SAN DIEGO, Aug. 31, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A joint research study between Press Web Media's newly appointed Chief Executive Officer ( Joshua Van Horn ) and Kevin Leonard of CouplesRehabs.org on the U.S. Heroin Epidemic Crisis, The Leading Cause of Death of Millennials in 2017:
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The growing addiction to heroin and fentanyl in the U.S. is now a serious epidemic at staggering 22-year all time high. Across the country, hundreds of thousands of Millennials are battling opioid or heroin substance abuse addiction. Data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last year included the highest mortality rate in American history for opioid and heroin overdoses and it shows no signs of slowing down. Between 59,000 and 66,000 people died due to overdoses in 2016, the most ever.
(CDC) Source: https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/epidemic/index.html
So what has really changed in the last seven years? One possibility is health coverage — The Affordable Care Act has provided many Millennials with access to a physician who otherwise would not have insurance. Millennials, or Generation Y and Z, were able to pressure doctors to fulfill their requests for pain pills. The surge in prescription opioids may have been driven partly by the pharmaceutical industry, but many young adults also welcomed it with open arms and encouraged it. Painkiller users graduated and became heroin, fentanyl opioid addicts.
Pain management is currently being debated — whether the opioid crisis stems from a few reckless physicians or a cultural dependency shift. Some doctors wrote thousands of prescriptions for OxyContin and other opioids in a short time span according to DEA investigations. By 2014, the stage was already set for the worst drug epidemic in U.S. history as the climbing overdose deaths increased at an alarming rate. Through 2011 to 2015, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration accepted the surrender of 3,778 prescribing licenses from various licensed medical professionals for over-prescribing narcotics nationwide.
The soaring mortality rates make the Millennials the first generation since Vietnam in the 1960s to face higher mortality rates in young adulthood than the generation that preceded it. The reason: opioid addiction. The disastrous drug overdoses are now the leading cause of death for Millennials, Generations Y and Z. Alcoholism and suicide are also contributing factors in overdose deaths. The number of Americans who died from substance abuse using heroin or fentanyl in 2016 is higher than the historic highs of annual deaths from any other cause. The outcome ahead could worsen further as Millennials age; it is too soon to know if they will die at higher rates in middle age than today’s 45- to 54-year-olds. Problems could intensify for the future generations if premature deaths continue to rise from substance abuse.
Out of state detox and drug recovery treatment centers have shown a 40% lower chance of relapse. The number of couples that are both fighting addiction is now at an all time high; some studies have shown states such as Ohio, West Virginia and Tennessee make up for the largest percentile of couples fighting heroin or fentanyl addiction. Couples that are willing to undergo detox treatment at the same time will have that highest chance of success by understanding each other's triggers. Detox rehab organizations such our joint research placement center, Couples Rehab could help if both partners are ready.
For more information, please visit https://www.couplesrehabs.org