too many like him

I have been back at work a while.

A mother called and told me her son wanted to see me.  He said he was ready to talk and wanted to change.  The young man was 23.  he was good looking, strong, and had a job that expected regular attendance, strong physical effort, and  good customer relations,  He was more than able to do that, and he said his company thought he was excellent.

The only trouble was that he was still living at home and was spending most of his money on Oxys and Perc 30s.  He said he felt better when he was high.  His job was boring; his life was boring and getting high made everything easier to take.  Except that he was broke.

He also realized that he was blowing out his brain cells.

But he really could come up with no alternative.  He a quit the pills a couple times, but got bored and a bit depressed and had gone back to them.  He said he hung out with six or ten other guys just like him, except half of them didn't have jobs any more.

He didn't like school.  He hadn't put the effort in and didn't think he could now.  He had been in a couple of relationships but the women didn't really think his being high so often was that attractive.  He understood that.  He didn't see any way that he could really get a good enough job in this economy that would allow him to really live independently.  His father had worked hard for thirty years or so, had a haeart attack and now was disabled and couldn't do much of anything.  His mother was still working but she thought she was about to be laid-off.

Why bother?

I offered him a way to figure out the answer to that question.  Although he was certainly a polite kid, and seemed to have real insight into his condition, he declined.  He did say he would consider taking Suboxone, if that would help him cut down on the pills.  I think he was hoping that his insurance would pay for the Suboxone.

America's future is it's youth!