Trauma Related to Drug Abuse

One day while at work I was standing in a lobby when I noticed a woman in her early 30s who was rushing through the door and appeared panicked. As she passed through the lobby she began crying, short of breath and fell to the ground while talking on her cell phone. When she fell I ran over to her to provide assistance in any way I could. I asked her if she was okay and if there was anything that I could do to help her. She looked at me with tears in her eyes and told me that a family member had just overdosed on heroin. At first I was shocked and felt so bad for her and then tried to help her back to her feet and then escort her to her office where I was met by her friends who consoled her and care for her during that awful time for her.
While I understand that addiction is a very complex dilemma to be in and the problems that addiction alone presents can be quite traumatizing. According to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health heroin was listed as the primary drug of abuse in 50.3% of treatment admissions. Heroin is a highly addictive opiate that caused 2,000 overdoses in the state of Massachusetts in 2016. With the drug being so addictive and extremely difficult to break the habit which could be predicated by the fact of trauma that the victim is enduring. Not only is heroin and other opiate usage dangerous, but the circumstances and dangers of that lifestyle are traumatic as well. Addicts are susceptible to perilous situations including homelessness, dangerous environments, dangerous people, and some even resort to crime to pay for their habit.

The toll that living on the streets has shown to be traumatic for the body and mind as well. According to the Boston University School of Public Health homeless individuals are more susceptible to premature deaths that can be attributed to poor sleep, lacking hygiene, and an abundance of other complications that come from living out in the elements. With many addicts resorting to living on the streets there becomes only a few ways to acquire money for their addiction.

One way of sustaining their habit is prostitution. In one article by (Silbert, Pines, & Lynch, 1982) it was estimated that between 40-85 percent of prostitutes were suffering from some form of addiction. As stated before addicts are exposed to many dangerous and traumatic situations. Using prostitution to fuel the source of their addiction can lead to many emotional, psychological, and physical traumatic events. Having to live with what they have resorted to do for their addiction can be troubling, and depressing which drives them to feel the euphoric numbness of the opiate. One study by (Farley, 2018) noted that women who participate in prostitution have a 99% greater risk for physical violence than any other highly dangerous job.

Though the affects of drugs are severe and life threatening, we must also address traumatic events that can arise as a byproduct of addiction. Risk factors involved with drug addiction are very dangerous and present a complex and difficult lifestyle. Effects of these epidemics are not centralized to the user, but as stated above can be traumatic for family and friends as well.

Farley, M. (2018). Risks of Prostitution: When the Person Is the Product. Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, 3(1), 97–108. doi: 10.1086/695670

MA Heroin Treatment Stats. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://adcare.com/massachusetts/heroin/

McInnes, K. (n.d.). Homelessness, Its Consequences, and Its Causes: SPH: Boston University. Retrieved from https://www.bu.edu/sph/2016/02/28/homelessness-its-consequences-and-its-causes/

Silbert, M. H., Pines, A. M., & Lynch, T. (1982). Substance Abuse and Prostitution. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 14(3), 193–197. doi: 10.1080/02791072.1982.10471928

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