Substance Abuse
Detox chaplain
Didymus works with people that are effect my substance abuse. He works with them in a hospital setting and has also worked with people in local shelters. But his concern is also on empowering all those who have been effected by substance abuse. Through working with this population, he has found that many of the people have experienced crisis, trauma, or other mental health issues that can or should include both substance rehabilitation as well as psychological assistance.
Substance abuse in the Fire Service
Does the Fire Service consume too much alcohol? Do they use too much pain killer to do the job?
Substance abuse in Law Enforcement
Does alcohol help them deal with what they have to handle?
Emergency Service Resources
There are locations for emergency services:
Frontline Responder Services in Eatontown, NJ 866-676-7500 State that they work with emergency services and actually have separate groups for Emergency Services to talk amongst themselves. They take people from all over the country.
Rosecrance in Rockford Ill, 888-928-5278 has a Florian Project which lasts 30-45 days and works with emergency services and military
Dan Degryse 312-833-0196
Full Recovery Wellness Center
87 Fairfield Rd., Fairfield, NJ 07004 * Phone 973-244-5885
Didymus cautions you when you are looking for a rehab facility for substance abuse. Many out there state that they work with Firefighters, Paramedics, or Police, but they just have emergency services in the general population. He finds that those type of facilities would frustrate emergency services, because they do not understand the culture that we live, or the things that we see and have to handle. He also has come across one that said that they work with firefighters, but with that one, you have to belong to a specific firefighters’ union.
Didymus does not endorse these programs and receives no funds from them. He has just located some programs that works specifically with emergency responders, to make sure that this special population get services specific to emergency services.
Please reverify on your own to make sure that it is a good fit.
Faith Based Resources
What is the Root of the Problem?
I am going to start off by stating that I am not an expert, nor do I play one on TV, but sometimes common sense just prevails and makes one think.
There are many people today using many different substances for many different reasons. I remember growing up in a firehouse, where on Sunday mornings and many nights, the members would drink. Nobody really asked why. It was the culture. There was one person that had a bottle of brandy in his pocket. He said that it was to treat a toothache.
Many people, society, use so many different substances these days. So many get hooked on opioids. Some get hooked after surgery. There are some people that get hooked after a surgery, then the insurance will not cover the prescriptions to cover it when they need to use it for pain. They tell me that it is cheaper to use street drugs.
There is also another class of people that use substances. That class may be the people that you may stereotype, but many that you would never expect to be using substances. When you get a chance to actually sit down and hear these people’s stories, you hear the other type of pain. You hear the trauma that they have lived with, the depression, the crisis, and the "untreated" behavioral/mental health issues. They express that they feel the pain and use the substances to self-medicate.
The question that comes about is why don't they get the help that they need to handle the behavioral health issues? Is it stigma? Is it insurance? Is it that they were told that they are not supposed to discuss their problems with anyone?
What challenges are members of your department facing that may be causing them to self-medicate? Do they know where to reach out? Do they know that there are locations that rehab and detox emergency services? Brothers want to help brothers/sisters. We are one family. We, ourselves, need to get to the root of why we really do a certain action. People avoid certain people or places because it brings up pain or bad memories. For others, the pain may be too great.
If you know someone who may have a substance abuse problem, including alcohol, please say something and help them get the help that they need. There are many treatment facilities out there.
Other Resources
More Resources
Alcoholics Anonymous 800-245-1377
Al-Anon 888-425-2666
Families Anonymous 800-736-9805
Narcotics Anonymous 800-992-0401
NJ Addiction Services Hotline 844-276-2777
NJ Connect For Recovery 855-652-3737
NJ Self Help Group Clearing House 800-367-6274
Reach NJ 844-732-2465
The Center for Alcohol And Drug Resources 201-261-2800
Supporting substance abuse and mental health recovery efforts in New Jersey
Full Recovery Wellness Center
87 Fairfield Rd., Fairfield, NJ 07004 * Phone 973-244-5885