Hello readers! Welcome to my monthly column addressing the negative impact of addiction and mental health issues on the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and questioning community. My goal is to give you information designed to educate and guide you to your full potential. My first article was published in May of 2015, and I am grateful to you and to LGBT Weekly for continuing to provide a venue for me to share inspiration so deeply needed by anyone challenged by addiction.
It’s a new year! The year 2016 has arrived in all its innocence, newness and our collective hope for a positive season as we move one day at a time into the future. A new year can be the very thing we need because it motivates us toward change. This is your year. It’s your year to make a life-changing decision and define yourself by a life of recovery. You may be the individual who decides that, this new year, you will engage in a significant process of change. You may be the self-directed individual who sets the clear intention of improving your health and wellness, working on discovering the life you’re meant to live. As you contemplate your own life and concerns for yourself and others, you have already begun the process of moving toward a lifestyle of recovery. If you are one of the LGBT community who has been exhausted by attempts to control your drinking and other drug use and have been left frustrated and isolated from your authentic self, then this article is for you. You deserve to reconnect and discover your own lost hopes and dreams.
Far too many of us have lost our friends and family members to addiction. I meet men and women each day who have entered our outpatient treatment program at Foundations San Diego in hopes of finding the way to sustaining a lifestyle without the damaging use of substances. Attempts at control and reducing harm have failed for them. Disruption in their health, employment, relationships and love of life has become an evident fact. The latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show approximately 88,000 deaths each year in the United States from excessive alcohol use. The American Society for Addiction Medicine’s latest fact sheet says that 46 Americans lose their lives each day from prescription opioid overdoses. These individuals who have lost their lives are the people we come into contact with every day. It hits close to home for all of us. The County of San Diego Methamphetamine Strike Force reports the number of meth-related deaths remains unacceptably high, with 2,933 reported deaths from 1995-2012. Our work at Foundations San Diego is with people, not numbers. We reach into our community here in Hillcrest and across the United States to provide a way for people to regain their footing after addiction has caused them to stumble. I deeply believe, as a person who is a professional in the field of treatment for addiction, that you or others you may know have more options than becoming a statistic of this ever growing epidemic.
Addiction can be characterized by the following: Using substances in larger amounts than you intended and for longer than you meant to; attempts to reduce or stop use of substances doesn’t work; preoccupation with getting, using or recovering from use; cravings to use; work/school/home disruption; ongoing use of substances despite the problems they have caused; increased tolerance, meaning using more to get the desired effect and the development of withdrawal symptoms.
If you are reading this article and the list mentioned here raises concerns for you or those you know, please understand that help is available. We have the compassion and knowledge to walk the recovery journey with you as you make the decision to live 2016 to your fullest!
Patricia Bathurst, LMFT, is the director of Foundations San Diego, an outpatient recovery facility located in Hillcrest at 3930 Fourth Ave., Suite 301, San Diego, CA 92103. Ms. Bathurst is a certified advanced addiction counselor as well as a licensed marriage and family therapist. Questions for Pat? Contact Foundations San Diego at 619-849-6010.
