The cause of the opioid crisis in the United States goes beyond increased access to heroin and prescription painkillers. Although these drugs are more widespread, the opioid crisis is more complex. Indeed, according to a recent study by the Brookings Institution, the role of despair in the opioid crisis is a key marker.

Published in the summer of 2020, the in-depth report by Carol Graham underscores the role of despair in the opioid crisis. With a depth of scholarship that Tarzana Treatment Centers respects, Graham points out that over 125,000 individuals in 2015 alone died from suicide, drug, or alcohol-related deaths. All these types of deaths are in the category of the so-called “deaths of despair.”

Deaths of Despair and the Opioid Crisis

However, the populations behind these rising deaths defy expectations. Still, most people in positions of power connect opioids to minorities. However, deaths of despair are not a major issue for blacks and Hispanics. Rather, experts look at less than college-educated whites. Indeed, this population loses faith in the American Dream. Hence, they are, by far, the most likely candidates for deaths of despair. When you combine low resilience with a lack of coping skills, the outcome is combustible.

As Graham explains in detail, “Deaths of despair are most prevalent in the American heartland, in places where manufacturing and other blue-collar jobs have disappeared, and where the communities that formerly supported these industries are experiencing high associated social costs (Case and Deaton, 2015). The loss of purposeful employment—and hope more generally—is an important part of the explanation of trends in both addiction and mortality.”

Faced with difficulties, poor whites lack the resiliency that characterizes the minority response to hard times. Thus, the drug abuse option that fuels the opioid crisis becomes an easy escape from reality. When hope is lost, the taboo against opioid use disorder is no longer relevant.

Expanding Geography of the Opioid Crisis

Before the recent rise in drug abuse and the spike in deaths of despair, heroin usage links to an urban landscape. Beyond dealing drugs, city blocks also represent where most people picture the opioid crisis taking place. The rise in prescription painkillers’ abuse reveals greater geographical placement. However, cities in popular belief are the apparent center of the crisis.

However, in her study, Carol Graham finds that the opioid crisis is most severe in the American heartlands. Surprisingly, middle-aged white males are the population in the greatest opioid crisis danger. As the study illuminates, “We find, for example, that prime-aged males out of the labor force (OLF) are a particularly vulnerable group, with white OLF males being the most vulnerable, as evidenced by their very low markers of well-being. They are heavily represented in the heartland and are more likely to be living with their parents than are either minority OLF males or white OLF women.”

Despair Demands Opioid Crisis Interventions

In this first part of a two-part look at the Brookings Institution study on the relationship between despair and the opioid crisis, researchers define the most vulnerable population. Surprisingly, middle-aged, uneducated white men are the most common victims of despair. Moreover, Carol Grahamdetails the reasons behind that vulnerability.

In the second article, there is an examination of what can stem the tide of deaths of despair. As a nonprofit organization that offers extensive recovery services, Tarzana Treatment Centers knows there is an answer. Indeed, TTCis a forerunner in these efforts. Hence, Medications for Addiction Treatment (MAT) and other opioid use disorder treatment methods are treatment staples.

The solution lies in making SUD and mental health services widely available and affordable. Thus, the goal is that anyone needing treatment can get it.The question is not whether there is an answer to the opioid crisis. Instead, the question is whether populations in crisis are given access to that answer.