Overcoming Stigma: Treating Opioid Addiction with Compassion

Suboxone could protect an individual from a drug overdose, but the one thing that will keep them in recovery is love.

Today on the show we're joined by Dr. Schuyler Geller, who has an extensive background in international teaching, patient care, and health care leadership.  Previously a Medication-Assisted Recovery Physician, and currently a Hospitalist for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, his humanitarian spirit shines bright throughout this entire discussion.  Together we delve into the need for comprehensive approaches, including medication-assisted treatment and harm reduction strategies, in order to save lives and support recovery.  Dr. Geller highlights the importance of understanding addiction as a chronic relapsing brain disease and emphasize the significance of immediate intervention and treatment due to the high risk of relapse and mortality associated with opioid use.

In this episode, we will discuss: 

• Addiction as a chronic relapsing brain disease vs. deviant criminal behavior
• How physical and emotional abuse impacts the growing brain, and can ultimately lead to substance addiction - all beginning in the womb
• The critical role of buprenorphine in medication-assisted treatment
• The need to combat the stigma associated with harm reduction approaches
• Resilience as the key to reducing opioid deaths

Views expressed in this material are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Rigaku Analytical Devices.

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