OUD (Opioid Use Disorder), Methadone Stigma and Semantics By Joe S. Thomas

Lately I’ve been thinking about taking steps to finish my Bachelor’s Degree to possibly get into an OUD (Opioid Use Disorder) counseling position, but there are times when I want to take courses in creative writing too…  I am a writer and I don’t believe it’s absolutely necessary to take courses or go to school to be a writer by any means…  Honestly, my favorite writers never went to school for writing…  I’m very close to having the majority of the credits I need to get my Bachelors, but being dependent on Methadone, I’m not sure how the treatment world really looks at that when it comes down to getting a job with them…  They’ll tell you all day long that you should do what you need to do regarding doing what you need to do to get sober, but when it comes to employment, it seems there’s a bit of two-sided bullshit detected…  I think I could be of great help with the past that I’ve had and  the things I’ve come to know regarding addiction, but, like I said, I’ve applied for certain jobs that I know I would be great at, had the education, yet never heard a word back from the companies…  I wish I  could go to work for a non-profit clinic for my own personal reasons…  I believe when money comes into play there’s too much temptation for those in charge to do for money, not for people and I find that repulsive as fuck when it comes to possibly saving a human being’s life…  That’s just my opinion…  I go to the methadone clinic everyday and I know how much it has changed my life and how it can truly be of help to those who feel there’s no hope of sobriety…  While I’m on methadone, I can’t call myself sober…  I just have an issue with saying that because to me, I’m still using a medication (though legal) to keep me away from illicit drugs…  The clinic would call my case a success, but I’m really not sure how I feel about that…  I do know what it was like without it, and it certainly wasn’t good…  I’ve also seen the medication help many of my friends to live better, more productive lives, but again, I’m not sure I can really call them sober…  Perhaps it’s semantics, but I really don’t think so…  There are days that I feel bad for having to be on anything to help me get through, but when you live with very real physical pain from surgeries and you end up hooked on opioids due to recovering from the said surgeries, life can become tricky…  It’s a day to day struggle…  If someone came to me and said they were having trouble I would tell them without hesitation to get into a good methadone program and do the work that you need to do to stay away from illicit drugs if that’s what’s in your heart to do…  I’m not here to tell anyone how to live, but I know there are so many people suffering unnecessarily and these people can be helped…  I hope the stigma regarding methadone and OUD can be straightened out so people can get the help they so sorely need and are often crying out for…