While the lead headline from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) touted “Marijuana use at historic highs among college-age adults,” the institute could have also released some positive headlines.
To begin to calculate the value of treatment for substance abuse, it is helpful to first understand the costs related to substance abuse. Substance abuse impact is expensive, not just to the person using the substance, but to their family, workplace and society.
Attractiveness. Affordability. Availability. These three factors can make or break America’s struggle against the crisis of alcoholism and we’re intentionally ignoring them.
Families often struggle to get a loved one into treatment for an alcohol or drug addiction. It is not easy to start a conversation about addiction, and many times the person struggling with addiction responds with excuses, anger, denial or minimization. A conversation can easily escalate to an argument where nothing is accomplished.
The summer, and the “Turn on, tune in, drop out” movement it inspired, may have faded into autumn, but recreational drug use numbers continued to grow. As of the 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, more than 130 million Americans have tried illegal drugs in their lifetime, and up to 30 million report usage within the “past month.”
Veterans aren’t invincible. Hollywood does a fantastic job of making military members seem invincible. But the fact is they’re flesh and blood like the rest of us, and when troops …
Many people abuse more than one substance and have what is commonly referred to as polysubstance or polydrug abuse. Sometimes people abuse different substances to intentionally create different reactions. Certain substances make them feel better or give them a “high”, while other substances cause sedation and help them relax or sleep.
People with addiction issues come in all shapes and sizes and from all walks of life. Some individuals’ issues are easily recognizable and they can only thinly disguise their addiction. Other people hide their addictions very well, even to themselves – until they can’t anymore.
According to the Surgeon General’s Report published in 2016 “20.8 million people aged 12 or older in the United States had a substance use disorder. That number is similar to the number of people who suffer from diabetes and more than 1.5 times the annual prevalence of all cancers combined (14 million).”
Recovering from addiction isn’t easy, but it is possible, and it does happen – even after multiple relapses; individuals can and do find and maintain sobriety. To do so they need a facility that understands relapse and can help both the individual and the family understand relapse too.