addiction

Three years ago Jenn Dutton was a successful psychiatric nurse, living in a Vancouver suburb with her boyfriend and his two children.

After a rear-end car accident left her with painful whiplash injuries in her back and neck, Dutton’s physician prescribed Percocet, an opioid pain reliever. Thus, innocently, began her descent into hell.

After 20 years of helping others battle their addictions, Mike Pond succumbed to his own.

It was 2008, and he had lost everything to alcoholism: his psychotherapy practice in Kelowna, his wife, his three sons, his house, even his driver's licence.

The P.E.I. government says three new frontline workers should improve services for people dealing with addiction.

Health and Wellness Minister Doug Currie says the positions include an addictions patient navigator, an outreach social worker and a complex case co-ordinator.

He says the additions should ensure more timely access to services and make it easier for people to navigate the system.

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For nearly five years, Barbara - a mother and wife based in the Kootenays - “couldn't see a way out” of her debilitating depression.

“I was just getting worse and worse,” Barbara, who asked that her last name not be used, told Vancouver Desi. “My whole outlook on life was just black. I couldn't see a way out.”

Fortunately, she heard about the Chopra Addiction & Wellness Center in Squamish - one of B.C.'s few residential treatment centres.

Larissa Cahute Reports