Into the Church Basement

💥💥💥Don’t tell anyone, but I went to a meeting last night.

Again, keep it quiet, but I have issues.

So I attend a certain type of meeting where we talk about how to best deal with said issues.

So I walk into the church basement and I join a crowd of people with “issues”.

The average age in the room was probably mid-50’s.

The average amount of time in recovery from “issues” was probably 20 plus years.

I’m sure there were a couple of newer and younger people in that room. But you had to pay close attention to find them.

But that is beside the point.

A fascinating story was shared.

The Story

This dude with a bunch of time “dealing with issues” was talking about struggling back in the day.

Like in the 1980’s.

Apparently he had some trouble before it “finally stuck”.

He said he was a chronic relapser (his term not mine), and “for years I was in and out and in and out”.

He talked about how bad it got.

As they say, jails and institutions and near death.

Meetings

Then he shared that there was a group of men from the “meetings” who “kept coming to see me”.

They would meet him at hospitals, come to see him in jail, they met him for coffee. He said “they just kept showing up”.

He was emotional when talking about it. It clearly touched him even 30 years later.

It Got Me Thinking

Who the hell came up with this “wait until they hit bottom” bullshit”?

What kind of person tells another person “you just need more pain” and “come back when you want it”.

How did this attitude become the prevailing attitude?

IT DOESN’T REPRESENT THE FOUNDATIONAL SPIRIT OF RECOVERY.

Back in the day Bill W and Dr. Bob would go out to hospitals looking for “alcoholics”.

They would literally walk up to the nursing station and say “you have any alcoholics we can help”.

They did not wait for people to show up.

I know we can’t reach everyone. But we can change our attitude.

“They need to hit bottom and come and get it” is a paradigm that needs to be transformed.

Think about it??? Rich.

ABOUT RICH JONES MA, MBA, LCAS, SAP
EVP & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, HERITAGE CARES

Executive Vice President (EVP) at Heritage Health Solutions, Inc.
Chief Strategy Officer Co-Founder at Youturn,
CEO at Wellness Partners Group
CEO/President at Jones Solutions Group
Former CEO at FAVOR Greenville

Visit Heritage Health at – Click Here

For Addiction Support Info – Click Here

Please Subscribe to the Recovery Cartel – Click Here

The post Who Came Up With This “Wait Until They Hit Bottom” Bullshit”? appeared first on The Recovery Cartel.

7 “SLOGAN-FREE” Tips

“Tough love” and “let them hit bottom” DID NOT make the list. As our country fights through the “opioid crisis” we see the limitations of an addiction treatment system that came of age in the 1970’s. Today families need as much help as we can give them. Here are a few tips for families dealing with addiction.

(Note: in reality it is addiction crisis not an “opioid crisis”-but the opioid narrative works better for the press. The narrative being that evil pharmaceutical companies got middle class white kids addicted. Addicted and everyone started to die etc…)

These limitations are most evident in the strange phenomenon of recovery slogans that seem to guide healthcare/addiction treatment policy.

Slogans such as “wait until they hit bottom” or “he is in denial” or “these addicts have to want recovery ”.

One Size Fits All

Generated out of mutual support recovery groups, these sayings guide everything from insurance reimbursement to one-size fits all treatment models.

Some slogans are probably grounded and based in fact.

All slogans are generated from a place of wanting to help. But they should not be applied universally and they are not adequate in terms of guiding healthcare policy.

The lack of evidence supporting many abstinence only treatment models is stunning.

The lack of accountability in the industry is baffling.

The unwillingness of some programs to adopt evidence-based models is probably illegal. Certainly unethical.

M.A.T. Resistant

The most glaring example is the lack of acceptance, as well as those being resistance to medication assisted treatment (M.A.T.).

I’m not one of the M.A.T. zealots. I do not promote M.A.T. as the only acceptable treatment for opioid use disorder (that mentality is just as problematic as the current abstinence only model).

However, M.A.T. is an option that is systematically suppressed and ignored by many treatment providers. The only logical conclusion: slogans are taken more seriously than research.

Slogan Driven

Families are also subject to slogan driven “professional” help.

Unfortunately, the slogan-based model has been extended into professional work with family members. Family members looking for information related to addiction are met with their own version of one size fits all treatment.

Family members are labeled enablers and co-dependents.

They are told “you are loving your child to death”. They are told “let them hit bottom”.

OF COURSE THEY ARE TOLD “YOU NEED TO START PRACTICING TOUGH LOVE”.

90% Never Get Help

Most family members, like most people in addiction, run from professional advice and recoil from this approach.

We know that 90% of those in need of addiction treatment never get help.

I would argue even more than 90% of families in need never get help.

They vote with their feet. Also, they don’t come back.

They can’t tolerate the professional judgement. They can’t tolerate being chastised for their “enabling behavior”.

What Does Work

The concept of “working on yourself” is also difficult for families to grasp. In our Family Recovery Groups at FAVOR Greenville we spend a lot of time on this issue.

• We know there is validity to the idea of family members focusing on themselves.
• Too often, family members are automatically told: “you’re sick too” and “you need to detach”.
• These ideas have a place in the family recovery process, however, they should not be mechanically applied to every situation.
• Furthermore, there is a matter of timing to the conversation.
• You want the family to stay engaged in the process. Don’t chase them away with this type of label.
• When someone comes to realize the seriousness of their loved one’s substance use, they are confused and terrified. They are looking for expert advice. That advice should be grounded in sound theory, research and compassion.
• We also need to over-emphasize the importance of individualized family interventions.
• We need to understand how the structure of each individual family influences the approach we take with that particular family.

Opioid Use Disorder

For example, there is a big difference between talking to the wife of a 40 year old struggling with alcohol and the mother of a 20 year old with opioid use disorder.

Say it again for the people in the back of the room:

There is a big difference between talking to the wife of a 40 year old struggling with alcohol and the mother of a 20 year old with opioid use disorder.

Cultural Context

Detachment and tough love were developed in the 1950’s to help wives deal with alcoholic husbands.

These ideas made sense in that cultural context. They made sense in the context of a married couple.

Wives should not over protect and rescue husbands. It is not healthy. It is not natural.

Natural For Parents

However, parents are certainly going to react in a protective manner. It is natural for parents to try to rescue kids. Especially young adults.

The impulse to control and fix is natural. It’s not pathological to want to rescue your child. It is biologically hardwired into you as a mother or father.

You are compelled at an instinctual level to “save your child”.

When people dismiss you out of hand and scoff at your desire to help they are being short-sighted. They are demonstrating a fundamental lack of understanding.

When people tell you to detach and “kick the bum out” they are being cruel and engaging in classic “do as I say not as I do” behavior. These good people would not follow their own knee-jerk advice. If we were to reverse the roles.

What About Rescuing

Rescuing can, however, become counter-productive. Rescuing and ignoring bad behavior can enable the addicted individual to engage in ongoing self-destructive behaviors. In addition, you are going to personally self-destruct.

You can only handle so many sleepless nights and anxiety filled days.

I know what it is like to find yourself in the worry cycle.

That endless path of chasing scenario after scenario. All the “what ifs”.

Impact of Stress

The negative impacts of stress on the physical health is documented very well.

Up to 70 serious health conditions are directly caused or exacerbated by chronic stress. The addiction will take you out as quick as it will take out your loved one.

This is why people say: “work on yourself”.

The added bonus is, as you work on yourself, you increase the likelihood of change in your loved one.

Family Systems Theory

The family is a system; changing one part of a system influences all other parts of the system.

Family systems theory holds that individual family members fall into predictable roles and serve particular functions within the larger family system.

In addition, the family system (indeed any system) exists to preserve itself.

Unless acted upon by a strong internal or external force the system will proceed down the path of collective destruction. Given this reality, it is self-evident then that any individual part of that system could impact the system as a whole. This means the addicted individual will need to adjust to changes in any other part of the system.

Therefore, when in doubt. Work on yourself. It seems to me that all family recovery addresses three interrelated issues: Anxiety, Worry, and Chronic Stress. Focus on positive actions that reduce anxiety, worry and stress.

Helpful and Healthy Suggestions:

Become part of a group. We are social creatures.

You don’t even need to enjoy the content of the group. Just being around people with similar struggles will prove uplifting.

The benefits of group are clear:

• Universality — you realize you are not alone
• Altruism — you get to help others
• Imitative Behavior — you hear from others who have gone through the same thing and
• Develop Coping Skills — more adaptive responses.
• Instillation of Hope — Perhaps the most powerful factor

The “FREE THREE”

Practice the “FREE THREE”. Easily accessible activities which have proven to reduce stress:

1. Go outside, take a walk
2. Listen to your favorite music
3. Smile and laugh

Do something fun for yourself. Something meant for entertainment.

All for fun and not work related.

Prayer and meditation. Regardless of your personal beliefs we know that prayer and meditation have positive impact on neurobiological pathways.

The Confidant

Find a confidant. One to one. Sometimes you can’t share at group level and having a one to one relationship can be invaluable.

This could be a therapist, a sponsor, or a coach.

Eliminate toxic people from your life. You have no time for people who drag you down.

Eliminate judgmental people.

And Most Important. –

RESIST THE TEMPTATION TO ISOLATE. ISOLATION FEEDS DEPRESSION.

Isolation makes everything worse.

Some people think it is the main cause of depression, not serotonin.

Get outside, go visit someone. Try to do your life despite your despair.

Give it try… trust me.

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As I Unscrew A Letter

Laurence Ross’s “As I Unscrew: A Letter” is a symbolic creative essay/letter, that provides an insightful look into the internalization that occurs within addiction.

In the beginning of Ross’s essay, he creates a symbolic image for the feelings his addiction has on others, as well as himself with the use of the bottle of gin.

“As I unscrew the cap to the bottle of Gordon’s gin, the boar’s head on the label looks appalled, it’s eye a wide dilated circle of disbelief”(1).

Ross uses personification of the substance to demonstrate reality.

Ross isn’t really speaking of the Gin, he’s referring to Karen, yet he is unable to be honest about the effect his substance abuse has on others.

The sentences Ross puts in parentheses, serve as honest interjections amongst his torn dialogue.

“I look to see if I should make a mental note to buy more supplies at the store (I should) and if I should make a mental note to space out my martinis so they last the duration of the- a duration unknown- of the night ( I shouldn’t, because if worst comes to worst, I do not need olives or wedges of lime, and there is always vodka after all)” (1).

Honest Elegance

This illustrates Ross’s drinking honestly and with elegance whereas he creates a window into internalization.

His concerns pertain to alcohol alone, not the limes and the olives, not entertainment of party refreshments.

Ross compares his martini to something much larger.

He ponders,“the gin swirling and cloudy cold in the glass like St. Mary Lake with her glacial residue; as I unscrew” (1).

With this image Ross demonstrates that alcohol is not simply a form relaxation to him, that here as he unscrews.

---

Melting Into Intoxication

He becomes aware that the substance is far larger than him. Far more powerful. Ross melts into his intoxication.

He becomes glacial residue and is completely swallowed by the power of his substance abuse. Ross uses the word “unscrew” throughout his essay at pivotal points, in the begging, the middle and conclusion.

This creates an image to the reader of becoming undone.

Ross does this elegantly by simply flipping the order of the first sentence, and the personification no longer pertains to the alcohol itself, but to a person.

His use of the word in the beginning is literal but pertaining to his use of alcohol.

Be Astonished

Yet in the conclusion the reader receives the word with a tone of hurt and astonishing pain.

“When no one else is appalled but you, when no one else is appalled by the fact that I am standing at the counter unscrewing, when no one else cares how long we, how long I can keep this up? See you” (1).

We are let go swiftly, almost eased into the realization, yet it still hits.

The reader is suddenly dropped, with no question, with no more banter, no justifications, no more disguises, just merely purely appalled at what we have witnessed in the position of Karen.

The reader simultaneously experiences the evening from the point of view of Ross. His internalization becomes laid out flat, for the reader (Karen) to see.

There is no longer any manipulation. Nor dishonesty strong enough to debunk Karen’s reaction to his drunkenness, and the reality of his addiction.

Realty of Addiction

Over all “As I unscrew: A letter” creates an intimate narrative into the reality of addiction.

Also into the dishonesty within self that so often takes hold of an individual in addiction, furthermore making the battle for sobriety ever challenging even in spite of the apparent effect it has on the ones closest to the addict.

Elizabeth Jones | Guest Author

Work Cited: Ross, Laurence. “As I Unscrew: A Letter.” Brevity: A Journal of Concise Literary Nonfiction, 5 Jan. 2010, brevitymag.com/nonfiction/as-i-unscrew-a-letter/

The post Reflection of “As I Unscrew: A Letter” appeared first on The Recovery Cartel.

“Drug Use For Grown Ups”

Slow going. But I’m reading “Drug Use For Grown Ups”.

Truth is… There is a whole bunch of good stuff in Dr Carl Hart’s book.

The title may suck. And many people were offended by the sensationalized headlines (in all those articles that were posted).

But remember, that was meant to sell books.

Create attention, even if it’s negative attention.

Most I Agree, So Far!

So far: I agree with most of what he says.

The war on drugs is a disgraceful war on people. The arbitrary federal drug schedule needs thrown out.

Research and federal grants come with an agenda attached.

The industrial prison complex is out of control. The politics are twisted etc…

These type of things are on point and beyond controversy.

National Institute of Drug Abuse

It’s also compelling how he takes on the National Institute of Drug Abuse and their “expertise”.

He says some things I agree with.

Then he gets to the statistics related to using drugs ….

Many people do use with no obvious consequences. Most, in fact.

Why is this (truth on dangers of drug use) so hard to accept?

And why does saying this come with some anxiety?

Trouble Maker

I feel like I’m going to get in trouble.

I feel like I’m blaspheming.

Read the book. A fact check his shit.

There’s a little problem called facts.

Maybe it would be a better world if this stuff was never discussed? You know, the scared straight and just say no approach.

81,000 + Dead

I mean… over 81,000 people have died of overdose under that particular “modus operandi”.

So maybe we can crack the door just a bit for some crazy talk from the good doctor.

Then again, I’m early in the book. I may turn on Dr Hart…

I bet he’s worried. He’s sitting at home right now: “Man, I hope Rich Jones in Greenville SC is on my side….”. 😎

The post “Drug Use For Grown Ups” – A Review? appeared first on The Recovery Cartel.

Understanding the Impact of Stigma

✌️Understanding the impact of stigma in the mental health and substance use disorder world(s).

I posted something the other day. It said “I had a panic attack today etc…”

After I made this post, I had these moments where I thought to myself:

“My goodness Rich … why would you post that ..”.
“What are people gonna think”?
“You’re supposed to be a leader”…
“You’re supposed to have your shit together”..

I was able to recognize these thoughts. And handle it.

Mental Health Struggles

But if that’s what I’m thinking as a provider, an advocate, a person in recovery and a professional in the field…. imagine what people in “regular” professions without the awareness and education think…

I learn about this stuff constantly. And I know that mental health struggles are the rule, not the exception. Yet I still get up in my head.

Maybe it’s just me. And the rest of you have it in check… but I think the stigma around these issue is so strong.

Unconsciously impacting us. Scripts of inferiority running through our minds.

The Same Secrets

The solution, the way I see it, is not a well orchestrated public relations campaign on mental health awareness and/or substance use disorders.

That certainly helps. But the solution is… We all talk about it!!!

It becomes commonplace and routine topic. As they say…

The big secret is. We all have the same secrets.

The post The Impact of Stigma appeared first on The Recovery Cartel.

GREAT NEWS FOR ALL

THIS JUST IN: WASHINGTON D.C. Feb. 29, 2020 8:30 p.m. EST for worldwide distribution.

The Center for Disease Control with the coordination of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services urges all international drug cartels and local dealers operating within the United States of America and it’s territories to cease and desist distribution and sales of all illicit drugs.

The list includes but not limited to the following:

• heroin
• cocaine
• methamphetamine
• ketamine
• fake pills
• real pills
• fake fentanyl
• real fentanyl
• cane toads ( (Rhinella marina, also known as the giant neotropical toad.)

NOTE: This must be done immediately and stay in effect until the coronavirus is contained.

POT IS EXCLUDED FROM THIS ORDER

Marijuana is still approved for distribution. Because it comes from the earth and it’s actually medicine.

The CDC is confident that the cartels and dealers will act responsibly in this time of national crisis.

Dr. Ida Manincharge said:

“We have had what I would characterize as very productive talks with the cartel leadership. We have found common ground.

With the help of these fine sociopaths I’m certain we can move on the coronavirus with the same level of efficiency and effectiveness used in addressing the opioid crisis”….

THE FDA

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration also weighed in.

Dr. Susan Purdue said:

“The American public can rest easy knowing that the FDA is standing guard.

We fully support the cartel quarantine program.

Remember, any program and/or drug we approve is safe and effective. Just look at the miracle drug OxyContin”.

THE AMA

The American Medical Association showed their support for the cartel quarantine program:

When asked about the program the esteemed Dr. Winslow Treatandstreet had the following input:

“I have no idea why people keep asking me about addiction. I don’t give a shit. Those people did it to themselves.

Last week they had me testify at some “confidentiality” meeting.

Who cares if some addict’s confidentiality is blown up. He’s a junkie.

As far as the cartel quarantine program goes: I say all good as long as no one touches my hippie lettuce”.

NEWS FROM SPACE

And finally the head of the Intergalactic Drug and Alcohol ABUSE Treatment Association, IDA&AATA, Mr Ken Igetmorefunding, offered his full support:

“Americans should feel blessed to have these esteemed experts at the table.

The swift implementation of OPERATION CARTEL QUARANTINE will most certainly save lives and drive down naloxone distribution.

Which ultimately is a good thing”.

#GodblessAmerica

#cartelquarantine

The post NEWS ALERT – THIS JUST IN appeared first on The Recovery Cartel.

Welcome to the Show

As the #coronavirus clown zombie apocalypse unfolds in real time…Pay close attention to the way an “epidemic” is handle by the authorities.

Best practice is focused on assertive community outreach.

They are literally searching the community for potentially infected people.

Everyone talks about the “opioid epidemic” but the approach is completely different where Substance Use Disorder is concerned.

Clown Zombie Thinking

“Let’s pump more and more money into facility based care and wait for the people in need to show up”. Of course they must :hit bottom” and be “willing”!

If the Coronavirus was handled in a manner analogous to the standard operating procedure for SUD… we would just wait for people to show up at the hospital.

Once the infection got bad enough they would come to us…. damn it.

These people really need to show some initiative.

The “Experts”

Where Substance Use Disorder is concerned the “experts” are not actually expert.

They are experts on SUD as it manifests itself in the fraction of people who are seen in facility based care. Maybe “10%” of the problem. And that is extremely generous estimate.

Furthermore, the “facility based” cohort is a homogenous group. Same treadmill story with most!

The 10% Willing and Ready

People who are sufficiently motivated (externally or internally) to “show up”.

This a fundamental truth that is ignored in most discussion surrounding Substance Use Disorder. Nothing will ever change until that reality is addressed.

And treatment providers can not do outreach. They are specialists in acute care and stabilization.

We are specialists in community outreach.

A podiatrist does not try to do the job of a cardiologist.

The post Clown Zombie Apocalypse 2020 appeared first on The Recovery Cartel.

The Rehab to Recovery Path is the Exception

People have been fooled. They think the Rehab to Recovery journey looks like this:

Stand back and watch as the person endures repeated failed attempts at recovery.

Tell yourself he didn’t make it because he didn’t want it bad enough. Tell yourself, eventually he will hit bottom and want it.

He will experience sudden consequence induced clarity. He will go to detox to rehab to meetings.

Live Forever in Recovery

This rehab to recovery path is the exception not the rule.

This may be Rich Jones’ path. But unlike so many others, I do NOT think my experience speaks for all 7 billion people on the planet earth.

My experience has nothing to do with the universal laws of recovery. It’s simply my experience.

Reality:

• Let’s go from hospital emergency room to a bed at detox
• Back to the emergency room.
• Then to be stabilized back to detox to safely finish withdrawal …
• Out to a recovery house to initiate recovery.
• Kicked out of the recovery house due to a recurrence…
• Back to homeless shelter using off and on.
• Back to meetings/groups back to more regular use back to full out relapse…
• Months, years go by. Jail. Trauma. Jail. Trauma. More Trauma. Trauma. Trauma.

Now the issues run deeper. Now the addiction is more intractable.

Eventually he cycles: emergency room to detox back to emergency room for stabilization back to detox out of detox back to emergency department…

Compassionate people in the health system get tired of him.

Quality of Care

Quality of care goes down.

Physical health issues escalate. Inpatient in the hospital for long stretch.

Eventually he goes from detox to “rehab” out of rehab to recovery house and puts together 3 months solid …

However, “he screws up” and is kicked out of recovery house due to recurrence.

Family was told by some “expert” to cut all ties so they won’t take his call despite his 90 days.

He’s soon be back to using full time….

Let’s do this for the next 10 years. Because “an addict has to want it”… that sounds like a rational approach.

We need something that goes way beyond a “warm hand off”…. warm hand off is a start.

But recovery is a long term process.

FUND ASSERTIVE LONG TERM ENGAGEMENT

Fund assertive long-term engagement provided by community based assertive engagement organizations.

Judge each organization individually and let us bid on contracts.

Some organizations are really good. Some are really questionable.

Most would struggle with long term engagement as they have been conditioned to promote acute care and many gravitate toward the “willing client only model”…

However, the effectiveness of long term engagement will prove so effective that replication is inevitable.

Word to my Mother.
God bless America.
God save the Queen.

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Stunned From Celebrity Death

Think about this…our ideas concerning celebrity death.

When someone famous dies of suicide or overdose (Kate Spade, Chester Bennigton, Robin Williams, Phillip Seymour Hoffman etc…): People are stunned and say things like:

“He had everything; he was on top of the world; I don’t understand”…

Dead Is Dead

When the middle-class/upper middle-class white kid from an “in-tact” family dies of an overdose people say:

“He was from a “good” family I don’t understand”…. “we would never have thought this was happening they were such a good family…” etc…

The death of the poor kid in the middle of nowhere Nebraska who hangs himself is no different than the death of the troubled “superstar” musician.

The overdose death of the “white trash” kid in the hills of West Virginia is no different than the celebrity death of Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s overdose death in Beverly Hills.

Whether in a mobile home or a luxury hotel… Dead is dead.

Click-Bait

No one ever says:

“It was so surprising he took his own life…. he was such a piece of shit and his family was so poor… It makes no sense he would kills himself.”

I guess the implication is… “oh that makes sense… he killed himself because he was worthless”.

The media uses all the celebrity death as click-bait.

The entertainment and mainstream media pretty much sucks across the board. TMZ type shit.

Lots Of Work

For the rest of us:

All of this indicates exactly how deep the stigma is and how much misunderstanding exists in relation to mental health and substance use disorder.

This is a given and we have lots of work to do in the area of stigma reduction.

However, in addition: These type of statements indicate that people fundamentally believe wealth, income, status, achievement, recognition, fame, power, etc… EQUALS HAPPINESS AND CONTENTMENT.

That’s why they are stunned when an actor kills himself but indifferent when your average citizen does so…

Society Is Ass-Backwards

We have been conditioned to acquire things.

Our economy is driven on the constant need for more and an underlying you suck if you don’t have enough message-“so come buy this shitty thing from me so you feel better”.

We have been conditioned to admire random people who, objectively speaking, add little value to society’s bottom line (actors, athletes, etc..).

They entertain us. They don’t cure cancer or serve meals at the soup kitchen.

Certainly they are not doing an on-call shift on our overdose response team.

They are court jesters… Society is ass-backwards.

A Dent In The Universe

There is no peace in attaining things.

Yes. Poor sucks worse than having money. And I have no intention of being poor and playing the non-profit martyr. (that guy makes me just a frustrated).

But I know money and shit won’t make me happy. I will just be miserable with more toys…

It’s the pursuit of a great goal that lights me up.

As they say: “putting a dent in the universe”.

A Values Crisis

Taking care of those I love makes the list.

Trying to add value and help as many people as possible makes the list.

Fully accepting and living out my role in this battle for improved mental health and better outcomes with substance misuse makes the list.

We have a “values” crisis… the overdoses and suicides are but symptoms.

Our society is rotting from the inside out.

The post Celebrity Death is Still Death! appeared first on The Recovery Cartel.

A National Plague!

All the Frankendrugs and death they bring, it’s just not normal and it’s not acceptable and it’s extremely sad… and to repeatedly write about overdoses and suicides at such young ages, well it is a major black-spot of all our lives today, not only my own.

The first 12 years of my career (2000-2012) deaths were infrequent and deeply troubling.

Considered a sentinel event for institutions and stunning news for everyone in the community.

I rarely, very rarely, had a client who passed away.

1 Overdose & 1 Suicide

Despite the fact I worked within intense community based programs in the streets of Pittsburgh. For example, I ran an assertive community treatment team during the full out execution of de-institutionalization movement in mental health.

“Dual diagnosis” as it was called back then.

Deep end schizophrenia and crack cocaine.

Bipolar type 1 and decades of alcohol.

Serious and persistent mental illness.

Literally the emptying of the state hospitals; we managed the reintegration.

And in 6 years 2 deaths that I can remember. 1 overdose and 1 suicide.

Tragic Resignation

There may have been others I can’t remember. But not likely.

People are getting numb to these deaths of despair. And the norms around these deaths are changing.

Although universally acknowledged as tragic, there is a resignation among people. As if “shit happens”…..

It makes me very sad.

I guess we all deal with it in our own way.

The Brink Of Madness

I will say this. I get called nearly every week (or a face to face visit) by a family who has lost someone.

The stories are usually similar. “Tried treatment etc….but didn’t stick and stay in recovery etc….”

One really troubling thing. These kids have NO WIGGLE ROOM. No room for a bad day and a slip.

And that is the problem a with all the Frankendrugs and death, it is a –

Problem Without A Solution

No current treatment or medication can account for the desire when it comes full force.

You can be doing great and still take the wrong turn on one random day.
What do you do in the age of Frankendrugs and death….?

All this leaves me at the brink of madness…at times…

“Just myself talking to myself about myself”….

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