Call 888-647-0579 to speak with an alcohol or drug abuse counselor.

Who Answers?

Drug and Alcohol Abuse is Now One of Top American Health Problems

If there was a disease suffered by one out of every ten Americans over twelve years of age, wouldn’t you agree that this disease was raging out of control? That’s exactly the situation that exists with drug abuse and dependence.

The government agency that monitors the statistics on drug abuse and dependence is the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration (SAMHSA). In 2006, SAMHSA estimated that more than twenty-two million Americans were suffering from drug or alcohol abuse or drug or alcohol dependence. This compares to the Centers for Disease Control’s estimate of 1.1 million Americans who are HIV positive and it’s twice the number of people who suffered from all types of cancer combined.

SAMHSA classifies a person as suffering from abuse or dependence when that person has health or emotional problems associated with substance use, unsuccessful attempts to cut down on usage, they have developed a tolerance (meaning more drugs must be taken to get the same effect), they experience withdrawal symptoms if they try to cut down or stop, or they have experienced one of a number of negative changes in their lives as a result of using the substance, such as damage to job, school or family. These are the people who need drug or alcohol rehabilitation treatment to be able to resume a productive, enjoyable life.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of these people did not receive treatment because they didn’t feel they needed it. According to SAMHSA, a full 95.5 percent of those who needed treatment did not feel it was needed.

“This is what we hear from families every day,” said Ryan Thorpe, Director of Admissions at Narconon Arrowhead, one of the country’s leading drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, located in Canadian, Oklahoma. “And it’s one of the most tragic aspects of addiction. Drug and alcohol abuse lowers a person’s awareness, including their awareness of needing to get help. We work with families every day who must convince their addicted loved one to get the help they so badly need.”
_____
source: PR Urgent

More Treatment & Detox Articles

Professional ex-s´

I have found really interesting article in Journal of Contemporary Ethnography from 1991. The author, J. David Brown, is Assistant professor of sociology at Northern Illinois University who had struggled for 13 years with substance abuse problems, then he went to rehab and after then, he started to be a counselor himself. He uses the….

How Binge Drinking Affects The Teenage Brain

As children grow, cells in the brain (known as neurons) are constantly making new connections with other cells in the brain. The stronger these neural pathways within the brain become, the more efficiently children can perform new skills. Neural pathways within the brain strengthen whenever new skills are learnt and, to some degree, this process….

Co-occurring disorders

Co-occurring disorders, as the name suggests are the type of disorders that occur again. These disorders are mostly related to mental health problems and therefore the chance of the disorders affecting again is high in the patients who suffer mental imbalance or have self destructive tendencies or are impulsive in their behavior. The co-occurring….

Nepal-born scholar in alcoholism neuroscience breakthrough

Finding could spawn novel ways to treat alcoholism, epilepsy A team of researchers, with Nepali-born Prafulla Aryal as key member, of the Salk Institute of Biological Sciences in La Jolla, California, has located the alcohol-binding site in the brain that could pave the way to a whole new approach to treating alcoholism, drug addiction, abuse-related….

Private Addiction Treatment: Your Best Value

You may think that private addiction treatment is too expensive, that you can’t afford it or that it can’t possibly be that much better than a similar public treatment program but do you know the true value of private addiction treatment? Do you know that private addiction treatment is your best chance at getting the….