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| Addicts Are People Too |
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by David Mittman, PA, DFAAPA - January 31, 2012
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 Provided by Clinician 1
I know someone who has had and will always battle an addiction problem. Through them I have gotten to know others who have had addiction problems. Like all of us these people are made up of all creeds and colors, all religions and sizes and again like us, all of them are human. My views have shifted drastically after close interaction with addicts. I now really believe they have a disease. For those of you that say.... “DUH, well it took Dave a long time to get there,” I agreed with you intellectually but really did not emotionally. For many years I would not agree that alcohol or heroin addiction was the same as eczema or psoriasis. You had to want to be an addict, didn’t you?
I guess part of my reason is that my views about life are changing and always evolving. I have seen and now truly understand that much of our programming is genetic, much more than most people know or believe. Of course this includes our bodies, our organs and our brains. Even our personalities and how much eye contact we are comfortable with before we turn our heads away. Even if we get down on cloudy days. Even the quirky things that make us laugh or angry. And yes, even our openness to needing drugs. Even our ability to say “No” is genetic. “Just Say No” worked about as well as telling a diabetic to “just say no” to diabetes. Or a blind person to “just say no” to glaucoma. Although not that black and white, for people that are addicted, stopping is really not a call they can make on their own. They are as powerless over whatever they are addicted to as someone who contracted TB is to the mycobacteria living in their lungs. That’s what I have kind of “gotten” over the last few years. I have learned that most addicts are self-treating something inside. Anxiety, depression, phobias, and we know much of that is biochemical. Having a buzz and later getting high takes the pain away. The biochemical abnormality causes the need for whatever substance or activity the addict finds helps them cope or feel better. And when you feel better there is a feedback system in your brain that says numbness is better than pain. Whatever it is you did to take the pain away, keep doing it. Damn the consequences.
This is not to say that behavior that hurts people is OK or that we have to look away or excuse those that are doing things that hurt themselves, their loved ones or society in general. Not to say that we need to “understand” those who choose to break the law or lie or cheat or steal to keep their addiction going. No way.
Writing this is my way of asking us all to take a look at how we treat people who are addicted or battling addiction. Those who just may need our support and help the most. Those who may need a smile and hug as much as the person learning how to walk again after a stroke. Those who need an address and a date and a ride for the next NA, AA, SA, GA meeting and whatever added support you can give them to get here. Not a lecture about how bad they are. I have been told horror stories by people about how they were treated by healthcare professionals of all kinds. Addicts are too easily disposed of by our society, they should not be by us.
Some of us may need to reframe the way we look at addiction and the people it touches. If they have a disease, let’s treat them. We PAs and NPs say we practice differently, that we care more. Time to walk the walk.
Dave has been a PA, and later NP, leader for thirty years. He strongly believes that NPs and PAs must work together to insure a better future for both professions. Most recently Dave has been busy launching another dream; Clinician 1, the first internet community for PAs and NPs. In October 2008, Dave was honored by the New Jersey State society of PAs with its “Lifetime Achievement Award”.
The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.
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| Margaret Hartley (Eagle Colorado) |
on 07 Feb 2012 at 10:50 am |
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Thank you for this. One of the things I dislike most about some fellow health care professionals is the immediate labeling of a person as an addict.
When I see an "addict" , they are a person that has been self medicating with street drugs for an underlying problem. Because of this attitude I have been able to screen, evaluate and treat many of these people for their underlying problem and help them get off the drugs and live a productive life.! |
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| icemamba (Alaska) |
on 02 Feb 2012 at 11:18 pm |
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Thank you for the reminder. As the mother of 2 young adults with addiction/mental health issues, I have been appalled at the attitudes directed toward them by health care providers. Except for within the rooms of AA, this occurs even within the treatment programs designed to help them. This is the most frustrating, heartbreaking condition one can imagine, as there is no antibiotic or hormone replacement to cure or control the disease. The road to recovery is only walked by those with a deep personal commitment to self discovery and fearless moral inventory; all the while battling an overwhelming compulsion to just "make it go away", by the quick fix available in the substance of choice.
Many individuals afflicted have co-morbid mental health problems, making recovery even more problematic. Sadly, I have been shocked to see, in 2012, the same condescension displayed toward individuals with mental health problems.
On a more positive note, I have had the opportunity to sit in on several AA meetings, and I never left without being touched by the wisdom and insight of those struggling with this issue. I always come away humbled and more aware of just how much I share with "those" people.
I encourage any provider, to attend an AA or NA meeting at least once, to see for themselves. There are many "open" meetings available, and it is indicated on the schedules readily available on the internet.
Finally, as a "note to self", In the setting of a busy clinic or ER, I have at times found it far too easy to make an offhand, disparaging remark or joke as an aside, but the ones who overhear, desperately need our compassion; and may well be the beloved of a close friend or colleague. |
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| Emiller (Texas) |
on 02 Feb 2012 at 9:38 pm |
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| Thanks for your comments. I too am a NP and thought I could recognize addiction, but now I fear it may be touching my family and I'm not sure I really do know the symptoms. |
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| Dave mittman (Livingston) |
on 02 Feb 2012 at 7:01 pm |
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Thanks for the kind words. Come onClinician 1 and let's talk ab out it all.
It is only when this effects you personally that you start to understand.
Love you all.
Dave |
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| Michele (PA) |
on 02 Feb 2012 at 6:11 pm |
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| Dave, the article is truly an eye opener....I lost a brother last year to alcohol and my nephew is also an addict. Talking has not worked with him. I would do anything I can to help him. |
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| Judy (MN) |
on 02 Feb 2012 at 1:44 pm |
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| Dave, excellent article and great 'reminder' of what our 'attitude' should be. My family, siblings and son, are addicted to alcohol and it is not a pleasant way to live, or die (have lost three siblings to it and another was just admitted). |
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| Anonymous |
on 01 Feb 2012 at 12:04 pm |
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| Dave, your article is excellent and gives me a great reminder that addiction is a disease. |
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