Answer Addiction

Tag: heroin overdose

  • An Addicts Mind

    I lay on this bed encased by these walls. sober now.

    I can feel the pain of all my flaws.

    Peaceful and lost in the illusion I slept thru all my loved ones’ cries.

    Even her kind eyes couldn’t keep me from wanting to end my life.

    Caged outside my mind also brings confinement inside.

    My willpower shatters faced with all the brain cells I’ve fried.

    I was captivated by her pinprick of charm.

    Why didn’t God save me from sticking her into my arm?

    How could a bag bring such pleasure and pain?

    I still sit N stare, insanely at my veins.

    The bruises of this Lust affair dance up n down my body.

    Track marks tell the world far too much about me.

    Only time I felt Joy was with the pull of the plunger.

    Within the next few seconds, a nodded out slumber.

    Blue in the Lips N White in the Face.

    But with a shot or 2 of Narcan, it becomes just another day.

    Awakening startled I just overdosed, Yet still cursing at the E.M.T…

    “Next time just let me Go!”

    This tragedy to U has become my Life, U see?

    Inside I feel I’m No One.

    Just a junkie In long sleeves.

    I’ve become the monster U all made me out to be.

    And with a needle and a spoon, I’d nod my way to peace.

    Sleep away the day and steady search thru the nite.

    The daily fucking routine of a stupid dope heads Life.

    I snatch the mirror that I see myself in off the wall.

    As I looked inside I loathed the person that I saw.

    Sometimes in my Heart creeps a tiny bit of hope.

    I wish upon a star for the power to just stop shooting dope.

    But then Bam reality hits.

    So I’ve stopped throwing pennies and seeking shooting stars.

    Because I’ve learned prayers don’t get answered for those who are the likes of ours…

    “THIS IS A HEROIN ADDICT’S MIND”
    “Or at least this addicts mind”

    HOWEVER, IF YOU FIRST LISTEN TO YOUR HEART AND EMBRACE CHANGE, YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR THINKING AND USE IT AS YOUR COCOON. AND I PROMISE IF YOU DO THIS CONFIDENTLY AND PATIENTLY THEN U2 WILL EMERGE AND FLY LIKE A BUTTERFLY.LEAViNG OLD REGRETS BEHIND AND NEW MEMORIES AHEAD.

    mwah

    Luv y’all

    Michael Henry Roberts

  • From Monster to Mentor: Lexington Outreach Coordinator Offers Free Classes on Addiction

    From Monster to Mentor: Lexington Outreach Coordinator Offers Free Classes on Addiction

    For Timothy Sanders, it’s a chance to use his experience as a person in recovery “to be productive and help people.”

    With heroin overdose rates in the state of Kentucky among the highest in the United States, a man in recovery who became a peer support specialist hopes to use his story to educate his fellow Bluegrass State residents about opioid dependency.

    Timothy Sanders, who serves as the Outreach Coordinator for the non-profit organization Stop Heroin Lexington, is also hosting a free class called “Alternative Perceptions” at area libraries and other locations. 

    The class, which kicked off on September 28 at the Lexington Public Library, is designed to provide information to not only people with addiction but also their families. For Sanders, it’s a chance to use his experience as a person in recovery to “be productive and help people.”

    Sanders, a peer support specialist, told Lexington’s WKYT that heroin addiction in Kentucky has “gotten a lot worse. ODs are high right now. I see a lot of people dying, [and] I see relapse quite often.”

    To that end, he created Alternative Perceptions as a means of reaching out to the public and providing free information about addiction and recovery, a subject that he understands on a personal level.

    From “Menace” To Mentor 

    Sanders overdosed on heroin while he was with his three-year-old daughter, which resulted in not only an arrest but also public shaming when the incident was broadcast on local television.

    “I was blasted all over the news as this monster and drug addict and all that,” he recalled.

    He sought treatment through the recovery program for men at the Hope Center in Lexington, and amassed 28 months of sobriety. He also found himself with a new calling. “I was a menace at one point,” he told WKYT. “Today I’m trying to be productive and help people.”

    The inaugural Alternative Perceptions class offered free information and education to attendees, and enlisted fellow recovery advocates to join Sanders in providing testimony about their paths to sobriety. “I have a team of volunteers that want to be a part of this, to where we can actually have them in all the [Kentucky] public libraries, and we have people that volunteer to get the information out to people.”

    Future Alternative Perceptions events and other information on Sanders can be found on Stop Heroin Lexington’s Facebook page.

    Kentucky has been among the 10 states with the highest rates of drug overdose deaths. However, the state reported that overdose deaths declined in 2018, the first such drop since 2013.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Counselor In Recovery Offers Free Drug Education Classes

    Counselor In Recovery Offers Free Drug Education Classes

    For Timothy Sanders, it’s a chance to use his experience as a person in recovery “to be productive and help people.”

    With heroin overdose rates in the state of Kentucky among the highest in the United States, a man in recovery who became a drug counselor hopes to use his story to educate his fellow Bluegrass State residents about opioid dependency.

    Timothy Sanders, who serves as the Outreach Coordinator for the non-profit organization Stop Heroin Lexington, is also hosting a free class called “Alternative Perceptions” at area libraries and other locations. 

    The class, which kicked off on September 28 at the Lexington Public Library, is designed to provide information to not only people with addiction but also their families. For Sanders, it’s a chance to use his experience as a person in recovery to “be productive and help people.”

    Sanders, a peer support specialist, told Lexington’s WKYT that heroin addiction in Kentucky has “gotten a lot worse. ODs are high right now. I see a lot of people dying, [and] I see relapse quite often.”

    To that end, he created Alternative Perceptions as a means of reaching out to the public and providing free information about addiction and recovery, a subject that he understands on a personal level.

    From “Menace” To Mentor 

    Sanders overdosed on heroin while he was with his three-year-old daughter, which resulted in not only an arrest but also public shaming when the incident was broadcast on local television.

    “I was blasted all over the news as this monster and drug addict and all that,” he recalled.

    He sought treatment through the recovery program for men at the Hope Center in Lexington, and amassed 28 months of sobriety. He also found himself with a new calling. “I was a menace at one point,” he told WKYT. “Today I’m trying to be productive and help people.”

    The inaugural Alternative Perceptions class offered free information and education to attendees, and enlisted fellow recovery advocates to join Sanders in providing testimony about their paths to sobriety. “I have a team of volunteers that want to be a part of this, to where we can actually have them in all the [Kentucky] public libraries, and we have people that volunteer to get the information out to people.”

    Future Alternative Perceptions events and other information on Sanders can be found on Stop Heroin Lexington’s Facebook page.

    Kentucky has been among the 10 states with the highest rates of drug overdose deaths. However, the state reported that overdose deaths declined in 2018, the first such drop since 2013.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • New Jersey Cop Overdoses On Heroin While On Duty 

    New Jersey Cop Overdoses On Heroin While On Duty 

    The former police officer applied to participate in a drug court treatment program last week.

    A New Jersey police officer who overdosed on heroin while at work lost his job but will avoid jail time if he completes a treatment program overseen by the state. 

    Matthew D. Ellery, a police officer for Franklin Township Police Department, was found unresponsive in his cruiser on April 7, according to USA Today. 

    Authorities first became concerned when dispatch tried to reach Ellery, but was unsuccessful. Another officer went to Ellery’s last known location and found him unresponsive. The officer administered two doses of the opioid-overdose reversal drug Narcan. 

    On Friday (July 12) Ellery pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled dangerous substance (heroin) and driving while intoxicated. 

    Will He Keep His Job?

    He will not be formally sentenced until August 23, but on Friday Ellery applied to participate in a five-year Somerset County Drug Court Program.

    If he does not successfully complete that alternative sentence, he will face three to five years in state prison. In addition, Ellery will no longer be able to work as a police officer, and he will lose his driver’s license for seven months, the plea deal said. 

    Ellery had been with the department since 2016. 

    Ellery is not the only police officer to face issues with substance abuse. Like any segment of the population, police officers are at risk for addiction. 

    Law Enforcement Officers & Addiction

    “Not only are law enforcement officers not immune to addiction, but they are also more susceptible to addiction because the stress of their jobs renders them so,” Dr. Michael Genovese, a clinical psychiatrist and chief medical officer at Acadia Healthcare, told The Fix. 

    Genovese said the stress and trauma of the job can be too much for some officers. 

    “Police officers to whom I have spoken, who suffer from addiction, are not generally using drugs to get high or have fun; they are using them to numb emotions they find painful,” he said. “Every day, police officers witness things that are outside the scope of normal human experience, and the frequency and intensity of traumatic events are overwhelming to the officer’s brain, even if he or she thinks they’re not.”

    Recently two officers—one in Maine and one in Maryland—fatally overdosed. Michael Koch, who worked as an officer for 15 years, said having access to drugs made it easier to fall into addiction. 

    “In 2010 a lot of heroin was on the streets and we were doing a lot of busts where we confiscated heroin, and also things like Oxys. I crossed the line and started taking things out of evidence for my personal use. I justified it by saying it was going to be thrown out anyway, but by that time I’m an addict and living a double life as a well-respected undercover cop and also as someone that was smoking a ton of heroin. Eventually, I got caught taking drugs out of evidence.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • "Breaking Amish" Star Almost Died of Heroin Overdose

    "Breaking Amish" Star Almost Died of Heroin Overdose

    Reality star Sabrina Burkholder opened up about the overdose on Facebook.

    Sabrina Burkholder, a star of TLC’s reality television series Breaking Amish, revealed to her fans on Facebook that she recently suffered from an overdose that nearly took her life. She wrote that the incident happened while she and her boyfriend Jethro were out and about in June.

    “A few days before my 32nd birthday, almost 2 months ago, Jethro and I were with our friend Sean in York County, PA,” she wrote on the Facebook post. “I was almost a year clean from heroin. For whatever reason that day, I was in a mood. We all were.”

    Her friend Sean then produced drugs for the trio to take.

    “We did the molly and then Sean did some heroin and handed me a capful of it. I asked him if it was all for me because it looked like a lot. He was like ‘Yeah happy birthday.’ So I mixed it up and shot it,” she recalled on the post.

    The next thing she knew, she woke up to paramedics and her distressed boyfriend around her.

    “I remember feeling very weird and that was my last conscious thought. Half an hour later I woke up surrounded by paramedics,” she continued the post. “I remember seeing Jethro staring at me with tears running down his face. And I was suddenly hit with memories of what happened when I was dead. Yes, dead.”

    It turns out that while she was unconscious, both Sean and Jethro were fighting for her life.

    “Sean did CPR on me and kept on going even after my heart had stopped beating. Jethro was kneeling on the ground crying out to God to save me,” she wrote in the post. “Sean and Jethro both told me later that Sean tried to stop after he realized I was gone, but Jethro kept screaming at him to keep on going and wouldn’t let him stop giving me CPR.”

    Fortunately, paramedics were able to revive her with Narcan, which reversed the effects of the overdose to keep her alive.

    “They had to narcan me twice to bring me back. They only had 2 narcans on them; had I needed another, I wouldn’t be here,” she recalled. “That experience shook me to my core and forced me to look at the shitty person I’ve allowed myself to become.”

    Burkholder is now focused on recovery, according to a more recent post.

    “Trying not to lose my mind on this road trip… I am so excited to get to rehab,” she wrote on August 4. “3 more hours of this bs and then I’m off the map. Adios.”

    The incident represents only the latest of her struggles. On the show Breaking Amish, Burkholder was one of a handful of Amish or Mennonite people who traveled to New York to experience the outside world. Fans of the show have been following her struggle with sobriety since season one in 2012.

    In 2017, Burkholder was charged with manufacture of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance and criminal conspiracy.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Demi Lovato Hospitalized For Apparent Overdose

    Demi Lovato Hospitalized For Apparent Overdose

    Paramedics reportedly revived Lovato with Narcan before transporting the singer to the hospital for further treatment. 

    Demi Lovato has been hospitalized after an alleged heroin overdose, according to numerous reports Tuesday afternoon.

    According to TMZ, which broke the news, the singer and actress, 25, was rushed to a Los Angeles hospital shortly before noon on Tuesday, July 24.

    Paramedics were called to the singer’s Hollywood Hills home where she was found unconscious. The first responders reportedly revived the singer with Narcan before transporting her to the hospital, according to TMZ.

    Law enforcement tells TMZ that the hospitalization was due to a heroin overdose and Lovato is being treated. Currently, her condition is not known. 

    Lovato has a history of substance use disorder, bipolar disorder and has also battled bulimia. On March 15, 2018, she celebrated six years of sobriety. However, in June, Lovato released a new song called “Sober,” which led listeners to believe she was no longer abstaining from substance use.

    The chorus of the song is as follows: 

    “Momma, I’m so sorry, I’m not sober anymore/And daddy, please forgive me for the drinks spilled on the floor/To the ones who never left me/We’ve been down this road before/I’m so sorry, I’m not sober anymore.”

    In October 2017, Lovato released a YouTube documentary called Demi Lovato: Simply Complicated, in which she discussed her alcohol and cocaine use. 

    Last October, Lovato also spoke out about her recovery when receiving the Spirit of Sobriety award at a Brent Shapiro Foundation fundraising event.

    “Every day is a battle,” she said. “You just have to take it one day at a time, some days are easier than others and some days you forget about drinking and using, but for me, I work on my physical health, which is important, but my mental health as well.”

    She added that when it comes to her recovery, she puts in the work like anyone else. “I see a therapist twice a week,” she said. “I make sure I stay on my medications. I go to AA meetings. I do what I can physically in the gym. I make it a priority.”

    In the aftermath of her apparent overdose, other celebrities reached out, offering their prayers.

    “My friend @ddlovato is one of the kindest, most talented people I’ve ever met,” tweeted country singer Brad Paisley. “Praying for her right now, addiction is a terrifying disease. There is no one more honest or brave than this woman.”

    Ellen DeGeneres also offered her support.

    “I love @DDLovato so much,” she wrote on Twitter. “It breaks my heart that she is going through this. She is a light in this world, and I am sending my love to her and her family.”

    View the original article at thefix.com