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Kentucky News: Pharmacist Recovery Network
Published in the December 2006 Kentucky Board of Pharmacy Newsletter
Being a pharmacist today can be a very rewarding career. Often pharmacists are the most accessible health care professionals, and they possess unique knowledge of both health conditions and medications used to treat those conditions. However, with this knowledge and accessibility comes complications that many pharmacists probably feel on a daily basis, such as being rushed or stressed to the breaking point. Individuals have their own skills to cope with this stress, and they choose the method that works best for them whether it is prayer, meditation, or other relaxation techniques.
Unfortunately, there are also people who turn to alcohol or drugs to help them deal with these stressors on a daily basis. Addicts are no different from anyone else on the surface, but in fact their brain chemistry is very much different from that of the nonaddict. Addicts possess a unique “switch” in their brains that gets turned on at some point in their life from using alcohol or drugs, usually in a legal or prescribed manner. Once this switch is flipped, all they need is another drink or pill to escape reality and their stressors, or to feel normal as some addicts have said. Due to tolerance, the daily requirement of alcohol or drugs needed to escape reality can skyrocket. In the case of addiction to prescription drugs this can lead to illegally obtaining them, either from the street or in the case of most pharmacists, through theft from their employers. Sadly, the problem of addiction is not recognized in the individuals until some type of criminal action is brought against them for theft or buying them off the street.
The unfortunate thing is that no one knows for sure who will become an addict; no one plans on becoming addicted to a substance. There are clues that can be found in family history that may suggest a likelihood that someone could become addicted to alcohol or drugs, but until that switch in the brain is turned on there is no guarantee that someone will or will not become an addict.
There is help out there for people who are addicted to alcohol or drugs. Within our own profession we have the Kentucky Pharmacist Recovery Network (KYPRN). The purpose of this network is to help addicts become clean and sober initially, and to teach them the coping skills necessary to deal with stress and live a clean and sober lifestyle. KYPRN will help you build a foundation upon which you can have a successful recovery. For more information on KYPRN and the help it may provide, call
502/749-8385 or e-mail kyprn@insightbb.com.
