Here's part 2 of my interview with Dr. Anna Lembke where we discuss, "Is our work depressing?", and what we really think about the people we work with.
Video transcript:
Dr. Lembke:
Sometimes people ask me is my work depressing and it's really not depressing at all. It's really inspiring because I see people who I consider to be among the most courageous people on the planet, that is people with addiction who are bravely facing the path of recovery and get on that path and absolutely transform their lives and transform the lives of those around them. So I see a lot of hope and redemption and a life in recovery is such a great life. I guess that's how I would answer that question. I don't know how about you?
Dr. Halligan:
I love your answer. I loved the answer of the hope and the redemption that keeps you coming back. It really makes you believe in the resiliency of the human spirit. I think it was pretty dark there for a couple of years and I agree the last two years, the calls to my private practice have become less frequent and less urgent. But go back to 2015, every day, these desperate calls from, people's parents and the young people like, "Please help me please call me back. I just got out of jail. I've got a three year old son. I'm a single parent dad. If I don't get on buprenorphine, I'm going to relapse. I don't want to die. Please call me. My daughter needs a place to go. I don't know where to send her."
We have no idea. We go on the internet. We, we can't figure out what to do. Do we go to detox? Do we go to rehab? Buprenorphine? What is that? Methadone? I Vivitrol shot? So much desperation, so much pain. And it was pretty urgent because these kids had been overdosing and then released within like a 10 hour period from the hospital. And I'm thinking this kid is 21 or 23 years old and you're sending him back home. Mom just found him on the bathroom floor.
So I think it was the hopeless feeling for the moment that … hey, this is useless suffering. It shouldn't have happened in the first place. And nobody seems to know what the answer is. And it's treatable. This opioid use disorder is treatable, highly treatable. We have medications. Why aren't we using them and what is all this stigma? So it was heartbreaking and enraging. And I agree with you, I love your word "courage". These folks are so courageous for what they've battled and if they get through it and when they get through it, wow. They can feel so much self-respect and so much pride that they were Intrepid against the system, against the stigma. And they hung in there long enough until they found somebody to help them.
For more information or to contact Anna Lembke, MD, please visit:
www.annalembke.com
Leave a Reply