treatment in the future. There are unusual challenges and unique considerations when a doctor has an addiction. If you are a doctor who has ad-diction issues you may be worried about admitting this prob-lem. You may be concerned about losing the ability to practise in your chosen field and risking the reputation of your practice. A support program takes some time to complete but can help make the positive shifts that last a lifetime, unlike the quick fix that lasts until the next hit. It takes some time, but can help make the positive shifts that last a lifetime – unlike the quick fix that lasts long enough till the next hit. A NON-PROFIT WEB-BASED HUB I benefited from finding the right program to help me. This is why I began the development of my non-profit website, meant to assist other DCs in finding programs to help them help themselves. I’d like to introduce 4DC HELP. We are chiropractors help -ing chiropractors. 4DC help is a drug and alcohol rehabilitation information hotline and website hub established in September 2010. It serves as a collaborative community of support to combat the growing dangers of drug and alcohol abuse in the chiropractic profession. I created this website with the hope of connecting with people like me who let drug and alcohol abuse control, overrun and, ultimately, redirect their potential and the bright futures they were destined to create. OTHER CONSEQUENCES OF SUBSTANCE ABUSE Some of you might be thinking, “I don’t abuse drugs, I just oc-casionally use them.” You might have your rationale for using them, such as a means of relaxation in the evenings or tak-ing the edge off, maybe cramming for a test. Justifications like, “marijuana is not a hard-core drug” or “I only use it recreation-ally” were all reasons I had, too, for validating my drug use. But in the government’s eyes, these are all reasons to convict you, put you in prison and have your professional licences revoked and careers shattered. Substance abuse can and will eventually turn into violations, resulting in legal problems. The consequences of violations in-clude legal burden, financial ramifications, loss of reputation, loss of business, family difficulties and criminal penalties. (Mal-practice insurance generally does not cover violations of mis-conduct, leaving the practitioner to bear all financial burdens.) If your abuse carries into the workplace it can also affect your patients and result in psychological damage, feelings of vulnerability, fear and mistrust, as well as possible physical pain/damage, financial loss and, ultimately, their failure to seek 44 • CANADIAN CHIROPRACTOR | OCTOBER 2012 WORKING THROUGH THE ADDICTION Many times, a typical rehabilitation program will not work, for a number of reasons. Doctors struggling with addiction require complete privacy and discretion and this cannot be found in a rehab program that has numerous patients from all walks of life and criminal backgrounds. Fortunately, there are alternatives to the average rehabilita-tion facilities, including Impaired Professional Programs (IPPs). Our site offers the information to the location of these facilities and assistance to get you to the facility that best fits your per-sonal needs. Our goals are to: • promote the early awareness and rehabilitation of the substance-impaired chiropractor; • assist substance-impaired chiropractors in their recov-ery process by guiding them in the direction of proper treatment through the 4DC HELP hotline and website information; • increase awareness of substance abuse issues through education, warning signs and examples; • protect the public welfare; • protect the chiropractic profession’s reputation; • ultimately, avoid the consequences that are inevitable with substance abuse issues. My hope and reason for this website is not only to share my own story of lifestyle choices and what can happen, but also to show that an alternative positive reality exists. If this resource can serve as a conduit for even one person making a choice to live in sobriety and reach for help, then my life of mistakes will have served a purpose. It took me hit-ting rock bottom to recognize how drugs affected me and those around me, and I say can with passion and conviction that my life of sobriety carries renewed purpose. They say that “success in life is the result of good judgment, good judgment is the result of experience, and experience is of-ten times the result of bad judgment.” Unfortunately, drugs and bad judgment correlate to keep us in the vicious cycle of wrong choices, self-inflicting bad experiences and never sharing in the positive success that life can and will offer if we let it. We may end up paying the ultimate price with our lives. Please let us help before it’s too late. Canadian DCs can also benefit from our services as we are adding Canadian connec-tions and resources to our growing list of programs. We can be contacted on the 4DC Help hotline at (720) 4DC-HLP8. Our e-mail address is 4DCHelp@frenchfamilychi -ropractic.com. We offer personal counselling as well as public lectures on business and ethics. You can like us on Facebook to help us get the word out. • REFERENCE 1. Introduction to 4DC Help hotline and website hub, 4DC@ frenchfamilychiropractic.com. www.canadianchiropractor.ca
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