These and other perplexing questions from concerned spouses, other family members and colleagues of those afflicted with chemical dependence have been sent my way during my six-year tenure from 1990 to 1996 as Chair of the Committee on Occupational Health of Operating Room Personnel. The calls continue to come in, now directed to the committee's Task Force on Chemical Dependence. They are not intellectual questions requiring a scholarly dissertation, but rather they are pleas for practical answers that in many cases have come too late. The aim of this article is to respond, in a basic way, to some of these questions.
Chemical dependence is a chronic, incurable disease, but it is treatable.
It may be defined as the overwhelming compulsion to use drugs in spite of adverse consequences. Try as they will to quit on their own, the physician-addict will continue to steal controlled drugs and use them until the abuser is either identified and helped, or dies, whichever comes first. Return to the practice of medicine is the norm, although each case must be handled individually. Our natural tendency is to deny the likelihood that we would ever have to face anything as horrible as drug addiction in a loved one or a trusted associate. Indeed, denial is a major key in our response to that possibility.