Single men and drug-related deaths

“People from all backgrounds experience addiction. Addiction doesn't care how old you are, how much money you make, or the color of your skin; it has no bias.”

The quote above is from FindTreatment.Gov— and it makes a certain kind of sense, given that no one is immune to addiction.

But, the data suggests that the Opioid Epidemic does have a bias. It prefers to kill unattached males.

In fact, Patrick T Brown writes that the Opioid Epidemic is “hammering single and divorced men.”

In an online article, he reviews data from the CDC and finds a 125% increase in drug-related deaths among never-married white men. In all, over 35,000 single men died of drug-related causes in 2020, a 35% increase from 2019.

Does marriage prevent addiction? Of course, data like this doesn’t prove that marriage wards off addiction. The data is correlational, rather than causal. From this same data, a few reasonable hypotheses might be developed.

Hypothesis: Men who are addicted become single or stay single at higher rates than married men. (This is the B causes A hypothesis)

Hypothesis: A third factor like the personality traits of “being dependable” and “having goals” make a man more likely to attract a spouse—and more likely to avoid the people, places, and things that lead to addiction. (This is the 3rd-factor hypothesis)

Becoming affiliated. In any case, disaffiliation and estrangement from society is certainly a risk factor for addiction and homelessness. Finding ways to reach out to single men and helping them become engaged (pun intended) with others should be a major focus of the church.

Resilient Recovery Group meetings are one way this might happen.

In group meetings, men are able to practice a number of skills that ward off addiction and improve their connectedness to others.

Appropriate self-disclosure, showing concern and support, giving attention to the needs of others, humility, kindness—and many other virtues and skills can be learned in a recovery meeting.

If you or someone you know would benefit from attending a Resilient Recovery Group meeting there are several online options. Email me at Resilient@cwlk.church if you’d like a list.