Loss of SAMHSA employees

World Mental Health Day passed on Oct. 10, and working in the mental health industry myself, it angers me to see the loss of more than 100 employees from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration — or SAMHSA. 

People with addiction are still people and deserve to be treated with as much effort as everybody else.  

For the past five months, I have been completing an internship at a substance use treatment center. 

In those five months, I have worked with approximately 70-80 individuals seeking treatment on various levels. 

If I have learned anything, it is that they all need help in ways we can’t imagine, especially if we have never been impacted by addiction ourselves. 

Addiction can impact anyone, and we may never even know if someone is struggling. 

For many, it takes hitting rock bottom and seeking help more than a multitude of times before they can successfully recover from addiction. There are many who do not recover, and there are many who don’t even make it to treatment. 

How can we claim to be loving, caring, compassionate people when those who need us most, who can be anyone from a brother, sister, mother, father, grandchild, grandparent, friend, neighbor, coworker, etc., are the ones we ignore? 

Research shows that addiction is a disease, one that alters brain chemistry in ways that leave those struggling with addiction with an inability to make different choices than the ones they do. 

Most people suffering from addiction can’t simply stop on their own. 

Just like many mental illnesses, there is a lot of stigma around addiction. Many clients I have worked with state that all they want is a chance to prove that they can do it; they just need a chance. 

How many of us have made mistakes, errors, or decisions with consequences that have led us to feel the same way? 

We are no better as we all struggle with our own difficulties. Taking away resources cannot be the solution.

Using a government shutdown to push agendas the way things have been is not just ridiculous, but downright disgusting.

I don’t care what side of the political spectrum you fall on, if you agree with the idea that the shutdown can be used to push an agenda, you should reevaluate yourself. Do people need to lose their jobs over this? 

The decision to fire people isn’t in the hands of whatever political party; it’s being chosen by the Trump administration as a tactic to force a particular agenda. 

The party system in the U.S. is a joke. 

Everyone deserves to be represented, but at the end of the day, we are all humans. We all need each other, and a part of life is learning to cooperate and compromise with each other. 

Does it really matter that someone believes something different as long as it’s not harmful to others? Does it really matter if people disagree religiously, morally, or socially? No. 

What matters is working for the betterment of everyone.

For those who think the US is the greatest country and people should think themselves lucky, blessed or grateful to live here — wake up and realize there’s still more work to do. 

This includes inner reflection. 

If you think, “whoever doesn’t like it can just leave,” you are part of the problem.