LEESBURG - The mental health care workers couldn't figure it out
The Daily CommercialFeb 26, 2018
LEESBURG - The mental health care workers couldn't figure it out.
The young man's family thought he was having a mental breakdown, so they brought him to the
The staff began treating him for psychosis, but it wasn't working.
"Normally, we seen improvement within a day or two," said
Finally, they realized that he was suffering from the effects of opioid drugs and altered the treatment. "The side effects are often the same," Hankey said.
Mental health workers, emergency rooms, nonprofits, and others are developing and changing strategies to combat a crisis in opioid drug abuse.
"We've seen an increase in the last year, year and a half," Hankey said, and those are the lucky ones. Overdose deaths jumped 55 percent in 2017 over the previous year, from 41 to 75, according to the Medical Examiner's office in Leesburg.
One of the most alarming statistics is the soaring number of babies who are born addicted.
In addition to detox, outpatient and residential programs,
It's a tough, six- to eight-month program.
Homeless, often with three or four children by different fathers, the women often face self-esteem issues because they have been abused or traumatized.
Another problem is that they are used to getting handouts.
"They have a lot of demands, and we say, ?Hey, we saved your life!' ''
Work ethic is one of the lessons they must learn. It's basic, at first. Women can earn tokens for doing chores. They then can go to "the mall," which is actually a small room, and buy things with the tokens they earn.
The goals are simple: Get off drugs, get your kids back, get a job.
Recently, a graduate of the program, who ended up getting a job as a dental hygienist, came back and donated a bicycle.
"You gave me one when I needed it, now, I've giving you one," Hankey said, quoting her.
Case workers help the women build or rebuild a support system. "Some, unfortunately, have burned all their bridges," Hankey said, "so we create one with counselors and others."
The state has been looking at ways to keep doctors from over prescribing, including training. A few years ago, the state cracked down on "pill mill" pain clinics, with their fraudulent distribution of opioids like oxycodone and hydrocodone.
Families still need to be on the alert. A person who takes two pills when only one is prescribed may well be on his way to addiction.
Elderly people are falling into the trap, too.
"It's not that they want to be addicted," Hankey said. "They don't question the prescriptions and a lot of times their prescriptions need to be adjusted."
Unfortunately, when
One of the most promising is a drug called Vivitrol, an injection medication that must be administered every 30 days.
"It blocks the pleasure transmitters in the brain," Hankey said.
One of the problems with treatment programs is that all patients can think about is the craving to get the next dose. Vivitrol blocks that feeling, he said.
"It's not a miracle drug. It requires people to be invested and come in every 30 days for an injection and counseling," he said, though it is showing real promise, including reducing recidivism.
The organization holds meetings with the Medical Examiner's Office, law enforcement, the
She is also working with a statewide task force to plan a hazardous drug disposal day in April.
The system, which was developed in the
The