Dependence

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Thankful for #Dependence !

Today marks another year of celebration for America’s independence.

This year’s holiday morning, I woke early and before I knew it, I was walking up a paved hill to an unfamiliar yet greatly anticipated place.

I entered the small abbey where marble greets each visitor into its small darkened hall. In silence I sat as if returned to a womb. The quiet stillness cocooned me in reverence. I sat before our Father with a respect hidden deep within my soul.

One by one, silent guest squeaked their way inside the space. Their arrival was witnessed solely by the sound of their damp shoes caressing against the antique marble floor.

We all sat in silence amongst the statues of those who have gone before. As the figure of the Christ, himself, stood suspended at the place of redemption. The now shiny with gold solid figure stands in stillness, arms outstretched, on the old rugged cross.

The lights came on. The Mass was said. I vaguely remembered the unison of chants, repentance, and rites that were said. Before I knew it, the priest blessed me—instead of the bread—with a sign of the cross across my forehead. The service then ended. The priest exited in silence. But many linger in the silence as if longing for more in the stillness of the dark little abbey’s marble and wood crafted hall.

One by one, the squeaking sound informed us of another’s departure from this place. And a few moments later, my seat echoed like thunder during a midnight storm, as I stood from the thick wooden chapel’s pew and squeaked my way out the short darkened hallway.

The bright overcast gray sky startled my eyes as I walked through the small chapel’s thick solid wood large door to enter the outside. I walked my way back down the wet pavement’s steep hill. And I pondered the words recited by all during the brief morning’s service, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Yes, we asked for such provision as an exercise of acceptance of a need.

So, I joyfully thanked my Savior each time I greeted him this day of independence celebration. For the celebration of dependence is apropos in the land in which we insist, “In God We Trust.”

May we all thankfully celebrate our daily dependence upon our loving Father, Son, and especially His Holy Spirit.❤️

(edited)
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OPIOIDS ARE EFFECTIVE FOR CHRONIC PAIN

Contrary to what the mainstream media and "anti-opioid" lobbyists would have you believe, legally prescribed opioid painkillers DO actually work for chronic pain. Opioids have been used for thousands of years to provide relief from pain, so why is there a mis-perception or inference in recent times they should only be used for acute pain?

In America the CDC Opioid Prescribing Guidelines state there is "insufficient evidence to determine long-term benefits of opioid therapy for chronic pain" [SEE LINK BELOW], and in Australia we are told there is a "lack of evidence for opioids in the management of chronic non-cancer pain" [i.e. based on the International Assoc. for the Study of Pain Policy Document February 2018].

Many anti-opioid activists claim there is “no evidence” or "insufficient evidence" opioids work long-term, yet there are NO high quality, placebo controlled studies routinely conducted for longer than 3 months. Therefore, to say there is no evidence is "a misleading statement, because non-opioid pain medications and alternative treatments are not studied for long periods either."

IF there are no reputable or "good studies" that go beyond 3 months [i.e. due to funding and other regulatory and scientific restrictions], surely the absence of evidence is NOT evidence of absence? There is a silent majority of responsible chronic pain patients, using their opioid pain killers safely and successfully for many years, yet their voice is not being heard.

#research #CDC #IASP #OpioidCrisis #PainManagement #Opioids #Painrelief #prescriptionopioids #Dontpunishpain #ChronicPain #PainManagement #OpioidEpidemic #OpioidCrisis #opioidtapering #forcetapering #Dependence #Addiction #opioidprescribingguidelines #OpioidHysteria #fearofopioids #opioidrestrictions #chronicpainpatients #deprescribingopioids #abandonment #untreatedpain #OpioidUseDisorder #SubstanceAbuse #PainKillers #StopTheStigma #Holisticcare #qualityoflife #noonesizefitsall

Study Finds Opioid Medication Effective for Chronic Pain — P...

Study Finds Opioid Medication Effective for Chronic Pain — Pain News Network

By Pat Anson, Editor Opioids have been used for thousands of years to provide relief from pain. But are they an effective treatment? Are they worth the risk of addiction? And do they improve quality of life? Millions of chronic pain patients who use prescription opioids so that they can work,
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CHRONIC PAIN PATIENTS DID NOT CAUSE THE OPIOID CRISIS.

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

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CHRONIC PAIN PATIENTS DID NOT CAUSE THE OIPIOID EPIDEMIC.

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

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#Addiction vs. #Dependence & #ChronicIllness

There is, of course, more to this than what is in this graphic, but these are the basics & biggest differences. It's no secret that chronic pain patients are suffering because of the addiction problem. I know the preferred terminology to some is substance abuse HOWEVER, I feel like addiction is the more appropriate word because of the way the word is viewed. Addiction isn't pretty. It's messy, tragic, awful, and a hundred other things. It destroys lives. We can't sugarcoat it if we want to really understand and help. I know that world. I also know what it's like to live with chronic debilitating pain and be desperate for relief- knowing it's out there but not being able to get anyone to help you because they don't believe it's that bad, or they're worried about the appearance of prescribing too many narcotics, or they just don't understand how bad it is. We have a huge problem in the healthcare industry of people expecting chronic pain patients to just deal with it rather than adequately medicating them because we had a period of time where the industry profited from pushing pain medications on patients unnecessarily. Both times, it's the patients that have been done harm, and the industry that has made/is making the rules. What they need to do is listen to us. We are the experts on how our conditions make us feel. What we have to do is educate ourselves on addiction, and make efforts to prevent our dependence from becoming an addiction. There is a better way than how it's going now, and we have to fight for it. For more from me, visit my other social media and the link in my profile. #ChronicPain #Fibromyalgia #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis #ChronicFatigue #ms #MultipleSclerosis #substanceabuse #invisibleillness

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Another lesson I've learned from disability part 2.

#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!!

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Another lesson I've learned from disability part 1.

#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".

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Social Isolation by Choice

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

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BPD #Dependence

I just ended communication with someone I thought I made a connection with. He reached out after a year of no contact. As with my condition, I push people when I notice I’m developing feelings for them. Then I kick myself in the ass because I made such an impulsive move but then I realize I am better off because I don’t think he wants the same thing as me and I’d rather not get to the point of no return of dependence but did I make the right choice? I despise myself for depending on people to satisfy my emotional needs.

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