The Opioid Epidemic: An Opportunity for Christ-like Compassion

You probably are aware that the nation currently is in the throes of what is now being called the Opioid Epidemic. This sweeping crisis is thought to be a downstream effect of the inappropriate prescribing of opioid analgesic medications. Simply stated, too many people are being given prescriptions for these powerful and highly addictive pain relievers when other approaches to pain management may be just as effective.

To address this issue, measures are being taken to provide healthcare professionals with more rigorous training on non-opioid approaches to pain management. Equipping prescribers with this kind of knowledge is especially important within the context of chronic pain, because roughly one-quarter of patients who are prescribed opioid medications for long-term management of non-cancer pain ultimately struggle with addiction (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20712819).

Sadly, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Only about one-third of individuals who report using prescription opioids for recreational purposes were actually prescribed those drugs. By comparison, over 50% of recreational users obtain their opioids free of charge from a friend or relative with a legitimate prescription. Another 10% or so have friends or family members who are willing to sell them their prescription opioids (https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/NSDUH-FRR1-2014/NSDUH-FRR1-2014.pdf).

Ideally, more judicious opioid prescribing on the part of savvy physicians should reduce recreational use, as well: Fewer prescriptions being filled means fewer opioids circulating through the population; and fewer opioids in circulation means reduced availability to recreational users. Problem solved.

Not really. While the increased availability of prescription opioids is a fundamental contributor to the current epidemic, it is not the only causal agent. People want opioids; and I strongly suspect that the primary factor driving that demand is the same for a substantial number of recreational users as it is for chronic pain patients: relief of suffering.

Pain has many causes, both physical and psychological. Loss, loneliness, frustration, disappointment—all of these can be sources of intense emotional pain. Even unrelenting boredom might feel to some like a nagging psychical ache. Regardless of the source, however, all pain is completely subjective and thus largely invisible to those who are not experiencing it. That places a heavy burden on the one suffering. Seeking help requires the individual to justify his pain; to validate his discontent with a comprehensible explanation. Seeking relief from a drug of abuse, by comparison, doesn’t require rationalization.

I think this kind of perceived alienation may be due in part to a cultural shift away from empathy. This is not the same as saying that people are not compassionate. Compassion is feeling sorrow when someone else is hurting, and sincerely desiring to help alleviate that person’s distress. Empathy, on the other hand, is about putting yourself in the other person's place; understanding their situation; and feeling what they feel. Compassion can be almost reflexive, but empathy requires a little extra effort.

But, it’s difficult to find the time or energy to make that effort. People are very busy nowadays. Rarely do we have the time to really get to know other people, let alone to step into their shoes and walk a mile or two through their lives. For each person we meet, we compile a quick profile based on our first impressions, and then create for them a one-dimensional mental avatar that we can access quickly when the need arises. People become the "nasty woman", the "annoying guy", the "junkie", the “addict”. It's difficult to open oneself to another’s point of view when who that person is to you is based entirely on your view of them.

To truly empathize with another person, you first must set aside your preconceptions—and even your own emotions—in order to make room for that person’s experience. Said differently, you need to drop your own baggage before you can take on another person’s burden. Emptying oneself for the sake of another is difficult. Nevertheless, empathy is necessary if you really want to ease someone’s suffering. Compassion alone won’t do it; because compassion devoid of empathy can feel a bit like pity. And to treat a person with pity effectively deprives that person of her dignity.

As Christians, it is our moral imperative to attend to human suffering with compassion borne of empathy. I realize this language is strong; but I base it on an essential truth. When Adam and Eve forfeited their relationship with God, all humanity suffered; but out of compassion, God relieved our suffering with the most complete expression of empathy that the world has ever known:

[He] emptied himself,

taking the form of a slave,

coming in human likeness;

and found human in appearance

he humbled himself,

becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:7-8).

It’s time to pay it forward.