The Need to Make Addiction Treatment More Accessible
One of the most difficult aspects of the work I do is constantly butting up against the utter lack of understanding of the disease of addiction and what it takes to treat it. And it’s not just the lack of understanding, it’s how that lack translates as indifference, denial, outright prejudice, stigma and shame, which in turn keeps those who need and could provide accessible addiction treatment from doing so.
So you can imagine how excited I was to learn of Dr. Steven Kassels new novel, Addiction on Trial, Tragedy in Downeast Maine. Dr. Kassels is board certified in both Addiction Medicine and Emergency Medicine and is the Medical Director of Community Substance Abuse Centers, which has treatment center facilities located in New England.
How can a novel help resolve the dilemma I described above? Please read my interview with Dr. Kassels.
Why is there a need to make addiction treatment more accessible?
Addiction expert, Steven Kassels, M.D., takes a new approach to raising awareness about the disease of addiction and the need for accessible addiction treatment.
We, as a society, have a misperception of what addiction really is – a chronic illness with genetic predisposition similar to diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, etc. But as a doctor with specialties in Addiction Medicine and Emergency Medicine, whenever I would give a lecture, whether to the local PTA, the police department, medical students and young doctors or others, I found that in most cases I was preaching to the choir. Why? Because many of us in society function through denial as much as the persons with the disease of addiction who are not in recovery rely upon denial to continue their behavior.
NIMBY – Not In My Back Yard – is the calling card of communities across our nation. “We don’t have a problem; it is the next town over.” For example, what resort area would want to allow an opiate treatment center in the community – that would be a red flag and the tourists would stop coming! But until we acknowledge that all communities, all neighborhoods, all families have the disease lurking amongst us, nothing seems to change. I recall the two front page headlines of the local newspaper of a small city: “Mayor Stops Opiate Treatment Center – There is No Need,” next to the other headline, “Two Arrested at Mall for Heroin Distribution.”
How do we change perceptions about addiction?
1. Part of the problem is we cannot readily put a face to the disease of addiction due to the incredible stigma attached to “coming out”. But there are some individuals who courageously step forward. One such example, that also emphasizes that the disease of addiction is an equal opportunity illness with no socioeconomic boundaries, is:
• a short video distributed by the American Society of Addiction Medicine
2. Our politicians need to step forward, like Governor Shumlin of Vermont recently did in his state of the state address, donating almost the entire speech to the need to address the opiate epidemic in his state. This is in such contrast to the Maine Governor’s approach and the approach of many politicians who advocate for limiting access to care and funding.
Why is it essential to fund and treat this illness (the brian disease of addiction)?
1. The humanitarian reasons are evident: patients’ lives are at stake and the risk to the public in terms of illness and safety is also at risk.
2. Unfortunately large numbers of our neighbors and politicians still believe that drug addiction is not really a disease or that the individual can address it by a simple change in attitude, by just willing it away; that the illness is self-inflicted and is a weakness of moral character. But these folks tend to put other self-inflicted illnesses, like heart disease from nicotine, liver disease from alcohol, diabetes from obesity, etc., into a different category. To these non-believers, or to the politicians who say we cannot afford the treatment, my response is simple – you can pay now or you can pay more later, but you are going to pay. It is estimated that for every dollar we spend on treatment we save seven dollars in terms of treatment of complicating medical illnesses, Emergency Room visits, incarceration, security, theft, judicial costs, etc. The “fiscal conservative” naysayers need to understand that it costs $50,000/year to incarcerate one heroin addict, $25,000/year to maintain that person in a halfway house and $5,000/year to treat the patient in an out-patient opiate treatment center (with daily medication as needed, drug testing, individual counseling, family and/or group counseling, HIV and Hepatitis C testing, and annual physical exams.)
Tell us why you wrote Addiction on Trial: Tragedy in Downeast Maine?
Dr. Steven Kassels brings addiction to life in his new novel, “Addiction on Trial, Tragedy in Downeast Maine.”
1. Simple answer: I wanted to. I wanted to because I was frustrated with the lack of funding and access to care for patients; frustrated by insurance companies’ lack of providing adequate coverage; frustrated by the politicians and bureaucrats who know or should know the urgency of this issue but do little to correct it; frustrated that despite all that is known about the epidemic of addiction (1 in 3 families are impacted by addiction; that we spend $182 Billion/year dealing with the secondary costs associated with addiction) there seems to be no urgency to deal with this scourge.
2. We need to educate our friends, neighbors and politicians about the disease of addiction, but how can we reach an audience that would not be inclined to read a book about addiction?
Through my years of practice in Emergency Medicine and Addiction Medicine, I have had the privilege to treat patients from all walks of life. From a medical perspective, it is very clear that we have differences, but we are more similar than not – we all need hearts to pump in order to sustain our organs and to perfuse our brains. When we are sick, we all benefit from compassion and care. Society should not differentiate between diseases!
But who wants to read another scientific book about addiction? Not me! That’s why I wrote Addiction on Trial as a medical murder mystery/legal thriller to both entertain and educate through the depiction of the realistic struggles of addiction. I hope this book changes hearts and minds and attitudes and political thinking about the disease, and I hope readers will pass it along to others to further spread this understanding. Then, perhaps, addiction will be recognized for the disease it is, and addiction treatment will be readily accessible for all who need it.
To Learn More About the Book or the Author, Steven Kassels, M.D.
Please visit the book’s website, Addiction on Trial: Tragedy in Downeast Maine, where you will also find his radio interview linked, or connect with Dr. Kassels on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn
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Another terrific interview, Lisa! I feel a surging sense of hope when I read about physicians who treat addiction disease with ALL the tools in the medical bag, who are open-minded and who feel a sense of urgency to get to the core of the matter. Now, to read that Dr. Kassels wrote a novel (maybe more?) makes my respect level zoom through the roof! Cannnot wait to read it! Thank you both!
Thank you Beth for your comment and support. I am hopeful that my book will reach a wide audience to educate and change some hearts and minds. Even in medical schools, there is a lack of teaching about the disease of addiction and this needs to change. I am working with an organization of physicians that is trying to change this. Also, I think family members of those suffering with the disease of addiction would benefit from my novel as it focuses on enabling behavior as well as the need for treatment. Thanks again! Steve
Hi Lisa and Dr. Kassels,
What a great idea to write Addiction on Trial as a medical murder. Stories so often have a much bigger impact on the reader. Thanks for this insightful interview. It is heartwarming to know that there are medical doctors who have specialized in addiction and understand the concerns that so many of us who have experienced addiction with our children have. I agree that so much more needs to be done in the way of funding and treating addiction. I appreciate hearing about Dr. Kassel’s book. I will add it to my list to read!
Thanks Cathy for your comment. I think that many people avoid reading scientific medical info about addiction; and so by incorporating it into a medical murder mystery/legal thriller I hope it will reach many readers who normally would not choose to read about addiction and in doing so will change some hearts and minds of our neighbors and policy makers/politicians. I am excited that Thursday I am giving a presentation in Boston and Robin Cook (NYT Best Selling author/physician) is attending and is joining in a round table discussion after my book reading. It will take a village to change attitudes and to increase funding, but now is the time for all of us to push forward! Steve
This is so refreshing! Another angle, another way to get the word out – to organically shift the thinking about addiction and how we as a nation are treating it. I love it, and I certainly want to read the book. Congrats to all, especially Steven Kassels, who I sure worked hard and tirelessly to make this happen. Thanks to Lisa and all of you!
Leslie:
Thanks so much for your kind words. Just heard that a High School in Massachusetts is putting my book on its summer reading list and also that The College of Atlantic in Maine will be using it in 2 of its Psychology courses. The more the word gets out by all of us about what the disease of addiction really is, the better the chance to change hearts and minds. Yes we can 🙂
This is cool, Lisa – very cool. Dr. Kassel found a clever way to get the point across. And whether it’s within the realm of substance abuse or emotional/mental health treatment, we need to become as clever as possible. So many blindly/naively believe it somehow just isn’t real – or it’s someone else’s problem. How misguided is that? And as Dr. Kassel says, oh we’re going to pay one way or another. How silly, then, not to do what makes sense fiscally – not to mention humanely. Thank you, Dr. Kassel – thank you, Lisa…
Bill
And thank you Bill for your comments as well. There is a segment of our population that just votes their wallet/pocketbook. But their votes are just as important, so even if we can not convince them on humanitarian terms about the importance of prevention and treatment, at least we can influence them through an economic approach – which is why I wrote a fiction page turner – now we need to get our more conservative neighbors to read it 🙂
Great article.
Thanks.
Thank you Erika. Can you use it in your classrooms as a teaching tool? I assume you are a teacher by the comment “Greta Teacher” – so thank you for your devotion to our kids !!!
Lisa and Dr. Kassels,
What I am struck by during and after reading this great interview is just how many dedicated and knowledgeable people are in our ranks to bring this cultural rescuing work to fruition–not the least of which, you two. Thanks to both of you who keep standing up with clearer and better ways of communicating the depth and breadth of this travesty along with real solutions. I really do sense a shift.
Recovery is out because wellness is out and I am thrilled to learn about you, Dr. Kassels and your fresh perspectives. I will buy your book the first chance I get.
Thank you Herby. I have been humbled by the many positive comments, and recently heard that a college is adding my book as part of curriculum for Psychology majors and a high school is considering my book for summer reading as a teaching tool for parents and students to read. Hopefully others will learn from the fictional story based on medical truths. Steve
Lisa, thank you for another introduction to a fascinating person.
Dr. Kassels, I’m so excited to read your book. I come from a family in which addiction has trapped more people than not. There is such widespread misunderstanding (including among my family members) about addiction. Thank you for the work you are doing!
Jody: Thank you for sharing. I will be interested to know your thoughts about the book, which I hope can educate through a page turning fictional story based on medical truths. My website also has multiple blogs and resources as well. http://www.addictionontrial.com
Steve
Great interview. I am just catching it but delighted to hear the novel is making it to college campuses. I heard somewhere that 1/3 of college students qualify for a substance abuse diagnosis. Let’s start talking about it!
Amy: Thanks for your comment. As we all know, there is a tremendous problem with binge drinking on campuses, but it does not stop there, as opiates and stimulants are readily available. Again, this is one of the main reasons I wrote “Addiction on Trial” – to emphasize how only through prevention and treatment (ie: addressing the demand and not just the supply side of the problem) will we be able to curb risky behaviors. Recently, lowered the price of the ebook (to 99 cents for another few weeks) so hopefully it will be read by a students in high school and college. I hope they pick it up as a summer read of a murder mystery legal thriller and put it down after reading it with a broader understanding of addiction related issues. Thanks again for your comment. Stevec