Do you know someone addicted to opioids? If you answered, yes, you’re not alone A new study by researchers from Penn State University Lehigh Valley found that roughly one in five college students know someone who was addicted to opioids. And, of that number, roughly one-third knew someone who had overdosed on painkillers.
Here’s a breakdown of some of the findings:
- 20.5 percent said they currently know someone who is addicted to pain meds.
- 32.5 percent said they knew somebody who overdosed on either painkillers or heroin.
- 15 percent reported worrying that someone they knew may be misusing pain medication.
- Women were twice as likely to report having intimate ties to those who misuse or overdose on opioids.
These findings confirm what many addiction experts already know: family members and friends of loved ones of those addicted to painkillers are also feeling the effects of the opioid epidemic.
"Since the beginning of the opioid epidemic, public debate and prevention strategies have focused on the primary victims, misusers themselves, while surprisingly little attention has been paid to the burdens felt and experienced by those who are intimately or socially tied to them," said lead researcher Jennifer Parker, who is an associate professor of sociology at PSU Lehigh Valley.
The researchers hope that these findings will encourage others to delve deeper into how secondary exposure to the opioid epidemic will impact the students’ mental and physical health as well as academic performance. "It makes me sad to think that so many [students] are carrying around this worry because being a student in today's world is already hard enough," Erica Hughes, an undergraduate student in Health Policy Administration, said in a statement.
Sobriety College at Hope Academy
If your friend or family member is a college student struggling with opioid addiction, we can help. At Hope Academy, we provide the safety and support students need to succeed in school and at sobriety. To learn more about our sobriety college, call today: 866-930-4673.
