it just takes will and hard work. But it has been done and will continue to be done. So there is no reason your loved one can not be successful. But recovery is an ongoing process for life and must be the most important thing in the recovering addicts life above all else.
Family members need to get involved in al-anon or something similar. So much can be learned, especially about enabling behaviors that one wouldn't even know is hurting the recovery of the addict.
The stigma of bad parenting as the most common reason for addiction is not necessarily true. True, many addicts do come from rough family backrounds, but I know plenty who came from great families whose siblings were all successful but they fell into addiction for myriad reasons. Emotional and mental issues like depression, anxiety, poor self esteem etc. are at the helm.
Tell your Uncle not to be too hard on himself. The past is not important right now. Just look to the future and getting your cousin better one day at a time. An al-anon group or something similar can do wonders for your cousins family. I cannot reiterate enough how important it is to be educated on the topic of addiction through these groups. They have to learn they have no control over the situation and can only provide support, but it has to be the right kind of support.
Best of luck.
Even with this very common experience and without abusing the medicine at all, I was given a sneak peak at what people potentially deal with. I'd be lying if I said I didn't develop an inconsequentially small dependence.... dependence is the wrong word. I didn't need it. But there were cravings. It was a release to take the medicine even when I wasn't experiencing pain. It reminded me of when in college I found my cigarette intake increased to about a pack a week and there was suddenly this subtle desire within to have more.. and more. I recognized it and quit cigarettes soon after.
I didn't have an issue with the pills. My injury was very minor, my prescription ran out and I returned to my life, but it got me thinking about people who undergo things like serious back surgeries and how all of us are very susceptible to developing a dependency. I was very lucky to experience my mild cravings in the way I did. If I do suffer a more serious injury someday I'll be prepared... I wasn't prepared last time.
I hate when something like that is taken away by addiction. My sister went through something similar and two years later is still trying to cope with getting her life restarted and not being a crutch for her ex-husband. It really does tear the entire relationship down - both parties.
My thoughts are with you.
I'm not sure that this can ever be totally changed, but it certainly has improved, I imagine, from previous generations. I think the internet is really helpful in terms of openning up about your feelings on adiction message boards and remaining anonymous, but nothing is more powerful than a face to face discussion.
If the interpreted your actions as tying to game the system in any way they likely took those steps to protect their practice from unwarranted scrutiny.
What I am absolutely certain of is that 28 day rehab is a joke and a waste of time. The only way people get clean is a sincere desire and a long term lifestyle change including severing ties with former drug buddies, sometimes even relocating.
All I can say to the people sharing stories about themselves or loved ones is you have my best wishes.