I realize there were a lot of questions couched in that one post... but the one that intrigues me most is going undiscussed.
SHOULD addicts have access to SSDI?
If, as Pernell says, things are pretty much the same in other states as in KY, there is TONS of help out there for recovering addicts. All Dino had to do was want help and BLAM, there it was.
Here's one for you. I had an intern at one time who was diagnosed with a mental disorder and given disability(SSDI and state money as well) on a limited time basis . She was a drug/alchohol user. I'm certainly not qualified to say whether or not she was a drug user because she was mentally ill or mentally ill because she was a drug user. What I do know, is that part of her disease diagnosis was paranoia and depression. She was still paranoid and depressed, at least partly because she was using some of her disability money to buy alchohol and marijuana to use. Strangely, she couldn't pay her rent on time and the stress of that upset her. Also, she would tell stories about her "wasted" exploits, then seem confused about professors expecting work to be done on time, and blame her "mental condition" for her inability to focus and get the work done.
I put up with a lot of erratic behavior from this chick. I felt sorry for her. I wonder how I would have felt if I'd known then what I know now.
Educating people about addiction is a two edged sword. The more I learn, the LESS "compassionate" I feel, both personally and in the business environment. But then, I was a doormat, basically. And I have come to realize that I "enabled" not just Dino, but employees and students.
And how about that intern? The system was enabling her. Amazing.
Oh, and there was this other guy. He used his disability money to buy drugs from the same dealers Dino used. He fixed cars on the side to have enough money for the (government subsidized)rent and food. He was obviously, quite capable of working. (Veteran, diagnosis PTSD).
Now, to my mind, this is a place where the 'stigma" attached to drug addiction really comes into play. Not addicts trying to recover being refused the compassionate help they need, but addicts who are trying NOT to recover, receiving the wrong kind of help because some social worker has their bleeding-heart head in the sand.
Sure, I think Dino has emotional problems. I think that's why he uses drugs. But the fact remains that he is addicted to drugs. Where would he be if his counselor had ignored that fact? On SSDI, buying drugs. He is being "rehabilitated", not indulged in his "disability". That seems right to me.
Smoke