Last updated: September 25, 2023
The fact that drug overdoses stole 200,000 years of life in a five-year period is sobering news. When you add the fact that the figure is comprised of lives lost in the United States, the news becomes even more somber. And, when you discover that those overdoses in America claimed 200,000 years of life from tweens and teens—it’s devastating.
The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published an article at the end of January releasing the information. The study was the first as far as assessing unintentional drug overdose mortality among adolescents and young people in years of life lost (YLL). The intention of pointing out the YLL of young people between the ages of 10 and 24 who died due to unintentional drug overdoses is to provide important context to the epidemic plaguing this country. It presents the stark reality of what a great loss we, as a society, suffer because these lives were cut short.
Study looks at societal effects
Unintentional drug overdose has ravaged our country for decades when you consider all the illicit drugs on the spectrum. The opioid epidemic has continually grown worse over the past two decades. Things went from bad to worse with the introduction of synthetic opioids.
They were widely prescribed by physicians until the realization that they were highly addictive came to light. Synthetic opioids, such as oxycontin, are still widely available on the black market though. People overdose on them every day—they’re overdosing on meth, heroin, and cocaine too.
O. Trent Hall, DO,Candice Trimble, BA, andStephanie Garcia, BA realized that the number of young people dying from unintentional overdose continued to steadily increase. They decided to take a look at why. In order to conduct the study, JAMA looked at data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) between 2015 and 2019.
The increase in deaths of those aged 10 to 24 years old was sobering. Especially, when looking at the number from the YLL perspective. So many lives lost are leaving a huge hole in the ebb and flow of society. So many brilliant young minds who will never leave their mark on the world—other than becoming a sad statistic.
We need to change the game plan
Dr. Orman T. Hall, a psychiatry specialist at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and co-author of the study, believes their research shows that public health campaigns aimed at adults aren’t working well for all age groups. As a result, young people continue to see using drugs as a rite of passage and they’re dying in record numbers.
“A lot of our public health interventions are geared towards adults. And we know that the types of messaging and, really, the points of contact for adolescents and young people are different from adults,” Hall said.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommended universal screening for substance abuse when seeing adolescent patients. If the adolescent has a positive drug screen, pediatricians are encouraged to discover whether or not the substance use is interfering with the teen’s daily activities. They are also asked to determine if the drug use is putting the teen’s safety at risk.
That’s all well and good, but what happens after a determination is made? Drug use is going to interfere with daily activities and put them at risk. Drug impairment affects motor and thinking skills putting the user at risk of being in an accident. It makes sense that a positive drug screen would warrant treatment.
However, less than 10% of kids testing positive go to treatment as a result of the standard screening model. That’s because in many cases, the treatment referral consists of handing the young person a list of telephone numbers to call for help. The places on the list often cater to adults and won’t even see the teen. This leaves them between a rock and a hard place.
Odds are that they’ll be using drugs again in lieu of getting help.
Make the connection
It’s imperative that we connect with teens and young adults to teach them about the dangers of drug use. That age group is notorious for believing they’re invincible. The “it won’t happen to me” thought process is strong. Making a spur-of-the-moment decision that they’ll later regret is a tale told by many young people.
Overdoses are serious business though and lots of them don’t survive to share their story.
Instead of making it the young person’s responsibility to seek help, physicians acting as a go-between are making a difference. They offer to contact the treatment facility and share contact information asking the facility reaches out.
Evidence is showing that motivational enhancement works well with tweens, teens, and young adults. It strengthens their motivation to quit using drugs. It involves devising a plan for change and then developing coping strategies for dealing with high-risk situations. Giving someone the tools to cope with trigger situations greatly increases their odds of success.
Another method of treatment involves cognitive behavioral therapy. This treatment involves slowly working toward a behavior change one small step at a time. It’s often used in conjunction with motivational enhancement therapy.
Now or never
Considering the fact that drug overdoses skyrocketed during the pandemic and that fentanyl is pouring into our country across the open border, helping our kids find ways to get off and stay off drugs is more important than ever.
No one should die from a drug overdose—200,000 years of life lost is 200,000 too many. No one ever chooses to become a drug addict, but with our help, they can choose to live drug-free.
Let’s help.
