15.5 Overdosed: Other complications and consequences of Drug Use

Thanks for listening. I recommend watching this entire series on my YouTube channel due to there being several charts and graphics that you won't be able to see on other platforms; just search 'Renegade Psych' on YouTube to find our page.  Future episodes will be live video recordings, but we'll still produce our audio-only version as well, so view on YouTube, listen on other platforms, or don't do either, Life is full of choices! I recorded this series solo on a topic I consider myself very well-versed in, the drug/opioid epidemic, which has taken the lives of millions of Americans and caused medical and psychologic complications for hundreds of millions more, and has caused heartbreak in so many others caring for those with substance use disorders, in the last 25 years.  While the official overdose fatality figures hover above 100,000 annually as of 2022, there are significant numbers of fatal overdoses that get logged as other deaths.  The 1st episode of the series emphasized the severity and under-representation of the magnitude of the drug epidemic problem, the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th episodes traced the evolution from an increase in opiate marketing and prescribing, primarily initially Oxycontin, to a black-tar heroin epidemic once the US government introduced regulations restricting opiate prescribing domestically, and a massive increase in the number of people injecting drugs, carrying a host of other potential fatal and non-fatal complications, followed by the 4th installation discussing the 3rd wave of fentanyl contamination into the entirety of the US drug supply, causing an even bigger surge of overdose deaths and non-fatal complications related to illicit drug use.  In this 5th installment, we discuss a litany of different non-fatal problems associated with illicit drug use to try to emphasize ALL of the complications, not just the deaths, related to ongoing substance use disorders.   In the 6th and final installment of the series, I will review some of my proposed solutions to combatting our drug epidemic. For more social media content, check us out on all social media platforms @RenegadePsych. If you have any comments, questions or challenges to the information we've presented here, if you'd like to be a guest to the show, or if you have general comments, questions, or suggestions, email us at [email protected] and follow the link https://renegade-psych.podcastpage.io/  to our website for source material, transcripts, and additional links for my guests. If you feel passionate about our message and what we're trying to do, and you'd like to donate, you can also follow the link in the show notes to our website. Disclaimer, this podcast is for informational purposes only. The information provided in this podcast and related materials are meant only to educate.  This information is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. While I am a medical doctor and many of my guests have extensive medical training and experience, nothing stated in this podcast nor materials related to this podcast, including recommended websites, texts, graphics, images, or any other materials should be treated as a substitute for professional medical or psychological advice, diagnosis or treatment. All listeners should consult with a medical professional, licensed mental health provider or other healthcare provider if seeking medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.