Clarke Speaks shares his three takeaways from his conversation with substance abuse therapist and counselor BK.
Hi, and welcome back to catastrophic comeback. Talking to you now about the three takeaways that I had from my conversation with substance abuse therapist and counselor, BK. The first thing that I thought was really fascinating about what she said was when I asked her about in this time in this day and age, how does someone get addicted? It's not we walk through the streets, and we see people with addiction problems, and who voluntarily puts Heroin, meth crack into their bodies. In this time, when you see the devastation and destruction, it calls under what circumstances does a a rational, normal person make the decision to do that, and see, she talked about two basic scenarios where this thing happens. One is childhood trauma, and the other is family history. Sorry, family history. So she talks about two different scenarios where this happens. One is really applicable to I think the people that might be listening to this, maybe both. But the first is a scenario where a person has some kind of acts, he talked about the high school quarterback, for our purposes, maybe an accident, maybe an injury, at work, or on the road or a fall, or a burn or something. But then they have a very serious injury that produces a lot of pain. And they have to take medication for pain management. And then over time, the tolerance builds and the effectiveness, the efficacy of that medication, subsides. And so then people have to take more in order to be able to have the same effect or the same result or to be able to take their pain away. And then ultimately, the doctors withdrawal that prescription because, you know, they don't want you to be prescribing to prescribe this medication forever. And what that does is puts people in a situation where they are dependent, she said that one in four people who are prescribed pain medication become dependent on that medication. So then what do people do then, so they have to go out and buy it on the street or find some other way to get it. And they might borrow it from friends first, and then ultimately, they might buy it on the street. And it's expensive. And so ultimately, that draws people into a position where they can buy these pills for this much money or some other type of drug for a lot less. And so that's how people get hooked a lot of times on some of these other medicines as a result of first being introduced to pain medications legally and under the prescription of a doctor. The other thing she said was that there are two things that exacerbate those types of conditions that make a person much more susceptible to being addicted, and that is childhood trauma and family history. And she said family history makes someone eight times more likely to become addicted. But she also intimated that it's not just people that are have a family history or childhood trauma, that anybody can become addicted, especially under those circumstances. So the second takeaway that I had from my conversation with BK that I thought was really interesting. Was, was windy, you know, you have a problem, you know, so she'll remember I asked her, if you have to ask if you have a problem, do you have a problem? And then I said, or is that the definitive line? Or is there another line is that line when it starts causing problems with my work, my family, my job, in those types of things? And she said, either, she said, either of those things might let you know, you have a problem. You know, and that makes sense to me. The third thing that I thought was fascinated about what she said was okay, if you do have a problem, what do you do about it? What is the what are the steps that you can take to try to address that problem? Because maybe you have a moment of strength now. But, you know, you know, what do you do with that, because that moment of strength may not last for very long, you know, and so she said, You can make an appointment with a substitute therapists like her, you know, and if you come to a community center that has that as an option, you may be able to see somebody immediately, you know, but if for whatever reason, you can't, you know, and there is some type of delay. She said, there are lots of resources that are available to people, you can look on your phone, you can Google you can ask someone, but probably you're probably a Google search or a phone search might be the best way to do it. And just to type in, I have a problem with substance abuse, and I am worried about how it's impacting me and my family, and I need help and I need help now. And then you can find find, you know, therapists, you can find groups, she really thought that seemed to think that the groups had a great deal of value, and helping you get through all kinds of different situations because you can connect with other people who have been through this. Been through these types of situations, no judgment, and a situation where they can talk to you and help you and share the resources and how what's been successful for them. And they're also proven programs that can help people overcome these types of addictions. The other thing I thought that was interesting about what she said in relation to this is that it's not just drugs, alcohol can be every bit as destructive as any of these other substances. And, and I can attest to that in some of the things that I've seen in, in, in my life, in that it can be especially if you have maybe a mental health injury that results from a, a physical injury, and how some people self medicate with that with with with alcohol. And so if, if you do recognize that you have a substance use problem, whether it's one of these drugs or whether it's alcohol, there are things you can do and the first step I think is doing a search and following through on becoming involved in a group as quickly as you can, and then seeking out the help of a professional. Thank you for joining us.
Hi, and welcome back to catastrophic comeback. Talking to you now about the three takeaways that I had from my conversation with substance abuse therapist and counselor, BK. The first thing that I thought was really fascinating about what she said was when I asked her about in this time in this day and age, how does someone get addicted? It's not we walk through the streets, and we see people with addiction problems, and who voluntarily puts Heroin, meth crack into their bodies. In this time, when you see the devastation and destruction, it calls under what circumstances does a a rational, normal person make the decision to do that, and see, she talked about two basic scenarios where this thing happens. One is childhood trauma, and the other is family history. Sorry, family history. So she talks about two different scenarios where this happens. One is really applicable to I think the people that might be listening to this, maybe both. But the first is a scenario where a person has some kind of acts, he talked about the high school quarterback, for our purposes, maybe an accident, maybe an injury, at work, or on the road or a fall, or a burn or something. But then they have a very serious injury that produces a lot of pain. And they have to take medication for pain management. And then over time, the tolerance builds and the effectiveness, the efficacy of that medication, subsides. And so then people have to take more in order to be able to have the same effect or the same result or to be able to take their pain away. And then ultimately, the doctors withdrawal that prescription because, you know, they don't want you to be prescribing to prescribe this medication forever. And what that does is puts people in a situation where they are dependent, she said that one in four people who are prescribed pain medication become dependent on that medication. So then what do people do then, so they have to go out and buy it on the street or find some other way to get it. And they might borrow it from friends first, and then ultimately, they might buy it on the street. And it's expensive. And so ultimately, that draws people into a position where they can buy these pills for this much money or some other type of drug for a lot less. And so that's how people get hooked a lot of times on some of these other medicines as a result of first being introduced to pain medications legally and under the prescription of a doctor. The other thing she said was that there are two things that exacerbate those types of conditions that make a person much more susceptible to being addicted, and that is childhood trauma and family history. And she said family history makes someone eight times more likely to become addicted. But she also intimated that it's not just people that are have a family history or childhood trauma, that anybody can become addicted, especially under those circumstances. So the second takeaway that I had from my conversation with BK that I thought was really interesting. Was, was windy, you know, you have a problem, you know, so she'll remember I asked her, if you have to ask if you have a problem, do you have a problem? And then I said, or is that the definitive line? Or is there another line is that line when it starts causing problems with my work, my family, my job, in those types of things? And she said, either, she said, either of those things might let you know, you have a problem. You know, and that makes sense to me. The third thing that I thought was fascinated about what she said was okay, if you do have a problem, what do you do about it? What is the what are the steps that you can take to try to address that problem? Because maybe you have a moment of strength now. But, you know, you know, what do you do with that, because that moment of strength may not last for very long, you know, and so she said, You can make an appointment with a substitute therapists like her, you know, and if you come to a community center that has that as an option, you may be able to see somebody immediately, you know, but if for whatever reason, you can't, you know, and there is some type of delay. She said, there are lots of resources that are available to people, you can look on your phone, you can Google you can ask someone, but probably you're probably a Google search or a phone search might be the best way to do it. And just to type in, I have a problem with substance abuse, and I am worried about how it's impacting me and my family, and I need help and I need help now. And then you can find find, you know, therapists, you can find groups, she really thought that seemed to think that the groups had a great deal of value, and helping you get through all kinds of different situations because you can connect with other people who have been through this. Been through these types of situations, no judgment, and a situation where they can talk to you and help you and share the resources and how what's been successful for them. And they're also proven programs that can help people overcome these types of addictions. The other thing I thought that was interesting about what she said in relation to this is that it's not just drugs, alcohol can be every bit as destructive as any of these other substances. And, and I can attest to that in some of the things that I've seen in, in, in my life, in that it can be especially if you have maybe a mental health injury that results from a, a physical injury, and how some people self medicate with that with with with alcohol. And so if, if you do recognize that you have a substance use problem, whether it's one of these drugs or whether it's alcohol, there are things you can do and the first step I think is doing a search and following through on becoming involved in a group as quickly as you can, and then seeking out the help of a professional. Thank you for joining us.
