by Brad Lamm, CIP
Trying to get yourself to rehab can be a bear. I know. I tried for awhile. Like six months, plotting a plan of change or else…rehab! I quit crystal meth the summer of 2002 after friends begged me to make a change or three. I tried cold turkey with the booze too and made it about thirty days before restarting that demon to dance with for several more months before I woke up and said yes to rehab to deal with the alcohol, nicotine and prescription medication addiction that made up a daily diet of sedation.
I wasn’t alone, more than a decade ago and the numbers just keep rising.
The increasing rate of prescription medication addiction continues to bloom, and it may be more dangerous than ever. Â Prescription drug deaths now outnumber heroin and cocaine overdoses, combined. Â About half of those deaths are due to mixing RX meds with other drugs.
Prescription drugs hook many, in unintended ways. Too often, doctors are irresponsible and reckless when handing out prescription drugs like candy. Prescription painkillers are often stepping stone drugs to heroin (which is easier to get and cheaper than pills) so the drum keeps banging and seems like we are still stuck as a nation intent to lock up the addict over treatment!
As someone who’s made it to the other side of sanity and healing from my prescription medication addiction, I devote my days now to helping others struggling on a similar path. We get better. We do. Normally it’s not just by chance though. It takes some strong intervention of sorts. Treatment is intervention. Jail is intervention. Mom + Dad saying NO to certain things are without question, an intervention.
What sort of intervention do you imagine you might exercise? That’s what we do. Some clearer head, or moment of grace, allows for a new plan to be tried.
If you or someone you love is suffering from this disease, please know that help is available. At Breathe Life Healing Centers we treat prescription medication addiction as well as other addictions, such as substance abuse. We are well trained at dealing with opiate dependence as well as other drug addictions. Our Admissions Line is open 24/7 to talk with a counselor about addiction or even, just a little guidance.
Be smart, be safe, and be healthy this 4th of July! It could be your own Independence Day from a life that is hurting you or someone you love.
