Sound Garden Lead Singer Dies
Like many others, I was saddened to hear of Chris Cornell’s unfortunate death. His music helped me get through some very rough times but more importantly, I was sad because it was yet another loss of a person in recovery. It was very well known Cornell had a long battle with his sobriety but it was reported he had been sober for several years. He was even a spokesperson in his recovery, which is another reason why many fans found him to be inspirational.
The night Chris died, he performed in a show with Soundgarden in Detroit. His wife came out with a statement (according to Rolling Stone) that she spoke to him before and after the show.
They found Cornell later and it was confirmed his death was due to suicide.
For those of you who don’t know, Ativan is a benzodiazepine which is in the same class as drugs like Xanax, Klonopin, or Valium. Benzodiazepines have grown in popularity over the years and are often prescribed to people in recovery from drug addiction. The problem with this is they are extremely addictive and easily abused.
I have written this article to shed some light on the treatment of addicts. In 2010, there were 38,329 deaths from pharmaceutical drug overdoses and 22,134 of those were from non-opioid pharmaceuticals. It is likely that a large percentage of the 22,134 were recovering addicts prescribed the non-opioid (for example Ativan “to help with their anxiety”). Point blank, addicts should not be prescribed more “medication” to help them with their addiction. What is this solving? Nothing. Sure it is keeping them from buying drugs off of the streets but benzodiazepines are nothing for an addict in recovery to play around with; they are dangerous and addictive drugs to ADDICTS.
I am aware there are several different ways to get off of drugs and I am not trying to shame the way people do it. I am trying to make people more aware of what they are taking and I am encouraging them to get educated. In my experience, the only way to really help someone to come off of drugs once and for all, is to figure out the reason they abuse drugs in the first place. Because drugs are a solution to a problem. All of these prescriptions are just band-aids and not solving anything.
When I heard the news Chris Cornell committed suicide, I was sad, but when I found out he was under the influence of something that was supposed to help him, I became angry. I am hoping his death can help someone see the big picture of what is going on in the world of addiction. Let’s use his death as inspiration like we did with his life.
If you have a loved one who is struggling with drug or alcohol abuse, get them into a treatment program that works, don’t wait until it is too late. The Narconon program is specifically designed to handle the underlying issues of addiction call us today at 1-877-959-0075 to get help now.
