The Addict is Not Our Enemy

By Fred Kaeser, Guest Columnist

A number of people in chronic pain support the plight of those with addiction. Yet, over the past year and a half, I have read any number of derogatory statements and comments here on Pain News Network and on its corresponding Facebook page about people who are dealing and struggling with addiction.

Even a cursory review of the comment section on different articles will reveal rather quickly any number of folks who are dismissive of those dealing with addiction. Some express a real hatred.

One person actually suggested letting “all the druggies overdose, one by one.”

Another laments that “addicts can't die quick enough for me.”

Some express a sort of jealousy over addicts getting better treatment than they: “It's good to be an addict" and "Maybe I'd be better off being an addict.”

And then there are those who got all shook up over Prince's overdose, not so much from his death, but because it was linked to an opioid and that it might make it harder for them to obtain their own opioid medications.

And to think these comments come from the same people who beg others to better understand and accept their own need for better pain care!

It wasn't very long ago that the "drug addict" was scorned and forgotten: the druggie on the dark-lit street corner or the drunk in the back-alley. Pretty much neglected and left to fend for themselves.

But that started to change in the '70s and '80s, and nowadays the person suffering from addiction is recognized as someone who suffers from a very complex disease, is quite sick, and struggles to access the necessary care in order to recover. Societal attitudes towards those with an addiction now reflect empathy and a desire to help, as opposed to denunciation and dismissiveness.

We chronic pain patients are looking for the same acceptance and understanding that addicts were desperately seeking just a few short years ago. And that struggle took many, many decades, one might say centuries, to achieve. Our struggle is similar, and my guess is if we keep our eyes and focus on reasonable and rational argument, we too will achieve success in our struggle to obtain acceptable pain care and understanding.

But if some of us continue to see the enemy as the person who has an addiction, our fight for justice will suffer and be delayed.

Why? Because the addict is not very different from us.  Irrespective of the reason why a drug or substance user becomes addicted, the addict just wants to feel better, just like us. The addict is sick, just like us. The addict wants relief from pain, just like us. Perhaps not from physical pain, but emotional and psychic pain. The addict wants proper medication, just like us. The addict needs help and assistance, just like us.

And sometimes the pain patient is the addict. Sometimes we are one in the same. A recent review of 38 research reports pegs the addiction rate among chronic pain patients at 10 percent. From a genetic predisposition standpoint, we must presume that some addicts have become addicted just because of their genes, just like some of us.

No one with an addiction started out wanting to become addicted, just like none of us wanted chronic pain. And while our government is trying to figure out how to minimize the spread of opioid addiction, it is not the addict's fault as to how it has decided to that.

In many ways those suffering from addiction are not very different from us who suffer from chronic pain. We both struggle for acceptance, we both require empathy and understanding from the world around us, and we both require treatment and proper care to lead better and more productive lives.

But, I firmly believe that as long as there are those of us in chronic pain who feel compelled to ridicule and demean those who are addicted, that we will only delay our own quest to receive the empathy we so justly deserve in our journey towards adequate pain care.

Empathy breeds empathy, and if we expect it for ourselves, we must be willing to extend it to others. And that includes the addict. 

Fred Kaeser, Ed.D, is the former Director of Health for the NYC Public Schools. He suffers from osteoarthritis, stenosis, spondylosis and other chronic spinal problems.

Fred taught at New York University and is the author of What Your Child Needs to Know About Sex (and When): A Straight Talking Guide for Parents.

The information in this column should not be considered as professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It is for informational purposes only and represent the author’s opinions alone. It does not inherently express or reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of Pain News Network.

Living with Chronic Pain After Being Labeled an Addict

By Patricia Young, Guest columnist

I am writing this article from the perspective of a patient who has chronic back pain and also an unwarranted, doctor-imposed label of “addiction.”

As most people can imagine, having both of these problems -- chronic pain and a substance use disorder -- can be very difficult for a healthcare provider to manage. Imagine though how harmful it is when someone is diagnosed or labeled as an addict and it is not an appropriate diagnosis.

The new polite wording for addiction is "chemical dependence," "substance use disorder" or "opiate dependence."

But these terms are not helpful either, since they have the same meaning to most healthcare professionals, as well as the general public.

To make matters worse, I was totally unaware that this diagnosis was ever made and it was never explained to me that it would be in my medical record. I want to share some of the problems this has caused me.

The first time I thought something was wrong was when I found myself having severe eye pain. I called ahead to the emergency room to make sure they had an eye doctor available to see me and decided to go in when they said they did. Instead, I was examined by a physician’s assistant (PA) after he reviewed my medical records. He looked at my eye from a distance without using any diagnostic equipment, told me I had an infection, and gave me antibiotic drops for it. The eye drops only made the pain worse.

I thought it was odd since I had no eye drainage of any kind and never had such pain before with an eye infection. A few days later I learned I had a herpes sore in my eye. No wonder those eye drops didn’t work!

Not one medical doctor or PA had taken my pain seriously in the ER because I had been labeled as having “drug seeking” behavior. But I did not know that until much later.

At the time I was taking opioid pain medication prescribed by my doctor to treat chronic pain from a lower back injury and two back surgeries. Sometimes I have flare ups of severe pain in my left hip, groin and leg despite the prescribed opiate drugs.

I went another time to the ER in severe pain and was seen by another physician’s assistant. After looking at my medical record, the PA proceeded to tell me to get out of the ER as I lay there on a gurney. My husband and I had no understanding at the time why 3 security guards came and told me to get back in my wheelchair myself or they would pick me up and put me there.

My husband picked me up and we were escorted out the door. I was 59 years old, disabled and was no threat to anyone. It was at that point that I started to wonder what “red flag” was in my medical records to make them treat me like that.

Later I found out what that red flag was. A doctor had written down after one visit that I had a “history of addiction.” This was the first time I became aware of this. I really could not understand why since no medical person had ever said I may have this diagnosis or even mentioned the word “dependency” to me.

I later had to move to Florida from upstate New York because my disability made it hard to cope with harsh winter weather. After the move I had great difficulty finding a new primary care physician. I believe no doctor wanted me as a patient after they saw the diagnosis of “history of addiction.”

We all know how difficult it can be to deal with an individual with a drug addiction. It’s a diagnosis that follows people for a lifetime. Unfortunately, when it is made in error, it is very detrimental and can even be a factor in someone’s death. Not only can there be a huge physical ramification from a diagnosis of addiction, but it can do harm to a person’s mental and emotional health, as well as cause family problems. I know it has affected me that way. The diagnosis evokes many people to make judgements.

I had many angry responses from healthcare professionals in my times of real need. The ones that threw me out of the ER demonstrated their anger by tone of voice, gestures, and curtness. I felt hopeless leaving there and my husband was so stunned he had no words to say. It was a very dark time in my life that is difficult to forget.

It has been suggested to me that I now suffer with post-traumatic stress syndrome and anxiety. Doctors want me to take anti-hypertensive medications daily as a result. This very frustrating and damaging diagnosis has led me to distrust the very physicians I go to for help. My blood pressure is high in their offices but not at home.

I also wrestle now with the problem of feeling as if my reputation has been harmed. I am seen by doctors as untrustworthy and in denial since I disagree with the addiction diagnosis. The very medical system that I worked in for almost 35 years has now mislabeled me and treats me harshly at a time when I need care myself.

I strongly believe there needs to be more understanding within the medical community as well as the public arena about this problem. There is a definite difference between a physical dependence on a substance versus an addiction to it. An addiction diagnosis suggests that one has misused drugs and has a mental disorder.

I have been judged as one of those types of people and it’s wrong. I had many medical professionals come up to me and congratulate me for stopping my pain medication. I thought they were crazy. It was no mental feat to stop taking the drugs, but I must admit my body’s physical reaction was not good. That is normal for someone that has taken opioid pain medicine for a period of time.

It is time we stop hurting and stigmatizing pain patients in this manner. It just makes our pain worse and can even lead to serious mental health problems and in some cases suicide.

Please healthcare providers, make sure your diagnosis is made correctly. I believe that an addiction or dependency diagnosis should only be made by someone who is trained in addiction medicine and who specializes in treating addictive disorders.

Patricia Young lives in Florida.

Pain News Network invites other readers to share their stories with us.  Send them to:  editor@PainNewsNetwork.org. 

The information in this column should not be considered as professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It is for informational purposes only and represents the author’s opinions alone. It does not inherently express or reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of Pain News Network.