“Naloxone isn’t the antidote for heroin. Community is.” Recently, Sam Quinones, journalist and author of “Dreamland,” addressed the Maryland Patient Safety Center conference regarding the opioid scourge in America. His talk was so profound that it’s worth sharing a few highlights. (Note: all quotes are his.) A 1979 brief letter to the Journal of American …
Recently, a mom from Florida emailed about her adult son. Not only is he actively using, but his addiction is further complicated with several mental health diagnoses. This mom writes: I have attended three Nar-Anon meetings but have been unable to embrace the 12 step program. These meetings have left me feeling more hopeless than …
At 7:40 the room begins to fill. By 10 of eight thick sets of keys and worn paperbacks save empty seats. By 8 p.m. it’s standing room only. My husband and I are attending an open meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous in southern Miami. We’re in the large, dimly-lit social hall of a Lutheran church not …
Is a parent ever prepared to hear bad news about his or her child? When that first phone call came from Jacob’s teacher at the beginning of high school’s senior year, some sickly fear chilled our home, even on a warm late-August night. I wondered if he had the wrong child. I hoped he did. …
Write a book about a topic, and instantly you’re an expert. Or people think you are. I often am asked questions that are better directed to those far more knowledgeable. What is your opinion about legalizing marijuana? How about programs that give addicts medication? What about needle exchanges? My answer is, typically, I am neither …
In July I let my gym membership lapse. My husband and I would be traveling most of the month so it seemed a waste to pay dues. Instead, on a sultry Saturday morning, I chose to walk through the grounds of the United States Naval Academy. We live three blocks away and “the Yard” – …
When addiction first crept into our household 11 years ago, I started keeping a journal. Retreating to clean white paper became my refuge. The blank pages stared back, non-judgmental and welcoming. On their unvarnished surface I poured out my anguish, fear, confusion and shame. It was the only place – until many years later – …
It often begins like this. I’m at a book talk. A woman seated in a back row slowly raises her hand. “I’m just curious. What does your son think of the book?” It’s a question I’ve come to expect. And since honesty is at the core of recovery, for both the addict and the family, I …
A successful professional, a mayor’s wife and mother of two, Lisa Hillman seemed it have it all figured out. The pain of knowing her teenage son was in the thick of a battle with drug addiction, though, was too much to bare. In her book “Secret No More” Hillman details how her life as an …