Uncovering myths associated with disease
Addiction affects nearly 23 million people in America, reaching from some of the wealthiest celebrities in the world to your next door neighbor and everyone in between.
Addiction and substance abuse disorders have no discriminating qualities in the groups of people affected, dismissing the misconception that only certain demographics face the disease. The Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse has treated doctors, lawyers, professors and other affluent professionals who have suffered from addiction.
Executive Director Bill Rose and program director of the CADA Adolescent Treatment Center Dr. Jennifer Hodges-Crowder both said this was the most common myth related to addiction.
“A lot of people think that addictions are only prevalent in a certain social economic climate, and tend to think that people who are addicted to substances are ... kind of like street addicts,” Rose said. “But it’s really more prevalent in the working class.”
“Unfortunately, in our society, there are still many misperceptions about addiction; primarily that addiction is a choice,” Hodges-Crowder said. “Individuals with drug or alcohol problems are seen as lazy or weak willed with poor moral character so they continue the drug/alcohol use. This is simply not true. Addiction is a disease, a medical illness that occurs because there is actual biological dysfunction ... [it] is a chronic, progressive, often fatal disease if left untreated, no different than other chronic medical conditions such as diabetes or cancer.”
Rose said the public perception of addiction often centers around illicit drugs such as heroin or cocaine, but that the majority of the clients treated at CADA deal with the abuse of legal substances like narcotic pain medication, sedatives and alcohol. He said these addictions affect any social circle and can be found in people as young as pre-teens all the way up to adults.
He said there is always the presence of marijuana, nicotine and alcohol abuse, but that the recent trends in addiction can be seen in prescribed medications.
“In the last several years we’ve been dealing with the ongoing increase in the narcotic pain medication [abuse],” Rose said. “It had increased significantly with both adolescents and adults. We’ve had to change our treatment protocols in our detox programs to be able to put in some medically-assisted detox to help manage people and appropriately step them down off of the narcotic pain medication.”
Rose said a big percentage of prescription pain medication abuse comes from legitimate prescriptions or legitimate pain problems, but that with this kind of narcotic comes significantly different consequences.
“Here’s the thing with this kind of drug – some people might have a genetic predisposition to becoming addicted to something but with [narcotic pain medication] anyone can become physically dependent on it and experience withdrawal symptoms,” he said. “They’re not all subject to a psychological dependency but [anyone] can become physically dependent on that drug whether they’re predisposed or not.”
With these kinds of cases, CADA has implemented medically-assisted detox programs to help with the withdrawal symptoms. Rose said withdrawal from benzodiazepine and alcohol can be very dangerous and even life-threatening, and that opiate withdrawal can be extremely uncomfortable.
CADA, which was recently awarded the highest level accreditation of three-year accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, offers a number of both inpatient and outpatient programs, as well as the standard drug education, group therapy and individual counseling at every level of care.
“CADA offers a continuum of care for the treatment of addictive disorders for both adolescents and adults,” Hodges- Crowder said. “Depending on the number and severity of symptoms an individual is exhibiting in relation to drug or alcohol use, they are assessed for placement in a variety of treatment modalities designed to provide the best level of care in the least restrictive environment.”
Their treatment approaches, Rose said, are ecelctic and tailored to the individual because as he said “one size doesn’t fit all.”
Rose said when it comes to friends and family of someone with a substance abuse disorder, it’s important for them to know about the resources available to them in their community.
“Part of what we try to do is community awareness programs to make people aware [of addiction],” he said. “If they recognize a problem and don’t know what to do, they should consult with us. There are ways like our website and our facebook page for people to reach us, and they can ask a question and a professional counselor or someone else can answer them.”
“It is so important to treatment outcomes that someone suffering from addiction have a support system in place,” Hodges-Crowder said.
“The behavioral changes required to successfully maintain an abstinence based lifestyle without drug/alcohol use is difficult. Offering unconditional, nonjudgmental support is the gift you can provide to help your loved-one [and] understanding the disease of addiction and the impact the symptoms of this disease ... is imperative to effective support. This requires a lot of patience, time and love, as does any truly supportive relationship.”
For more information, visit their website at www.cadanwla.org.
–Katie Ho
