2010 Winner - Christopher LipnickasName: Christopher Lipnickas Application Essay I met a heroin addict who told me about the first time she slid the needle into her arm. She remembers the date, the circumstances, and even the song that played on the radio as that intoxicating rush pulsed through her for the first time. She believes it was at that moment she became an addict. For my father, crossing the line into addiction was not so clear. Prescription pain medication abuse/addiction is an insidious process. My father fractured several vertebrae and his doctor made it very clear to him that he would not be able to function without narcotic pain relievers. This statement was actually prophetic as prolonged use of the opiates “re-wired” his brain and made it nearly impossible to live without the pills. The only warning he received regarding this danger was a small label stuck to the side of the prescription bottle. Looking back, he has no idea when he crossed the line from needing the pain medication to NEEDING the pain medication. Our family was plunged into a nightmare. During a time we now refer to as “the dark ages”, we endured a cycle of lying, enabling, anger, desperation, overdoses, and hopelessness. Only through what I now recognize as our amazing inner strength and the support of a talented and compassionate substance abuse counseling center did our family survive and we begin to get our lives back. My father wakes each morning determined that this will not be the day he relapses. I go to bed each night proud of what he has accomplished that day. I am a psychology major at Wichita State University and I plan to become a substance abuse counselor. Having experienced first hand the destructive power of prescription drug abuse on both the user and the family, I need to help others who are in that same place and do what I can to prevent this cycle from claiming another family, another father, another life. Prescription opiates are prescribed often, with minimal counseling and/or monitoring of the patients’ use and virtually no education as to the dangers. According to a Columbia University research study, 84 percent of online pharmacies do not require prescriptions to order medication and over 50 million people in the U.S. alone have abused prescription drugs at least once. My primary focus will be to prevent the abuse from beginning. I want to create an educational program that teaches doctors and patients the realities of long term pain medication use. No doctor would consider handing an insulin prescription to a newly diagnosed diabetic and wishing them well. Diabetics are educated in their disease and the treatments. I want to develop a similar training program for patients requiring pain medication for longer than 5 days. Providing information, support, and guidance, I want to inform the patients and families of the warning signs of growing dependence before families are shattered and lives are lost. I did not have the knowledge or the tools to help my father and my family when the darkness descended. I will dedicate myself to preventing this from happening to others. I want to bring light to those struggling in the shadows of addiction. Interview conducted by Ne'Mireth N: It was both moving and horrifying for me to read your story and the struggles you went through with your father. Is he still with us? How is your family doing? What do they think about your chosen path? C: My dad is with us, still clean and sober, and we are still together as a family. I’m not certain that anyone who hasn’t experienced addiction either themselves or through a close family member can understand exactly how much work it is to get clean and sober and to stay that way. Early on, staying clean took all of his energy and focus and each minute was a battle. I don’t believe that it ever gets easy, but it seemed to get a bit easier. Eventually, he was able to rejoin the family in an emotional sense. He still carries feelings of guilt and anguish and some days I see them weigh heavier on his soul then others. But he is fighting. He is determined to stay clean. No one who goes through these experiences remains unaffected. I had garnered an interest in psychology after being exposed to sports psychology when I was younger. I liked the idea of understanding people and what motivates them. When my family began going through the turmoil of dealing with addiction and its repercussions, all I could think of is, “Why would someone put their family through this?” There was a lot of anger and recrimination. A compassionate substance abuse councilor helped me to understand the disease process of addiction. I remember feeling that I wouldn’t wish this is on my worst enemy. Slowly I began to wonder if there was anything I could do to keep other people from having to go through it. As my father worked on his recovery, I reoriented my feelings and thoughts away from negative things like anger and blame and began to focus on helping and growing. Both of my parents are very supportive of my choice to pursue this. Honestly, I believe they would be very supportive of me regardless of what I pursue. Except maybe for Clown School – clowns completely creep my mother out so she would probably be disappointed in me if I choose that as a career! Overall, they’ve always just wanted me to be happy. N: I can see that this experience gives you a strong goal in life and the motivation to follow through on it. But besides that, what drives you to push as hard as you do? 8 classes, man! C: Well, I don’t like to be bored, so 8 classes plus trying out for the bowling team takes up a lot of time. I mean no offense to the good people of Kansas, but there’s not a whole lot to do here! Also, I come from a working class background. My grandparents worked in the steel mills and the GM factories and my parents raised me with that type of work ethic. But they also taught me how important it is to play. I goof off with friends whenever possible. When I’m at home, I spend a lot of time goofing off with my mom, too. She’s just a big kid herself but she’s showed me that you can be responsible, work hard, and still enjoy the hell out of life. She is the one that introduced to me WoT. N: Why is it important for you to make a difference? Why not let others do it, why you? Why do you think YOU will make the best impact in the fight against prescription drug addiction? C: As it stands, we’re currently letting someone else do it and I’m here to tell you it’s not working. We are relying on physicians to know what is best for us and to guide us and not all of them are doing a very good job. I don’t blame the medical industry as whole, and I understand that doctors are overburdened by paperwork, patient volume and the impracticality of following up with each individual in a proactive manner. Yet I think it is irresponsible to hand a patient a chemical that is going to make them feel better today, but at such a large, virtually unvoiced, risk. A person can become physically dependent to a narcotic pain reliever in as a little as 5 days. If you have an injury or surgery that requires you to take narcotics for that time frame or longer, you are rolling the dice. Unfortunately, not everyone has Mat’s luck. I think pharmaceutical companies should share the responsibility for educating their customers. I am willing to bet that the average person who watches 1 hour of television per day could tell you the potential side effects and risks of medications for depression, heart disease, and even erectile dysfunction. Blood clots, stroke, driving while taking Ambien with no memory of the event, erections that last longer than 4 hours. People know these things off the top of their head because we hear or read the advertisements all the time. When was the last time you saw an ad for Percocet? Or Vicoden? Have you ever heard that voice-over guy tell you that you have a ridiculous chance at becoming physically dependent on pain medication and may lose your job or everyone you love if you take it? And no one is immune; everyone is vulnerable to this stuff. My father is an educated, professional man who loves his family and would never have dreamed of hurting us. At no point did he set out to become an addict. One fall. One broken bone. One minor surgery. Any of these things put people at risk of addiction. They start with a legitimate need, the doctor tells them it is ok to take this prescription, and most doctors will even call in a refill. I’m willing to bet that some people reading this article will be shocked to realize they may have experienced drug withdrawal. They’ve taken a prescription narcotic pain medication and when they stopped, they got a headache, or maybe a little nauseated. Maybe they thought how much their life sucks because now they feel like they are getting the flu on top of recently being hurt or having surgery. These are all symptoms of withdrawal. Most people take some Tylenol and wait for it to pass. But if the length of time you were on the narcotics is extended, the withdrawal can be crippling. Suddenly you find yourself willing to do just about anything to make it stop, and more pain medication makes it stop. They believe that if a doctor is willing to write a prescription, then it is ok. They truly believe they aren’t an addict because a medical professional has validated their need. The process is insidious and pharmaceutical companies are about as interested in educating people as the tobacco industry was in 1970. I don’t know that I will make the BEST impact in the fight against prescription drug abuse but I am going to do my best to make as big of an impact as possible. I feel a need to help other people avoid this. It was awful. It took a strong, responsible, loving man and turned him into an obsessed, self-destructive zombie who was oblivious to the pain his actions were causing the people who loved him most. If there’s a way for me to stop this from happening to another family then I am going to do it. I would also like to write a book about my experiences. I would hope to connect with other teens going through the same thing. Maybe it would give them some insight or maybe even a little hope. Of course it is so hard to get published. I don’t know how much of market there would be for something like my story. But I am going to try. N: If there is any time for fun, what is it that you do for fun? Don’t be shy; we want to know the cool and crazy stuff. And I’m sure some of the single girls would love to know if you have a girlfriend too. C: There’s ALWAYS time for fun! I’m not that much different than most people my age. I enjoy hanging out with my friends and I’m lucky to have great friends both here at college and back at home. I enjoy going to metal concerts and have been to two in the past couple of weeks. I went to Mayhem Fest with my girlfriend, Vikki, my mom, and my cousin, Erin, just a few days before heading to Kansas. Two days after getting to Wichita, I was driving to Kansas City with a friend from Alaska to catch the Uproar tour. I also spend a ridiculous amount of time in bowling centers. I’ve been a competitive tenpin bowler for years and chose Wichita State University because they have the best bowling program in the world. I’ve met some of the greatest people in bowling centers and have learned to be a leader through the sport. I’ve just earned my Silver Level Coaching certification (the youngest to do so by a little more than 8 years) and I love to coach other people. I guess helping people overall just makes me happy. I suppose I am a little different from many guys my age in that I like to read. My favorites are Robert Jordan, of course, and now Brandon Sanderson. I read the Mistborn books and Elantris after finishing tGS and am looking forward to tWoK. When I was younger I was into Ted Dekker. When really busy, I skim a Dan Brown book so I can blow through a story in no time at all, kind of like junk food for the brain. I just read Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, as it, too, was a quick read. But it definitely wasn’t a brain-twinkie. I’m looking forward to reading more of that series. Crazy stuff? Hmmm. I would worry that my mother is going to read this, but most of the crazy stuff I do is actually with her! When someone comes up with a goofy idea, for instance, grocery store curling with frozen turkeys and push brooms, my mother is usually the one shouting, “Me first!” My dad has learned to just roll his eyes and ignore us. N: How did you hear about our application? My mother reads all the WoT websites. She’s a Tarvalon lurker, reads the 13th Depository like some people study the Bible, argues out loud at the computer while reading Theoryland, and spends her Tuesdays and Fridays hitting the refresh button in a slightly obsessed fashion while waiting for Leigh Butler’s newest post on Tor.com. She told me about the scholarship and encouraged me to apply. From what I know of WoT fans, I really didn’t expect to win. You guys are smart. I’ve seen some of the posts from fans and the intellect and talent of many of these people blow me away. I am very humbled to have competed against other fans and to be considered worthy of this scholarship. N: I’m assuming you are a Wheel of Time fan, or at least a starting out enthusiast. What do you like about WoT? When did you first start reading it, is it your first read, etc, etc. We like WoT obsessive people, so don’t be shy here. C: My mom started “encouraging” me to read the books when I was 10. And by “encouraging” I mean begging. She would tell me about this epic story of a big evil trying to destroy the world and how it was three boys who were going to save everyone. When I was 15, I picked up tEotW pretty much to just I didn’t expect to like the books so much. She told me how complex and detailed they were and it scared me off at first. I was reading brain-twinkies and she wanted to hand me a gourmet meal. I was pretty intimidated. After the first one, I just HAD to know what happens next. I read through them as fast as I could. I’m looking forward to the day when all of the books are sitting on my shelf and I have time for a thorough re-read. I would love to follow Leigh’s re-read on Tor.com but I don’t think my professors will find it an acceptable excuse for not showing up for class! I am amazed by the world building. The details and the descriptions just bring everything to life. There are times when I am reading something for a class and I find myself wondering why it sounds so familiar. The answer is usually because it was incorporated in some fashion into the WoT. N: Who is your favorite Wheel of Time character and why? Spoilers for The Gathering Storm! Highlight the text to read Christopher's answer. N: Do you like fiction fantasy in general, or do you read other stuff? Like what? C: Most of it is above, but I wanted to site another fictional character I really enjoyed and that is Sazed in the Mistborn books. Maybe I’m just drawn to characters that suffer loss and are able to overcome. Sazed was tortured by what he thought he should be compared to what he was (prior to the end) and how he felt he had failed. He lost someone he loved, he lost his sense of purpose, and his life’s work seemed fraudulent and hollow. Yet he kept going, plodding along waiting for the chance to make it all come together again. He was hoping to find himself while searching for a way to save his world. I love to learn and I identified with Sazed in that respect. I think that’s why I’m so drawn to Verin as well. N: I know you are currently not a member. And I don’t see anywhere on that agenda of yours that you’ll be joining tarvalon soon. :p That might just take up all of your remaining time, though. So, maybe we’ll wait for you until you graduate. Were you planning on becoming a member? C: I would like very much to become a member and do plan on it…eventually. I’m fortunate in that I can recognize the fact that I am incapable of just casually reading the online WoT resources. If I start, I’m not going to able to stop and my GPA will go right out the window. You know what they say about duty being heavier then a mountain. |