bree

I recently posted this up on my site , but I'm not getting much traffic yet.
I think this is important enough to really need to be discussed seriously, and as openly as possible. Lack of treatment for addicts can be life-threatening, as the article shows. When deaf people often don't get effective treatment, there is a problem.
Cut and paste job follows:

The Columbian discusses the issue of Deaf addicts, noting both positives and negatives. The Vancouver area hosts the Northwest Deaf Addiction Center, one of only five residential treatment centers for the Deaf in the U.S., as well as the Sign Oxford House, the only U.S. Oxford House for the Deaf. Good news for Vancouver, but the picture for Deaf addicts nationwide is not as bright. Deaf people have a higher addiction rate than the population at large, a problem multiplied by the lack of appropriate treatment and support for deaf addicts. What can we do to help the treatment of Deaf addicts improve?

Deafness

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BabyPhat21

Well, I know a couple of Deaf people that smoke weed because they have ADD/ADHD and it helps them but of course they will end up dependent. This is why I support supervised medication..........Also, there is another issue of Deaf people using SSI money to buy weed, alcohol, etc.........
I dont know. I dont use so I cant speak for why they use but there is always an underlying reason and once they work through that reason, then they really can start to recover from their addiction. Stopping cold turkey does not help because you are not solving the cause.

deafdyke

Well what causes those higher rates of addiction? I think among late-deafend people it may be the stress of dealing with a new disabilty....among the pedatric population, it could be the stress that so many kids deal with...for oral deaf kids it's probaly due to the stress of living in the hearing world 24/7, without a break, and if you're not really high powered living in the hearing world 24/7, can cause major burnout and frustration. I think also maybe b/c so many oral deafies feel like they don't fit in any where...my psycologist told me that the number one reason why people do drugs or drink is b/c they feel like they don't fit it .... for Deaf kids it might be due to the fact that they don't really have any commuication with their parents (remember most kids who Sign, their parents don't Sign )

knightwolf68

It can be come from peer pressure , low self esteem (sp?) , no big roles model to look up , lonely in their childhood , whatever u names these list goes on .. sometimes deaf ppl like to have "buzz" to make them think of something else ... just depend on who ... that's all i can say for now .. why did i got addiction myself ??? i got a influnce by my father's roles .. Thats how i end up ...

bree

I have ADHD myself, plus a family history of alcoholism. Due to these facts, I have always been careful around drugs. Probably way too easy for me to get addicted.
I don't know if its true or not, but it appears to me that deafies seem to have higher rates of ADD and other learning disabilities, as well as a larger number who are adopted. (in other words, multiple educational and social problems are common)

knightwolf68, I'm curious. You said you had an addiction? how did you recover? If we could hear some more from your perspective, I think it would be helpful.

Fly Free

its not an easy thing to do especially when theres NOT enough Deaf treatment services nationwide -- i have been clean 11 years and still counting and i did it on my own without professional help

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deafdyke

actually Bree...I do know that many oral deaf mainstreamed kids are very often dx as ADD. I know that ADD is a common co-dx for oral deafies, whereas at schools for the Deaf it tends to be kind of a rare dx. Some Deafies may have syndromes which predispose them to ADD, or bipolar or other co-morbid mental health conditions.

glassblower4gvn

Hello all,

I was directed to this forum and thread while doing research for a paper that I am writing on substance abuse within the deaf community. I feel compelled to post a response to what I have read. In regards to ADD/ADHD I believe that there is really no such animal, this is a label that is applied to individuals that do not conform to the mainstream standards. There is no legitimate medical test that is capable of determining whether a child/adult has this so called disorder (ask any medical professional). This "disorder" has come into the limelight since the invention of television and video games that do not allow a person to develop and maintain long-term concentration skills. Since the person is constantly interrupted by commercials their attention span and ability to focus on something for extended periods of time has suffered significant blows that carry over into their adult life. When the only form of entertainment was to spend long periods of time immersed in the plot of a good book we as a people developed these skills. Now our generation has evolved into one that can only focus for about 5 min.s before they need a distraction. It is my personal belief that this is a disorder of bad parenting and not that of a medical or psychological origin. That is not to say that there are those that have a legitimate disorder but are misdiagnosed.

I myself am a recovering addict with more than 6 years of sobriety, I am working toward my degree in substance abuse to help others like me. I have recognized the lack of care available to the deaf community and am taking ASL to be able to provide that much needed assistance to those who have little to no resources available to them.

One last thing, and read all of this before you get mad. Medical marijuana is a joke! It is a way that pot smokers can have their illegal drug legally. Marinol has been on the market and prescribed by Dr.s nationwide in states that have anti-medical laws in place. This is a compound that is derived from marijuana keeping all the properties that marijuana provides, but has none of the euphoric effects of the illegal drug.

VamPyroX

I think it's the lack of common sense that a lot of them have. A lot of my deaf friends who are potheads and alcoholics... lack a lot of common sense. Some of them are smart and/or have college degrees, but lack enough common sense to allow them to really understand what's really going on.

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jillio

I question the claim that there is a higher rate of addiction in the deaf population than in the hearing population. Addiction is rampant in all populations. Of course, treatment needs to be deaf centered, just as all mental health treatment for the deaf needs to be. Otherwise, too many mis-diagnoses are possible. History has shown us that lack of applying cultural context leads to mistakes in treatment and diagnosis.

FutureGame2100

Remember please do not let any kid use Meth on drug.

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jillio

Perhaps you should stay away from psychiatric diagnoses and stick to sharing your experience with recovery. I'm sure you have heard in your own recovery that just because it is what you believe doesn't mean it is reality. That would also apply to much of what you have posted.

Keep in mind...just because you have been successful in your own recovery does not mean that your way is the way that all will recover from their own addiction issues. There are many roads to recovery. And I can assure you that the superior and judgemental attitude with which you have presented yourself will turn away anyone that is seeking help.

Re: marinol...can you say big pharma?

Beowulf

Enjoying dancing on your pink cloud?

netrox

You are sorely mistaken. Marinol is THC so it does make you euphoric.

People tend to prefer to smoke it because it provides an immediate effect while Marinol takes an hour for it to set in.

Studies have shown that how quickly a drug affects you makes a huge difference in your addiction.

Rio

In perspective of hearing/ deaf world, do you think that all this new diagnosis such as ADHD/ADD could just be a money making label for new drugs from our government? Its just a thought. Years ago, no one has ever heard of such disorders.

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VamPyroX

There's also the issue of trying to be part of the hearing world.

Some deafies overdo some things that hearing people do with the thought that if they do it more, they will be noticed by their hearing counterparts.

I've seen some deafies swear more often because they think it's "normal". I've also seen some deafies who try to do something unusual in order to start a trend because hearing people do the same thing... but the deafies overdo it. For instance, deaf blacks walking around with their T-shirt half-on (shirt on over the head and one arm, but not the other arm) while walking around with their BTE hearing aids hanging from their ears (not behind the ears) and them shaking their heads hollering "YO!" "WAZZUP!?" "MY BOYZ!" "DUDE!" (these words make up for 75% of their spoken vocabulary) etc...


I remember a time when I read an incident statistics report at RIT. I don't remember the exact numbers, but I do remember that the percentage was a lot higher for deaf students than for hearing students. Unfortunately, the deaf students that heard about this report didn't quite understand the concept of percentages and thought that they were still better than the hearing students because their numbers were lower.

For instance, let's say the report says there were 500 incidents by hearing students and 400 incidents by deaf students. RIT has 15,000 students... 10% being deaf. That's 1,500 deaf students and 13,500 hearing students. Do the math... 500 of 13,500 is 3.7%... 400 of 1,500 is 26.7%... deafies being more than 7 times more likely to cause incidents than hearing students.

Yet, the deaf students kept insisting that percentages were nothing and that their 400 meant they were better-behaved than the 500 by the hearing students.

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jillio

I understand your point. We discussed this awhile back about bi-polar disorders. I think some of it has to do with drug availability, but also, we have to consider the fact that the symptoms have been around for a long time, but until it was studied as an actual disorder, there wasn't an official name for it. ADHD kids were just known as "very active" or "hard to manage" prior to the disorder being identified.

jillio

Absolutely. Those adjustment issues of trying so hard to be accepted by the hearing world makes a person that much more at risk for addiction problems.

I understand what you are saying about the perentages. I see people misunderstand the incidence and prevalence of disorders all the time.

deafskeptic

It has been a long standing belief that a certain deaf conservative is far right because the majority of the hearing are conservative as well. He's a bit extreme by most people's standards. I think he's overdoing it to seem as hearing as possible.

Of course, I could be wrong and my guess is a bit off.

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deafgal001

what if those percentage of hearing people separated by race instead of deaf? I don't it is really fair to judge by their disability, race, etc.

Or lets say there 1,500 white students (hearing so deafness is out of the picture), and only 4 of them are native americans. 2 of them caused incidents while 55 out of 1500 white students caused incidents. Are you going to say 50% of native Americans are more likely to cause incidents?

Oceanbreeze

Also, throw in a lot of co-morbidities as well. ADHD/ADD is often co-morbid with another disorder making it that much harder to appropriately diagnose someone.

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jillio

There are well known differences in addiction rates and substance of abuse divided by racial markers. Also SES.

jillio

True. And some medications prescribed for some disorders can have a side effect of ADD type symptoms.

Rio

Wirelessly posted

Yes, that's very true. Back in the day it was not identified nor studied til recently. This is an interesting thing I heard, can't at all prove its a fact, they were blaming certain foods to cause this to happen such as the kids cereals, Mc Donalds, etc..

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Ps.103:12 He washes our sins away into the ocean
Brady's back
Proverbs 17:9
Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends

rockin'robin

Years ago, one of my dear deaf friends was a cocaine addict. Even dealt it. Her apartment was raided, and she tried to throw the drugs down the toilet.
No matter what I said or even anyway that I tried to help her...it was useless. She went on to be a crack addict, and is that to this day, I've heard, even her 2 daughters and her son.

She was very well liked and a beautiful person before the drugs came along.

Oceanbreeze

I had a childhood friend (also born hearing, but with spina bifida like me) who became addicted to cocaine. Sadly, he committed suicide in 1995.

I don't think the rates of addiction are higher amongst the deaf then the general population. But, I WOULD say that the proper services for the deaf are probably sorely lacking. Services like, interpreter led addiction meetings and psychotherapists trained in ASL. You need to have better services to meet the needs of deaf. Only then, will you see the rate of addiction go down.

*Note the same can be said for general population as well it's just magnified in the deaf population!

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"There comes a time in your life, when you walk away from all the drama and people who create it. You surround yourself with people who make you laugh. Forget the bad, and focus on the good. Love the people who treat you right, pray for the ones who don't. Life is too short to be anything but happy. Falling down is a part of life, getting back up is living."

deafgal001

breaks my heart , I wish I knew how prevent stuffs like this. I do know that people being negative because who they are (black spina bifida, deaf, gay, etc.) does not help at all. Heck, my friend, who is very smart, took drugs. I guess she was on alot of pressure and this was her way of coping. She clean now (hopefully, but she did tell me that she will always think about it)

rockin'robin

Very true!...There are rehab centers, but are they qualified to hand a deaf addict? Even large cities are lacking the resources.

rockin'robin

An addict will always "think" about it....someone I knew actually had to leave the state to get away from old friends and dealers, as they knew her well. And once an addict, always an addict, same as for alcohol. It's a daily battle to refrain from the drugs/alcohol.

deafgal001

yes, she told me that she had to avoid places that reminded her of her drug days.