Death by Overdose

Actor, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, died this week of a heroin overdose. You may know him for winning a 2005 Oscar award for Best Actor in “Capote”. This is a sad loss, especially because he had been abstinent from illicit drugs for 20 years. His recovery was successful until he relapsed last year. He wisely entered a drug rehabilitation program after relapsing to heroin.

How does one become addicted to heroin? Opiates, such as heroin or pain killers, are more addicting than other narcotics. Occasional use can quickly turn to dependence. Although one may think they can manage the substance, and some do for a time, frequent use will most often turn to unmanageable use. After a time, the drug user is no longer achieving euphoria, but is instead trying to avoid the pain of withdrawal. They find themselves in a cycle of drug use in order to function normally. Their lives become focused on using and planning for the next use.

Overdoses are common for persons who abuse drugs. It is said that drug abusers flirt with death. They knowingly push the edge of the envelope in an attempt to achieve an intense state of euphoria. Why do they do this? Some people think it is a mental illness, most think the drug abuser is hiding from deep-seated problems, or that they use drugs as a means of coping with stress. Addiction is a often characterized as a disease.

Although these underlying causes may or may not be true, it is always true that they are initially chasing a state of bliss. Then tolerance sets in. Tolerance for a drug increases, thereby causing them to need more of the substance to achieve the euphoria. The greater the quantity of heroin, the greater the chances of an overdose.

They consciously take the risk of an overdose to achieve their bliss. But, long term drug abuse causes changes in brain chemistry. Poor decision making, poor judgement and impaired memory are consequences of ongoing drug use. They would not likely take that risk if they hadn’t been addicted in the first place.

I have heard stories of people who trust that their friends will revive them in the case of an overdose. One just hopes that their friends have the skills to do so, and that their friends are alert enough to perform the function. Sometimes friends are unable to help and need medical assistance. Drug use is illegal, placing the friends in jeopardy of arrest if they call for police help. Not everyone in the drug culture is willing to accept that risk and might choose to look the other way. And remember that these friends also have changes in their brain chemistry. These are not people to depend upon in a life and death situation.

I’ve heard too many times of people in the drug culture who run toward risk, rather than avoid it. For instance, upon hearing of a drug overdose, they may think “that must be good stuff.” They will have a life long desire for the intense state of bliss. Even after 20 years of drug abstinence, if the moon and the stars align just right, they will want “just one more high” and think “I can manage this.” And there they are, back in the cycle of addiction, or worse yet, death.