Latest news with #P
Irish Times
6 days ago
- General
- Irish Times
If everything does not happen for a reason, then why does it happen?
I set two atheists up on a date. It was a few years ago, when the Covid -era restrictions had convinced us that we would never again meet a new person. Unless it was online. And we'd had enough of that. The two atheists, both friends of mine, met for a drink along the canal. They spent the evening discussing God. There is no greater power they both agreed. P, my closer friend of the two, believes that life and love are dictated by chance. Your soul mate might board the 7.15am train from Connolly to Pearse Street every morning. You board the later one. Maybe one day, you get the early one and meet them and start chatting. Or maybe they are sick and stayed home that day. You never meet. It's all down to chance. READ MORE P's date, on the other hand, believes in serendipity. Although serendipity is really just the romantic version of chance. So, take the above scenario, where in the latter instance this pair do not meet on the train. But a minor accident aboard the Dart lands one of the soul mates in the doctor's office, where she meets the other, who was kept out of work with illness. In the waiting room, he overhears her telling the receptionist about the incident and intrigued, he starts a conversation with his soul mate. [ I told my boyfriend about my soulmate, without registering his reaction Opens in new window ] The rest, as they say, is history. In the instance of my two atheist friends, the fairy-tale would become resigned to a brief historical footnote. If the opening scenes sounded like the beginning of a noughties romcom, starring Bill Murray and Kate Hudson , it wasn't meant to be. God had different plans in store. Or maybe one of them simply forgot to text back. Who knows. Anyway, this friend, P, and I lived together for a brief period and spent much of that time discussing existence, and much more of our time discussing love (to the extent that P politely suggested at one point, we could perhaps talk a little less of love). These are the topics reserved for people with whom you spend copious amounts of time, where the mundane need not eclipse the existential. Friends you see so often that conversations are conversations, and not catch ups. Believing in chance was a comfort, P told me; it removes control from your hands. Her admission reminded me of the 'humbling and character-building experience of astronomy' of which Carl Sagan speaks in his celebrated book, Pale Blue Dot. The insignificance of our individual experience is reassuring to many, while for others (me!) it is anxiety-inducing. 'Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the universe, are challenged' Sagan writes, when we witness the diminutiveness of our home planet. Without the structure of a formal belief system, we have the freedom to create our own understanding of life. There is no doctrine to tell us how and what to believe; that might guide us or challenge our instincts and guttural value system. This freedom, however, can be intimidating. Choice is a scary thing. [ Illness management: 'If my condition does not improve, does that make it my fault?' Opens in new window ] I often wish, when it came to migraine, that I had a formal belief system to look to. One that could categorically assure that 'God does not give you more than you can handle', 'it will all make sense in time' or even the more kitsch, 'everything happens for a reason'. If everything does not happen for a reason, then why does it happen? Randomness feels a cruel instructor of fate. It was almost 20 years ago now that I received in my local church the blessing of the sick. It was not without hope that I walked up the aisle with my hands across my chest. Embarrassed by the jittery shimmer of hope I held that this teenage girl was destined for a miracle. That same year, an experimental doctor promised he would have my migraine cured by Easter time. Innocently and naively, I shared this news on my Facebook status with comparison to Christ's resurrection. (it didn't come to pass) More recently, a therapist asked me to outline my belief system. I began rather coyly but stopped abruptly when he began to interrogate. I didn't like his questions. I didn't want to lose this comfort to logic. My therapist, who enjoyed playing devil's advocate and readily contested anything I said, simply nodded and changed the subject. Perhaps he understood that, for pain without reason, the rational brings little comfort.
RNZ News
20-05-2025
- Health
- RNZ News
The high cost of getting high in New Zealand
After recovering from her own addiction Emily Duncan is now the clinical lead at the Grace Foundation, New Zealand's largest rehabilitation and accommodation service for people released from prison. Photo: Supplied Emily Duncan was just 17 when she had her first hit of meth. By 21, she was smoking it every day. "The first hit is the biggest rush anyone will ever get, and then you are always chasing it... and you never actually get that first incredible hit again," she tells The Detail, as news emerges of a growing meth problem in New Zealand. "I never personally had to buy meth; it was always so easily accessible. I would wake up and my boyfriend would be blowing crack smoke in my face and give me a pipe. "In fact, I used to use so much throughout the day... I'd be sniffing it, smoking it, drinking it... by the time I was 26, I had infections everywhere, I was vomiting all the time, I was bleeding... I was in and out of hospital, I ODed several times, I was very suicidal." This is the daughter of missionaries. And this is the reality of meth addiction: it can happen to anyone, from any background. Once a problem whispered about in city alleyways, methamphetamine is now roaring through the heart of New Zealand - and it is leaving devastation in its wake. From isolated rural towns to busy suburban neighbourhoods, meth, or "P," is gripping Kiwis in growing numbers. The latest national wastewater testing results reveal the level of meth consumed has basically doubled in the past six months. "Everyone and everybody is using it," says Duncan. "It's very easily accessible, it's the cheapest it's ever been. "Back in the day, in my drug years, I used to mix with professionals, they had good jobs and families, and they were in-the-closet users. Then I lived with people who had no jobs, more gang-associated, you were surrounded by dealers." Eventually it proved too much for Duncan. When she courted death one too many times, she realised she wanted to live, just not the meth life. She escaped New Zealand for Australia, went to rehab and turned her life around. She admits the road to recovery was brutal in the early days. "I was an absolute wreck. I was relieved to get off the hard gear, but my body took six months before I could walk properly, talk properly and gain some weight back. My depression and mood swings were really intense." She eventually "fell in love with recovery", developed her faith and trained to help others. "I guess I got high on life. And I then stayed onboard in the recovery sector in Australia, and I stayed there for 10 years, and I ended up helping other people. It gave me purpose." Duncan is now back in New Zealand, where she is the clinical lead at the Grace Foundation, New Zealand's largest rehabilitation and accommodation service for people released from prison. She has also just completed her Master of Health Practice in addiction and trauma at Auckland University. She says more education, more programmes and more funding is needed to reduce meth harm in New Zealand. Professor Chris Wilkins, a leader in drug research, agrees something needs to be done. He says the latest Drugs Trends survey has revealed more Kiwis are buying and selling drugs online, using apps like Snapchat and Facebook messenger. And the use of social media to purchase was seen for all drug options, and had increased across meth, cannabis, cocaine and MDMA users in recent years, in some cases doubling on 2020 numbers. The survey also revealed that nationally, one third of meth buyers reported purchasing from gangs. "I think we are in a really dynamic drug supply environment at the moment," Wilkins tells The Detail. "The use of meth is going up and the gram price is going down - about 38 percent over the last five years. We have a massive increase in supply and that is driving the price down." He says local gangs are developing connections all over the world - not just in Southeast Asia, a "traditional favourite", but also with the Mexican drug cartels who are experts in smuggling and distribution. He says the drug no longer discriminates and its abuse has flow on effects for communities, with an increase in crime and harm, economic and social deprivation, and unemployment. Emily Duncan says one thing is clear: the cost of ignoring this crisis is too high, and it is being paid every day by those who can least afford it. Check out how to listen to and follow The Detail here . You can also stay up-to-date by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter .
