Experience with Addaction (or We Are With You!)

[crystalmeg]

I am totally new here so please be patient with me!

Hi all,

I'm a journalist graduate and I'm planning on writing a piece on Addaction - now rebranded as We Are With You. My dad and other members of my family are current/recovering heroin addicts and have been using their services for the best part of 20 years - all of which have had a rather negative experience but have to use them as there are no viable alternatives.

All the feedback I've heard from users of the service throughout my life has suggested there is a lack of co-ordination between staff and in organising scripts, a high staff turnover, a general feeling of being treated like a criminal, etc. But I can't seem to find anything about this online!

Here in Lincoln, around 10 years ago we had a separate service called DART (Drug and Alcohol Rehab Therapy) which was a lot more reliable and thorough but eventually this merged with Addaction - much to the dismay of both the workers and users of the service. After this, Addaction went from being quite a discreet little place where the majority of passersby didn't even realise what it was to then having big bright yellow signs with 'Addaction' above the door - pretty demoralising for people seeking help!

Around this time, people were being sent by court orders to the clinic with pretty much instant methadone scripts without even being offered Subutex, Naltrexone, or trying to address any underlying psychological issues.

I don't doubt that the people who work at Addaction have the best of intentions but the actual delivery of the service doesn't seem to always meet the needs of its users.

What are you thoughts, opinions, and experiences of Addaction/We Are With You?

 

[mtu mwendawazimu]

Hey, welcome to Bluelight

Never heard of it

Do you want our opinions of this specific program, which i doubt any of us have been through, or rehab in general?

 

[Lil'LinaptkSix]

instant methadone scripts.., or trying to address any underlying psychological issues.

I don't doubt that the people who work at Addaction have the best of intentions but the actual delivery of the service doesn't seem to always meet the needs of its users.

It's about profit it is a big business. Nothing to back this but a lot of monies get mismanaged and leaves less to properly try to deal with underlying issues. It's all a corrupt system, I say. They get paid to get ya hooked and then get paid to get ya off the hook (but really keep ya on).
Welcome to BL and hope to hear from ya again.
The above is just my opinions from experience but what the hell do I know? Very little.
Ptah

 

[JessFR]

I have no experiences with this specific service, but I will say that any service that allows its clients to feel disrespected is shooting itself in the foot.

I've been to two different methadone clinics, and it was amazing how different they were. The former needed constant security, had clients who were disruptive and problematic. In the latter didn't seem to need any of that. And one difference I noticed is that when something went wrong, the clients in the latter clinic actually listened to the staff.

The impression I got was that the reason they didn't have so many problems with their clients, is they treated them with respect.

If you treat people with disrespect, they won't be inclined to treat you very well either. There seem to be a lot of services that don't realize respect goes both ways. They expect it, but don't give it.

Just a thought on what you described.