Environment, upbringing, genetics play roles in substance misuse

LACONIA — With a doctorate in educational psychology and learning sciences, Daisy Pierce is well equipped to understand what she encounters as executive director of Navigating Recovery of the Lakes Region.

She sees a range of psychological, environmental and genetic factors as major contributors to the drug epidemic. As dangerous and addictive as opioids are, there are reasons some people fall prey and some don’t.

Once regarded as more of a moral issue than a disease, substance use disorder is now recognized by the American Psychiatric Association as a mental illness.

And many of Pierce’s clients have a co-occurring mental health disorder, which could be diagnosed or undiagnosed. Others may have encountered trauma in the past and never received proper support.

“As a society we've created a mentality of ‘there’s a pill for that,’ she said in an interview Tuesday. “We self-prescribe and self-treat a variety of things — coffee to wake us up, and sleeping pills to put us down. People mask their feelings with a pill or drug.”

A child who lacks social and emotional skills and who undergoes trauma may be more likely to fall prey to drug or alcohol dependency as an adult.

“The stories that we hear from so many of our participants are sad; it’s rape, abusive parents, growing up in an environment where parents neglect their children,” she said.

Adults also undergo trauma that can lead to substance misuse.

“We’ve been at war for how long now?” Pierce asked. “So many people have been deployed since 9/11. It has been a constant. Before then, wars came and went. Now we’re just living in one.”

She also said there also appears to be a genetic component to addiction. Some people may experiment with drugs or drink alcohol on occasion without a problem. Others report profound problems that began with their first drink.

Social isolation is a risk factor for substance misuse and social support is helpful in recovery – something that was explored in recent research by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Researchers forced rats to choose between social interaction with another rat or access to a drug. Although some of the rats had been taking drugs for several weeks, they consistently chose social interaction.

The importance of social support in drug recovery is something that Phil Spagnuolo sees every day.

The former state representative runs three sober houses, where men support one another in recovery.

“We work with them to get them employment,” he said. “We offer mentoring, recovery coaches and a structured environment and hold them accountable with drug testing.”

The men are required to go to five self-help meetings a week.

“What I have learned is that people are falling through the cracks when they get out of jail or out of 28 days of treatment,” he said. “It’s hard to stay sober.

“We provide transitional living and give them the opportunity to get grounded, get a simple job and help them get back in the swing of things, become self-sufficient, organized and on the right path.”

People need some type of long-term treatment for recovery, he said.

“The 28-day model wasn't designed by doctors or psychiatrists or anybody other than insurance companies, so that's what these programs became. That's been going on for 40 years. Still trying to fix people with a broken model doesn't make sense.”

Spagnuolo has walked the recovery road himself. He attempted and failed at recovery a half-dozen times.

“I wasn’t successful until I understood that I needed to deal with all my issues,” he said.

“I always thought that if you took drugs and alcohol away, everything would be better, and that is so far from the truth. I needed counseling, a support network, a sense of purpose. I had been separated from society for such a long time.”

He realized there was a lack of affordable options for people looking for living conditions that supported sobriety, so he decided to open sober houses himself. They are called New Life Recovery Homes.

“It’s just a bunch of guys trying to do the same thing, hold each other accountable, look out for one another,” he said. “It’s like a fraternity without booze or drugs. It’s a brotherhood of guys trying to figure things out.”

Editor's note: This is the fourth in a series of stories about the addiction recovery process. Readers are invited to a Community Conversation to be held May 2 at Lakes Region Community College, featuring providers and some of the people featured in this series.

May 2, 5:30 pm
Lakes Region Community College
Academic Commons

MODERATOR
Larissa Baia, LRCC President

PROVIDERS
Corey Gately, Director of Substance Use Services, LRGHealthcare
Dr. Margaret Bahder, Psychiatrist, Bahder Behavioral Services
Daisy Pierce, Executive Director, Navigating Recovery of the Lakes Region
Mike Metz, Program Director, Riverbank House

CLIENT PANEL led by Rick Green, Staff Writer,

The Laconia Daily Sun