Dopesick — Anastasia Krasuski

Aug 31

Aug 31 Dopesick

I got on Instagram today to see that it is August 31. That date might not hold any significance on a traditional calendar, and it’s not a date that is talked about with the likes of the Fourth of July, or Halloween or Christmas.

Today is International Overdose Awareness Day.

It’s not enough anymore to write a blog post and be sad and text loved ones affected. I’m tired. I’m angry.

I’m tired of eulogies. I’m tired of getting invited to funerals. I’m tired of a death announcement being the first thing I see when I log on to Facebook.

I’m angry that there is still such a stigma around this disease. I’m angry that for a lot of people, affording treatment is virtually impossible. I’m angry that there are many doctors out there who will throw you a prescription before they will ever try to get to the root of the problem. I’m angry that some treatment centers use people’s lives to make money and prey on the weak. I’m angry that my friends are dying and the problem is only getting worse.

There are TV shows and documentaries that have tried to accurately depict addiction, and the devastating pain that comes with losing a loved one to an overdose. They will never be able to capture it. Never.

They call this the Opioid Epidemic for a reason. Epidemic is defined as “an outbreak of disease that spreads quickly and affects many individuals at the same time. An outbreak of sudden rapid spread, growth or development.” Pay attention to the word rapid.

“Over the last two years preventable drug overdose deaths increased 58.0%, from 62,172 in 2019. In 2021, 98,268 people died from preventable drug overdoses – an increase of 781% since 1999.”

781% in a little over two decades. That’s pretty rapid.

Something’s gotta give here. The entire world shut down when there was a viral disease going around. There are races and concerts and benefits and galas to fund cancer research, end hunger, and help the poor. It’s way past the point in time that we let go of the stigma of what a drug addict actually is, and figure out how to help them.

I speak so passionately about this topic because these are my people. This is my community. My friends are dying. I was so incredibly lucky to be given a second chance at life. Two years into being sober, and working in treatment, I see how little is available for this massive population of people struggling. Did you know there are only 900 methadone clinics in the entire country?

There are a lot of factors at play and unfortunately not just one simple solution. What needs to happen first is the stigma of addiction being blown to smithereens. When you think of someone that struggles with substance abuse, that’s all you think about. When you think about someone you know who’s died of an overdose, you remember just that, that they died of an overdose. An entire perspective shift is needed here, that these addicts still struggling and the ones we’ve lost are much more than the substance that has taken so much from them. They are someone’s child, someone’s mother, father, brother, sister, friend. They are absolutely plagued with pain, both mental and physical, at all times. Being in that much pain sometimes leads people to self medicate. One of my favorite quotes from F. Scott Fitzgerald is, “first you take the drink, then the drink takes you.” There’s such a misunderstanding that people who suffer from addiction are the scum of the earth, the untouchables, because they choose to keep using and being destructive. But they never talk about what led them to use. They never talk about why they keep using. That maybe it’s much, much bigger than choosing to lose everything, including your life.

Change needs to be made all across the board. Better coordination of care, more community involvement, more consistent use of other pain control options, and pushing of treatment. Change also means harm reduction. I’m talking Narcan training and widespread accessibility, clean needle exchange and safe injection sites, all of which are evidence based harm reduction. If the idea of those things in your community frightens you, I suggest you consider the even more frightening thought of losing someone you love to an overdose. It’s time we throw what I like to call the “Wonder Bread America” ideals out the window. When a drug like fentanyl starts running rampant through the streets the very LAST thing you should be worried about is the optics. Get over it.

Addiction is one of those things that’s impossible to understand unless you’ve experienced it, or been very close to it. As with a lot of other issues, you don’t think about it until it affects you. I’m here to tell you that it will affect you. With the overdose rates rising the way they are, and the absence of so many things that can help, you will know someone that’s affected by this. You might not ever experience the horror of seeing death, or being so sick in withdrawal that death would feel like relief. I hope you don’t. But you will see it around you. It’s not going anywhere - we are at ground zero of the opioid epidemic.

I beg you to take time to do your own research and find a way that you can help support, even if it’s just donating. There are many great organizations out there trying to fight this that need funding. Reach out to your local representative to find out what your community is doing to help. There is an election coming up. When considering a candidate, know their stance on the opioid epidemic and how they plan to combat it. More than anything, talk about it, and don’t stop talking.

“When we recover loudly, we keep others from dying quietly.”