The following post was written for Phoenix House for Overdose Awareness Day, August 31st, 2015. It appeared originally on the Phoenix House website. http://www.phoenixhouse.org/
It has been more than two and a half years since my son,
William, succumbed to a heroin overdose. His last time in the emergency room was
certainly not the only time his addiction had brought him there. Like Russian Roulette, risk of death is
inherent in any heroin use, at any time.
William knew this, but simply being aware was not enough to save his
life. This time, his disease fatally overcame his awareness.
Today is International Overdose Awareness Day. Its goals are
laudable— to raise awareness of the risks of overdose and reduce the stigma of
drug-related death. History has shown that public awareness toward stigmatized
illnesses is an important step toward reducing fatalities. And yet, when I asked several friends –mothers
whose children have battled drug addiction, individuals in recovery – about
their reaction to the day, some expressed skepticism about the effectiveness of
dedicating one day to overdose awareness.
As
one person remarked “All these ‘days.’ … [Overdose] happens Every Single Day.” She went on to tell me how she’d been
brooding over New York City’s 12 unfortunate deaths from Legionnaire’s Disease—each
one a tragic loss—and the intensity of the media coverage and the City’s
response to the crisis. However appropriate the reaction was, when compared to
the response to our opioid epidemic, which has claimed magnitudes more
lives—“It speaks volumes, or rather shrieks
volumes,” she said.
I share their skepticism
of what a single day can do. This
is, for example, the third time Overdose Awareness Day has been recognized
since William’s death, and I’ve never even known about the day, much less done
anything about it, as active and aware as I consider myself to be.
To be sure, others I spoke
with mentioned hope and the need to reduce the stigma surrounding
addiction: “Only when the
uninformed public realizes that anyone can suffer with this disease, will the
stigma lessen,” noted one. Another
wrote, “Fighting the stigma honors the memory of those who have died – but it
also goes a long way in helping those who are still in the fight. And fighting the stigma is a triumph
even if one mind is changed.”
Yet another mother
wrote: “Of course, this is a time
that we remember all the beautiful lives lost. This day is also the perfect day to encourage those still
struggling with the disease of addiction that there is hope, to celebrate those
who have found recovery, to talk about recovery in general, and to share the
good stories too, as they represent a huge source of hope, strength and support
for so many.”
Those whose lives have
been touched by addiction get it.
They understand how we need to confront addiction and how much work it
will take. But what about our politicians? What about our leaders? Where are they?
I recently happened upon
an essay by a high school classmate and good friend of mine, Professor Tom Van
Nortwick. Tom has just retired
after a most distinguished career as a classics professor at Oberlin
College. In his essay, he mentions
the plague of Athens in 429 B.C. The
Greek historian, Thucydides, a rare survivor of the illness, wrote about the sufferers. As Tom translated in his essay:
Once stricken by the disease, victims lose all
hope. Those who go to take care of
their friends are destroyed for their trouble; those left alone out of fear of
infection die of neglect, desolate.
Wrapped in a cloak of illness, the social structure of Athens
warps: “For the catastrophe was so
overwhelming that men, not knowing what would next happen to them, became
indifferent to every rule of religion or of law”(2.52).
Thucydides could just as
easily have been writing about the suffering of our drug-afflicted and the
disregard for them that has been the acceptable norm in our country for far too
long, certainly both before and after the founding of Overdose Awareness
Day. When it comes to addiction,
we as a country remain as ignorant, fearful, and reluctant to act as Athenians
living in 429 B.C. were about the plague.
During that same year,
Pericles, the great leader of Athens, spoke about the example of the democracy
he led in Athens and of the power of the people to create change:
Taking everything together then, I declare that our
city is an education to Greece, and I declare than in my opinion each single
one of our citizens, in all the manifold aspects of life, is able to show
himself the rightful lord and owner of his own person, and to do this,
moreover, with exceptional grace and exceptional versatility. (2.40-41)
Where is our
Pericles? Where is the leader, or leaders,
who will ask more of us, as individuals, and most importantly, as a society? Where is the leader who will lead us in
our battle that requires “exceptional grace and exceptional versatility?”
For me the best way to
honor the day, to honor the dead, to honor the recovered, is to sound the call
for a leader, to demand more of our leaders. This year cannot be soon enough to begin long necessary
change. We need someone to recognize
that vast numbers are dying daily. Someone who will make International Overdose
Awareness Day the day that begins the end of all the Every Single Days. A day that is not one more drop in the bucket,
but truly turns the tide.
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