225: The Plight of Physicians Struggling with Addiction with Steven Orebaugh

The Addicted Mind Podcast

Duane Osterlind, LMFT

Health & Fitness, Medicine, Mental Health

4.8 • 621 Ratings

🗓️ 20 March 2023

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Anybody can be impacted by addiction, whether you’re a doctor or not. And for certain people in healthcare, anesthesiologists most especially, access to drugs like opioids is super easy.

On this episode, Duane speaks with Steven Orebaugh about how his own personal experiences of witnessing his colleagues get trapped in addiction inspired him to write the book, “The Stairs on Billy Buck Hill.” He wrote the book having witnessed a number of ruined careers among his peers because they have access to these highly addictive substances. And so, Steven hopes that his book will help fellow physicians and healthcare workers create that healthy fear so they could steer clear of addiction.

Steven is an anesthesiologist at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. He has published some 75 works in the medical literature, including peer-reviewed articles, textbook chapters, and review articles.

In this episode, you will hear:

Why anesthesiologists have easy access to drugs
Understanding how opioids become the downfall of some people
The impact addiction has on physicians addicted to drugs
About the book, The Stairs on Billy Buck Hill
Dealing with the shame and guilt as a doctor
The need for emotional support
Nurturing a healthy fear

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Supporting Resources:

https://www.steveorebaugh.com/

The Stairs on Billy Buck Hill

https://www.amazon.com/Stairs-Billy-Buck-Hill/dp/1620068664

NovusMindfulLife.com

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello everyone, welcome to the Addicted Mind podcast. My name is Dwayne Austerlund, and I'm your host,
0:12.0	and we are on to another episode. Today we're talking to Stephen Orbaugh, and he is an anesthesiologist
0:20.6	at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
0:24.0	He has published some 75 works in the medical literature, including peer-reviewed articles,
0:30.5	textbook chapters, and review articles. In addition, he's the author of two medical textbooks
0:35.8	and has served as an editor or section
0:38.3	editor for several more.
0:40.0	In 2006, the John Hopkins University Press published his nonfiction book, Understanding
0:45.7	Anesthesia.
0:47.5	Five years ago, he published his first fiction work, A Night in the Life, which describes
0:53.0	the plight of a disenchanted emergency physician,
0:55.8	and he has recently published his second novel, The Stairs on Billy Buck Hill.
1:01.8	Now, Stephen is an anesthesiologist, and often with that, they work with very powerful opioid drugs,
1:09.2	and he has witnessed a number of ruined careers related to addiction
1:13.9	among his peers who have access to these highly addictive substances. So Stephen is going to talk
1:20.8	about how his own personal experiences of witnessing his colleagues get trapped in addiction,
1:30.1	inspired him to write this book and how he hopes this book can help future anesthesiologists steer clear of addiction.
1:36.8	And if you're enjoying the podcast, don't forget, leave us a review on iTunes.
1:42.6	It really does help people find the podcast. I really appreciate it. And you can also
1:47.1	now find us on Instagram at Addicted Mind Podcast. So check that out too. All right, everyone,
1:52.8	stay tuned for this episode.
1:57.4	Hello, everyone. Welcome to The Addicted Mind. My guest today is Stephen Orbaugh, and he is the author of a new novel, The Stairs on Billy Buck Hill. And it is about an anesthesiologist that falls into addiction in his own world.
	...

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