How a Reddit forum has become a lifeline to opioid addicts in the US • Hacker News Board

Re: How a Reddit forum has become a lifeline to opioid addicts in the US

#291

Post by ajmurmann » Thu, Jul 20, 2017, 1:10 AM UTC

gooseus wrote: post #62

What I find fascinating and disappointing is how much the opioid crisis isn't being talked about or addressed proportional to other societal issues. Billions of dollars of private research being poured into self-driving cars by our greatest minds and millions of dollars in lobbying against gun laws all in the name of preventing unnecessary human deaths... yet according to Ben Bernanke (and his references), opioid ove…

The recent Nautilus article about why our brain hates other people[1] makes an attempt at categorizing how we view people along two axis. How emotionally warm we perceive members of another group and how competent we perceive them. The article than goes on to describe how we react to these categorizations. According to the article we are physically disgusted by people with both perceived low competence and low warmth. The effect is compared to seeing a maggot infected wound. The article uses drug addicts as the example of a group we perceive that way.

[1]http://nautil.us/issue/49/the-absurd/why-your-brain-hates-ot...

Re: How a Reddit forum has become a lifeline to opioid addicts in the US

#292

Post by dionidium » Thu, Jul 20, 2017, 1:18 AM UTC

TheLilHipster wrote: post #289

dionidium wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you really understood addiction, you'd understand that this is like saying that you don't want to treat someone with cancer, since they seemingly insist on recurring time and time again even after chemo and radiation, continuing to have cancer until their death. But, of course, you're not thinking of addition as a medical issue. You're treating it like a moral failure .

I usually wouldn't post this sort of stuff, as it is a pretty taboo opinion that just gets buried. But If I don't get any discourse, I can't learn anything or have my opinion changed, anyway here we go... > If you really understood addiction. I hear this dismissive retort a lot in the addict community. It's nonsense. If you can't empirically analyze, measure and explain "what its like", or defend your view-point rati…

I'm not asking you to listen to the pleas of addicts. I'm asking you to accept the medical literature and the opinions of addiction specialists.

Also, you seem inordinately focused on the physical aspects of withdrawal and the moral fortitude required to endure it. I suspect that the professionals would tell you that that's less than 1% of the struggle.

Re: How a Reddit forum has become a lifeline to opioid addicts in the US

#293

Post by creyes » Thu, Jul 20, 2017, 1:32 AM UTC

gooseus wrote: post #62

What I find fascinating and disappointing is how much the opioid crisis isn't being talked about or addressed proportional to other societal issues. Billions of dollars of private research being poured into self-driving cars by our greatest minds and millions of dollars in lobbying against gun laws all in the name of preventing unnecessary human deaths... yet according to Ben Bernanke (and his references), opioid ove…

My company (https://pelorushealth.com) is a remote case-management/recovery coach app suit for people who are recovery from substance abuse, namely opioids and alcohol.

One of our biggest blockers has been the existing recovery industry. Addiction is so stigmatized that getting people to use an app on their phone, even after treatment, is problematic because they feel like the data could get out that they're an addict. This is another reason more research isn't done. These existing facilities literally don't collect data - much less use it in any relevant way.

Value-based payments and growing oversight from insurance companies is changing that somewhat. These facilities are starting to be required to report outcomes data - so from a business perspective we're good. But man this industry and it's privacy/secrecy are something else.

Re: How a Reddit forum has become a lifeline to opioid addicts in the US

#294

Post by cwsx » Thu, Jul 20, 2017, 1:36 AM UTC

Animats wrote: post #249

“Around my area, I believe a lot of people use [opioids] out of boredom. There’s no jobs, no way to have fun besides video games and riding four-wheelers and motorcycles. There’s nowhere to go except a run-down mall over in another county.” Sizable numbers of people get into opiates out of boredom? I thought this was driven by people with chronic pain.

A lot of people get into DRUGS out of boredom.

When drugs can be used to change how you feel people often will to escape negative feelings. Replace boredom with depression, anxiety, pain, it's all similar.

It's all about escapism.

Re: How a Reddit forum has become a lifeline to opioid addicts in the US

#295

Post by phil21 » Thu, Jul 20, 2017, 1:45 AM UTC

gooseus wrote: post #62

What I find fascinating and disappointing is how much the opioid crisis isn't being talked about or addressed proportional to other societal issues. Billions of dollars of private research being poured into self-driving cars by our greatest minds and millions of dollars in lobbying against gun laws all in the name of preventing unnecessary human deaths... yet according to Ben Bernanke (and his references), opioid ove…

It's really simple.

Addicts don't make good customers.

Re: How a Reddit forum has become a lifeline to opioid addicts in the US

#296

Post by loeg » Thu, Jul 20, 2017, 1:50 AM UTC

fapjacks wrote: post #229

loeg wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Online, from a reputable vendor. Long ago.

I hope one day "reputable vendor" comes to mean a kratom vendor that tests their kratom and publishes the results. This is a particular crusade of mine.

I'm definitely in support of the idea that a purchased product should match the advertising; recreational drugs (alcohol and weed, too) are no exception.

Re: How a Reddit forum has become a lifeline to opioid addicts in the US

#297

Post by loeg » Thu, Jul 20, 2017, 1:53 AM UTC

fapjacks wrote: post #279

_acme wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unadulterated kratom still affects mu-opioid receptors, just as other opioids, and so stopping taking it will cause opioid-like withdrawal symptoms.

Yes, but the point I'm making is that we can't know if he was taking some potent opiate along with his kratom. Kratom is used by many specifically because of its quick and mild withdrawal symptoms, which is why people on strong opiates use kratom to come off of their hard opiates. That's why it's suspect when people talk about lengthy, strong withdrawals, which are very uncharacteristic of unadulterated kratom. And b…

What vendor knowingly sold adulterated kratom? Just curious.

Re: How a Reddit forum has become a lifeline to opioid addicts in the US

#298

Post by emodendroket » Thu, Jul 20, 2017, 1:58 AM UTC

lostlogin wrote: post #288

nostrademons wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm reminded of this Twitter exchange, in which Alan Kay graffiti'd YCombinator's "Make something people want" poster to say "Make something people need " and Paul Graham retorted that "making something people need but don't want kills startups". https://twitter.com/sama/status/656892679817527296 The point of business is to create a customer. For that to happen, there has to be someone out there who has voluntarily d…

> making something people need but don't want kills startups. And this is what government and regulation are for in my view.

Yeah, seriously. Not everything can or should be addressed by for-profit businesses, or start-ups in particular.

Re: How a Reddit forum has become a lifeline to opioid addicts in the US

#299

Post by dvcrn » Thu, Jul 20, 2017, 2:08 AM UTC

ghostbrainalpha wrote: post #58

Dirlewanger wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://reddit.com/r/kratom

Be Fucking Warned https://www.reddit.com/r/quittingkratom/

Kratom is a like a cult. Kratom users get very emotional and angry when you tell them it's kind of like an opioid, but especially these subreddits show that that's pretty much the case, even in lower doses.

A lot of countries (Japan for example) already banned Kratom for exactly that reason and I wouldn't be surprised if the US follows soon.

Re: How a Reddit forum has become a lifeline to opioid addicts in the US

#300

Post by Retra » Thu, Jul 20, 2017, 2:23 AM UTC

segmondy wrote: post #282

gooseus wrote: post #62

What I find fascinating and disappointing is how much the opioid crisis isn't being talked about or addressed proportional to other societal issues. Billions of dollars of private research being poured into self-driving cars by our greatest minds and millions of dollars in lobbying against gun laws all in the name of preventing unnecessary human deaths... yet according to Ben Bernanke (and his references), opioid ove…

Why don't you go solve it? Who are you waiting for? Maybe some of us wanna work on self-driving cars. I often see people lamenting about the world's problem. Waiting for someone else to solve it. If you find it so disappointing, go for it! You can do it!

Our society is one built upon the idea of specialization. And when the specialists fail, they are asked to correct course. Your attitude is unwarranted.