It has been said that
most of our life is spent solving problems. When
we are born we have the problem of communicating
with our parents which we solve by crying.
As we grow older, we have the problem of getting
from one place to another which we solve by
crawling, then walking, then riding a bicycle,
then riding a bus and ultimately driving a
car. We have the problem of acquiring the
necessary skills to function in society so we go
to school. Every morning we have the problem
of what we are going to eat and what clothes to
wear.
Since most of us don't
want to be alone, we have the problem of choosing
the people we associate with at work and at
home. We have the problem of finding a mate,
creating a relationship that works for both of us
and keeping it together. To a greater or lesser degree, most
of us have found ways to solve most of these
problems and we have what is considered a normal
life. Of course there have been times in our
lives when we have been confronted with situations
where we have considered with favor the advice
offered in the Peanuts comic strip by Charlie
Brown, "No problem is too big to run away
from."
As tempting as Charlie
Brown's solution may be, most of us learn that if
we don't deal with the "big" problem, eventually
it will cause more problems. Therefore, we
work to solve the big problem, whatever that may
be, the best we can and go on with our
lives.
In working with people
who have become addicted to drugs or alcohol, one
thing seems to be central to all of them-they
started using the drug or drinking alcohol to
solve a problem. For some, they drank to ease the
pain of a lost love or lost job or lost
opportunity, and then they began using alcohol to
help them deal with other problems because they
made the decision that it was easier to not be
"all there". At first it was just a
drink or two, but their tolerance increased and
they had to drink more to "dull" the pain of
life. Once started on this downward spiral,
they found themselves drinking more and more until
their drinking started to affect their health and
their ability to function in society.
Others had an injury or
surgery and were given painkillers like OxyContin
to relieve the problem caused by the pain of the
injury or surgery. Many first became
physically dependent on the drug and then became
addicted. Because their tolerance to these
opiate painkillers increased, they began taking
more and more of the opiates not only to solve the
problems created by the pain but also because it
made all their other problems easier to ignore and
justify. Like the abuser of alcohol,
the increasing use of the painkillers began
inhibiting more and more their ability to function
and have a normal life.
The more reliant on drugs
or alcohol they are, the more many addicted people
are seen acting irrationally. These
addicted people are often from "good families" and
have no criminal records. They have bright
futures-often with families of their
own. They are intelligent. They
either have or at one time had good jobs.
Yet, we see them continuing to use drugs and
alcohol even though they freely admit that their
addiction is destroying their lives.
Many people are coming to
Novus who have spent ten years or more under the
influence of drugs or alcohol and have come
because the problems created by drugs and alcohol
have reached the point that the substance abuser
sees that they have no choice but to handle their
addiction-in many cases if they are going to be
able to live at all.
The question that many of
their family members ask us is, "Why did they have
to ruin or almost ruin their lives before getting
help?" The answer is of course different for
all substance abusers, but there are likely some
answers that apply to all of them.
It is no longer just the
fear of withdrawal or going through the entire
rehab process. In speaking with a
number of people who have come to our medical
detox, they often express what their biggest
concern is about handling their addiction.
In most cases it's not the horror stories they
have heard about experiencing withdrawal symptoms
or about the detestable conditions found in some
other medical detox facilities. (One
paramedic patient told us about a detox center in
New York City where the patient was locked in an
8x10 room and their meals were pushed through a
slot in the door.) A good medical
detox can make withdrawal much less of an ordeal,
and many people can detox and have few unpleasant
symptoms. There are rehab programs
that have higher rates of success.
The reason is almost
never the time required to detox and be in
rehab. It is also never the money it costs
for detox and rehab. When you consider what
the addict is spending on their addiction and what
it costs them and their families, detox and rehab
are great financial investments and are repaid
many times over because in the end they save the
addicted person's life. How do you put
a price on saving someone's life?
What then is the reason
most often given? After years of facing
problems and experiencing life through the altered
perceptions caused by alcohol and drugs, most
addicts are terrified of how they are going to
react to problems after they are off drugs or
alcohol.
They may have fallen in
love for the first time or gotten married and had
children all while under the influence of drugs or
alcohol. What will their personality
be like? Will they be able to experience joy
and how will they react to issues at the job or
with their spouse or children? Understanding that this fear is
often a big part of the addicted person's
reluctance to confront their drug or alcohol
problem may help in dealing with friends or loved
ones that need a good medical detox and then an
effective rehab. The addicted person cannot
be assured that they are going to have no problems
coping with life without drugs or alcohol.
The only thing that can
be promised the addicted person is that it is
healthier to be free of their addiction and there
are effective ways to deal with problems without
drugs or alcohol. Most of them recall
pleasurable times they experienced before they
were addicted. Almost all of the people who
come through Novus express how much better they
feel both physically and mentally and how much
easier it is to confront things with a "clear"
head.
While ultimately the
addicted person will not know until they are
clean, there are people who have handled their
addiction and can testify to the benefits.
Ask any former addict. The Beatles' John Lennon was a heavy
user of drugs and alcohol. After he handled
his addiction, he had a message for addicted
people. He said, "The basic thing nobody
asks is why do people take drugs of any sort? Why
do we have these accessories to normal living to
live? I mean, is there something wrong with
society that's making us so pressurized, that we
cannot live without guarding ourselves against it?
If people take any notice of what we say, we say
we've been through the drug scene, man, and
there's nothing like being straight."
At Novus we help people
start on the road to being
straight.
