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Prescription pills blamed for ‘Pharmageddon’ in Kentucky

admin — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 05:21:42 +0000

12 June 2011 Last updated at 23:06 GMT

Prescription pills blamed for ‘Pharmageddon’ in Kentucky
Paul Adams By Paul Adams BBC News, Kentucky

In the green, wooded hills of eastern Kentucky, two mothers pore over photographs of daughters lost to prescription pills.

Sarah Shay and Savannah Kissick were school friends in Morehead, both addicted to an array of perfectly legal drugs.

Sarah died in 2006, at the age of 19. Savannah followed three years later, aged 22. Both victims of an epidemic of prescription pill abuse sweeping parts of America.

When their mothers reel off the names together, they make them sound like weapons.

“Xanax. Klonopin. Oxycodone. Hydrocodone.”

Earlier this year, the White House described the epidemic as the country’s fastest growing drug problem, accounting for more accidental overdoses than the combined total from heroin and crack cocaine in the 1970s and 80s.

Karen Shay and Lynn Kissick have become reluctant experts in the medicines which killed their daughters and which are eating away at rural communities throughout the area.

Savannah Kissick Savannah Kissick, Sarah’s best friend died in 2009 as a result of her own prescription drug abuse

Both have lent their passionate voices to an education campaign being led by Kentucky’s Attorney General Jack Conway.

Mr Conway has few illusions about the scale of the drug use ravaging his state.

“Kentucky has a peculiar problem with prescription pill abuse,” Mr Conway says of an issue which first emerged more than a decade ago but has grown steadily. He says Kentucky may have the worst problem in the country. And he says it’s hard to meet a family in the state which hasn’t been affected in one way or another. Including his own.

Prescription pills’ deadly toll

In Kentucky 978 people died from prescription drug overdose in 2009.
The average age drug addicts in Kentucky start using is 11.
Abuse of prescribed medications kills more Americans every year than anything except automobile crashes.
Seven people in Florida, four people in Ohio, and three people in Kentucky die every day from unintentional overdoses.
In 2007, one American every 19 minutes died from an unintentional drug overdose.

Sources: Kentucky Govt, CDC

“We’ve had someone who’s had to deal with it,” he says, reluctant to go into details. It caused a great deal of pain and opened some eyes within my family.”

Across the state, a number of treatment and rehabilitation centres are trying to deal with the huge numbers of addicts.
Easy access

At Shepherd’s Shelter, located on the tranquil outskirts of Mount Sterling, east of Lexington, residents go through a programme that includes recovery dynamics, criminal thinking and relapse prevention.

There’s a wall of fame featuring pictures of men and women who’ve successfully completed the programme and stayed clean. Director Wayne Ross, himself a former alcohol and drug abuser, admits that there are plenty who don’t.

Lorraine, 26, isn’t quite out of the woods. For years, she couldn’t do anything without pills and resorted to criminality to feed her addiction.

But the photos of four children which adorn the small room she shares with a fellow resident represent the four reasons why she’s desperate to complete the programme.

“I’m just ready to get ‘em back,” she insists.

Adam, who’s completed the programme but is now volunteering at Shepherd’s Shelter in an attempt to stay on the straight and narrow, described how medicines designed as slow release pain-killers, like oxycodone, are ground up, mixed with water and injected for a powerful, instant high.

And he gives one simple reason why prescription drugs are so popular.

“We could all have found a better high,” he says, “it’s just the prescription drug is so easy accessed.”

Inevitably, the tidal wave of addiction has triggered a parallel crime wave that threatens to swamp the police, courts and jails of Appalachia.

‘Pharmageddon’

In Pikeville, among the coal mining hills and valleys close to the Virginia border, police officers recently rounded up dozens of dealers at the end of a six month undercover operation.

Most of those arrested were suspected of dealing in oxycodone from so-called “pill mills”, barely regulated, cash only dispensaries, mostly located in southern Florida.

Kentucky’s jails are overflowing.

“I believe I can safely say that over 80% of the inmates in the Pike County regional detention centre are in there for something dealing with their addiction to prescription drugs,” said Dan Smoot, director of law enforcement with Unite, an innovative Kentucky counter narcotics programme which brings together police investigations, treatment and education.

Karen Shay and Lynn Kissick lost their daughters to prescription drugs Lynn Kissick (right), who lost her daughter to prescription drugs, says some doctors give out prescriptions too easily

Responses to questions asked on Unite’s treatment line, he says, have revealed that the average age at which users first abuse prescription pills is 11.

It’s a statistic that makes him angry.

“We have basically robbed our children of a childhood.”

The pill crisis, which some are calling pharmageddon, is only now receiving national attention.

As part of an initiative announced in April, the White House demanded that the makers of one class of drugs, known as “extended release and long-acting opioids”, make more concerted efforts to educate doctors and patients.

But back in Morehead, Lynn Kissick wonders if any of this will work.

“I don’t know how to get a grip on something so large.” she says.

Some doctors, she says, are too busy making money.

“There’s a lot of them that just write it out and say ‘here you go’. And it doesn’t matter if my daughter dies from it. Or your child. They don’t care. They don’t know them. It doesn’t matter.”

Prescription pills blamed for ‘Pharmageddon’ in Kentucky is a post from: Recovery Coaching

Tips To Help Ease The Difficulties Of Staying Sober

Bill Urell — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 03:21:14 +0000

For an addict in recovery, there is nothing more discouraging than the length of time waiting for progress in addiction recovery. It seems to take forever. One-on-one counseling and group therapy are among some of the experiences one would have experienced in treatment. Those experiences should continue throughout your addiction and recovery process, the longer the better.

The absolute most important thing to make sure you do is to continue going to counseling even after you finish your program at the treatment center. Turn to your next stage therapists and counselors to make sure you stay on the right path in recovery.

Keep in mind that it takes time! -You may be frustrated with the cravings of alcohol or drugs that may be plaguing your mind, in the early days of sobriety. If you thought you were done with urges and cravings, you will probably be ticked off from lure of booze and drugs that you can’t get out of your head. Nevertheless, don’t forget that recovery takes time and you cannot make time go faster.

Do not let yourself become overwhelmed! If you are becoming so frustrated that you’re feeling like you just want to have a drink or that one last drug episode, stop before you get there! Relax and realize that even though you may want it, you don’t have to act it out. Many people have to force themselves to take one minute, hour, and day at a time simply to keep their heads above water!

Developing new behaviors: This is a prime therapeutic focus. When you you feel the urge to drink or drug, use these newly developed coping skills and behaviors to replace these urges. Don’t act out. Imagine how much you will benefit by replacing using activity with something that is productive!

For any person suffering from an addiction, and in a recovery, it is important to have support from those that love and care about you. Getting your family involved and letting them know about your problems and addictions is the most important thing you can do for yourself. Many addicts don’t tell their families when they are struggling, but family should know. They will help you get back on your feet and stay there and provide a lot of emotional support when you need it the most!

Never stop trying! This cliche has been used many times in the past, but has been proven to work time and again. Recovering addicts can never lose hope. Long term success dictates firm commitment and resolution. Remove giving up as an option.

After deciding to stop your substance abuse, following these steps is essential to getting through the earlier stages of recovery. Staying loyal to these steps and keeping positive influences present in your life will not only pay off now, but also in the future.

Discover the advantages of getting professional help, and what to expect at this drug addiction counseling web site at drugaddictioncounseling.org.

Tips To Help Ease The Difficulties Of Staying Sober is a post from: Recovery Coaching

Denial: The Twilight Zone

admin — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 06:29:36 +0000

Why do addicted people keep doing what they are doing? You may think that they know the consequences well enough. Many have seen their relationships break up, their children gone, their job prospects vanish, and have attended more funerals in a few years than most people attend in a lifetime.

Why don’t they know that their addiction is causing the problems? How can they continue with the addiction and manage to ignore the consequences. Many addicts look at the trail of wreckage in their wake and believe that their drug or alcohol use is the solution. So how can it be the problem?

This way of dealing with two opposing ideas, that their drug or alcohol use is the solution and the problem, is in part, what denial is all about. Denial works best if it isn’t spoken out. Those close to the addict know its best not to mention the addiction. Then the illusion can be maintained, the enigma does not need to be unravelled. Keep the truth under the surface.

We all have denial to some degree or another. It is a defence mechanism that helps us deal with all the impossible stuff going on in the world around us. How can you cope with famines, and children dying, and wars and a bad economy? Better to let ‘denial’ come in and allow us to operate at a functional level. If we analysed what was going on, we would need to deal with too many contradictions.

This is the addicts’ plight. If the denial kicks in and he pretends that there is no problem, then the addiction could kill him. Denial then ceases to be a defence mechanism. If he admits to denial he then needs to deal with the addiction. But he can’t give up because the drug or alcohol is the solution. Catch 22!

The denial concept then needs some refinement. If the addict comes to the point of admitting that the drug or alcohol is the problem, then they will have to take ownership and give up the offending behaviour. But often, they cannot do it. So they may try to control the offending habit. It is at this point, with help, that some manage to get on the cycle of change. But mostly, the addiction is about loss of control, and the addict loses sight of the goal again but may continue to believe that he is in control. In this smoke and mirrors world, many can go on for years in this state. It is denial that keeps them in this twilight zone.

Denial is a form of control that affects the addicts family. Relationships are established on co-dependent grounds. The family also adopt the denial as a coping mechanism. As long as there is no problem to deal with, the addict can justify his behaviour or project it on to others. It will work for them as long as it stays underground.

Housewives Hooked on Cocaine

admin — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 10:39:05 +0000

It’s a depressing scenario, but it’s becoming a frightening reality in many middle-class households as women turn to cocaine to cope with the exhausting daily grind of juggling their professional and family lives.

An alarming report has revealed that the number of women abusing cocaine is almost at the same level as men for the first time, with 750,000 Britons having used the Class A drug in the past year. And one in 15 women under 25 admits to using it. Read more from this Daily Mail article Housewives hooked on cocaine

Housewives Hooked on Cocaine is a post from: Recovery Coaching

Addiction: Is it Physical or Psychological?

admin — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 08:02:58 +0000

Who Understands Addiction?

Understanding addiction has never been an exact science, especially to those who are in the front line trying to help people in their recovery. It can be argued that addiction is a chronic relapsing illness. Many in the world, who don’t understand this definition as applied to addiction, (and often the drug users themselves), think that perhaps addiction is just a matter of choice and making right decisions.

More Light and Less Heat Needed

Over recent years our understanding of addiction is gradually having some light shone upon it. The revelation is gradually unfolding a bit at a time. It’s as if we weren’t ready for it all in one go. Those who work with recovering addicts are often mystified at the high relapse rate especially when a person has completed, say, a 12 month programme and got a network of support around them. They just figure it’s par for the course. If you want to work with addicts – get used to going to funerals!

What is the Question?

On the other side of this equation are the academics and scientists working on behaviour, and studying brain cells, to understand more about what is going on. Have these people ever met a drug addict outside of a clinical environment? Possibly not. Maybe that’s the wrong question though, perhaps it should be, “Are they making a contribution to our understanding of the problem?” – I think we could answer that in the affirmative.

Whether we look at the problem close up and personal, or through a microscope, we need to constantly improve our understanding of addiction so that we can increase the odds in favour of those in recovery.

After Cold Turkey!

When the body starts developing a tolerance to the drug, and more is required in order to feel normal, the drugs addict has reached a stage of physical dependency. There will also be physical symptoms linked to withdrawal which are too painful (for most addicts) to think about. These may be ‘flu like symptoms, sickness, cramps, headaches and hallucinations.

Withdrawal is uncomfortable and miserable, but it is the result of the body healing itself. It is part of breaking away from the physical addiction. Withdrawal can be achieved gradually in a controlled way at a detox centre, or by reducing the drug (or drug substitute) intake gradually over a period of time to help our bodies break the physical addiction. The other option of withdrawal without the help of substitutes (cold turkey) requires much prayer and will power, but can provide a very effective learning curve for the recovering person.

The Three Month Syndrome!

Even after a detox it is important to maintain sobriety for at least three months to even be able to contemplate dealing with any underlying issues that need to be resolved. When working with recovering addicts, we recognised this ‘three month syndrome’ when residents would hit a wall in the recovery process.
Often after dealing with the initial depression, anger, anxiety and even boredom, the recovering person would derail their recovery. No amount of persuasion would convince that person to stay. We knew that ‘the call’ was too strong. The cravings and the compulsion to return to his old ways defeated common sense.

A Dog Returns to It’s Vomit

Why would someone who had stayed clean for three months want to return to his old ways when the outcome could be (and sometimes was) fatal? Addicts can quit many times and still relapse. There must be something else going on. When I asked this question of a recovered addict, he answered with a question, “Why does a dog return to it’s own vomit? Because it’s a dog! So why does an addict return to addiction? Because he’s an addict! There is much wisdom in this statement.

An addict starts out using drugs because it makes him feel good. Eventually, as dependence kicks in, he needs the drugs to feel normal. But withdrawal takes a relatively short time, four to seven days should see the back of the symptoms. So why is it difficult to stay on course even after 3 months?

Drug Abuse or Drug Dependence?

Current thinking is that there is a difference between ‘drug abuse’ and ‘drug dependence (addiction)’. Drug abuse in when someone , say, gets drunk every week enough to disable him, or uses some hard drugs often enough to knock him out and not have a recollection of what he did. A drug abuser can even get physical withdrawal symptoms if they stop using (abusing). But if the circumstances changed, they lost their job, or moved to another town, or the supplied dried up, the abuser would simply stop abusing and may quit altogether. An addict can’t do this. Dependency means a preoccupation with his drug of choice. A love affair to steal for, and even die for. He gets to the place where the drug is abusing him, yet he still carries on the relationship.

A Created Disorder

David R Hughes, a recovered addict, in his internet article of 1997 argues that addiction is a neurologically based disease. Drug addiction, is not primarily a mental or free will issue that an addict could change if they wanted to. One definition of addiction is “the loss of control over the use of a substance.” The reason addicts have lost control is because they have suffered permanent physical neurological changes based in their brains and nervous systems.

Addiction is a self-contracted neurological disease. It is a ‘created’ disorder. Nonetheless, it is also a physical problem on a neurological level, and it is very real. To effectively “re-wire” his disordered nervous system, the addict must come to rely fiercely and absolutely upon the directions provided from an external support system (a rehab for instance). By mentally changing what he relies upon, his neurological/nervous system undergoes a profound change. That is why rehabilitation over 12 – 24 months can work.

Keep Talking and Re-wire the Brain

It is to understand that the detox does not last for a week, but for probably 3 months while the re-wiring is taking place. Then various models of therapy can prove effective, like the new therapies or a therapeutic community model.

Recent evidence suggests that drug-induced changes in the physical brain over time may be the underlying reason for addictive behavior, and this is consistent with the general idea that addiction is a physical disease. But it is probably better to state that it is a medical disease. Prof Carlton Erikson puts it well in his Addiction Today article “So, if addictions are a medical disease, why do we treat them behaviourally? What is the similarity between behavioural or talk therapies and pharmacotherapies in the way they work? Simple. Behavioural therapies probably change brain chemistry! ”

So all you carers out there, keep up to date, but keep caring. And to you scientists, try to empathise, but keep looking through the microscope. Comments would be welcome.