Opioid Crisis Voices
Parents, Addicts, Family & Others
​A powerfully written work by Marie Boland and Anna Christiani, two well-educated parents of addicted children. Children, who at various stages in their lives have been addicted to cocaine, to heroin, and to whatever would fill their need in the moment. Marie and Anna courageously share their multi-decade stories of struggling with the dreadful disease of addiction in all its forms, and in all its outcomes.
Beyond sharing their own vividly moving stories, Anna and Marie chose to open a forum for others to share their experiences, which leads to the most powerful part of their work. Anna interviewed parents of addicted children and recovering addicts over the course of several years, many parents - many people, both in America and in Europe. Those incredibly moving interviews were later transcribed by Carla Cilvik and put into this book in the hope that anyone dealing with addiction within their family might find a voice and an avenue to move beyond the stigma and toward a positive outcome. The stories provide hope in what so often appears hopeless.
In Part I, Marie shares the effects of addiction on the brain from the view of a medical professional. In Part II, Anna focuses on the intense personal challenges that accompany the disease through the candid voices of similarly confronted people.
The reader is invited to browse through the book from the perspective of a medical professional to that of an investigative journalist. The reader is also invited to read the stories of countless parents, family members, and addicts in recovery who just might be in the same situation as the one holding the book. In doing so you’ll find that no one is alone in this dreadful crisis. We are all connected, and there is no need for shame.
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**Continue reading below to read a couple pages from the book. These sections exemplify how addiction is a brain disease. With that understanding, it takes away the judgment about addiction.**
Praise for Opioid Crisis Voices
“We often read or see movies describing the life of children and adults struggling with drug addiction. Your interviews and stories of the parents and siblings of addicts provides needed insight into how families are coping. For a family who has found their child addicted to drugs, there is no roadmap on how to love, support and self-preserve while dealing with the issues. This book is important in shedding light on the hidden struggle of families that are not often shared due to societal embarrassment and judgment.”
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-Dale Parkhurst
“This book is a stark reality of what true life families are going through with their children dealing with addiction, whether it be with opioids or alcohol or both, this is a must read for any family dealing with this tragedy.
This was truly eye opening to someone like me, who, thankfully never had the experience that these families have had.”
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-Rebecca Swallop
“Part II is a profound read. It is deeply touching and soul altering.
The honesty of the author is exquisite and rare as she takes you through a mother’s deepest and soul wrenching love for her opioid addicted son, her struggle for distancing and immersion in the unending yet torturous love between a mother and her addicted child.”
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- Sophia Finnerin, MA, RN, NCPsyA.
“Riveting, and intimate views of lives often cast aside or hidden due to addiction. Every interview is 100% honest and shines a light into the darkness that is addiction. This book is a wake-up call to everyone, in every community. We must learn to see and acknowledge what is happening all around us, and also learn to prevent the disease before damage is done, and the cycle continues. Eye-opening, heartfelt, honest, Opioid Crisis Voices offers many perspectives from many different addicts, and families of addicts. This book will offer education and enlightenment for those not involved in that world. It will give comfort and hope to those still struggling.”
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-Carla Cilvik, Editor
Table of Contents of Book
Contents
Dedication. ix
Part I xi
Introduction. 1
Author’s Note. 3
The History of Drug Use. 5
The Brain on Drugs. 9
Where is My Child?. 16
My Story. 18
Addict’s Talk. 24
Parent’s Voices. 29
Rehabilitation. 38
Prison. 42
Court System.. 47
What Can Parents Do?. 51
Addendum on Vaping. 58
References. 60
Part II 62
Spiritual Reading. 63
Acknowledgements 64
Note to Readers. 66
Parent’s Stories. 67
Family Stories 129
Success Stories. 155
Support Groups. 186
Northampton Drug Court 225
Sermon by Rev. Anna Christiani at St. John's Church of Faith. 235
Anna’s Story. 243
Effect for Family/Friends, Addicts and Others 315
Epilogue. 317
About the Authors 318
Anna Christiani 318
Maire Boland. 325
"The Brain on Drugs"
First of all, I am going to talk about the brain, and the changes which occur during drug abuse. In order to speak about abuse I am going say that drug abuse causes emotional or physical harm to the individual, as this consumption is a compulsion of frequent intense cravings to use.
Addiction can be defined as when a person feels compelled to use a specific drug. Recently addiction was used to describe almost any type of compulsive activity (Coombs, 2004).
The problem with the above terms is the newer verbiage which supports a psychological dependence as the mental desire or craving to achieve the effects produced by a drug. A physical dependence is defined as a change in bodily processes that make a drug necessary for minimum daily function. This is clearly shown when a drug is withdrawn. The body naturally becomes accustomed to the dose of the drug, this is the physiological process, and more and more of the drug is needed to achieve the same effect. Maybe you have heard of tolerance. Tolerance is a decrease in sensitivity which leads to escalated use and sometimes the start of experimentation with other drugs. This is to create the original pleasure state first experienced. Wow the human body is amazing!
So what exactly happens to the brain of an addict? Well, I hope I can explain this without using too much medical jargon. Opioids stimulate different receptors in the brain. The parts of the brain are the hippocampus, amygdala, thalamus, and locus coeruleus. I will explain the previously mentioned parts of the brain and the pathways involved in addiction. I am not making any excuses for an addict; instead, I am trying to help parents understand what exactly happens to the brain of an addict. Stopping for years may heal the brain but there is no guarantee. Ok ready here we go. Follow me through this.
"Effect for Family/Friends, Addicts & Others"
Being an addict affects your life and surroundings. First your parents or your wife/husband/partner. Then your children, brothers and sisters, your grandparents, uncles and aunts, nephews, cousins and other concerned family members. Your regular friends, school or work friends, neighbors and people you rip off because of your addiction. Everyone who shows compassion will be used. It is one misery of existence and when you cannot make the change, it is a slow but sure road to death, if you don’t overdose to make that journey shorter.
Parents are worried to death and feel so hopeless that they cannot help their child. Your other children, siblings suffer because all of the attention goes to the addict's sister or brother. The worries seem to be never ending. You as another sibling feel bad to ask for attention because your parents are suffering already so much. When you are losing your child to cancer or any other serious illness everyone is compassionate, understandable and supportive; it is socially accepted. When you are losing your child to addiction most of the people don’t want to hear you or turn away from you, afraid to get involved, or don’t know how to respond.
At work we are afraid to share because when you might make a mistake, like all of us do, sometimes it might be understood differently and used against us. Or they feel so sorry for us that they avoid us too.
When your child struggles for many years, you as a parent are on that emotional roller coaster and family and friends become tired of that repeatedly same trauma, which looks like there is no end to it! You don’t share it anymore and suffer in silence.
My experience with my own family is that they don’t ask that often any more about my son because most of the time it is traumatic somehow. Otherwise, they don’t like to see me upset.
If you have any questions, please let me know and I will get back to you as soon as possible. Take care of all parents of addicts. I hold a “Light” for all of you in my Heart.