Monday, November 17, 2014

SELF-MEDICATING

It is just occurring to me as I write this, that Andrew, in his use of OxyContin, was managing his incredible chronic pain.  If he had arthritis or cancer, the OxyContin would have been prescribed for him.
Mental illness is still poorly understood, under treated, under diagnosed, maybe incurable, and often seriously debilitating. People with serious mental illness are frequently perceived as antisocial. They can be misunderstood, punished and / or exploited because we do not understand that their behavior is caused by a physical malady and / or an effort to self-medicate their pain with drugs that can worsen their ability to cope.

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