Dependence

It seems Australia has not learnt from the dire situation in America, whereby prescriptions to patients for legitimate opioids have DROPPED 60% in the last 10yrs, yet overdoses have DOUBLED in that same timeframe! In fact, reputable studies indicate where there is “No previous or current history of abuse/addiction, the percentage of abuse/addiction [in chronic pain patients] was calculated at 0.19%."

Cracking down on legally issued prescriptions [as part of the failed War Against Drugs], in no way is a good outcome for those who have responsibly used their opioids for years, i.e. a cohort of people who are NOT addicted to their life-saving medications, & who ONLY use their legally prescribed pain relief as required!

www.linkedin.com/posts/kevin-james-971278190_opioidcrisis-op...

#opioidcrisis #OpioidEpidemic #opioidrestrictions #OpioidAddiction #OpioidUseDisorder #prescriptionopioids #opioidmedications #illicitdrugs #fentanyl #Addiction #Dependence #policymakers #StopTheStigma #ChronicPain #Chronicpainwarrior #chronicpainmanagement #overdoses

It seems Australia has not learnt from the dire situation in America, whereby prescriptions to patients for legitimate opioids have DROPPED 60% in the last 10yrs, yet overdoses have DOUBLED in that same timeframe! In fact, reputable studies indicate where there is “No previous or current history of abuse/addiction, the percentage of abuse/addiction [in chronic pain patients] was calculated at 0.19%."

Cracking down on legally issued prescriptions [as part of the failed War Against Drugs], in no way is a good outcome for those who have responsibly used their opioids for years, i.e. a cohort of people who are NOT addicted to their life-saving medications, & who ONLY use their legally prescribed pain relief as required!

www.linkedin.com/posts/kevin-james-971278190_opioidcrisis-op...

#opioidcrisis #OpioidEpidemic #opioidrestrictions #OpioidAddiction #OpioidUseDisorder #prescriptionopioids #opioidmedications #illicitdrugs #fentanyl #Addiction #Dependence #policymakers #StopTheStigma #ChronicPain #Chronicpainwarrior #chronicpainmanagement #overdoses

#Autism #Disability #InvisibleDisability #Dependence #Independence #Neurodiversity #selfadvocacy #Advocacy (slight repeat to maintain intelligibility) Being able to rest has led to some miraculous things, including an underlying peace of mind and satisfaction with my life I could never have imagined growing up, and that I'm told most people never find in their endless search for "more". (Now if I could just get back there for more than minutes at a time!! But that will come.) Being "dependent", has led me to develop a previously unimagined independence, and as I said, sense of well being, that the rest of my (supposedly nondisabled) family can only dream of! It's still pretty amazing to be compared favourably to my siblings! And it is because I never stopped fighting and striving, and demanding the support services I needed to make my life work out. (And the supportive community to support all this.) Until I needed a rest and a break from engaging with the world. And now, maybe, I'm willing to engage with it again. Maybe. Still debating that one.
Fighting all these invisible disabilities, while at the same time being obviously intelligent, and appearing to know what the hell I'm doing in and with the world has been hard, and will continue to be, especially as I get reacquainted with some of the ones that faded into the background for a while while I was essentially hibernating from involvement in the world, and which are now reemerging. But slowly, society is starting to "catch up" to the reality that diversity is a natural fact of life, and that invisible disabilities exist, and not all disabilities are visible, or even prexent consistently. Also, that, in reality, pretending that life doesn't thow everybody major challenges, at some point or another (or several), or that everybody has the same skills, abilities, and resources, hurts everybody.we need to recognize that life is hard for everybody. Being human is hard. Ignoring this basic fact makes everything even harder, for no good reason. It gives me hope that someday we'll end up with a more egalitarian society!!

#Autism #InvisibleDisability #Disability #Advocacy #selfadvocacy #Dependence #Independence #Neurodiversity Just finished (I hope) writing the letter that will hopefully convince the government to fund my continued professional relationship with my psychologist/autism specialist. I'm pretty proud of it. I realized several times while writing it that there have been benefits to having no money/not being independant in that sense, and having to be part of "the system". It means I've gotten proficient at writing letters of this sort, and convincing organizations to provide me with the money to do stuff I otherwise wouldn't be able to. Whether it is for assistive technology (over and over again), an updated computer so I can do my term papers and email etc. or living expenses in extraordinary circumstances (i.e. when I was less than a full time student, even for a disabled student, but only had one class left to complete my degree, and so would've ordinarily "falien through the cracks" between student loans and social services). Or whether it was a scholarship, or conference attendence funding (the latter was never successful. The former sometimes was). I got a lot of practice, and a lot of support from people who were on my side, and wanted to help. (And those few experiences to the contrary!). Combined with all that practice writing term papers, and learning how to write convincing thesis statements, and craft an argument...
Not only has this all given me the ability to craft these letters, but it's given me the experience to see that being open about my needs, and my differences has been the best thing for me. Many people would tell me I need to be more independent, or that being "part of the system" is bad, and should be avoided, etc. And I should do as much for myself as I can, (or, more accurately, as they can!), but all hiding my difficulties and differences ever got me was a whole lot of heartache and pain and frustration. And probably no small amount of rage. Being open about who I am, and what my limitations are has opened a whole new world of opportunities for me. It has led to people stopping blaming me (as much) for my difficulties, and recognizing such things as disabilities, rather than as attitude, or deliberate obstructive behaviour on my part. It has led me to be able to explore my actual abilities once many of the burdens of my disabilities were removed.
Allowing myself to even have limitations, even if they are much different, and much greater than other people's has led to all sorts of possibilities I never would've discovered if I had been crushed under all those neurotypical and nondisabled expectations and demands!! It has even led to some abilities that others don't have! Being able to rest has led to some miraculous things, including an underlying peace of mind and satisfaction with my life I could never have imagined growing up, and that I'm told most people never find in their endless search for "more".

Since @sadburden posted about social isolation by choice a couple days ago, I have been thinking about those choices in my life.
I realized today that, to some extent, this isolation serves the purpose of making sure no one is dependent on me in case this living life thing doesn't work out any longer. I've always been an empathetic helper, so people have naturally turned to me for support all through my life. Ceasing communication with almost everyone over the past year has been a bit of a relief - some pressure released from the burden of living.

#Relationships #Isolation #lonely #Dependence #Depression #Anxiety #emotionalabusesurvivor

I put all my energy, Hope, life into one of my best friends, at one point more than friend. And now they’re realizing how toxic it was for both of us. I spent holidays with him, birthdays, celebrations, everything. We have the same friends. Same interests. We’ve grown together. And now he’s dropped it all, and I’m beginning to think that even continuing to be friends when we’re not as close as we once were is bad for me. I don’t know what to do. I just want to feel independent again. #Dependence