The opioid crisis has left millions of Americans addicted.
It has also led to many tens of thousands of overdoses.
And even when addicts survive an overdose incident – they still face staggeringly high odds (130 times greater) of dying from related causes.
Just what are those causes?
- HIV
- Chronic respiratory disease
- Viral hepatitis
- Suicide
Addicts are 45 more times likely to die from HIV than the general population. They are also 40 more times likely to die from chronic respiratory disease, 30 times more likely to die of viral hepatitis, and 25 more times likely to commit suicide.
And here’s the important point.
Thanks to new drug interventions for victims of an overdose, more people than ever are surviving their overdose.
That means that more and more Americans are joining a medically frail, high-risk population of patients – a ticking time bomb for U.S. healthcare.
So, what’s to be done?
If lives by the tens of thousands are to be saved, new methods of treatment must be pursued that look to the care of each addict and their families.
Addiction is not an acute condition – like the flu or bronchitis. It must be treated as a chronic disease.
And in the case of those addicted to opioids (as well as other substances), that means addressing each addict’s continuum of physical and mental health problems.
To do any less relegates a generation of Americans to a life of debilitating disease and an early grave.
If you’re struggling with an addiction to drugs and/or alcohol and need help in Connecticut, New Hampshire or southern Maine, the recovery teams at Aware Recovery Care are here to help. Our unique model of personalized, family-centered in-home care is giving clients a better chance of recovery when compared to traditional inpatient rehab care. To learn more or to talk to one of our Recovery Specialists, please contact us.
