Escaping Addiction with Dignity as a Medical Student
“The most obvious, ubiquitous, important realities are often the ones that are the hardest to see and talk about.” –David Foster Wallace
Addiction can be a nightmare of isolation and shame, but it doesn’t have to be.
I will always remember my last night of withdraw; sitting in the busy waiting room of my training hospital. I kept thinking about what might happen if one of my EM attendings were to care for me. To see me sick, weak, and vulnerable. Nobody other than my family knew I struggled with alcohol abuse, and I was exhausted with the neverending cycle of trying to manage addiction on my own. This had to stop.