Understanding the Opioid Crisis in a Theological Key: A Case Study in Tennessee
Elise Gilliam, Student Ethics Researcher in mentorship with Duke University
The opioid crisis is a social, medical, economic, and political crisis that is plaguing America. Families are torn apart because of the impacts of addiction, and increasing numbers of Americans die every day of opioid overdose, from single adults to infants who became addicted through their mothers during pregnancy. In order to fully respond to this crisis, we must set our pain management practices in historical and theological context. This paper first describes the history of religious understandings of and responses to pain. The paper then turns to the state of Tennessee as a case study for how we understand and manage pain in both our medical system and our society as a whole.
Historically, medicine and religion have been deeply connected, and this project is particularly focused on the relationship between Christianity and medicine. This paper will briefly review religious narratives, both historical and current, that address pain management and religious responses to suffering in general and the use of opioid painkillers and addiction in particular. Religious narratives span a spectrum of understanding pain and its management, from accepting pain to overcoming it. The question is whether we should seek to eliminate suffering, providing relief of the human condition, or offer counseling to those who are suffering, urging a patient endurance - or perhaps a wise combination of the two approaches.
From this religious overview the paper turns to the state of Tennessee as a case-study, with particular focus on the Appalachian Tri-Cities area. The understanding and biases of the opioid crisis in Tennessee will be investigated by conducting a systematic review of media sources in Tennessee, including the Knoxville News Sentinel, the Kingsport Times, the Bristol Herald Courier, and the Johnson City Press. Articles from 2017 and 2018 that include one or more of the search terms ‘opioids’, ‘opiates’, ‘narcotics’, ‘drug abuse’, and ‘overdose’ will be reviewed to determine defining attributes of the way the crisis is discussed. An analysis will be conducted regarding the those quoted in the articles by determining percentages of articles that quote certain people from certain demographics and fields, such as police officers, government officials, doctors, and affected families. This will yield information regarding the placement of responsibility for developing solutions as well the formation of rhetoric about the crisis.
Using Tennessee as a case study allows for a more focused investigation into the religious and moral themes at play in how media and medical sources describe the opioid crisis. Considering both the presence and absence of certain modes of religious and moral thought and response is necessary for understanding the nature of the causes of the opioid crisis. Such an understanding is necessary to pursue a robust and fitting response.
"The opioid crisis is a social, medical, economic, and political crisis that is plaguing America. Families are torn apart because of the impacts of addiction, and increasing numbers of Americans die every day of opioid overdose, from single adults to infants who became addicted through their mothers during pregnancy. In order to fully respond to this crisis, we must set our pain management practices in historical and theological context. This paper first describes the history of religious understandings of and responses to pain. The paper then turns to the state of Tennessee as a case study for how we understand and manage pain in both our medical system and our society as a whole.
The opioid crisis is a social, medical, economic, and political crisis that is plaguing America. Families are torn apart because of the impacts of addiction, and increasing numbers of Americans die every day of opioid overdose, from single adults to infants who became addicted through their mothers during pregnancy. In order to fully respond to this crisis, we must set our pain management practices in historical and theological context. This paper first describes the history of religious understandings of and responses to pain. The paper then turns to the state of Tennessee as a case study for how we understand and manage pain in both our medical system and our society as a whole.
Historically, medicine and religion have been deeply connected, and this project is particularly focused on the relationship between Christianity and medicine. This paper will briefly review religious narratives, both historical and current, that address pain management and religious responses to suffering in general and the use of opioid painkillers and addiction in particular. Religious narratives span a spectrum of understanding pain and its management, from accepting pain to overcoming it. The question is whether we should seek to eliminate suffering, providing relief of the human condition, or offer counseling to those who are suffering, urging a patient endurance - or perhaps a wise combination of the two approaches.
From this religious overview the paper turns to the state of Tennessee as a case-study, with particular focus on the Appalachian Tri-Cities area. The understanding and biases of the opioid crisis in Tennessee will be investigated by conducting a systematic review of media sources in Tennessee, including the Knoxville News Sentinel, the Kingsport Times, the Bristol Herald Courier, and the Johnson City Press. Articles from 2017 and 2018 that include one or more of the search terms ‘opioids’, ‘opiates’, ‘narcotics’, ‘drug abuse’, and ‘overdose’ will be reviewed to determine defining attributes of the way the crisis is discussed. An analysis will be conducted regarding the those quoted in the articles by determining percentages of articles that quote certain people from certain demographics and fields, such as police officers, government officials, doctors, and affected families. This will yield information regarding the placement of responsibility for developing solutions as well the formation of rhetoric about the crisis.
Using Tennessee as a case study allows for a more focused investigation into the religious and moral themes at play in how media and medical sources describe the opioid crisis. Considering both the presence and absence of certain modes of religious and moral thought and response is necessary for understanding the nature of the causes of the opioid crisis. Such an understanding is necessary to pursue a robust and fitting response.
"The opioid crisis is a social, medical, economic, and political crisis that is plaguing America. Families are torn apart because of the impacts of addiction, and increasing numbers of Americans die every day of opioid overdose, from single adults to infants who became addicted through their mothers during pregnancy. In order to fully respond to this crisis, we must set our pain management practices in historical and theological context. This paper first describes the history of religious understandings of and responses to pain. The paper then turns to the state of Tennessee as a case study for how we understand and manage pain in both our medical system and our society as a whole.