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We are having a discussion about opiate addiction, and you have failed to explain why the US's broken healthcare system is an important contributor to that prob

We are having a discussion about opiate addiction, and you have failed to explain why the US's broken healthcare system is an important contributor to that problem. I certainly don't see how your experience with childbirth is relevant -- or bipolar disorder or ADHD. Do you imagine for example that the non-broken healthcare systems of the world are what is preventing opiate addiction there from becoming as severe as it is in the US?

rsynnott 3y ago
I mean, if medical care were expensive and difficult to access, you’d certainly expect more use of opioids, because they’re a cheap solution to chronic pain relative to more measured approaches. And it certainly does seem that the US opioid crisis was worst in extremely poor areas with limited medical care available.
- hollerith 3y ago
  Sure, but opioids are also a cheap solution to loneliness and to a chronic feeling of alienation and of "not belonging" caused by living in a society optimized for individual freedom and economic efficiency. I have yet to see reasons in this comment section to believe that access to healthcare specifically is the human need whose lack is driving most of the cases addiction in the US. Most young adults have no pressing need for healthcare except possibly birth-control pills for the young women (since those require a prescription in the US) and if the millions of young adults in the US who have become addicts during this crisis had unmet health-care needs at a significantly higher rate than their counterparts who did not become addicts, addiction researchers would almost certainly have noticed by now, and I probably would've heard about it from journalists who cover the issue.
  - rsynnott 3y ago
    > . I have yet to see reasons in this comment section to believe that access to healthcare specifically is the human need whose lack is driving most of the cases addiction in the US. Oh, yeah, I’m not saying that healthcare is the only factor or even the most important factor, just that it is relevant (and it does seem to be where the US opioid crisis _started_; oxycodone and similar were made available in ludicrous quantities as a substitute for actual medical care). Granted, it is probably much harder to put the genie back in the bottle now it’s out there.
  - dkn775 3y ago
    Addicted youth do have more unmet healthcare needs than youth without addiction. Anecdotally: cardiologist, inpatient rehab, dental work, maintenance medication, labs/blood work, mental health meds/counseling, ER visits and ambulance rides, and more. These are things that non-addict young people do not usually need unless they’re big athletes or suffer from serious trauma. Having access to these things also improves the likelihood of a full recovery from addiction (IMO).

rsynnott 3y ago

I mean, if medical care were expensive and difficult to access, you’d certainly expect more use of opioids, because they’re a cheap solution to chronic pain relative to more measured approaches. And it certainly does seem that the US opioid crisis was worst in extremely poor areas with limited medical care available.

hollerith 3y ago
Sure, but opioids are also a cheap solution to loneliness and to a chronic feeling of alienation and of "not belonging" caused by living in a society optimized for individual freedom and economic efficiency. I have yet to see reasons in this comment section to believe that access to healthcare specifically is the human need whose lack is driving most of the cases addiction in the US. Most young adults have no pressing need for healthcare except possibly birth-control pills for the young women (since those require a prescription in the US) and if the millions of young adults in the US who have become addicts during this crisis had unmet health-care needs at a significantly higher rate than their counterparts who did not become addicts, addiction researchers would almost certainly have noticed by now, and I probably would've heard about it from journalists who cover the issue.
- rsynnott 3y ago
  > . I have yet to see reasons in this comment section to believe that access to healthcare specifically is the human need whose lack is driving most of the cases addiction in the US. Oh, yeah, I’m not saying that healthcare is the only factor or even the most important factor, just that it is relevant (and it does seem to be where the US opioid crisis _started_; oxycodone and similar were made available in ludicrous quantities as a substitute for actual medical care). Granted, it is probably much harder to put the genie back in the bottle now it’s out there.
- dkn775 3y ago
  Addicted youth do have more unmet healthcare needs than youth without addiction. Anecdotally: cardiologist, inpatient rehab, dental work, maintenance medication, labs/blood work, mental health meds/counseling, ER visits and ambulance rides, and more. These are things that non-addict young people do not usually need unless they’re big athletes or suffer from serious trauma. Having access to these things also improves the likelihood of a full recovery from addiction (IMO).