If you, or someone you know is thinking about suicide or hurting yourself/themselves
Please Call 911 for Emergencies
(800) 273-8255- National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
Available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and answered locally.
Drug and Alcohol Abuse (Substance Abuse)
What is Substance Abuse?
Substance abuse manifests in different ways for different individuals, and can progress into substance addiction if left untreated. Substance abuse is the harmful use of alcohol or drugs, while substance addiction progresses from abuse and includes functional changes to the brain itself. Substance abuse can occur with any psychoactive substance (a chemical that affects mental processes) including alcohol, illicit drugs, or prescription drugs. The use of prescription drugs morphs into substance abuse when they are used by anyone other than the person they were prescribed to, used at a higher dose than prescribed, more frequently than prescribed, or after the time period that your doctor has deemed appropriate and necessary for medical treatment.
What are the signs and symptoms?
If you find yourself exhibiting some of these signs or symptoms, you are likely struggling with some degree of substance abuse. Not every individual will exhibit all of these symptoms. If you or those around you have a concern about your substance use, it should be taken seriously, and evaluation/treatment should be obtained.
- Taking medication prescribed to someone else, or taking a medication prescribed to you in a manner or length other than prescribed
- Spending more time thinking about the substance- how to obtain it, when you’ll take it, how you’ll feel, etc.
- You can’t stop yourself from using the substance, even if you want to, and even if you know it is causing negative things to happen in your life
- You have a hard time setting limits on how much or how often you will use the substance, and often exceed your intended amount
- Losing interest in activities you usually enjoy
- Changed interactions/more problems with friends and/or family
- Worsening grades
- Getting in trouble in school or with the law
- Different eating or sleeping habits
- Weight change
- Hanging out with different friends
- Not caring about your appearance
- Increased “tolerance” to a substance- needing to take more of the substance to feel the same effects
- Worsening memory
- Increased stress
- Hiding your use of the substance, or its effect on you, from others
- Driving or other dangerous tasks while using the substance
- Borrowing or stealing money from others to obtain the substance
How do I get treated?
First, talk to your athletic trainer, doctor, or health care professional about your symptoms.
Treatment can be given either in an outpatient setting or an inpatient setting, depending on the severity of the substance use disorder, as well as the counselors’ evaluation of the individual and what would be most likely to work for that person. Treatment tends to start off more intensive, either as inpatient or with multiple outpatient sessions each week. As improvements are made, patients transition to outpatient with less frequent sessions.
Inpatient treatment facilities offer 24 hour structured and intensive care, including safe housing and medical attention. Types of inpatient treatment settings include:
- Therapeutic communities- highly structured programs which patients reside in for 6-12 months. The entire community, including staff and the other patients in recovery, work together to influence the patients’ attitudes, understanding, and behaviors associated with substance use.
- Shorter term residential treatment- focuses on detoxification and initial intensive counseling and prepares the patient for treatment in an outpatient setting.
- Recovery housing- provides short term supervised housing for patients, typically following another type of inpatient treatment. They help to transition patients to an independent life and connect them to support services in the community.
Regardless of the setting, treatment follows the same basic principles:
- Detoxification- rid the body of the substance
- Evaluation and treatment of any comorbid conditions (depression, anxiety, etc.)
- Possible medication to minimize the side effects of the withdrawal symptoms or to treat any comorbid conditions
- Behavioral counseling
- Long term follow ups intended to prevent relapse
Behavioral counseling is designed to assist patients in modifying their attitudes and behaviors related to substance use and increase healthy life skills. The programs can involve individual or group counseling, or a combination of both. Forms of behavioral counseling include:
- Cognitive behavioral therapy- helps patients recognize, avoid, and cope with the situations in which they are most likely to use drugs
- Multidimensional family therapy- used mostly for adolescents in conjunction with their family to address their substance abuse patterns and is designed to improve overall family function
- Motivational incentives- uses positive reinforcement to encourage abstinence from drugs and/or alcohol
- 12-step programs/mutual support groups- self help meetings in which the participants share their experiences. Participants adopt a set of guiding principles called the 12 steps and follow them in order.
Prescription medications are available to help with detoxification from opioids, alcohol and tobacco products. There are also over the counter nicotine replacement medications available. These medications are intended to decrease withdrawal symptoms, as well as to prevent relapse.
Resources
National Institute on Drug Abuse: https://www.drugabuse.gov
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism: https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration: https://www.samhsa.gov/
National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence: https://www.ncadd.org/
National Spit Tobacco Education Project: https://oralhealthamerica.org/our-work/nstep/
National Institute of Mental Health: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/substance-use-and-mental-health/index.shtml
Support Groups
Alcoholics Anonymous: https://www.aa.org/
Dual Recovery Anonymous (Substance abuse diagnosis and psychiatric diagnosis): http://draonline.qwknetllc.com/index.html
Marijuana Anonymous (currently no meetings in Kalamazoo or surrounding areas, but offers information and online meetings): https://www.marijuana-anonymous.org/
Narcotics Anonymous: https://www.na.org/
Treatment Centers in Kalamazoo
Behavioral Health Services at Western Michigan University: https://wmich.edu/unifiedclinics/about/behaviora
Victory Clinical Services: http://www.victoryclinic.com/kalamzoo1.html
Community Healing Centers: https://communityhealingcenter.org/
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration- Anonymous behavioral health treatment services locator: https://findtreatment.samhsa.gov/
Videos
What is Addiction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=73&v=qRyeAL9tAVs
Anyone Can Become Addicted to Drugs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SY2luGTX7Dk
Why are drugs so hard to quit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xbk35VFpUPI
The Impact of Misusing Prescription Opioids: https://vimeo.com/208706165
The Impact of Misusing Prescription Stimulants: https://vimeo.com/213566233
