I’m 14 years old, and I live with Type 1 diabetes (T1D). On an average day, I monitor my blood sugar levels, take insulin, and follow my doctor’s suggestions. Despite these challenges, I am grateful for the medical resources and support I receive from family, friends, and the healthcare community.
However, my family faced another struggle that highlights an important difference in how diseases are treated in this world. My older brother, Alec, whom I will always look up to, had a substance use disorder (SUD), and our experiences couldn’t have been more different.
When I was diagnosed with T1D, my doctors immediately provided me with medicines, protocols to follow, and daily checks-ins for the first month to monitor my condition. I felt supported, understood, and soon overcame my embarrassment and distress of having the disease.
Alec, on the other hand, wasn’t as lucky as me. Over many years, he bounced from one treatment center to another. Many of these treatment centers did not have great standards of care, and did not keep track of his progress on recovery. In the end, he was fully committed to getting sober, supported by his siblings, parents, and friends. Tragically, on his birthday in 2018, he passed away alone from an overdose.
Alec had just come out of treatment and was vulnerable and left to find his way back into society. I feel that if the treatment centers had better standards of care, similar to the standards I receive for my condition, it is very likely he would be here today, with me.
In 2016, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said about addiction “It is not a moral failing, or evidence of a character flaw, but a chronic disease of the brain that deserves our compassion and care.” It’s time for the world to erase the stigma associated with addiction, and treat it as any other disease.
We need to take significant actions to support those suffering from addiction, just as we do for anyone with any other medical condition. Creating safe places where overdoses can be reversed, preventing death, and giving people a chance to fight to achieve sobriety is crucial. No one would ever think of not allowing me to take my needed insulin just because my pancreas doesn’t function as it should and consuming sugar has raised my glucose levels. Similarly, no one would deny a cancer patient access to a safe clinic to receive life-saving chemotherapy, even though some of those patients may have been there from smoking too much. We should apply the same reasoning to providing life-saving Narcan in safe places to SUD patients.
This legislative session, Connecticut legislators and Governor Lamont will have the opportunity to be brave enough to see that it is our duty to treat all diseases equally and vote for Senate Bill 1285, An Act Establishing An Overdose Prevention Center Pilot Program. By creating safe spaces and giving access to lifesaving treatments, we can help more people like my brother to have a chance at staying alive, recovery, and a better life.
My favorite NHL hockey player, Max Domi, inspires me because he overcame the challenges of T1D to become a successful athlete, just like I am trying to do. However, the athlete I admire the most is former basketball player Chris Herren. He not only battled with addiction disease but also faced and overcame the stigma society placed on him just for having a disease. Not everyone can win that battle. My brother was taken by fentanyl before he could. Max and I faced embarrassment, which society helped erase, and Alec and Chris faced shame, which society created. This should not be the case. Alec played AAA hockey, and inspired me to take up the sport. Even though I was only 8 when he passed away, I look up to him every day for the courage and commitment he put forward to beat addiction. He wanted nothing more but needed time, help, and support. He was incredibly close to succeeding.
Alec passed away alone in his room, with a package of Narcan placed by his side, and his roommates right outside his door. But he was ashamed to admit he had relapsed again, and that shame prevented him from asking for help. My big brother would have won the battle if he had been provided with a safe, non-judgmental clinic where he could receive life-saving medicine without fearing that people would judge him. Just like we do for cancer patients and those with T1D, we need to provide the same level of care and compassion for those who struggle with addiction, as it’s a disease as well.
I hope the legislature passes SB 1285 and the governor signs the bill, treating diseases equally, and helping save all lives.
Kalyan Pelletier is an 8th grade student at King School in Stamford.