spini4
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2003
- Messages
- 795
The Truth About Painkiller Addiction
Unlike many of his friends, who felt stymied in the small Appalachian town where pills and heroin were short-term cures for boredom, this young man could imagine a future for himself. But a month before graduation, he was in a car accident. The injury to his right shoulder ruined his ability to throw overhead—and the damage went far beyond his anatomy. He developed post-traumatic stress disorder from the crash. Even worse, he told me, his universe was shattered. Football had given him both social status and a sense of purpose. What made this devastation bearable was the hydrocodone that his orthopedic surgeon gave him. Within six months, he was drinking and still using the pills that the sympathetic surgeon continued to prescribe. Eventually, he moved to heroin. By the time we met, he was enrolled in a buprenorphine clinic and was otherwise drug-free, but was still trying to regain his footing. Every day, he went to work at a fast-food restaurant and felt bitter about the direction of his life.
Read the whole story at: https://amp.theatlantic.com/amp/article/595090/
Unlike many of his friends, who felt stymied in the small Appalachian town where pills and heroin were short-term cures for boredom, this young man could imagine a future for himself. But a month before graduation, he was in a car accident. The injury to his right shoulder ruined his ability to throw overhead—and the damage went far beyond his anatomy. He developed post-traumatic stress disorder from the crash. Even worse, he told me, his universe was shattered. Football had given him both social status and a sense of purpose. What made this devastation bearable was the hydrocodone that his orthopedic surgeon gave him. Within six months, he was drinking and still using the pills that the sympathetic surgeon continued to prescribe. Eventually, he moved to heroin. By the time we met, he was enrolled in a buprenorphine clinic and was otherwise drug-free, but was still trying to regain his footing. Every day, he went to work at a fast-food restaurant and felt bitter about the direction of his life.
Read the whole story at: https://amp.theatlantic.com/amp/article/595090/
