A better option to treating the opioid crisis is to help those in need now … rather than waiting to see how their suffering will affect them and society as a whole.
The costs are always the same … either be a conservative and villainize these people and let them become a burden on society and costs go towards police, security, emergency health care, judicial and negative social effects from their destroyed lives
… or …
Be more socially minded and spend the funds on helping these people now and prevent them from spiralling out of control and negatively affecting their lives further or the lives of others.
The unfortunate reality of substance abuse is not the lack of care, but the lack of commitment or motivation to get care. Same with all the resources we provide for mental illness.
We need to find more ways to get people into treatment, or at least incentivize them to do so.
I’ve heard a number of stories of people asking for assistance with mental health and being added to a list that will take them as much as 6 months to be seen even once. So what is it? Are there so few resources to help those who are asking, never mind those who have given up, or are we spending vast amounts on that with no one taking advantage of it? The evidence suggests the former.
No doubt, waiting lists happen, depends on the resource or service needed.
You also need to be acutely aware that some mental illnesses (i.e anxiety disorder) can distort a persons perspective, so any small effort would be described as “I tried everything to get help.” This should be recognized by anyone involved in this person’s care.
In Ontario, you are a call away from help. We have crisis teams that can be called out. We have free and paid therapy options. There are hospital beds for someone in a crisis. Etc. These are often immediately availability with no wait.
Yes, if you want to commit yourself to a place like Ontario Shores, then there’s likely a wait list depending on the program, but there are a half dozen other services you can access while you wait.
Kids and youth are helped faster than adults.
Can we use more resources? Of course, but getting someone with a mental illnesses to access and commit to treatment is the most difficult part, IMO.
I can’t speak for anyone else’s experiences, but I do have first hand experience, and a spouse who needs these services on an ongoing basis.
With mental health specifically, help often involves many moving parts: pharmaceutical, family support, workplace support, doctor support, therapist support, an in or out patient commitment, personal motivation, often times financial aid, and time.
It is daunting for anyone to see how much effort is needed, so it becomes an even greater challenge for someone who’s already struggling or has little will to see past today’s suffering.
But seeing how the Ontario government has been chronically underspending, I do believe that we can do much better for people in need.
I would encourage you to try and access care - it’s incredibly challenging if you aren’t an immediate threat to yourself or someone else. I agree lack of access would demotivate people trying to access care.
Drug addiction is a public health issue, not a criminal matter.
I have, for my spouse and another person in my immediate family (under 18). Mind you, this was before the pandemic, so things may have changed since then (no doubt), but it was far easier to find resources than it was to get a commitment for treatment.
You can’t force someone to get treatment, since these places only accept people who consent to it.
The real problem is that anyone who’s in a mental health crisis, or struggles with substance abuse, lack the perspective to see that they need treatment. We do need more access, but we also need proven strategies to help convince someone to seek treatment (and to stick with it).
It’s a difficult puzzle to solve, and I really empathize with any family or individual who is in this situation.