Disconnected Brains: How isolation fuels opioid addiction | Rachel Wurzman | TEDxMidAtlantic

The irony of my existence is i feel spiritually connected to everyone yet totally alienated.

Loneliness is one of the most aggravating symptoms of depression, which fuels addiction.

Opiates feel like love. My addiction is based on my lack there off. The irony is as you go deeper down the opiate rabbit hole you get farther and farther away from others.

"The opposite of addiction is not sobriety. The opposite of addiction is Connection."

As an opiate addict, let me say that every point she made hit the target dead on. And i've never felt more hopeless.

As an addict for over 35 years, and having ptsd which is isolating, this makes so much sense. I'm actually withdrawing from methadone now. Hoping this time I'll make it, and I will remember this talk. Thank you.

This is so true . People these days feel lonely even when we aren’t alone . The social connection isn’t there anymore even DURING social interaction. From the lack of intimacy and not being in the moment .

My God! I found myself being described in this fascinating talk. I’m addicted to opioid painkillers, and I live very much alone. This is a real eye-opener.

Her study is amazing ! A science-backed study of how people addicted to drugs might need repetitive social interactions to curb their 'need' for drugs. All drug treatment centers ought to have social and craft clubs as part of their drug treatment plan, and maybe so should places outside of drug treatment places too, with those on drugs or tempted to use drugs encouraged to 'join up' and do something that interests them repetitively. A hobby or passion should be their drug.

Covid-19 accelerated this pandemic of loneliness.

As a Chemical Dependency counselor and addictions researcher …. this is the first academic presentation that emotionally moved me to tears... tears of hope and empathy. I have known intuitively the concepts Rachel speaks to … but her research validates my observations. The emotional part is that I know the horrible pain of disconnection and research like this may lead some day to prolonged disconnection in addiction (during early treatment and post treatment) being a thing of the past.

Wow!! I’m studying Bio-Psych in school right now, and I’m 6 years a recovered addict. This makes SO much sense!! Great talk 👍

"Well now I'm out of prison, and I got me a friend at last He dont steal or cheat or drink or lie Well, his name's codeine He's the nicest thing I've seen And together, we're gonna wait around to die" - Townes van Zandt

I have watched this 3 times already. I would love to bring her in as a speaker fro the entire State government to hear and learn from. Brilliant research! FinallY!

say what you want about opioids but I for one would not have been able to function without the pain relief I've had for the past 15 years. Recently had to quit because my Dr. retired. I weaned down from three or four a day to one for about a month. The withdrawal was not severe for me but the pain in my thoracic and cervical spine is off the charts! I am back in bed many days a week, I am willing to live with addiction in order to be normal.

It's not the isolation itself. It's the idea of isolation which exists in the mind. The feeling's its presupposed to bring. The idea of what isolation is supposed to be in a society. Isolation is a negative noun. Can also be considered a negative verb. But I would suggest that one could see isolation as a positive. Turn your mind. As someone who has suffered for a long time with addiction. It's never the isolation. It's the idea I have in my mind about how I am supposed to feel about it. As soon as I realize that I am creating the suffering by attaching presuppositions to the idea of me being alone, it immediately makes me realize that I am just perfectly fine alone. And I am never really alone for very long. I just take for granted the times when I am not alone. So it seems like I always am alone.

So on point. I went into recovery but didn't find social connection there. The more I tried too make friends and didn't succeed, the more prone I was to relapse... Conversely, last year I gave up my drug of choice on my own and felt proud of myself and good about the choice, but I wasn't reaching for connection and feeling denied. It's easier to accept being alone than to reach for connection, and be alone because it was not reciprocated. That puts loneliness into hyperdrive... And then to have others in recovery respond to admitting feeling lonely with you just need to get a higher power, feels even worse. I'm fighting hard right now and I know if I had some connection and support it would be so much easier.

Never stop believing in yourself because at the end of they day when ur brushing ur teeth looking back at same person you looked at before you started to brush, is the NUMBER ONE ;; on your list and should always be taken care of first, all of the beautiful ladies out ther treat yourself like the queen you are and deserve, and all the king’s out there do the exact thing.. and before you know it sooner then later YOU will start to put the broken pieces back together slowly but surely , that’s why each day that you are clean is a damn celebration and don’t you forget that.. thanks for reading and I hope all that are suffering right now make the right decision to ask for help.. but we all know acknowledging the problem is the first step to a wonderful life you only dreamed of.. and I guarantee that/. God bless everyone xoxo jay

I never really thought about it but after my fiance died suddenly in a car accident, I felt extremely lonely and isolated in the aftermath and that's when I started using and abusing pain medication. And the more I used, the more I isolated myself. It was a very vicious cycle and after living in it for years, I thought the only way I would escape it was through death. I'm extremely lucky that I somehow never accidently overdosed but I did try to take my own life twice and I remember both times waking up and feeling relieved to be alive but also terribly disappointed to be alive. It was a truly horrible point in my life.

I wish I could meet this woman, thank her , shake her hand and then wouldn't be able to not give her a hug (after first asking her if she'd mind) ... How we treat our opiate addicted fellow man ... In this we are in the Stone Age . Brings to mind how it was acceptable for nurses in the 80's-90's to treat HIV/AIDS patients similarly ... With disdain and smug superiority .