A Frame of Reference

Before detailing the contents of this entry, it is important to specify the intersection between suicidality and addiction, not only to justify the following conversation which pertains to addiction, but also continuing a multidimensional approach to mental health.

When we learn about adjacent areas of individual and social behavior, we are not shifting the focus away from the problem of lethal means safety and suicide prevention, but rather, we are enlarging the boarders of understanding, looking at an ever-complex issue from a variety of interconnected factors in tandem with a specified understanding of critical factors, together, learning both the width as well as the depth of the issue of suicidality.

With this orientation, we no longer have a frame of reference but a prism of perspective, fractionating and highlighting the different layers of color which, in its whole, is the same light. Addiction and suicidality, then, are the same issue. One of disconnection and isolation in the midst of trauma (wounding).

The Narrative

It is 1970,and the conflict between America and Southeast Asia is in its heights. At this time, the stretches of Vietnam are a place of conflict, filled with the horrors of war, experienced by both sides, solider and civilian.

It is in the heights of this horror that the U.S. military learns of a startling statistic. Up to 20% of U.S. troops deployed in Vietnam are extremely addicted to heroin and adjacent opioids and up to 40% of troops have at least tried these substances, if not being irregular users.

It is worth noting that these substances were astronomically more pure and potent than street grade contemporaries found on the streets in America, with a potency of almost 100% potency compared to the 5% potency at home.

This was incredibly concerning to the U.S. at the time, as the nation was already seeing an uptick in substance use and adjoining addiction rates. The fear was that there was a ticking time bomb of addicted soldiers that were to inevitably come home and bring this addiction with them, cascading into mass disarray of crime, substance use, and a lack of resources to support these war torn vets.

Inevitably, these hero’s came home, and there was substantially little crime, substantially little residual addiction issues, and substantially little substance use.

The Draw of Environment

Experts were completely puzzled.

Why was it that it was almost as if the astronomically potent heroin never went through the U.S. military? Everything that has been researched on addictions up to that point was showing that substance use inevitably lead to a physical dependency to the substance, driving the behavior of addiction.

But there were no signs of this occurring in veterans that not only engaged in using a potent opioid but an extremely more potent opioid than American counterparts at that. So what caused their substance use over seas in the first place? And more importantly, what caused a wide spread cold turkey exodus from one of the most gripping substances?

It is worth asking the question, where was the pain for these active duty members of the military? Opioids serve as extremely powerful numbing agents to chronic pain, whether this is on a physical or psychological level. And in this case, the pain was in Vietnam.

Soldiers coped with the throws of war with these substances, using them to mute the horrors they personally were involved in. This was the cause of their substance use, and without it, there was not an environmental draw toward these substances.

The Culmination

This phenomenon has completely reframed how we look at addiction. No longer do we see physical dependency as the driving factor, but a compounding factor that intersects with number of different predictors, such as ones genetics, prior trauma, and most notably, the environment that they are using within.

This is a broadening perspective that forces us to look at issues such as addiction and suicide as not only psychologically individualistic problems but sociologically collective problems. What are our collective traumas? Where are we collectively hurting? These are the questions we as a whole must ask in order to truthfully approach these issues and heal not only each individual but the collective as well.

Local Initiatives and Involvements

Mental Health and Suicide Prevention 2025 EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES IN MESA COUNTY Register Here!

Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST): September 18-19, November 6-7 This two-day workshop(16 hours) helps participants learn how to prevent suicide by recognizing signs, providing a skilled intervention, and developing a safety plan to keep someone alive.

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA): September 26, October 17, December 5 This eight (8) hour training teaches people how to recognize signs of mental health or substance use challenges in adults, how to offer and provide initial help, and how to guide a person toward appropriate care.

Youth Mental Health First Aid (Youth MHFA): August 29 This Six and half (6.5) hour training for adults who regularly interact with people ages 12-18. It introduces common mental health challenges, typical adolescent development, and plan for how to help in crisis and non-crisis situations

Soul Shop™: October 2 This 90-minute workshop equips faith community leaders and other people of faith to train their congregations to minister to those impacted by suicidal desperation.

If you or someone you know is feeling suicidal, call or text 988. The National Suicide Hotline is staffed around the clock with certified members of the American Association of Suicidology. Or the Crisis Text Line, text CO to 741741 from anywhere in the United States, anytime. A live, trained Crisis Counselor receives the text and responds, all from a secure online platform.