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Summary of
Silent Treatment: Addiction in America
Each
story will present authentic voices of addiction,
treatment and recovery, and guides with practical tips
and resources to finding help.
OVERVIEW: BREAKING THE SILENCE
Experts today agree that addictions originate from a
complex set of circumstances best approached with
individual, customized treatment that considers age,
gender, race and even culture. No one size fits all.
That’s good news for the more than 22 million Americans
aged 12 and older who abuse drugs and alcohol.
Researchers have shown that genetics play a part in
addiction. Psychologists have linked addictive behavior
to familial and societal problems. Science has
discovered triggers that set off and sustain addictions.
And in courtrooms across the country, there’s an
overwhelming connection between addiction and the crime,
spousal and child abuse on display every day. Still,
despite an era of increased openness and acceptance,
addiction is often denied, unrecognized and untreated.
Nine out of 10 addicted Americans don’t find their way
to treatment. Those who do then face a lifelong recovery
process, where real life and all its temptations,
stereotyping and discriminations await.
—Reported and written by Thom Forbes
ADDICTION: WHERE IT STARTS
For
decades, people addicted to drugs or alcohol had only
themselves to blame; they lacked discipline, or they
were weak, or they suffered from character flaws - so
went conventional wisdom. But in the last 15 years,
nearly two dozen studies suggest otherwise: Addiction is
in the genes. These studies say learned behavior is
certainly part of the problem, but they also offer
striking new and strong evidence that genetic wiring is
a strong determinant for half of all Americans addicted
to alcohol and drugs. Getting the research to the
medical community and treatment centers has been
difficult for years, but that is changing. More centers
are establishing formal relationships with hospitals and
offering a wealth of outpatient support services.
Pharmaceutical giants have used the research to produce
new medicines that suppress addictive cravings. "It's a
good time to be addicted," says Thomas McLellan, a
Philadelphia researcher. "The treatment is catching up
with the research. We're going to save a ton of money
and, more importantly, lives."
—Reported and written by Bill Celis
YOUTH: THE DANGER ZONE
The dangers of alcohol and drug abuse to the developing
teenage brain are becoming increasingly — and alarmingly
— understood. An early initiation into drinking
dramatically increases the risk of becoming
alcohol-dependent later in life. One study found that
teens who drank excessively and consistently recalled 10
percent less on memory tests than their non-drinking
peers — in some cases, the impact was seen years later,
after months of sobriety. Early substance abuse also is
an overwhelming burden on the country’s juvenile justice
system, involving 80 percent of all teen arrests. These
factors are changing the face of treatment for teens.
Because kids as young as 12 with alcohol and drug
problems almost always have a psychiatric disorder,
programs across the country are moving away from a
12-step therapeutic model, which relies heavily on a
structure many now believe may not translate well to
young people. One new model is The Seven Challenges,
which acknowledges the fact that kids often will fight
change by focusing not on sobriety, but on recovery.
Santa Cruz, Calif., began taking a “whole village”
approach to the problem five years ago, slashing the
number of teens in its county Juvenile Hall by combining
the resources of the criminal justice system with
treatment programs that rely on weekly meetings for
every youth, attended by a probation officer, mental
health provider, alcohol/drug provider, family advocate,
teacher, family members and youth development staff.
“You can provide effective treatment in the community
for $4,000 a year,” said Jeffrey R. Bidmon of the Santa
Cruz County Probation Department, “or you can spend
$80,000 a year on a residential, in-custody program.”
—Reported and written by Richard Scheinin
COURTS: TREATMENT VS. PUNISHMENT
Nearly 80 percent of
all crime in the United States is drug or alcohol
related, which makes prison potentially the largest
addiction treatment center in the country. And women and
African American males have become the prime “clients.”
When it comes to treatment for imprisoned women, the
offerings are slim or none. Many programs refuse to take
pregnant women or mothers of young children. The
disparity for black men starts in the courts, with
outdated sentencing mandates. But strong programs and
research are chipping away at the numbers. The Rebecca
Project in Washington, D.C., advocates for creating
family-centered residential programs for women inmates.
Drug courts, which deal specifically with non-violent
crimes, have grown phenomenally over the past 15 years —
from a single court in 1989 to 1,621 courts last year.
They offer an intensive alternative to prison, with
random drug testing, peer counseling, parenting and job
skills classes, and anger management. Pressure is at the
heart of drug court’s effectiveness. “The reality is
that everyone who’s gone into treatment has had some
kind of coercion — if not from a family member then from
an employer who says if you don’t get some help, you’re
going to lose your job,” says Karen Freeman Wilson, head
of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals.
In Kentucky, Judge Mary Noble, one of the country’s
pioneering drug court judges, is convinced that any
serious addiction treatment program that runs less than
a year is a waste of taxpayers’ money. Her approach has
been extremely promising: According to a 2003 study by
the National Institute of Justice, only 16.4 percent of
drug court graduates nationwide had been rearrested and
charged with a felony offense.
—Reported and
written by Sara Solovich
RECOVERY: A NEW ACTIVISM
A very public push is
trying to force the lifelong process of recovery from
addiction “out of the basement,” where Alcoholic’s
Anonymous meetings and other programs have long been
held. From a film festival on the subject of addiction
and recovery in Westchester County, N.Y., to an exhibit
of artworks created by teens in recovery at a St. Louis
health-care center, there is a new movement afoot to
erase stigmas and acknowledge the lifelong realities of
navigating life as an addict. The unofficial spokesman
for this campaign is the middle-aged son of TV
journalist Bill Moyers, William Cope Moyers, who speaks
publicly about his own near-death experience from drug
abuse and urges recovering addicts to talk about their
situation. At the same time, recovery programs are
becoming more open to recognizing the needs of people
from all walks of life and cultural backgrounds. A new
private high school in Madison, Wisc., caters
exclusively to high school students trying to stay sober
after undergoing treatment for drug and alcohol
problems. In Hartford, Conn., a new support group,
African Men in Recovery, was designed specifically with
the needs of black men in mind. Even with new attitudes
and programs, there are lingering, inflammatory issues
almost as old as addiction itself: the self-imposed
anonymity caused by stigma, the discriminatory and
punitive reactions against the disease and the sticky
politics of getting recovery assistance through an
employer’s health insurance.
—Reported and written by Jodi Mailander Farrell
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