National Recovery Awareness Month

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By Icy Frantz

On Aug. 30, the New Canaan Parent Support Group hosted the second annual overdose awareness vigil. In front of a sizable crowd, Paul Reinhardt, founder of the group, asked the question, “How many of you have been affected by drugs and alcohol?” Every hand went up.

Coming just ahead of National Recovery Awareness Month, designated each September, the vigil highlighted in a local way what is a national issue.

Over 23 million Americans are in recovery from addiction to alcohol and other drugs, and throughout the month of September, it is the successes that are celebrated. For each of the 23 million success stories, there are many more still struggling with the crippling effects of alcohol and drug addiction and abuse.

One organization has been tackling this issue head on since 1971.

Liberation Programs, with sites in Greenwich, Stamford, Norwalk and Bridgeport, specializes in treatment for all types of substance abuse, including alcohol, opiates, depressants and stimulants. Liberation provides services for youth, adults and families.

Cary Ostrow, acting CEO of Liberation Programs, believes it is important to slash the shame around addiction. He says, “One of the biggest challenges we face is the shame that is associated with the disease of addiction.”

He is not alone in believing shame is major roadblock in addiction recovery. In March of 2017 Kansas City based alcohol and drug prevention recovery organization, First Call, released a powerful public service announcement as part of their Stop the Shame campaign. In it a cancer patient on a hospital bed is surrounded by his parents who are shouting, “This is all your fault. You just have to try harder. You just don’t want to get better.”

“We are selling a product that most people try hard to not need or want,” Ostrow explains. “We offer incredible treatment and see incredible results every day, but we need people to show up and ask to come in and this is a very difficult first step.”

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, there are 115 deaths related to opioids every day and opioids are now responsible for 1 in 5 deaths among young people. In addition, about 90,000 people die every year from alcohol-related deaths.

Ostrow warns that “All added up, this is a national crisis. The opioid epidemic has gotten our attention, but it goes far beyond the opioid. People are in pain and looking for a quick way out. Drugs seem to be that path, and they work until they do not.”

According to The American Medical Association and the American Society of Addiction Medicine, addiction is considered a chronic and often relapsing brain disease. What begins with the use of substances can lead to abuse of these substances and, ultimately, a change in the brain chemistry.

Diseases are conditions that change the way an organ functions and, therefore, addiction is classified as a disease.

Like many other diseases, recovery involves a modification of habits, ongoing treatment and sometimes medication. And yet, society’s attitude towards the disease of addiction differs greatly from its attitude towards other diseases and adds to the shame felt by addicts.

“I’ve been in public forums where I’ve heard people say things like, ‘It’s not really a disease, it’s a lifestyle choice,’” Ostrow says, “or ‘Recovery medication is a crutch.’”

His reply to those who would deny medication as a tool to aid in addiction recovery? “Try saying that to a loved one suffering from high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease or the litany of other chronic lifelong illnesses aided through medication.”

At Liberation Programs, where Ostrow has worked for 26 years, he is sometimes asked how he can be around such misery. “Sadness and frustration are part of my work, no doubt,” he says. “But where else can you witness miracles of change happen all day, every day? Families reunited. Communities re-established and strengthened. Lives saved. Who wouldn’t want to be part of that?”

For more information, call Liberation Programs at 203-851-2077 or visit liberationprograms.org

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