The Power of Close

Hope for a Better New year

As the last few hours of 2021 were winding down to a close I sat on the edge of my bed. A picture my friend gave me of Lauren caught my eye. The thought hit me “I wish Lauren had had one more chance to reboot.” That’s what the New Year offers, a chance to change, grow, heal, and hope! “Brighter Days” talks about a point in Laurens life where she had the hope we all need.

If you are someone in the middle of a fight toward recovery, or someone trying to help somebody you care about, YOU SHOULD HAVE HOPE!

As we have taken the first few steps into 2022 there are a few thoughts to keep in mind:

Some things aren’t working. This year the number of people lost to an overdose will surge beyond 100,000 souls. That’s sobering and disappointing. Especially when we consider since 2018 NIDA (National Institute on Drug Abuse), has spent (including the projected budget for 2022) just short of 7 billion dollars, WOW! Much of it is money well spent but significant change is coming too slow. That’s the part we must do better at.

Unexpected Wins

The percentage of adolescents reporting substance use decreased significantly in 2021, according to the latest results from the Monitoring the Future survey of substance use behaviors and related attitudes among eighth, 10th, and 12th graders in the United States. These findings represent the largest one-year decrease in overall illicit drug use reported since the survey began in 1975. The Monitoring the Future survey is conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health.

The 2021 survey reported significant decreases in use across many substances, including those most commonly used in adolescence – alcohol, marijuana, and vaped nicotine. The 2021 decrease in vaping for both marijuana and tobacco follows sharp increases in use between 2017 and 2019, which then leveled off in 2020. If you would like to read more about this survey see the article Percentage of adolescents reporting drug use decreased significantly in 2021 as the COVID-19 pandemic endured | National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) on the NIDA website.

Two Important Areas of Improvement

Another area where things are continuing to change is in people’s, which translates into treatment, perspective on addiction.

The old mindsets of addiction being just a choice, a disease, or purely a neurological, physiological, psychological issue are fading toward a more balanced view where we realize there are elements of all three to addiction. If any treatment is not addressing all three areas success in recovery is hampered.

There is significant forward movement taking place in understanding the tremendous value of connection to the human spirit. For this post, I mean by that that humans are both physical and spiritual. For some, the spiritual includes the spirit and the soul. To others the spiritual is who the person really is, not necessarily the physical. In layman’s terms, it can be illustrated by the fact that mental health issues like anxiety and depression can have a very real impact on the body, and the physical condition can dramatically impact our inner being.

This really begins to matter by showing us the importance of the deep-rooted physical, psychological, and spiritual necessity for humans to have interpersonal connections.

Why People Thrive

People are designed to be with people. The issues, trauma, and pain in life that drive us to isolate are making things worse. In a paper written by Dr. Andrea Clements it was said this way “When connection is thwarted, the risk of addiction to substances increases, but when connection is established or re-established, we propose the addiction or risk of addiction will abate.”

There is no organization more equipped to do this for people than the true church. By that I mean people that commit to be followers of Christ and allow that to play out in actions. I guess the real challenge is are we willing to let very broken people to get close enough to us to just be someone that cares. I hope so!

Unlikely Allies

In 2022 one of the things I will be working hard at is connecting the power of the church, caring people, to the knowledge of research and benefit of clinical practices to positively eliminate addiction.

The brightest future in recovery is when those helping the hurting and those fighting to win can see the importance and healing of community. Then I think more young ladies and young men like LaLa will have their chance for a brighter tomorrow.

This weeks featured image is by Brooke Shaden. I am not aware of the title.