Mental & Emotional Health

Yes, I know, that’s a mouth full.  But, you know, I’ve mentioned them all this week so I think you should hear from someone who deals with chronic pain and who is addicted to pain medication as well as mediation for anxiety.  The person asked to remain anonymous and so be it, that will be the case.  This person was so much like myself that I was almost amused to see if I had an alter ego out there.  But, in fact, no, that’s not the case.

This person, we’ll call her, Susie (not her real name, obviously) had back surgery.  She had surgery a year before I did.  See where it was so odd.  Anyway, the difference is, Susie has to work in a fairly hard labor job and doesn’t qualify for her disability.  She simply isn’t old enough.  The government wants to re-habilitate her.  Teach her a skill?  Yea, but the skills they are willing to teach her would earn her half what she makes now.  How’s that helping the situation at all?

Susie says she deals with pain on a daily basis.  Some days she can barely walk the pain is so intense.  Some days she goes to work bent over (sound familiar…..) and some days, she just doesn’t go at all.  And, when you have a family to feed, a teenager to clothe and more mouths to feed, you simply can’t afford to make half as much as you are accustom to making.  No matter how hard you try, it’s practically impossible to cut back that much. 

Add to all that the fact that this “new” skill would require a different set of working hours which isn’t conducive to her family environment either and what you get ….what you get is someone addicted to pain pills.  It’s a way of life.  It’s all she’s got.  Don’t judge, it could be you?