It’s no secret that addiction has made its mark in Greene County. Pennsylvania, and its neighbor West Virginia, Maryland, and Ohio are two of the hardest hit by the opioid/drug epidemic. In 2018, both states were among the highest recorded drug overdose deaths: West Virginia (51.5 per 100,000), Maryland (37.2 per 100,000), Pennsylvania (36.1 per 100,000), and Ohio (35.9 per 100,000). (from cdc.org)
In the eyes of John Fox, Greene County Drug and Alcohol Services director, opioids, alcohol, and other addictive substances are such a problem because they dominate lives, leaving little room for hobbies and people. COVID-19 has not helped people’s life situations either, Fox said. Despite all the negativity and difficulties, there are those who hope for a better day. John Fox and Dr. Bryan Negrini, president and medical director of Outpatient Addiction Recovery Services (OARS), are two of those believers.
“On a daily basis, I go to work hoping that society, genetics, and all the external forces will put me out of business.”
Dr. Bryan Negrini is an internal medicine physician. With three decades of experience under his belt, he has spent the last six years treating patients with chemical addictions. He helped establish OARS, a non-profit addiction treatment organization serving western Pennsylvania. Their Greene County office is located in Carmichaels.
Despite his want to be put “out of business,” Dr. Negrini finds his work fulfilling and meaningful. While he witnesses death and self-destruction, he also sees addicts overcome their addictions and change their lives.
“So, seeing people who have overdosed in the parking lot yesterday who come to me and then six months from now seeing them get their lives back, their kids back, their families back, their car back, their jobs back,” Dr. Negrini says. “It’s just an incredibly satisfying way to spend my time, using what my education and experiences have allowed me to do, to try to manipulate discussions and get patients to want to be healthy and get them from the shackles of addiction.”
John Fox wants to make a difference as well. He has had people close in his own life become subject to addiction. Addiction can happen to anyone, no matter their financial or social status, and John wants to help anyone.
“I’m just happy I’m surrounded by folks in the county who also share my passion to help people get better, change their lives for the good, and have positive outcomes,” John says.
Specifically for drug addiction, Dr. Negrini said that once substance-abuse disorder became officially recognized as a brain disease by medical professionals, treatment methods improved. Consider medicated assisted treatment, started around 2010. Dr. Negrini said the science community realized that, through experimenting and using medicated assisted treatment, patients’ recovery improved when using FDA approved medications to combat opioid addictions instead of leaving patients to fight without chemical assistance.
“That’s in regard to the opioid epidemic. Now, we are starting to find out that some of the medications used for opioid addicts can actually help the recovery of other people addict to things such as cocaine or methamphetamines,” Dr. Negrini says.
While science is aiding substance-abusers with their bodies, Dr. Negrini and John said environment plays a part in addiction as well. People becoming addicted involves two factors, shares Dr. Negrini: genetics and environment. COVID-19 has hurt many people, and the turbulent politics of the last few years make it more difficult for people to maintain a normal life, Dr Negrini explains. And making drugs less available in an area will decrease the number of addicts.
“We’ve got this perfect storm of people just being challenged by the environment and having an easy access to stuff that can take over and high-jack their brain and make them different before they had these chemicals,” Dr. Negrini adds.
John explained that increasing healthier activities for children to participate in would help prevent them from trying addictive substances.“That’s why I think sports are huge in rural counties, because it’s something for kids to do. A team activity center, if a community had something like that, or a weight room. Something alternative to kind of just hanging out,” John says.
There are many negative aspects about addiction in southwestern Pennsylvania that John Fox and Dr. Negrini see on a daily basis. That does not stop them from finding hope in their jobs. Dr. Negrini explains he finds hope in every single patient to whom he can talk – no matter what condition they are in, as long as they meet with him. John finds hope in all patients too, whether they recover or not.
“I don’t have the expectation that for everyone it’s going to be one time. I acknowledge and recognized failure is not necessarily failure. It’s just another opportunity to plant a seed or to help people to change their lives and become productive citizens, healthy, happy, and contribute to our county and society.”
Other efforts are being made in Greene County to combat substance abuse. Steps Inside is an addiction and recovery house in Greene County that has been doing good work for community recovery for almost 20 years. Steps Inside began when a group of people with drug, alcohol or gambling problems wanted a way to come together to share their struggles, socialize and support each other. At their location on Morris Street in Waynesburg, the group has a place to gather, as well as house 12-step programs for various addictions. Although not formally affiliated with Steps Inside, these programs share common goals and offer strategic help and support.
Rising from Steps Inside efforts to find ways to help those in recovery be successful, came the Oxford Houses and The Bird Sisters Oxford House, residential group sober living facilities for men and women in recovery. At these houses, residents hold each other responsible for contributing an equal share of the upkeep and expenses for the household. It is not a rehabilitation facility, but a place where those in recovery can live in a clean and sober environment with others who understand what they are experiencing and can support each other.
The Coalition for a Brighter Greene is a group of volunteers fighting substance abuse in our community. It formed as an outcome of a 2015 Greene County Town Hall Meeting on substance abuse. The Coalition works with community members and organizations to provide programs and events that raise awareness and provide support. (Read more about them in this month’s Public Service Profile.)
In late 2018, Greenbriar Treatment Centers opened a 90-day, long-term inpatient facility at Washington Health Systems Greene in Waynesburg. Patients in the program focus on issues that occur in early recovery and attend groups focusing on the 12 Steps of NA, the 12 Steps of AA and cognitive behavioral therapy. They also take part in creative therapy that teach relaxation and keep the mind busy during their battle against addiction.
If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, get informed and get help. Suffering one more day of addiction can mean the difference between life and death. Staying silent means staying sick, so speak up and ask for help.