Written by: Nicole Harris-Armstrong
Last updated: January 30, 2025
I am writing this blog post to bring awareness to the opioid epidemic that we face in this country, and also within the opioid epidemic to shed some light in the darkness of despair. So many Americans are suffering in silence and look to opioids to help them. There is nothing that saddens me more than the opioid epidemic, as my sister’s life was taken by opioids. I witnessed my sister’s suffering, and as her family member I also felt pain in seeing her suffer as I wanted to help her but couldn’t. One of the hardest realizations to face is no matter how much you want to help someone, the person that suffers from opioid addiction needs to make the choice to seek help on their own, and other people cannot make that choice for them. So many people look to drugs as they try to escape the inhumanity of inflation that they face in their daily lives. Americans are dying in the darkness of despair as they lose hope that their life situation will improve or get better. It saddens me to see the America I once knew growing up as a child change in this way. I want the opioid epidemic to get better, and I want change.
The Opioid Epidemic: Winning the Fight
Per the FDA, between 1911 and the 1980’s, opioid pain medications were primarily used for acute pain and cancer pain. In 1987 MS Contin was approved by the FDA, followed by Duragesic in 1990, and then Oxycontin in 1995. According to the CDC, the number of opioid involved deaths have increased substantially since 1999. The number of people that died of an opioid overdose in 2022 was 10 times the number in 1999. The CDC talks about waves they have seen with the increase in prescribed opioids. In the 1990’s, the first wave began with doctors who prescribed opioids at increased rates. In those times, The American Pain Society encouraged medical staff to be trained to assess the patient’s pain as the 5th vital sign, and that pain is what the patient says it is. The second wave of rapid deaths from overdoses began in 2010. The third wave of substantial deaths of Americans started in 2013 involving synthetic opioids. Per NIH, a study between 2015-2017 regarding consumption rates of opioids globally, America has the third highest consumption rates of opioids. Consumption of opioids was the highest in Germany, followed by Iceland, then the United States, and finally Canada. Countries in the top docile consumed 89% of controlled opioids between 2015-2017 and accounted for only 10% of the world population. Per NIH statistics in this study, the UK has much lower rates of opioid consumption than America. Out of the opioids globally, Oxycodone was consumed the most at 35%, followed by Morphine 15.9%, Methadone 15.8%, Tilidine 14%, then Hydrocodone.
The Opioid Epidemic: A Personal Experience with My Family
I will give you a personal experience of witnessing my sister, whom I loved very much suffer from the opioid epidemic for many years before she eventually passed away. My sister tried to find help for her substance use disorder but was finding little to no available resources to help. She was a frequent flyer as she went to the local Emergency Room’s to try to get help for the symptoms she experienced from her addiction. I went to the Emergency Room with my sister and visited with my sister while she was an Inpatient at the hospital, and as her friend I tried to see what could be done to help her. What I witnessed was that the hospitals were not equipped to truly help people that have substance use disorder. I would oftentimes see that when she would go to the Emergency Room, the staff would help her recover from her most immediate presenting symptoms, but they could not help her in fixing the root cause of the problem. Even her inpatient stays did not offer the type of help she needed. The hospital staff treated and discharged my sister quickly, but did not treat the whole patient as they sent her home with little to no help outside of the hospital, so her addiction continued. As her family member, I also felt that more could have been offered to me as it was so difficult to want to help someone you love, but don’t know of the available resources to help her. At that time, there was not as much awareness or resources available to offer to help people with substance use disorder.
There are a few modalities that could help improve these statistics regarding doctors who prescribe opioids on an outpatient as well as inpatient basis. Doctors who prescribe opioids could teach patients how to wean off of opioids as their pain improves, but that decision is ultimately up to the prescribing doctor. Another consideration for the prescribing doctor of opioids is to assess the signs and symptoms of opioid addiction and offer resources to help people recover from their addiction. On top of these things, the prescribing doctor and dispensing pharmacy could notify the patient that opioid medications may have a risk addiction, so people are more informed of the risks before they start to take the medication. I feel that all Emergency Rooms, Hospitals, and Outpatient Clinics in America should be more equipped with treatment options and resources to help people in need that suffer with substance use disorder to shed some light in the darkness of despair within the opioid epidemic.
People put faith and trust in the medical field, and for the medical field to do the right thing. With all of that being said and in fairness, how could the medical staff doing front-line direct patient care fix a problem as big as the opioid epidemic? The opioid epidemic is a much bigger problem than only one part can fix. Many people in the medical field are oftentimes doing their jobs the best they can, are understaffed with little resources themselves, and have such hard jobs. I respect many people that work in the medical field, as they are so intelligent and see so much suffering. On top of that, medical jobs are so demanding and fast paced that they have a hard time slowing down to really help treat the whole patient these days. I think all people should walk in a nurse’s and doctor’s shoes to see what those jobs entail, as they are not easy by any means. One area that might shed some light in the darkness of despair within the opioid epidemic is to examine the business models within healthcare to see how they could help the staff have enough resources, so they have less demand, more time, and are able to slow down to truly help a patient in need.
Vulnerable American Population from The Opioid Epidemic
The most vulnerable people at risk of addiction to opioids are low-income Americans who are on Medicaid or Medicare. Many low-income Americans suffer from depression as they are not seeing their lives get better and lose hope as they look to opioids to help them feel better. Oftentimes, people that suffer from substance use disorder see their livelihood get taken away in one form or another. One example of people’s loss of income is when the job they once had gets accumulated by the tech industry. When this happens, people are not provided with replacement jobs that pay the same level of income or benefits they once had. As people become victims of inflation, they start to fall behind on things such as rent and mortgages, so they see true loss of wealth. The people who suffer in silence and despair in America no longer make enough money to pay for basic needs and are placed into positions in which their dignity is not preserved. America who was once a nation that had instilled beliefs that with hard work and determination your life will improve, has needed to swallow their pride by asking for handouts when they are used to earning a fair wage so they could pay their own way. Having the ability to own a home means that you can eventually retire in old age to rest in the home you worked so hard for your whole life which is the American Dream for many people. To shed some light in the darkness of despair within the opioid epidemic, I would like to see change to move forward, and to give the American people hope again of achieving the American Dream.
Receiving Help for The Opioid Epidemic
There are many barriers to receive help as there is a stigma associated with mental illness and also with having a substance use disorder. Many low-income people do not have enough money to seek treatment, do not have healthcare insurance, and oftentimes do not have transportation. Also, many times they are not aware of available resources to help them. Current models of thinking are to assess if there is a dual diagnosis such as having a combination of substance use disorder and mental illness. Oftentimes, substance use and mental health conditions go hand in hand, as people use substances to try to manage mental illness which can lead to addiction. According to NAMI (National Alliance of Mental Illness), many mental health clinics are starting to use alcohol and drug screening tools to identify people at risk and requires both issues to be addressed simultaneously. A few of the treatment modalities are Detoxification, Behavioral Therapies, Inpatient Rehabilitation, Supportive Housing, and Self Help Support Groups to just name a few to shed some light in the darkness of despair within the opioid epidemic. Another recent action is Naloxone, which is an anti-overdose medication that has been made more readily available over the counter in pharmacies to people in need. Support groups can help people feel less alone in their suffering, as many people feel isolated that have substance use disorder and mental illness. Support groups can offer a nurturing environment and resources to help people in need. There are 12 step programs such as Narcotics Anonymous as well as Alcoholic Anonymous programs to help people that are struggling. SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) also offers resources to help people in need as well. Other resources to look to are local resources, the local health department, and the resource page on this blog.
The leaders of our country, pharmaceuticals, healthcare business models, doctors, dispensing pharmacies, outpatient clinics, emergency rooms, and hospitals in America play a huge role in helping people that suffer from substance use disorder. I feel that America can do so much better. My sister’s death was a great loss to me and my entire family as we all loved her dearly. My sister’s life could not be saved from the opioid epidemic, but my hope in writing this blog post is to shed some light in the darkness of despair within the opioid epidemic to help someone else who may be suffering in silence in the same way she did. By discussing the opioid epidemic in a different light, I hope people know that they are not suffering alone, people care and want to help. This poem is for you dear sister…
