opioid misuse rises during Covid-19

Research from the federal government has shown that at beginning by  2017, our country saw a dip in the use of, overdoses and deaths related to prescription opioids. However, all that changed in 2020 as we were blindsided by the COVID-19 pandemic. Not only has the US lost almost 600,000 people to the coronavirus, opioid related overdoses and deaths increased by upwards of 40%.

I am a mom and I’m particularly sensitive to parents and friends of someone who struggles with an opiate addiction. Drugs don’t care who you are or who you know. My son is a good kid. He knows the difference between right and wrong. He knows to stay away from drugs. And yet I have heard these exact sentences from the mouths of parents who have lost their child to addiction, feel helpless in the battle to help their child get treatment, or worse yet don’t know if their child is dead or alive but are certain he or she is out there somewhere.

I’ve also been an Interventionist for 15 years. Families, friends, parents, siblings, coworkers call on people like me to help them “intervene” with someone they are afraid of losing to addiction, when they are desperately seeking answers, and when they know if something doesn’t change right now, their friend, son, daughter, sister, brother will be another tragic statistic.

When I joined Kaden Health, it was because I could help families, friends, and loved ones get the answers they need and the services they need to help improve the odds of successful treatment. Kaden Health offers best in class treatment for opioid addiction, delivered via video tele-health, quickly and effectively helping people take control of their addiction and their lives. We pride ourselves on being able to enroll individuals in treatment with one contact, assign a comprehensive care team, and get your loved one into treatment at the very point they say “Ok, yes, I need help.” We will take it from there.

Traci-Marie Sweet, Psy.D

CHIEF CLINICAL OFFICER