My Recovery Day is a Cleveland Ohio based nonprofit that provides post-treatment support resources to individuals in addiction recovery. By the very nature of what we do, we look at statistics concerning addiction. Sadly, the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner reported 66 deaths from heroin, fentanyl and cocaine for the month of May 2020. This number is one short of the record 67 recorded in February 2017 and may be exceeded once more tests are confirmed. Cleveland and Cuyahoga County are not unique. Other cities and counties like Chicago and Cook County has experienced a doubling in its opioid related deaths, too (ProPublica). It is a well-known fact the pandemic has increased isolation, anxiety and financial stress. For those in active addiction and in addiction recovery, these stressors can result in fatal overdoses and in relapses. Yes, the pandemic is a crisis but the opioid crisis never went away. It was…
Addiction
Recently, I had a serious medical condition requiring surgery. It left me in the hospital for almost 2 months with pain I had never experienced before. It also left me on opiates the whole time. I never felt any real sense of euphoria or “buzz” but I did feel anxious about taking pain meds. I still have pain and a healing journey ahead of me but the pain is manageable with Tylenol. I remain grateful. Interestingly enough, I never felt a physical or real mental craving – Thank You God. However, during these times, thoughts (Stinking Thinking) would float in my head like “Now you just blew years of sobriety.” “Drinking is better using those pain pills.” The thoughts seem to come out of nowhere. Today, I can think them through and talk to others in recovery so they don’t stay in my head. What I did to avoid getting…
A Big Thank You to all our #Vets out there. We are the home of the Brave that keeps us Free. Naturally we cannot forget the toll addiction takes on them. Just for prescription pain killers, NCADD.org states: “Many vets have serious injuries, with a legitimate and ongoing need for pain medications, yet the broad availability of these medications and large increases in prescriptions may contribute to their growing misuse by some service members. Pain reliever prescriptions written by military physicians quadrupled between 2001 and 2009 — to almost 3.8 million. According to a Department of Defense study, while the overall civilian rates of prescription drug misuse was 4.4%, the rate for veterans was 11.7%, over two-and-a-half times higher than the civilian rate. The problem is particularly acute for women who serve.” Have a Happy and Safe Memorial Day. We have not forgotten, The My Recovery Day Team
May 1, 2018 The National Institute on Drug Abuse announce that an analysis of opioid-related overdose deaths found that synthetic opioids, such as illicit fentanyl, have surpassed prescription opioids as the most common drug involved in overdose deaths in the U.S. A research letter