Breaking misconceptions While common threads exist within the disease of addiction, Gibson’s primary focus is serving the individual. She views substance abuse patients as a population with unique characteristics and needs that are often not met by treatment centers. Gibson has worked in the mental health field for 14 years. After receiving her Master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling from Coppin State University, she began working with all types of patients, except for those suffering from addiction. “I was very misinformed at the time,” Gibson recalls. “I thought addiction patients would be too difficult to work with. But as soon as I took my first position at a methadone clinic, my clients dispelled every assumption I had.” She discovered that substance abuse clients were highly intelligent individuals, educated on matters that are commonly taken for granted. Creativity is another trait she found in her patients.
In some cases, drug use has little to do with choice or background. Opioid addiction can be the involuntary side effect of using prescription medication. Gibson cites the case of a firefighter who had been given pain medication for an arm injury sustained while rescuing others from a fire.Though his prescription was for thirty days, he formed a lifetime addiction to opioids. It’s a pattern among opioid users. Prescription medication can activate addictive tendencies, causing them to keep using painkillers or turn to street drugs such as heroin.
“They’ve had to be creative to survive the kind of life they’ve led for so long.” -Pamela Gibson 22
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