by Sally Rosa | Nov 3, 2014 | Addiction Articles, Sobriety For Women
As Ebola Panic Dies Down, Let’s Talk about Addiction
A number of new polls show that Americans are less worried about an Ebola outbreak than they were last week! Three cheers for doctors and first-world medical care!
According to Bloomburg Politics, 69% of Americans were “somewhat or very concerned” about Ebola in early October. As of October 29th, that number dropped to 61%.
Also, according to Fox News, a mere 59% of Americans believe Ebola will spread throughout the country. Again, three cheers for medicine!
What does Ebola have to do with Sobriety For Women? I’m asking myself the same question. Well, according to a controversial Huffington Post article, we should be talking about the addiction epidemic, not the Ebola epidemic.
The Real Cost of Addiction
According to Huffington Post, and more importantly the C.D.C., the scope of addiction is staggering. Really, some of these numbers are unbelievable.
Consider the following facts and statistics:
- In 2012, overdoses were the leading cause of death injury. In fact, overdoses killed more people in the twenty-five to sixty-four age bracket than car accidents.
- In 2012 alone, 41,502 people died after overdosing. Over half of these deaths were due to pharmaceutical overdoses (oxycodone, Vicodin, Xanax, etc.).
- There’s been a 117% increase in overdose deaths from 1999 to 2012.
Okay, those are some alarming numbers! More important than shocking numbers, though, is the human cost of addiction.
What if it was YOUR Loved One?
That’s a scary question. I don’t particularly want to think about what my family would have gone through if I’d died as a result of my overdoses.
It’s important to ask though. It’s questions like “what if my sister overdosed and died?” and “what if my daughter overdosed and died?”, that are going to change the conversation about addiction. Remember, we can all change! We can also all change the conversation!
Right now, the public generally views addiction as an unpleasant and misunderstood disease. That last part’s important– a misunderstood disease. While addiction is undoubtedly a disease, this way of thinking tends to dehumanize its victims.
Women in Recovery are More Than Statistics
By adding a personal touch to addiction stories, by adding a face and a smile, the public won’t be able to dehumanize addiction any longer.
Women in recovery aren’t merely statistics. We’re not numbers to be spewed out like an afterschool special. We’re people! We’re daughters, sisters, mothers, aunts, cousins, friends, girlfriends, wives, and so much more! We’re spiritual warriors fighting each day to make the world better!
We’re the human face of addiction. Reminding the world that we’re sober addicts and alcoholics (and so much more!) is what’s going to make the addiction dialogue shift.
Our lives and our stories are going to change the conversation from the Ebola epidemic, to the addiction epidemic, to the blessings of recovery!
by Fiona Stockard | Oct 27, 2014 | Addiction Articles, Drug Addiction
An Unintended Overdose
One of our wonderful fans, the talented Ariana Galante, sent us this poem.
Ariana’s a high school junior from Pennsylvania. She wrote “The Risky Game” after her school hosted a drug awareness seminar.
She was moved by this seminar, saying it brought back memories of her experience with a family member’s addiction. She lived in constant fear of losing her sister. Today, she says, her sister is doing great and has been sober for a few years.
Thanks Ariana! You rock!
If any other Sobriety For Women fans would like to send us work, shoot an email to info@sobrietyforwomen.com. Remember, we can all change!
The Risky Game
One time.
One chance.
I take the risk.
Will it be my last?
Heavy eyes,
dizzy head,
I lay down,
on my bed.
Hurry please!
Come get me now!
Find me!
I’m beginning to drown.
I doze off.
I drift.
Flying high,
but now stiff.
She enters.
Sees me lying here,
coming closer,
touches my hair.
I’m cold.
She falls.
Grabs her phone,
and makes that call.
That dreaded day,
we are now apart,
my mistake,
her broken heart.
But for me,
what seemed like a fun time,
careless actions,
turned into the way I died.
–Ariana Galante
by A Women in Sobriety | Aug 18, 2014 | Addiction Articles, Sobriety For Women
Written By: Fiona Stockard
Firsthand Addiction: What ODing is Really Like
Welcome to Sobriety For Women’s newest column, Firsthand Addiction!
In our first article, we explore what overdosing is really like. None of that after-school special s**t, just one addict’s experience. Enjoy!
My Overdose
The year was 2006 and I was in BAD shape. I was strung out on opiates, heroin mainly, and taking handfuls of Xanax for breakfast. Of course, like most addicts, I was sure this was just a phase and eventually I’d be fine. Then I ODed.
I remember taking about ten footballs (one milligram Xanax pills) and walking into a gas station. I remember seeing a cop. He probably should have scared me off, but I was pretty hardheaded. Plus, I was dope sick and we all know how that goes.
I bee-lined straight to the bathroom and cooked up some heroin. I remember throwing an extra bag in my cooker and thinking, “I’m going to get HIGH right now.”
The next thing I remember is waking up in a hospital. If you’ve never woken up with tubes down your nose and throat, let me tell you, it’s not fun. Apparently, I had ODed.
According to the police report, I stumbled out of the bathroom and right into that cop. He searched me and found heroin and Xanax. As he was cuffing me, I passed out and couldn’t be woken up. He decided a hospital was better than jail. Thanks Mr. Policeman, you saved my life.
The scary part of this whole experience was that I don’t remember ODing. I remember cooking the dope and that’s it. If I were alone, I probably wouldn’t be here today.
Like any addict worth her salt, ODing wasn’t enough to make me stop. It did, however, wake me up to just how bad my addiction was. Not long after, I went to treatment for the first time.
Signs and Symptoms of Overdose
General signs and symptoms of a heroin overdose include:
• Having a hard time breathing
• Having a weak heartbeat
• Tightness in muscles
• Twitching of muscles
• Face, mouth, and fingernails turning blue
• Extreme nodding off (falling asleep for short periods of time)
How to Avoid ODing
It’s a bit harder to talk about how to avoid ODing than it is to list signs and symptoms of an overdose. However, here are some common sense tips to help avoid an overdose.
Don’t Use Heroin
Duh! If you don’t use heroin, you’re not going to overdose! For many addicts though, this advice is pretty impractical.
Use With Other People
If it hadn’t been for that cop, I probably would have died. Make sure to use with other people.
I know, I know, this sucks. You have to share drugs and other people are annoying. Still, it beats dying.
Don’t Use Too Much
Again, this is kind of an obvious tip. If you don’t use too much heroin, you won’t OD, simple as that.
What I mean is – don’t use too much of a new batch. If you just got a new stamp (heroin package) and don’t know its strength, do half as much as you normally would.
Don’t Inject
It’s harder to OD if you’re not injecting. Yes, it’s still possible to overdose by sniffing or smoking heroin, but it’s MUCH more rare.
Don’t Mix Heroin and Other Drugs
If I hadn’t mixed heroin and Xanax, I probably wouldn’t have ODed.
I know mixing opiates and benzo’s feels good. I know mixing opiates and coke feels good. I know mixing opiates and anything feels good, but trust me, just say no!
I ODed, What Now?
There are a lot of myths about what to do when someone OD’s. Most of these are just myths though!
Don’t put the ODing person in the shower, don’t inject them with anything, don’t make them puke, don’t make them eat or drink, and definitely don’t let them sleep it off.
If someone around you is ODing, you do two things. First, and most importantly, call 911.
I don’t care if you still have drugs, or if you don’t like cops. Save someone’s life. Don’t be an assh**e.
Second, slap them in the face. This is more for fun than anything else, but hey, it just might help.
