BACKSTORY ON ADDICTION
It is important for me to recognize an addict. In the backstory episode on addiction, Brain pointed out "Morphine was one of the first opiates. When injected into a patient's bloodstream, it was much more powerful than opium pills or powders. And thanks to the spread of syringes, morphine soon flowed into wide use" (2018). It is no secret that opiate addiction is a national epidemic. According to the U.S Department of Health and Human Services "In the late 1990s, pharmaceutical companies reassured the medical community that patients would not become addicted to opioid pain relievers and healthcare providers began to prescribe them at greater rates" (2021). The U.S Department of Human and Human Service also stated "increased prescription of opioid medications led to widespread misuse of both prescription and non-prescription opioids before it became clear that these medications could indeed be highly addictive" (2021).
In my clinical practice it is important that i recognize that, I can be a part of the problem. Many opiate addiction starts with a prescription. It is my job to practice in a safe and effective manner. The U.S Department of Human and Social Services suggest "A multimodal approach that includes medications, nerve blocks, physical therapy, and other modalities should be considered for acute pain conditions" (2021).
During the backstory episode, race and the economy was addressed. Financial and racial status determine who had access to opiates, David Courthright on backstory pointed out, "It's fair to say if you conjoin race and economics. If you put the question this way, which racial group in the United States in 1900 had the lowest rate of narcotic addiction? The answer is African-Americans. The majority of African-Americans were poor, and they didn't have access to regular medical care, in many cases.And while that may not have been good for them in some respects, it did, ironically, confer a certain immunity against medical addiction. Narcotic addiction was primarily a white and a Chinese problem. Chinese, because of course, many of the indentured Chinese laborers were opium smokers" (2017). To answer the question what we think about addiction very much depends on who is addicted, David Courthright stated " “A lot of new addicts are small-town white Americans: football players who get their knees messed up in high school or college, older people who have a variety of chronic degenerative diseases.” Reversing the trend of 100 years ago, drug policy is turning less punitive as addiction spreads among middle-class, white Americans" (2018).
COVID 19
There is no thought that COVID 19 pandemic and it's lockdown has brought a shift in our communities. People have lost their business, and isolation as someone with an addiction can lead to high hospitalization rate, high substance abuse and overdose rate "2019-coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is causing insurmountable psychosocial impact on the whole mankind. Marginalized community, particularly those with substance use disorders (SUD), are particularly vulnerable to contract the infection and also likely to suffer from greater psychosocial burden. This article analyses the intricate bi-directional relationship between COVID-19 and addiction" (Dubey et al., 2020). Research do by National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) found that " Researchers have observed increases in substance use and drug overdoses in the United States since the COVID-19 pandemic was declared a national emergency in March 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic also presents unique challenges for people with substance use disorders and those in recovery. For example, people with substance use disorders are at increased risks for poor COVID-19 outcomes" (2021). According to NIDA " In September 2020, an analysis of electronic health records from more than 73 million patients at 360 U.S. hospitals found that while people with substance use disorders made up only 10.3% of the sample overall, they accounted for 15.6% of patients diagnosed with COVID-19. Overall, people with a previous diagnosis of a substance use disorder at any point in lifetime were 1.5 times more likely to have COVID-19 than those who did not. The study also found people with such a diagnosis were more likely to experience severe outcomes of COVID-19 than those without, including hospitalization (41% versus 30%) and death (9.6% versus 6.6%)" (2021). I remember shortly after the lockdowns when alcohol sales in my neighborhood was all time high. I witness a lot of my I only drink socially friends and coworkers drinking more. They tell more as if it was the new normal, COVID 19 to me was the perfect storm of pushing overdone over the edge. I will imagine this will be the same for any addict, checkout the video below
Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs (ASPA). (2021, April 19). What is the U.S. opioid epidemic? HHS.gov. Retrieved October 24, 2021, from https://www.hhs.gov/opioids/about-the-epidemic/.
Dubey, M. J., Ghosh, R., Chatterjee, S., Biswas, P., Chatterjee, S., & Dubey, S. (2020, June 9). Covid-19 and addiction. Diabetes & metabolic syndrome. Retrieved October 24, 2021, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7282772/.
The habit: Opioid addiction in America by backstory. Podchaser. (2017, May 12). Retrieved October 24, 2021, from https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/backstory-39176/episodes/the-habit-opioid-addiction-in-42891206.
Magazine, S. (2018, January 4). Inside the story of America's 19th-century opiate addiction. Smithsonian.com. Retrieved October 24, 2021, from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/inside-story-americas-19th-century-opiate-addiction-180967673/.
National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2021, September 8). Covid-19 & Substance use. National Institute on Drug Abuse. Retrieved October 24, 2021, from https://www.drugabuse.gov/drug-topics/comorbidity/covid-19-substance-use.
Pain management best practices - hhs.gov. (2021, May 9). Retrieved October 24, 2021, from https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/pmtf-final-report-2019-05-23.pdf.
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