The Center hosted a special community forum on Oct. 26 to address questions and concerns about how to deal with a family member, friend or partner who is struggling with an addiction to crystal meth.

Dr. Michael Majeski from The Center’s Health Services Department presented an overview of what crystal meth is, why it’s so appealing to the GLBT community and the steps people can take to help someone who is suffering from meth addiction.

Majeski said 85 percent of the people he sees in individual therapy and group sessions are in some way impacted by crystal meth use, whether by their own use or someone else’s in their lives.

After reviewing the basics of crystal meth use, which included the ways people use, slang terms and how meth affects the brain, Majeski discussed the negative ways in which the drug impacts a person, particularly when coming down from a high.

“When people are coming out of methamphetamine, they look like and act like they are in the middle of a major depressive episode,” he said. “They can’t function very well. They’re extremely depressed. Paranoia is one of the biggest, most common symptoms.”

Transmission of HIV and STDs increases drastically by using crystal meth, Majeski said.

“Generally speaking, crystal means more sex partners and more chance[s] of unprotected sex,” he said. “… It’s almost like the Olympics of sex when people are having sex on crystal meth. All your inhibitions go away. They’re not careful.”

Sheri Kirshenbaum, HIV services clinical director for Jewish Family Services, who attended the forum, runs Talking About Tina, a support group for HIV-positive men who use crystal meth. The group offers a safe and nonjudgmental forum to discuss ambivalence regarding use, relationships and community norms, health issues, sex, and past and present struggles with control regarding drug use.

Kirshenbaum said not all men who attend Talking About Tina describe themselves as addicts, but feel comfortable talking about how the drug impacts their health.

“Declining health can be a wake-up call; however, sometimes people feel really afraid and don’t know what to do other than use,” she said. “On the other hand, sometimes people will continue to use because they don’t see the impact – their numbers look good and they feel great. We then talk about what may be going on that isn’t yet registering and long-term health if using fits in with their plan to maintain feeling great over time.”

Men struggle with feeling acknowledged, loved and valued as individuals, Kirshenbaum said.

“Meth sometimes gives a false sense of connectedness that feels safer and less vulnerable than interacting without the drug,” she said.

People in the GLBT community abuse crystal meth for a number of reasons, including to increase their self-esteem, battle internalized homophobia and numb the emotional pain associated with various problems, Majeski said.

“People who are having underlying depression issues, problems at work, problems in their lives, HIV, dealing with life-threatening disease – it kind of helps them forget, at least for the time they are doing the drug,” he said.

Majeski said he took an informal survey of people in his individual and group counseling sessions and asked what helped and did not help meth users battle their addiction. Many of Majeski’s patients said staying away from potential triggers helped them remain clean.

“Everybody has their own trigger. Sometimes it’s sex. Sometimes it’s feeling bad about their self-esteem or their weight. So depending on what it is, sometimes what has been helpful is for people to do away with the trigger as much as they can,” Majeski said.

Kirshenbaum said the men she works with often talk about their relationships with friends or partners who also use and their struggles in maintaining, pulling away from or severing these relationships because they may be triggers.

“Some find it easier to totally cut off from people so that they may reduce the temptation to use. Others can’t or don’t want to give up the support that they do get from these people in their lives even though they are using,” she said. “They may feel they have no one else.

“It’s up to individuals to take responsibilities for themselves – they can’t rely on others to help in this way,” she continued. “People are more likely to be successful in their efforts to stop their crystal use if they have a network of friends who don’t use.”

Ways in which Majeski’s patients were able to confront their crystal meth addiction included increasing exercise, restricting spending abilities, occupying free time with activities/hobbies, having routine drug tests as part of probation, having a sponsor and commitments, attending support groups, being in a safe place away from others who are using, having people call to check in with them and recognizing specific anniversaries of sobriety.

“The whole 12-step process is a one-day-at-a-time process,” he said. “It doesn’t say: ‘I’m never going to use this drug again. Don’t expect me to hate drugs that made me feel good, that made me feel like I have better self-esteem.… How am I going to hate that drug. I can’t.’”

For more information about Talking About Tina, call Kirshenbaum at (619) 325-0522 ext. 102 or Vicente Mendivil at (619) 325-0522 ext. 107. The group meets Thursday evenings from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. at the offices of Jewish Family Services, located at 2700 Adams Ave., Suite 101. A healthy meal will be served before the group meets at 6:00 p.m.