A few hours of training may not solve the issue but it’s a great first step!
Link to the article:
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2018/06/11/all-starbucks-shops-to-close-today-for-a-few-hours.html
This article brings up some great points regarding US policies which punish relapse as a crime. Hopefully we will see a change in perspective in the near future! How does Canada compare?
https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/i-am-shocked-with-my-own-behaviour-former-doctor-on-his-opioid-addiction-1.3827159
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2018/01/22/prescription-for-healthier-population-spend-more-on-social-services.html
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/drunk-driving-laws-decriminalize-2018-changes-police-licence-1.4468021
http://www.cbc.ca/radio/checkup/with-all-the-concern-about-opioids-and-marijuana-are-we-forgetting-the-dangers-of-alcohol-1.4439867
Love the line….“To me poverty, mental health and addictions don’t sound like criminal justice problems,” he said. “They sound to me like a social justice problem.”
Read The full article :
https://globalnews.ca/news/3844592/jagmeet-singh-ndp-opioid-crisis-drug-addiction-social-criminal-justice/
Friends and family members sometimes become confounded by their loved ones chronic use of substances, despite there being a lot of evidence that those very substances are causing harm. Addictive behaviour is best viewed as a chronic relapsing disease of the brain.
When using a lot of a substance, a person can become intoxicated or impaired. This often results in the inability to think clearly, or make rational decisions of right and wrong, or good choice vs. bad choice. From a medical perspective, this happens because the activity in their frontal cortex (part of the brain) which provides this ability is turned OFF by the use of the substance.
We’re going to get a bit technical here. When not using the substance the person’s emotional centres in the midbrain area are typically hyperactive and causing dysphoria (big word meaning state of unease or general dissatisfaction with life). This is when we may see somebody being very irritable and agitated. This means that when we use a lot of substances, the brain is still impaired even if at that very moment they might appear “clean” from alcohol and drugs.
We also now know that addictive behaviour often has a genetic component. This person’s brain is primed to be captured by a substance even before they have been exposed to it. Therefore, some of us are pre-primed to be stimulated and rewarded by substance use in a way that others are not. If you are in this category, the brain fires off the strongest levels of dopamine into the reward centres.
Once stimulated strongly with the rewarding substance the person craves and seeks out that reward again and again. They are not fully in control of this using behaviour because of the dopamine drive. Their midbrain has been down-regulated by their compulsive use (ie – not working so well). The rest of life becomes not as stimulating and other rewards lose their strength because of this down-regulation. Sometimes people can experience constant craving that is not under the person’s control.
Once again a person’s ability to feel, see, think, make decisions and resist cravings all become impaired. The person then acts on what has become wired in the midbrain as the strongest drive. This is not a logical decision and it results in compulsive uncontrolled behavior that can often lead to behaviour that is unhealthy, self destructive, isolating and soul destroying.
Question – If we are able to prove from a medical science perspective that addiction is an illness, why do we continue to judge people that are struggling with using substances in an adverse way?
Want to know more or seek help for your substance use? Give us a call – we are here to help people wanting to change their use and friends and family who are struggling with someone that is using.
Many people don’t understand why or how other people become addicted to drugs. They may mistakenly think that those who use drugs lack moral principles or willpower and that they could stop their drug use simply by choosing to. In reality, drug addiction is a complex disease, and quitting usually takes more than good intentions or a strong will. Drugs change the brain in ways that make quitting hard, even for those who want to. Fortunately, researchers know more than ever about how drugs affect the brain and have found treatments that can help people recover from drug addiction and lead productive lives.
Addiction is a chronic disease characterized by drug seeking and use that is compulsive, or difficult to control, despite harmful consequences. The initial decision to take drugs is voluntary for most people, but repeated drug use can lead to brain changes that challenge an addicted person’s self-control and interfere with their ability to resist intense urges to take drugs. These brain changes can be persistent, which is why drug addiction is considered a “relapsing” disease—people in recovery from drug use disorders are at increased risk for returning to drug use even after years of not taking the drug.
It’s common for a person to relapse, but relapse doesn’t mean that treatment doesn’t work. As with other chronic health conditions, treatment should be ongoing and should be adjusted based on how the patient responds. Treatment plans need to be reviewed often and modified to fit the patient’s changing needs.
URL: https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/understanding-drug-use-addiction