Jesus.
How Addiction Treatment Killed Cory Monteith
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23536;11717473 said:
It seems as though people are forgetting to mention that methadone is still the most popular drug used at detox facilities for helping with opiate withdrawal. It's not suboxone or cold turkey. There are several different approaches including methadone, suboxone, hydrocodone, tramadol, or just the 'comfort meds' which include benzos, antihistamines, clonidine, or other drugs that sedate you.
Very good article
Great article and on point. I was in 3 drug and mental treatment centers while I was a teenager for a total of a year and a half. My first AA meeting was at 14 at the treatment center. My father who worked for the government was worried since there was a lot of concern if your kids acted out. He was a great man and on his death bed apologized for it. I was sent the first time for sneaking out and being stoned- my father caught me. The second time for throwing an enormous party at my house while my parents were on vacation. The third time was when my mother found a little bad of coke in my jewelry box. She didn't know what it was and took it to a lab to get tested.
One place had a doctor come in and diagnosed all us teenagers. He said I had Anti Social Personality Disorder. Many other kids were diagnosed with the same thing or similar. A year later I got a letter stating a class action lawsuit for the treatment center for misdiagnosing patients just to keep us in there longer and thus for them to make more money.
What I learned in all these places was how to do drugs, bad behaviors and how not eating was my only way to control the situation. My anorexia started the first day in rehab and became an ongoing problem. No harm reduction at all. No real therapy, being drugged up all. It was a nightmare. They kept reinforcing the steps.
I can understand easily how being young and put into bad rehabs can really mess you up. Oh, by the way, tough love is b.s. My mom felt horrible and so did I.
At one place they took us to a prison to scare us...I don't think exposing teens to these kinds of treatments is effective but counterproductive.
A year ago I was in my anorexic phase again and my AA friend thought I was on drugs, she called my mom and convinced her and my step dad who was dying to get my mom's money to do an intervention and send me to treatment for 6 months. I opened the door and my mom, the AA girl, some AA "Interventionist" and strangers where inside my apartment. I was told either go or be homeless. I stupidly went and was taken off my psych meds, I lost even more weight and then was sent to a "sober living" since my mom could not afford treatment and the rehabs would not take me because of my eating disorder.
Nothing was ever addressed such as the root of my problem, PTSD. I left the "sober living" and finally got back on my feat. This has hindered me in so many ways and to have an "intervention" like this was completely uncalled for. I should've been taken to the hospital for nutrition and or in an eating disorder clinic.
I hope more lids are blown on this whole treatment thing before more people die.
One place had a doctor come in and diagnosed all us teenagers. He said I had Anti Social Personality Disorder. Many other kids were diagnosed with the same thing or similar. A year later I got a letter stating a class action lawsuit for the treatment center for misdiagnosing patients just to keep us in there longer and thus for them to make more money.
What I learned in all these places was how to do drugs, bad behaviors and how not eating was my only way to control the situation. My anorexia started the first day in rehab and became an ongoing problem. No harm reduction at all. No real therapy, being drugged up all. It was a nightmare. They kept reinforcing the steps.
I can understand easily how being young and put into bad rehabs can really mess you up. Oh, by the way, tough love is b.s. My mom felt horrible and so did I.
At one place they took us to a prison to scare us...I don't think exposing teens to these kinds of treatments is effective but counterproductive.
A year ago I was in my anorexic phase again and my AA friend thought I was on drugs, she called my mom and convinced her and my step dad who was dying to get my mom's money to do an intervention and send me to treatment for 6 months. I opened the door and my mom, the AA girl, some AA "Interventionist" and strangers where inside my apartment. I was told either go or be homeless. I stupidly went and was taken off my psych meds, I lost even more weight and then was sent to a "sober living" since my mom could not afford treatment and the rehabs would not take me because of my eating disorder.
Nothing was ever addressed such as the root of my problem, PTSD. I left the "sober living" and finally got back on my feat. This has hindered me in so many ways and to have an "intervention" like this was completely uncalled for. I should've been taken to the hospital for nutrition and or in an eating disorder clinic.
I hope more lids are blown on this whole treatment thing before more people die.
[QUOTE='medicine cabinet';11718774]I thought this article was going to be something like he had a detox using iboga and died or something since he was in canada. but to say he took the deadliest combintation is horeshit, i know ppl who take all that everyday and more for breakfast. He overdosed plain and simple. i dont know his work (im not 16 and dont watch glee) but its horribly sad to see any young life snuffed out by not NOT KNOWING ABOUT HARM REDUCTION. and it think this article did a good point poiting out that if he had someone around with a shot of narcan or some other way to help him he still might be alive today. its a shame especially bc it could have been prevented.
[/QUOTE]
I think that's a pretty good example of the war on drugs failing people yet again; he came back to his hotel after an apparently quiet night out with his friends and was supposed to be checking out the following day - which is how they discovered him, when he didn't - (Judge me a little less, I came for the dark parody humour and stayed for the lesbians. And then left when they butchered that storyline to hell and back. But I kept up with the tabloid reporting of his death
) and had it not been for the stigma around drug use, particularly heroin, maybe someone would have been with him when he od'ed. I dunno, maybe I'm completely off the mark, being a casual user of uppers, but I've been in the position before of having had a good night out and coming to the end of my opportunity to bust out some speed or meph or something and my friends don't partake, so I enjoy my night out with them and then go home and have my own fun, but not a little shameful really because of the stigma of drug use.
He was supposed to be going back to filming Glee two weeks later, and I think that maybe he tried to take advantage of what was his last chance before he had to go back under the microscope - from what I've read he was also supposed to be moving in with Lea Michele and between that and filming a ridiculous amount of hours a day (They work the actors like dogs, scripts are always being completed at the last minute and everything is just up to the line.) - and he just overdid it. He was the victim of lack of education and the stigma surrounding the use of drugs- recreational or otherwise.
Sorry if my reply is disjointed or whatever, I'm fairly drunk atm. And if you read all my rambling you now know way more than you ever wanted or needed to about Glee. I just hope I got the gist of what I mean across.
[/QUOTE]
I think that's a pretty good example of the war on drugs failing people yet again; he came back to his hotel after an apparently quiet night out with his friends and was supposed to be checking out the following day - which is how they discovered him, when he didn't - (Judge me a little less, I came for the dark parody humour and stayed for the lesbians. And then left when they butchered that storyline to hell and back. But I kept up with the tabloid reporting of his death
) and had it not been for the stigma around drug use, particularly heroin, maybe someone would have been with him when he od'ed. I dunno, maybe I'm completely off the mark, being a casual user of uppers, but I've been in the position before of having had a good night out and coming to the end of my opportunity to bust out some speed or meph or something and my friends don't partake, so I enjoy my night out with them and then go home and have my own fun, but not a little shameful really because of the stigma of drug use. He was supposed to be going back to filming Glee two weeks later, and I think that maybe he tried to take advantage of what was his last chance before he had to go back under the microscope - from what I've read he was also supposed to be moving in with Lea Michele and between that and filming a ridiculous amount of hours a day (They work the actors like dogs, scripts are always being completed at the last minute and everything is just up to the line.) - and he just overdid it. He was the victim of lack of education and the stigma surrounding the use of drugs- recreational or otherwise.
Sorry if my reply is disjointed or whatever, I'm fairly drunk atm. And if you read all my rambling you now know way more than you ever wanted or needed to about Glee. I just hope I got the gist of what I mean across.
Shit like this makes it very clear that people do use on the “DL”...
I know tons of people who are not clean but still are indeed drug counselors...
I know tons of people who are not clean but still are indeed drug counselors...
One of the "drug counsel?ors" at my methadone clinic was fired for using drugs so yeah, ppl using on the dl is surprisingly rampant.
It goes to show that there are very functional addicts in this world.
Psychedelic Jay;11732473 said:
I think having money has a lot to do with it. With a steady supply of a very large amount of income like actors, musicians, etc, one can afford the best stuff, never has to worry about getting dope sick, never has to do the horrible shit addicts need to for money which takes over a huge portion of their life, and can overall appear normal.
For me personally, during the times when I had a steady stream of money coming in, I was able to appear totally functional. It's when I'm broke and sick, having to scrounge for cash, that it becomes obvious.
Dont know if i missed it but did this kid inject? Or was it a cocktail od? I mean i wouldnt be surprised if a tox screen is never made public, but on a show today they were calling him the new face of heroin.
I've never been to a detox that didn't offer some type of opiate replacement. Either methadone, suboxone, or tramadol. But I've never heard of a "cold turkey only" detox. That's ridiculous.
Mr.Scagnattie;11739333 said:
NY must have become a progressive utopia recently. I detoxed in Ithaca and Binghampton a few years ago and it was nearly impossible to even get a Benadryl. Most of the units I've encountered are run by AA/NA hardliners.
Not that unmedicated detox in a hospital setting is necessarily an impossible thing. There's much exaggeration on this forum about the tolerability of opioid withdrawal.
I so much agree that a tough love approach is not for everyone. It never works for me, and it's one I never use w my daughter....she is very sensitive like me. When a person is yelling at you, telling you you're worthless then making you suffer...rather than make you a better person, it traumatizes the hell out of you.
My parent's used tough love w me, in every way, and it was damaging to say the least. It turned me into a frightened person that has great difficulty trusting anyone.
I also do not agree that "cold turkey" is the way to detox...strapping you to a bed w a diaper on...leaving you feeling terrified on top of wanting to die you're so ill anyway, which is punishment enough. Even w the meds that are supposed to ease the discomfort, it's difficult.
I am great saddened to hear of this death that couldn've been avoided. I never have seen Glee, but of course have heard of it, and am aware it's popular. Everyone is different. That's something that must be realized, or there will be alot of collossal failure, and many overdoses.
My parent's used tough love w me, in every way, and it was damaging to say the least. It turned me into a frightened person that has great difficulty trusting anyone.
I also do not agree that "cold turkey" is the way to detox...strapping you to a bed w a diaper on...leaving you feeling terrified on top of wanting to die you're so ill anyway, which is punishment enough. Even w the meds that are supposed to ease the discomfort, it's difficult.
I am great saddened to hear of this death that couldn've been avoided. I never have seen Glee, but of course have heard of it, and am aware it's popular. Everyone is different. That's something that must be realized, or there will be alot of collossal failure, and many overdoses.
23536;11739459 said:
It's definitely not impossible but depending on your habit size and how long you've been using... it can get pretty brutal.
But that's sucks about the detoxes. Didn't you check into them before going in? Most people I know call and find out what meds certain places give, other policies, etc.
Yup, to most layman drs who dont know much beyond the day of talking about addiction in med school, most think its like a bad flu without fever. If only....one addiction dr i talked to said thats an outdated and misguided concept. Its really more like terrible flu depression and fluids coming out of every orriface except your ears lol if someone has a big habit, esp on a short acting opiate like h, esp iv, it is nasty. Most drs really dont know what to do other than a few meds, and its not like they would listen to anything the patient says, bc their junkies.
23536;11717473 said:
There are so many different types of drug & alcohol treatment facilities out there these days which all seem to have their own philosophies and beliefs aout the most effective way to detox and rehabilitate those suffering from the horrile disease of addiction, especially addiction to opiods. Having been thru many treatment facilities myself over the years, my experience is that there seem to be more facilities that do offer some type of medication (mostly either Subutex or Suboxone, though I have seen Tramadol used as well) to assist the patient in a more comfortable detox process than there are facilities that force the patient to go "cold turkey".
The detox phase for opiate addicts usually consists of 1-2 days of buprenorphine given every 4 hours until the total max amount is reached, followed by a taper period over several days. After reaching the max total amount of bupe over the first two days, the patient then receives one dose per day decreased by 2mg/day until they get to 0.
Of course, the many treatment facilities I have attended over the years, both private and public, have all been 12-step-based programs that, once thru the detox phase of treatment, are strictly abstinence-only and are not very open to education in harm-reduction or opiod-replacement maintenance therapies. This is sad because these facilities believe that by adhering to an abstinence-only view, they are providing patients with the best possible treatment for their addiction; however, the reality is that by not providing education on these alternatives to 'abstinence-only', they are sometimes doing more harm than good.
I have never actually watched "Glee" but I have definitely heard from friends of mine that it is a good show because of the talent of the cast and the way that they have tackled some tough issues throughout the storyline. It is so sad to hear about a tragedy like this happening, especially to someone so young and who apparently had a bright future ahead of him.
Speaking from both personal and professional experience, I can say without a doubt that the mainstream idea of a strict abstinence-only approach to the treatment of drug & alcohol addiction has caused much more harm than good. Treatment centers with this narrow-minded philosophy are doing society a great injustice. Because their focus is on complete abstinence from any "mind or mood altering chemical", they are basically setting a person up for failure from the moment they walk in the door. The simple truth is that the majority of those who seek help for an addiction to any substance are going to relapse and use again at some point. And when the person does use again, they often pick up right where they left off believing their tolerance is still the same as it had been when they quit using. That combined with using multiple substances together can and often does lead to tragic results as we have seen with this young man.
By focusing solely on a 12-step based, total abstinence recovery program, the treatment center that Cory attended let him down because it was like they withheld information that could have potentially saved his life. Instead of saying to him "Just don't use anymore and work the 12 steps", they should have educated him on a variety of things including the potentially fatal effects of mixing opiates and alcohol, the way one's tolerance to heroin decreases after having not used for a while, and the availability of opiate replacement maintenance therapies for those addicted to heroin. It is so important for the person to know that there are many alternatives out there to the traditional approach to treatment. Some people may need to take the opiate replacement therapy route for a while and go to the methadone clinic or see a doctor for suboxone maintenance. And some will benefit most from simply practicing harm reduction strategies such as using clean needles and equipment because they are not able or willing to stop for whatever reason. The point is that different things will work for different peoiple and it is not for any one person or facility to force any particular method or approach down someone's throat. This will only lead to frustration, anger, and the perpetuation of the negative stereotypes and stigmas that plague those who are addicted.
Speaking from both personal and professional experience, I can say without a doubt that the mainstream idea of a strict abstinence-only approach to the treatment of drug & alcohol addiction has caused much more harm than good. Treatment centers with this narrow-minded philosophy are doing society a great injustice. Because their focus is on complete abstinence from any "mind or mood altering chemical", they are basically setting a person up for failure from the moment they walk in the door. The simple truth is that the majority of those who seek help for an addiction to any substance are going to relapse and use again at some point. And when the person does use again, they often pick up right where they left off believing their tolerance is still the same as it had been when they quit using. That combined with using multiple substances together can and often does lead to tragic results as we have seen with this young man.
By focusing solely on a 12-step based, total abstinence recovery program, the treatment center that Cory attended let him down because it was like they withheld information that could have potentially saved his life. Instead of saying to him "Just don't use anymore and work the 12 steps", they should have educated him on a variety of things including the potentially fatal effects of mixing opiates and alcohol, the way one's tolerance to heroin decreases after having not used for a while, and the availability of opiate replacement maintenance therapies for those addicted to heroin. It is so important for the person to know that there are many alternatives out there to the traditional approach to treatment. Some people may need to take the opiate replacement therapy route for a while and go to the methadone clinic or see a doctor for suboxone maintenance. And some will benefit most from simply practicing harm reduction strategies such as using clean needles and equipment because they are not able or willing to stop for whatever reason. The point is that different things will work for different peoiple and it is not for any one person or facility to force any particular method or approach down someone's throat. This will only lead to frustration, anger, and the perpetuation of the negative stereotypes and stigmas that plague those who are addicted.
chompy;11767992 said:
Scientology NA? Never heard of such a thing.