- In 2021, Delaware ranked fifth in the nation for number of per capita overdose deaths (54 per 100,000).
- Between 2018 and 2022 alone, overdoses claimed more than 2,300 lives in Delaware.
- Aptly titled “Into Light,” this exhibit, which opened earlier this month, is the latest in a series of galleries across the country intended to showcase those affected by addiction.
They are self-proclaimed science geeks. Animal lovers. Parents and grandparents. “Prolific” athletes. Men and women − and some barely out of their teens − with smiling eyes that bore into your soul.
They are also all dead.
These 41 Delawareans, whose portraits hang on the second floor of the Delaware Art Museum in northwest Wilmington, are the faces of addiction in the First State.
They make up only a small portion of the thousands of residents who have died from substance use over the years. Between 2018 and 2022 alone, overdoses claimed more than 2,300 lives in Delaware.
But while many of these men’s and women’s last days were dark, the exhibit, which runs through Dec. 3, highlights the love and light they brought to their families, friends and communities.
Aptly titled “Into Light,” the exhibit, which opened earlier this month, is the latest in a series of galleries across the country spearheaded by artist Theresa Clower.
Intended to help break the stigma surrounding addiction, the exhibitions allow visitors to learn about local men and women beyond their disease. Clower, whose son died from an accidental fentanyl overdose in Maryland in 2018, hopes to bring the project to all 50 states.
“I’ve been in advocacy work now for eight years and you think you‘re prepared,” said MaryBeth Cichocki, a Delaware advocate whose son is featured in the exhibit, of the gallery.
“And then you walk in and sadly, probably half or more of all the portraits were from parents who are in my support group. We were all shedding tears together.”
Delaware’s struggle
Though Delaware is a small state, its drug problem continues to soar.
In 2021, the state ranked fifth in the number of per capita overdose deaths (54 per 100,000). Only West Virginia (90.9), Tennessee (56.6), Louisiana (55.9) and Kentucky (55.6) had more deaths per 100,000 residents, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
While 2022 data is not yet available nationally, Delaware recorded at least 537 overdose deaths last year, the state medical examiner’s office said, a 4.6% increase from 2021.
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The First State has made enormous strides in tackling the opioid epidemic over the last eight years since the Delaware General Assembly established a Behavioral and Mental Health Task Force.
Yet Delaware must do more, advocates say. That starts with erasing the stigma surrounding addiction because that will then break down barriers to treatment.
“My wish would be that we would (treat) mental health issues and behavioral health issues … with the same vigor that we do diabetes or HIV or cancer,” said Dr. Sandra Gibney, a local doctor who has made it her mission to tackle the state’s opioid problem, at Delaware’s inaugural mental and behavioral health summit Monday.
The summit was convened by Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long, who also played a role in bringing “Into Light” to the Delaware Art Museum.
“If you had a heart attack, I wouldn’t give you aspirin and send you home from the ER,” Gibney added. “But when we first started this, people were overdosing and we gave them Narcan to reverse it and sent them home.”
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That‘s changed now. Gibney, Hall-Long and numerous others routinely distribute naloxone preemptively through Brandywine Counseling and Community Services’ outreach events, along with bags of toiletries and food. They then try to connect residents with community services.
Earlier this year, Gibney also started a weekly wound care clinic – based out of Brandywine Counseling’s Lancaster Avenue site – that provides no-cost medical care to those suffering from xylazine and other wounds.
Xylazine, also known as “tranq dope,” is an animal sedative that’s increasingly being cut into fentanyl. If left untreated, the often-infected wounds eat through the skin and into the muscle.
In the worst cases, they travel to a person’s bone, requiring amputation of a limb or digit.
‘I love you mom’
Despite these and numerous other outreach programs in the state, the shame of addiction is overwhelming for many who suffer from the disease, and even some of their families. In Delaware and across the U.S., many people still view addiction and mental illness as a choice, and thus don’t treat it with the same resources or concern as other health issues.
Yet when reading the messages in a guest book that sits outside the exhibit, it‘s clear those depicted inside the gallery didn’t willingly choose this path.
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The notes, some of which are addressed to the deceased men and women, are filled with love and sadness. One girl, still in elementary school, scrawled “I love you mom” in the neatest handwriting a child of her age could muster.
Her message was directed to 25-year-old Samantha Smith, whose portrait is mounted in the first room of the exhibit.
“When you read the stories of the talent − the young, productive years of age that we have lost in Delaware − (you realize) it’s truly a health issue,” Hall-Long said. “And these types of forums and portraits and gatherings really do highlight that this is a disease, like any other physical disease.”
That was evident on a recent Thursday afternoon as visitors made their way through the exhibit.
As an older man accompanied by an acquaintance navigated through the first room, he queried the woman: Do you actually believe addiction is an illness?
“I really do,” the acquaintance answered, detailing her sister’s struggle with substance abuse.
By the time the two exited the room a short time later, the man appeared to have a better understanding of the toll of addiction, something exhibit sponsors – including the lieutenant governor – said they hoped for.
But Cichocki, the local mother who lost her son in 2015, said while it’s important for individuals to alter their views on addiction, health care providers and insurance companies also must change how they treat it.
“It’s a disease, and I still blame the insurance companies because they limit treatment times,” Cichocki said. “With my cancer, they never said to me, ‘Oh, well, you’ve already had two radiation treatments, so come back in a month and then we’ll give you another one.’
“But that’s what happens to people with addiction, and it’s not fair.”
How to find help
Delaware Hope Line: 833-9-HOPEDE for free 24/7 counseling, coaching and support, as well as links to mental health, addiction and crisis services. Resources also can be found on the Help is Here website.
Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: 988
SAMHSA National Helpline: 800-662-HELP (4357) for free 24/7 substance abuse disorder treatment referral services. Treatment service locators also are available online at findtreatment.samhsa.gov or via text message by sending your ZIP code to 435748.
Got a tip? Send to Isabel Hughes at ihughes@delawareonline.com or 302-324-2785. For all things breaking news, follow her on Twitter at @izzihughes_.
