Suboxone: Good? Or Bad?

I was at a conference last week and a very well respected psychiatrist was speaking on Pharmacology. In his presentation he spoke about putting people on Suboxone maintenance. My first thought was “Really? You believe in that?” Obviously I did not express my thoughts out loud, but I thought to myself that this physician might be part of the problem that we have in the recovery community these days.

Here is my thought on Suboxone. We at Sunrise Detox, use it as a detox medication, and when people leave Sunrise Detox, there are no prescriptions given. They are drug-free, which in my eyes is what sobriety is.

So I pose this question to everybody out there. Here is the scenario:

Thirty-five year old heroin addict, skipping out on his job, stealing from his children, running around on his wife, and when he goes to one of these clinics, the doctor puts him on a Suboxone maintenance program. And now, our thirty-five year old heroin addict is not stealing from his kids’ piggy bank, is showing up to work on time and being a reliable husband.

Here is the question I pose; is he in recovery?

My personal opinion is no. I say no because he is still dependent on a narcotic medication. I guess I feel so strongly about this because at times I feel that Suboxone could be going down the road of Methadone. And , as someone who was on the Methadone program for two years, it did not help my recovery at all. In fact, it enhanced my addiction--it gave me a legal way to get high.

The question that I really want to leave you all with is- “Is Suboxone the next Methadone?”

This is a topic I feel very strongly about and it is one that I have discussed with many professionals and people in recovery. I would really love feedback on this topic, and plan to revisit it again.

Is Suboxone part of the recovery, or are we just changing seats on the Titanic?

What is Spirituality?

When people hear me say spirituality, the statement I most often hear back is, “I’m not religious.” Contrary to that thought though, spirituality does not mean religion, as I often try to explain to people. I tell people that religion is great in conjunction with spirituality in the 12 step process. My belief is that for long term recovery, you need to attain some spirituality in your life.

People are scared by the word spirituality. They think that we are going to have them praying to a statue or make them go to church every other day. That is not what this is about though.

The other issue people have with spirituality is that most addicts are “show me” people. This is not something that I can show them though, not something I can lay out in front of them. They have to just have a little blind faith. One thing I always tell people is that there are a lot of things out there that we cannot see, but that we know are there.

For instance, you really can’t see wind, but you can see the result of the winds as the trees blow. You cannot see electricity, but you can see the results through having light.

What I like to tell people as I was told before, is that you have to take a look at the things that have happen in your addiction, and realize that there had to be some greater power outside of yourself controlling your destiny. For me personally, there were some blaring examples early in my recovery. One was the fact that I had overdosed three times and still are standing here to say it, whereas my best friend overdosed and is no longer with us. In addition to that, there were numerous car accidents, and I walked away from it all.

Looking at those scenarios gave me a belief in something, in a higher power which helped me to grasp the concept of spirituality.

Most of us in recovery get healthy physically first, then we clear up psychologically. But after that, the spirituality piece is how we grow in our recovery. What I have been shooting for is what everyone should be shooting for, and that is constant spiritual growth.

I equate spirituality with serenity. For me, that is what I was looking for and that is what I believe people should be looking for, piece of mind, gained by being a spiritual person.

Again, it is not religion. I have always felt that organized religion is for those who are afraid of going to hell. Spirituality is for those who have been to hell.

I am in no way opposed to organized religion. If you are though, you can still have recovery with spirituality in your life.

The ABC's of Recovery

I find that many people who are going through recovery, and even people who work in the recovery field, make this a very complicated process. In the early stages of recovery, it is important to keep it as simple as possible and to work on the basics. I would like to share with you folks what a mentor of mine taught me many years ago, when I was complicating early recovery.

We will start with A, which is for acceptance, and I have learned that before you can move forward with any of the steps of recovery, the basics of the first of those steps always leads back to that one word, acceptance. People need to fully accept their addiction before they can move forward. What I mean by that is they need to make a full commitment in understanding that there is no part-time use, no changing drug of choice, just completely accept in their heart that they cannot use mood altering chemicals.

I believe that once you have done that, you are capable of moving on to the next phase, which is belief. It was hard for me personally to believe that my life was ever going to get better, and get rid of that that feeling of hopelessness. As I was told though, even a homeless street heroin addict like myself had something to be grateful for, that being the fact that I was alive, and had a chance to make a life for myself... if I was willing to make changes, which is the C of our ABC’s.

Change is probably the hardest thing for any addict because we are creatures of habit, and change means work, which is something I know I did not want to do. Some of the most difficult things to change are our relationships, and friendships. Most of us were in unhealthy companionships during our addiction. In addition, many of us spent time with people who we thought were our friends, and when we got involved in recovery came to realize that those friendships were based solely on addiction. When you take drugs out of the equation, a lot of times you see that there was not much you had in common with that person.

The beautiful thing about recovery is that we don’t have to hang around with people just because they have drugs or can get us drugs. It is just something we all must open our eyes to. Once I was willing to make the changes in my life that were necessary, it gave me the freedom to live a happy life, to experience life.

I recommend to anybody what was recommended to me. Follow these three little words, but follow them in the order I have stated them to you.

Most of us in recovery are always looking for a shortcut, but once an addict understands that there are no shortcuts in recovery, the process will then begin.

Deciding What Treatment is Right for Someone.. A Meaningful Task

This week I decided to talk about a subject that I believe is a key component in a person’s successful treatment, going to the right treatment facility. But how do we decide what is the right treatment for somebody, and is it the same for all? It is a question that I hear come up often.

I want to start by bringing up my favorite word, reciprocation. Those of you that know me well know how much I hate that word. I understand that there is a level of business in the treatment industry, people send clients to people who send to them, which is very understandable, but on the same note I truly don’t believe in referring a patient to a program just because I need to reciprocate. We can’t forget that we are dealing with human beings here. Too many look at these patients as dollar signs or poker chips they are cashing in on, and it is not justifiable.

A couple of the ways that we decide at Sunrise is by taking into account their history, prior treatment, longevity of using, financing, and family dynamic. For instance, sometimes the mother of three has a hard time going away for 30 days, especially if it is her first time in treatment. In that case, we might recommend an intensive outpatient program.

Sometimes finances play a part in where is right for someone. Although there are some clinicians who don’t like to be concerned about financing, the truth is, it is a par t of the puzzle.

There are many elements involved in determining the type of program for the specific individual. Depending on someone’s treatment history, they may need a gender specific treatment center. Another element is that for some a 30 day program may not be enough, a person may need 90 days, or more, all which are alternatives for a patient.

The reason I brought up the reciprocation aspect first is because doing that makes us not look at all those elements that need to be taken into account for a person to get the proper treatment for them. We, in the industry, have to realize that just because we have relationships does not give us the permission to not fully look at what a patient needs. While that place may be the right one for the patient, it also may not be.

We are dealing with people’s lives, and the decisions that we make as a referral source could possibly change or affect the rest of their lives. We need to remember that.