As time moves away from my final moments with Aiden, I find myself longing for his presence. The only way that I can cope is by "doing". I want to do more advocacy and I want to spread the message of his life and his struggles. I also want to help others find treatment. Treatment for substance abuse is poor, but it is even worse for adolescents. Not only are there so few treatment facilities available, but the facilities that are available do not practice with the most sound scientific methods. Most treatment facilities still operate with a zero tolerance policy and 100% sobriety. Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) is frowned upon and Al-Anon and AA are still presented as the best options. It has been proven that MAT is the best treatment for opioid addiction, but it is scarcely used, especially for the adolescent population. I hope that this website will be a vehicle for change, so that Aiden's wish of helping others will be realized.
Take a look at this article entitled Medication-Assisted Treatment of Adolescents With Opioid Use Disorders that was written in 2016(!!!!).
(AAP COMMITTEE ON SUBSTANCE USE AND PREVENTION. Medication-Assisted Treatment of Adolescents With Opioid Use Disorders. Pediatrics. 2016;138(3):e20161893)
How could Aiden have been denied life-saving medications six years after research proved its importance?
There is also lots of good information provided on this website: https://nida.nih.gov/publications/research-reports/medications-to-treat-opioid-addiction/overview#:~:text=Effective%20medications%20exist%20to%20treat,but%20they%20remain%20highly%20underutilized.
Medications are available and proven to work, but only half of the facilities offer MAT and even fewer offer it for adolescents.
It feels so good to get this off my chest. These thoughts of mine are heavy. The load I carry of my frustrations about Aiden's poor treatment are difficult to bear sometimes. He deserved so much better.
Written by: Sara Lowry
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