Today I am writing about opioid dependency and addiction. Why is a craft and food blogger writing about this, you might ask? It’s important to me and it effects more people than you could imagine and in more ways than you can imagine. I feel it’s important for people to know that they aren’t alone, and they can get help. I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Reckitt Benckiser Pharmaceuticals Inc. I received a promotional item as a thank you for participating. I want you to know however, that I would absolutely post about this even if it wasn’t a part of any campaign.

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Let me give you a little background information. My sister is a retail pharmacist, meaning that you would likely come across her when you are picking up your prescription at the store. She works in a busy pharmacy in a pretty rough area of town. One of her jobs is to verify that the prescriptions turned in are valid. Unfortunately she sees a lot of people trying to pass fake or altered prescriptions, sometimes as many as 4-5 times per week. Sometimes they are just made up, or maybe they try to alter the dates or number of pills, refills, strength. Her pharmacy has been robbed 4 times in the last years. That is pretty scary stuff. Now, people aren’t trying to score some more antibiotics, they are after opioids.

I participated in a group discussion last week with a group of other bloggers. It was heart breaking and also very affirming to hear about the stories of dependency and also recovery. I was also quite shocked to see the number of people that either had their own personal struggles with opioid dependency or someone in their immediate family. The overwhelming theme across stories was that it started out as a legitimate prescription for pain. Usually the prescription was from after a surgery or some kind of injury. The chemicals in your brain begin to believe that have to have these opioids in order to survive. Your brain can also build a tolerance to the opioids and so you need a higher dose in order to have the same effect.

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I have been reading up on opioid dependency both the signs, and the treatments available at the website Reset Reality. The website has a lot of useful information including a Drug Abuse Screening Test. I find that particularly useful because not everyone realizes they have a problem. If you are holding up a pharmacy, it is probably pretty obvious you have a problem, but opioid dependency isn’t going to be that simple to label for everyone.
Another thing I liked about Reset Reality is that you can read stories from people that have struggled with addiction and they were able to reset their reality and are on their way to long term recovery. One of these stories is about Michael Sorrentino, better known as “The Situation” from Jersey Shore. I do not care for Jersey Shore, at all. I only saw these caricatures of people and found the whole thing absurd. I think that’s why I was most touched by Michael’s story. He really is a live human being with issues and struggles. He realized he had a problem and took the steps necessary to get help. I really recommend you read all the stories profiled on the website. They each offer a value viewpoint.

This time of year can be very stressful and difficult. If you know anyone that is struggling, please let them know there is hope and they can get help. You could even show them the Reset Reality site and let them know they aren’t alone.