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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

NP here. Don't kid yourself, your son could have and should have stopped taking oxy after the initial medical need (his injury) ran out but he did not. He didn't because taking it felt good to him and he could get away with it. I highly doubt he was in the grips of addiction by the end of his first Oxy script, or his second. You don't need to demonize people who see most drug addicts for what they are - people who chose to chase a high, and chose the wrong drug.

She didn't say he was "in the grips of addiction by the end of his first Oxy script, or his second." She said it was a quick downward spiral after that. Two oxy scripts can indeed set a person on a rapid path to addiction. I'm sure you're right that he took it because it felt good. I'm not sure what your point is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

+1000

Thank you. It is also time we started to privately out the student dealers to school faculty and administrators.

[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.

Our best man's brother died from this. A prominent, wealthy family going back generations in a midsize southern city. Then, the family we have vacationed with for 10 years, from an affluent NYC suburb, lost their brother to this. Again, wealthy, Ivy League family. Finally, our friends, Biglaw to the tune of 1m yearly salary, second home, private schools, etc., is very worried about brother. He works in C suite at a very well known company in Seattle area, high functioning addict. Biglaw friend expects the worst phonecall at all times. It is everywhere, rich and poor, and if you think no one in "your circles" is touched by this, you are mistaken and sheltered.

Forgot to mention my uncle, post knee replacement, Oxy addict.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why does this suddenly matter so much? Bc the kids affected are white with dads who are biglaw partners and attend the top privates or live in the best public districts in the area? I don't recall seeing 10+ pgs of concern when it's black kids or rural white kids with these issues.

Its because in general, but not exclusively, poor urban parents and poor rural parents are not on these boards, or maybe any boards. Duh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

NP here. Don't kid yourself, your son could have and should have stopped taking oxy after the initial medical need (his injury) ran out but he did not. He didn't because taking it felt good to him and he could get away with it. I highly doubt he was in the grips of addiction by the end of his first Oxy script, or his second. You don't need to demonize people who see most drug addicts for what they are - people who chose to chase a high, and chose the wrong drug.

She didn't say he was "in the grips of addiction by the end of his first Oxy script, or his second." She said it was a quick downward spiral after that. Two oxy scripts can indeed set a person on a rapid path to addiction. I'm sure you're right that he took it because it felt good. I'm not sure what your point is.

The point is this kid chose to get his second script of oxy and he chose to do whatever he did after that to get high again. He wasn't hapless, it didn't "just happen" to him and he wasn't "lost in a jungle" at that point, there were poor choices this kid made and all of you who choose not to acknowledge personal responsibility in many cases of addiction is fueling the problem.

[Anonymous]

I had oral cancer and very quickly got seriously addicted to Oxy. It had nothing to do with a high, just a rapid onset of increased tolerance and a compulsion to keep the pain as controlled as possible. It's an incredibly slow/gradual process to gradually wean yourself of opiates without experiencing unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. Marijuana probably would have been an excellent alternative, but I didn't have a clue about that at the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

NP here. Don't kid yourself, your son could have and should have stopped taking oxy after the initial medical need (his injury) ran out but he did not. He didn't because taking it felt good to him and he could get away with it. I highly doubt he was in the grips of addiction by the end of his first Oxy script, or his second. You don't need to demonize people who see most drug addicts for what they are - people who chose to chase a high, and chose the wrong drug.

She didn't say he was "in the grips of addiction by the end of his first Oxy script, or his second." She said it was a quick downward spiral after that. Two oxy scripts can indeed set a person on a rapid path to addiction. I'm sure you're right that he took it because it felt good. I'm not sure what your point is.

The point is this kid chose to get his second script of oxy and he chose to do whatever he did after that to get high again. He wasn't hapless, it didn't "just happen" to him and he wasn't "lost in a jungle" at that point, there were poor choices this kid made and all of you who choose not to acknowledge personal responsibility in many cases of addiction is fueling the problem.

You have very little understanding of addiction. What exact purpose do you think hammering "bad choices" does? Addiction is obviously more than just an issue of choice. If it were that easy nobody would be an addict. And we wouldn't see addiction rates skyrocketing in parallel to the availability of highly addicting drugs. The opioid and crack crises did not happen because people suddenly lost willpower en masse. They happened because those substances became widely available and are very addictive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

You have very little understanding of addiction. What exact purpose do you think hammering "bad choices" does? Addiction is obviously more than just an issue of choice. If it were that easy nobody would be an addict. And we wouldn't see addiction rates skyrocketing in parallel to the availability of highly addicting drugs. The opioid and crack crises did not happen because people suddenly lost willpower en masse. They happened because those substances became widely available and are very addictive.

It's their magical thinking to reassure them that it won't happen to them. It works like this:

1. Bad things only happen as a result of making bad choices.
2. I won't make bad choices (or, more likely in this context, my child won't make bad choices), therefore this bad thing won't happen to me (or my child).

This is as effectivel as any other magical thinking.

[Anonymous]

Who makes oxy? Why are they still profiting off this disaster? Why haven't Congress and the health communities stood up to them and said enough?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brother and sister in law found out about 2 months ago their son was addicted to Oxycontin and had started using heroin when he could not afford them. Needless to say this has stunned and devastated our family. This kid is a good student, top athlete in one of the best privates. I am shocked and still reeling from this. They have immediately sent him to a highly recommended treatment facility but before he went they were going to a local dr who was helping them to find the right place. During the course of their visits over 3 or so weeks they "bumped into" three separate families they knew. Needless to say it was very awkward yet strange as it might sound my sister said strangely comforting as she knew she was not along. This has rocked our family more than words than speak, and I know you hear it on the news all the time, but you think never me.

My sister and H both professionals, very successful, kids all go to great schools, form the outside they have it all....yet inside are trying to deal with this nightmare. They have since found out a few others from his school are in treatment for same thing. It is so tragic, not sure he will even be back to school this semester. We are doing what we can to help but having kids only 7 and 8 this feels surreal yet I see it does not discriminate. I guess I am just here venting, no real reason just to say that this does really seem to be an epidemic and it is frightening seeing it first hand.

This is a typical scenario with drug addict kids: parents are too busy making money and building their career. They outsourced most of the staff at home including kids. If at least one parent is not available for child at the time of the transitioning into adulthood, there are too much risk that the child will fall into some bad habits.

It is not the typical scenario.Drug addict kids have stay at home moms or dads to. These kids are really good at hiding stuff from their parents. The teenager we knew who died from a heroin overdose had an extremely involved mother, almost too much. The parents traveled with him and were always looking to help him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

+1000

Thank you. It is also time we started to privately out the student dealers to school faculty and administrators.

As a parent with kids at one of these schools (Sidwell), but in the lower grades, I'm surprised and saddened to hear that this doesn't already happen. What are parents so afraid of? If I was absolutely certain - with proof - that a kid in my DC's school was dealing drugs, I would not think twice about alerting school officials.

That Sidwell isn't the be all end all that is always portrayed. When you are spending $41,000 a year for school no parent wants to feel that the place is perfect.

[Anonymous]

The "it's a choice" people are definitely failing to take into account the not fully developed frontal cortexes of teens and young adults. There is a reason young people "make the choice" to go to war and older adults do not. Our military depends upon it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

+1000

Thank you. It is also time we started to privately out the student dealers to school faculty and administrators.

As a parent with kids at one of these schools (Sidwell), but in the lower grades, I'm surprised and saddened to hear that this doesn't already happen. What are parents so afraid of? If I was absolutely certain - with proof - that a kid in my DC's school was dealing drugs, I would not think twice about alerting school officials.

That Sidwell isn't the be all end all that is always portrayed. When you are spending $41,000 a year for school no parent wants to feel that the place is perfect.

Me again. Yes I have kids at Sidwell and yes we are spending that much for their education. But I am under no illusions that the place is anywhere near perfect. I realize that I still have some years to go and may not fully know what I'm talking about when it comes to dealing with high schoolers and the US there, but I like to think that if I knew without a doubt that a kid at the school was a dealer, I would be informing school officials pronto. If my little Larla suffers socially from that, do be it. She'll live. Another kid may not.

[Anonymous]

Kids at these schools generally are not dealing. They know a friend of a friend who knows someone shady and they are getting the pills or the heroin from them. There may be exceptions--someone has a grandmother with cancer and is still the pills, but I'd say this is rare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Read the book "Dreamland." It really lays out the perfect storm that created this problem in America -- the overprescribing of pain medications, the pill mills, and the cheap black tar heroin coming in from Mexico and specifically being targeted to white, middle-income communities (not the big cities).

Luckily I haven't had this problem in my family, but one of the things that really stuck with me is how an addict is not "well" once they get home from rehab. It really takes about a year for the brain to heal itself and learn how to function without the morphine molecule controlling it.

I think if this happened to one of my children I would stick to him like glue for a solid year after rehab. Anything else -- school, college, sports -- can wait. Or you really could be like most addicts, going through a cycle that only ends with prison or death.

Of course personal responsibility is only a factor when 'others' are concerned . Pill mills, Mexico, over prescription blah blah blah

Personal responsibility goes out the window if you get hooked because a doctor prescribes them for an injury or something, which is a common occurrence. It doesn't all start as recreational use.