Just how prevalent is this oxy addiction thing among our young adults in top privates?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just a different perspective-

Found our S was using pills that turned into heroin use. We had no idea. I was a SAHM and involved in my kids lives. He hid it well, grades were good but slowly started to isolate and had mood swings which signaled something was wrong. Found out about 5 weeks later just how bad things were. You could have knocked me over with a feather.

We sent him right away to an out of state rehab and he started to get help. Though I am very private my H felt comfortable sharing with close friends and family what was going on. I did not agree but understood that is he was coping.

Turns out once he reached out to others, to tell them what was going on in our family, people literally came out of the woodwork. It seemed like every single person we knew had been affected in some way by addiction. A relative, close friend, sibling...it was so prevalent, scary and really shocking as everyone hides behind this false front that all is well.

Some of our friends that shared with us really shocked us as they were the ones we thought were totally together. It did give us a sense of comfort to know we were not alone and it instantly gave us a group of people with whom to share when we were going through some really rough days.

That was 3 years ago, it was a bumpy ride for about a year (3 rehabs) but today he is back in college and will graduate in about a year. He is applying for dental school and has a wonderful gf who has been so supportive. He has adopted the 12 steps and attends meetings 4 times a week religiously.

We have supported him every step and it was not always east though these meetings he has met what he calls true lifelong friends who have his back and don't judge.

He is a great kid who got lost in the jungle of addiction. It happens to the best of them and recovery IS possible.

He made a conscious choice to use drugs. He did not get lost in the jungle.

NO you are wrong, your ignorance is astounding. He started off with a sport injury and was given oxy. He took it only a few days and unbeknownst to us went to get more (and was given more by dr). The rest is history, it was a quick and furious downward spiral very very fast. When he could not get enough money he was sold/offered heroin.
To reply to another question, he was in private but don't kid yourself it's EVERYWHERE. I can honestly say at his rehab about 70% were just like him, well to do, white privileged, successful families, NOT the picture you expect to see for heroin addiction. It was extremely shocking to me first since I knew nothing about "the drug world" but mostly who it is affecting most.

I want to reiterate to all parents out here, we had NO IDEA. With many kids, you see signs in our sons case, he maintained everything quite well until it was a full blown addiction then we started to see cracks in the veneer. I do not wish this upon anyone but do be wise, be smart and aware. He was the last kid I thought this could happen to, and many others have echoed this same refrain. Top student athlete, had everything going for him.

[Anonymous]

Please every poster please name all of the public and private schools you know of whose students have encountered opiods, even if not at school, so that the administrators and faculty at those schools can be alerted to the issue, begin to educate themselves, and be prepared to intervene to help their students. Thank ypu.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just a different perspective-

Found our S was using pills that turned into heroin use. We had no idea. I was a SAHM and involved in my kids lives. He hid it well, grades were good but slowly started to isolate and had mood swings which signaled something was wrong. Found out about 5 weeks later just how bad things were. You could have knocked me over with a feather.

We sent him right away to an out of state rehab and he started to get help. Though I am very private my H felt comfortable sharing with close friends and family what was going on. I did not agree but understood that is he was coping.

Turns out once he reached out to others, to tell them what was going on in our family, people literally came out of the woodwork. It seemed like every single person we knew had been affected in some way by addiction. A relative, close friend, sibling...it was so prevalent, scary and really shocking as everyone hides behind this false front that all is well.

Some of our friends that shared with us really shocked us as they were the ones we thought were totally together. It did give us a sense of comfort to know we were not alone and it instantly gave us a group of people with whom to share when we were going through some really rough days.

That was 3 years ago, it was a bumpy ride for about a year (3 rehabs) but today he is back in college and will graduate in about a year. He is applying for dental school and has a wonderful gf who has been so supportive. He has adopted the 12 steps and attends meetings 4 times a week religiously.

We have supported him every step and it was not always east though these meetings he has met what he calls true lifelong friends who have his back and don't judge.

He is a great kid who got lost in the jungle of addiction. It happens to the best of them and recovery IS possible.

Thank you for sharing. I am also the mother of a former heroin addict and wrote about our experience a number of pages ago.

I do applaud your DH for telling people, but frankly I couldn't do it. I think it would be very risky even within my family, which is pretty close knit. My fear is that my child could be ostracized among all the cousins etc. as so many people think recovery is not possible. I did not even tell a friend after her child died from heroin.

We did not go the rehab route as my child was asked to leave after the first few days for having a panic attack they couldn't deal with even though the rehab billed itself as dual diagnosis. We ended up doing in home detox and child attended lots of NA and still attends and does a lot of service. Child is now doing very well in college and has big plans for the future.

There are many roads to recovery. However, what I think what is key to success for most is knowledgeable family involvement and support. Your story clearly shows that as does ours. Kicking children out of the house does not cure them of addiction; it just makes them a public charge. My friend whose son died on professional advice took this kind of tough love route and it ended tragically. Unfortunately, positive family involvement is hard to buy with government funding.

There are unsung heroes who are taking in these kids and rehabilitating them. My child knows one through NA. He takes in young men whose families have thrown them out, detoxes them, gets them doing a lot of service in NA, and gives them provides them part-time jobs in a small business he owns. Not all are succeed but many have recovered and gone on to be contributing members of society.

We need a lot more of these people, but, again, this isn't something government funding will get you. NA accepts no money from any source except its members as part of its philosophy of self-reliance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please every poster please name all of the public and private schools you know of whose students have encountered opiods, even if not at school, so that the administrators and faculty at those schools can be alerted to the issue, begin to educate themselves, and be prepared to intervene to help their students. Thank ypu.

Sadly I can assure you EVERY school has this problem, in some it might be less than others but I guarantee you 100% every high school, both private and public has this problem...it is an epidemic that has snuck into the highest rings of the SEB. No one is spared. And even if your HS is not showing on the outside that they are scrambling to be equipped to deal with this, I assure you behind the scenes they most certainly are in panic mode because of what is going on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please every poster please name all of the public and private schools you know of whose students have encountered opiods, even if not at school, so that the administrators and faculty at those schools can be alerted to the issue, begin to educate themselves, and be prepared to intervene to help their students. Thank ypu.

Sadly I can assure you EVERY school has this problem, in some it might be less than others but I guarantee you 100% every high school, both private and public has this problem...it is an epidemic that has snuck into the highest rings of the SEB. No one is spared. And even if your HS is not showing on the outside that they are scrambling to be equipped to deal with this, I assure you behind the scenes they most certainly are in panic mode because of what is going on.

Exactly. Every school.

[Anonymous]

Oxy IS heroin. People don't get this. The chemical signature is the same, it's just that Oxy is legal. Lots of people, including teens, get it from a dentist or doctor for an injury. Addiction to it is almost instantaneous with some people and the craving never ends. It's like no other high. LOCK UP your medicine cabinets and be sure grandma does as well. Flush any pills left over. Use ibuprofen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please every poster please name all of the public and private schools you know of whose students have encountered opiods, even if not at school, so that the administrators and faculty at those schools can be alerted to the issue, begin to educate themselves, and be prepared to intervene to help their students. Thank ypu.

Sadly I can assure you EVERY school has this problem, in some it might be less than others but I guarantee you 100% every high school, both private and public has this problem...it is an epidemic that has snuck into the highest rings of the SEB. No one is spared. And even if your HS is not showing on the outside that they are scrambling to be equipped to deal with this, I assure you behind the scenes they most certainly are in panic mode because of what is going on.

Exactly. Every school.

Then please start to name the ones where the students you knew who became involved with opiods and heroin attended school. Because until you put the names out there, the parents will put no pressure on the schools to start addressing the issue and helping their students. Parents will just keep telling themselves not at my school. There is no shame in naming schools and once you start to do so, if you are correct, many if not all local schools will be added to that list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just a different perspective-

Found our S was using pills that turned into heroin use. We had no idea. I was a SAHM and involved in my kids lives. He hid it well, grades were good but slowly started to isolate and had mood swings which signaled something was wrong. Found out about 5 weeks later just how bad things were. You could have knocked me over with a feather.

We sent him right away to an out of state rehab and he started to get help. Though I am very private my H felt comfortable sharing with close friends and family what was going on. I did not agree but understood that is he was coping.

Turns out once he reached out to others, to tell them what was going on in our family, people literally came out of the woodwork. It seemed like every single person we knew had been affected in some way by addiction. A relative, close friend, sibling...it was so prevalent, scary and really shocking as everyone hides behind this false front that all is well.

Some of our friends that shared with us really shocked us as they were the ones we thought were totally together. It did give us a sense of comfort to know we were not alone and it instantly gave us a group of people with whom to share when we were going through some really rough days.

That was 3 years ago, it was a bumpy ride for about a year (3 rehabs) but today he is back in college and will graduate in about a year. He is applying for dental school and has a wonderful gf who has been so supportive. He has adopted the 12 steps and attends meetings 4 times a week religiously.

We have supported him every step and it was not always east though these meetings he has met what he calls true lifelong friends who have his back and don't judge.

He is a great kid who got lost in the jungle of addiction. It happens to the best of them and recovery IS possible.

He made a conscious choice to use drugs. He did not get lost in the jungle.

NO you are wrong, your ignorance is astounding. He started off with a sport injury and was given oxy. He took it only a few days and unbeknownst to us went to get more (and was given more by dr). The rest is history, it was a quick and furious downward spiral very very fast. When he could not get enough money he was sold/offered heroin.
To reply to another question, he was in private but don't kid yourself it's EVERYWHERE. I can honestly say at his rehab about 70% were just like him, well to do, white privileged, successful families, NOT the picture you expect to see for heroin addiction. It was extremely shocking to me first since I knew nothing about "the drug world" but mostly who it is affecting most.

I want to reiterate to all parents out here, we had NO IDEA. With many kids, you see signs in our sons case, he maintained everything quite well until it was a full blown addiction then we started to see cracks in the veneer. I do not wish this upon anyone but do be wise, be smart and aware. He was the last kid I thought this could happen to, and many others have echoed this same refrain. Top student athlete, had everything going for him.

Thanks for your honest and very much needed input. People believe their physicians have their best interests at heart, but many have fallen prey to opiates as a way to quickly build and maintain a huge patient census (they come back every two weeks like clockwork and you can see a patient every five minutes). Word quickly spreads on which doctors to see. By the time the doctors or insurance cut you off, you're an addict. Street drugs are everywhere, but very deadly to new users.

[Anonymous]

Oh, and don't send your kid to rehab in Florida. Look it up. It's a wasteland of fake rehab scammers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh, and don't send your kid to rehab in Florida. Look it up. It's a wasteland of fake rehab scammers.

Sadly, the vast majority of rehabs are scams in Florida and outside of Florida, even those you will get referrals to from people you ordinarily trust like family doctors, who generally know nothing about addiction. Consultants to advise you on rehabs also are often scams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please every poster please name all of the public and private schools you know of whose students have encountered opiods, even if not at school, so that the administrators and faculty at those schools can be alerted to the issue, begin to educate themselves, and be prepared to intervene to help their students. Thank ypu.

Sadly I can assure you EVERY school has this problem, in some it might be less than others but I guarantee you 100% every high school, both private and public has this problem...it is an epidemic that has snuck into the highest rings of the SEB. No one is spared. And even if your HS is not showing on the outside that they are scrambling to be equipped to deal with this, I assure you behind the scenes they most certainly are in panic mode because of what is going on.

Exactly. Every school.

Then please start to name the ones where the students you knew who became involved with opiods and heroin attended school. Because until you put the names out there, the parents will put no pressure on the schools to start addressing the issue and helping their students. Parents will just keep telling themselves not at my school. There is no shame in naming schools and once you start to do so, if you are correct, many if not all local schools will be added to that list.

I personally will not do that as I do not want to in any way identify the family I have spoken of. Our school however is very aware and is starting to aggressively address the issue school wide. They are bringing experts on the subject as well as former addicts to talk about how drugs almost ruined their lives and about their near death experiences.

My sister is a nurse and she vouches for the fact that this epidemic is alive and well at EVERY school so not sure what your obsession is with "naming schools". Its in ALL OF THEM!

[Anonymous]

Rehab is but one way to start working on recovery. It is not a one size fits all. Many do not go to rehab but their will to turn their lives around, coupled with a loving support system, meds and intensive inpatient can often result in a turnaround...its along road but recover happens every single day.

[Anonymous]

I am friends with parents whose children attend Burke, Field, GDS, Georgetown Prep, Gonzaga, Holton, Lab, Landon, Madeira, Maret, NCS, Potomac, Sidwell, St. John's, SS&SA, STA, Visitation, and WIS.. I have had discussions about the presence and extent of hard drug use among students in these school communities. Not one single parent I have asked about this issue believes that hard drugs like opiods, heroin, or meth are being used by the student's in these schools.

We absolutely do need to starting publicly outing these schools, thoigh not the individuals, so that the parents become aware of the issue and bring pressure upon the schools to do something about it. Please if you know something, say something, fresh air is a great sanitizer.

[Anonymous]

Students

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Students

And though