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Since 1999, The Number of Deaths From Opioids in The United States Has Quadrupled.

The man was undergoing withdrawal from drug addiction in the hospital. While he talked about wanting to change his life and reviewed treatment programs with the social worker, he ultimately decided to leave against their advice. The document suggests they failed to address the deeper pain and struggles driving his addiction.

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24 views1 page

Since 1999, The Number of Deaths From Opioids in The United States Has Quadrupled.

The man was undergoing withdrawal from drug addiction in the hospital. While he talked about wanting to change his life and reviewed treatment programs with the social worker, he ultimately decided to leave against their advice. The document suggests they failed to address the deeper pain and struggles driving his addiction.

Uploaded by

seq
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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We titrated medications to help him weather his withdrawal, and soon he

could sit upright in bed. He sipped tea from a plastic cup, and talked about
his disdain for life on the streets.

“I know I can’t keep living like this,” he would say.

Yet he only spoke in euphemisms. A restlessness possessed him. He never


reclined into his pillow, but rather propped himself on his elbows, as if even
the sheets at his back disquieted him. Naïve and insecure, I kept our
conversations shallow.

“Since 1999, the number of deaths from opioids in


the United States has quadrupled.”
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When he accepted the social worker’s offer to review addiction centers, hope
leapt within me. Together, we pored over lists of treatment programs. We
talked about methadone regimens and counseling strategies. The morning
of transfer, we found him fully clothed, waiting for us. In my ignorance, I
beamed at him.

“I need to leave,” he said flatly. “How do I sign out?”

He resisted our urgings to stay. We had offered medications and counseling


centers, but missed something crucial, something that mattered more than
air. We ignored the pain that lurked within him — hidden, coursing to his
bones.

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