Just “Don’t” –
May 3, 2020 – Tim Ryan, a recovering heroin addict and host of A&E’s 2017 documentary “Dope Man,” has a message for those struggling to get clean and those in recovery who may be finding it hard to resist the temptation to pick their habit back up during this insufferable time in history: don’t. Following his own lifelong battle with addiction and his son’s passing from a heroin overdose almost six years ago, Ryan has made it his life’s mission to help as many addicts as he can, suffering from the “disease of more,” overcome it and find peace. For the individuals looking to sustain the gains they’ve made in their recovery efforts during this pandemic, Ryan, a recovery advocate at Rehab.com, said website traffic has seen an uptick of 383 percent with people navigating the site to seek treatment options. But the site isn’t just for addicts. Ryan noted the slippery slope of otherwise healthy people who have been unwittingly hitting the bottle while they’re spending most of their time indoors since the stay-at-home orders were issued by Governor Murphy nearly two months ago.
“Take your average person,” Ryan explained. “They come home, have a couple of drinks, they might have had a couple at noon, now at 10 in the morning. People walk that thin line and pick up a drug or alcohol dependency in isolation.” For those who are turning to drugs and alcohol to ride the tide of the Covid-19 pandemic, Ryan is urging people to be cognizant of their behavior and stop before they develop a problem.
