According to the National Center for Health Statistics, there was a nearly 30 percent jump in drug overdose deaths last year, 75 percent of which were opioid-related. And overdose deaths have increased by almost 40 percent.
These disturbing statistics are certainly the worst for any country. But the U.S. is not alone in its opioid crisis. Opioid use among adolescents in Israel rose sharply during roughly the same period, accompanied by a surge in referrals to emotional help centers.
Around the world, the problem is not the use of opioids per se, but the sense of meaninglessness that causes young people and adolescents to try to escape from reality. Today, when people have everything they need financially, the question of the meaning of life becomes more and more acute.
This applies not only to teenagers and young adults, but also to their parents. In fact, part of the reason teenagers can’t answer their own questions about the meaning of life is that their parents themselves don’t know the answer and are just as perplexed. Because parents cannot provide answers, children are left frustrated.
Opioid abuse is only one facet of the problem. People everywhere are unhappy, depressed, angry, and frustrated. That’s why many of them turn to extremes in their search for meaning: religious fundamentalism, extreme sports, violence and substance abuse.
Thus, the solution is not a particularistic approach to opioid overdose. The right thing to do is to build a comprehensive educational system that informs people about the changing reality and teaches them how to deal with it.
Education should begin in early childhood and continue into adulthood. Social circles that provide people with social support, warmth, sympathy and empathy should be organized. The relationship with the group should be ongoing and lifelong, giving people a foundation on which to lean and grow.
Gradually people will begin to form new values. Instead of looking for meaning and satisfaction associated with self-centered goals, people will find meaning in relationships with others. Everyone will interact with a core group of friends who, in turn, will keep in touch with the broader circles of support.
On the other side of postmodernism lies a new society, interconnected and supportive. But to get there, you have to squeeze through a narrow cave where the light at the end of the tunnel is dim and unstable.
The pain that pushes people to use opioids and other forms of escapism is the result of the pressure of moving from one world to another. On the one hand, the pleasures of the old world no longer bring the same joy to those who suffer. On the other hand, they have not discovered the pleasure of reciprocating with others. As a result, such people feel “trapped in a cave” and desperately search for a way out.
But this is the sign of change and growth: the light of an interconnected and caring society at the end of the tunnel. If we break through and don’t give up halfway, we will reach it quickly. If we linger, reality will push us through the cave until we are on the other side, bloodied, wounded and beaten.
