From vice to substance abuse disorder in 100 years

JAMA (Oct. 24/31, 2017) had an interesting opinion piece, "A death in the family" about a doctor who overdosed on fentanyl. It was a tragedy for his colleagues, family, friends, and thousands of future patients who will never benefit from his skill. But it was also a tragedy for the English language and our search for someone to blame. "Overdose on fentanyl?" "substance abuse disorder?" "stress and burnout?"

Remember when poverty was blamed for drug use--it was a ghetto problem? Remember when it was the pathology of the black family and its roots in slavery? Remember when it was poor parenting and kids hadn't been raised right? Or, they just need Jesus? Or going way back, remember when opium was blamed on "vice" (i.e. Asians)? Or today's news--the drug lords (Mexican gangs)?

30 years ago when I was employed at the vet college I learned that veterinarians had a higher suicide rate than physicians, and women higher (in attempts) than men, but the reasons given were different; the grief and sadness the same.

I certainly don't have the answers, but then, neither has anyone else the last 50-60 years, and that's small comfort.

This article contains a good list. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4266064/

Partial view of the JAMA article. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2658326