The Epidemic No One is Prepared For

There is an epidemic in our country that claims a life every four minutes. It is devastating our families, our economy, and our futures, yet no one is prepared for it. Doctors rarely talk about it. How could this be? I'll show you, because the second you read this sentence you are probably going to start second guessing if you want to read this article:

Drug overdose is now the #1 cause of accidental death - claiming more American lives than car accidents.

Just the word drugs and addiction make people uncomfortable. So uncomfortable that despite this utterly devastating statistic about overdose, most people still think it will never happen to them. My family thought the same. Until it happened to us.

We lost my little brother, Christopher, at the age of 21 to the most unthinkable possible death - a heroin overdose. You see, the most dangerous mindset we can have is, "Not my kid, not my family, not in my backyard." The truth is, it's already here.

Maybe you don't respond well to scare tactics and the whole "it happened to me so it could happen to you" argument. I know I don't. Hear me out though, because I'm not saying this to strike paranoia into your heart or ruin your day. My family doesn't want to see you become a fearful person going through the rest of your life waiting for tragedy to strike. What we want you to do is simple. Get educated, be prepared, and be willing to talk about it with others. Then live your life like normal.

The disease of addiction feeds on silence, shame, ignorance, and denial. The antidote to that is conversation, empathy, and education. Addiction is a community issue. It's not "that family" down the street and whatever you think they must have done wrong to get where they are. It's a systemic issue inside our communities, health care systems, schools, and the very fiber of our culture. It doesn't care how good of a person you or your kids are. No one gets addicted on purpose. It's an accident that happens to good and "bad" kids alike.

I say kids because over ninety percent of all addictions start before the age of 18. We take so many preventative measures to protect our kids from other illnesses, and yet when it comes to addiction, we are anything but proactive. Maybe it's because to be prepared for something means to admit you think it's possible, and admitting that addiction or overdose could happen in your family is just unthinkable. It would mean that you did something wrong. You were a bad parent. People would wonder why you are taking precautions. Right?

THIS IS HOW THE STIGMA KILLS.

It makes us so uncomfortable even broaching the subject, that we don't take precautions, we don't know what to look for, and when it hits us we are totally blindsided and miss crucial windows of action while we scramble to get up to speed.

If overdose is the number one cause of accidental death then why doesn't your doctor talk about it? Why haven't you read a book about it? Learned what predisposes a child to addiction, how to properly dispose of unused prescription painkillers, what to do if you discover signs of drug use in your teen - what words do you use and which ones do you avoid?

It happens to 3/4ths of American families, but I have yet to talk to a single person who was prepared for it.

That is why my family started The Chris Atwood Foundation. To help families both before and after addiction has touched their lives. We are holding a community educational event called "Addiction: The Taboo Subject" on Sept. 24th and Oct 3rd (details here) to educate families on this epidemic that claims a life every 4 minutes.

Please join us. You will be so glad you did.