Drugs, Alcohol, Suicide, and Millennials

Good news! New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests deaths from drug overdoses decreased slightly between 2017 and 2018. After two decades of steadily rising overdose death rates, a little headway has been made. There were 21.7 deaths per 100,000, compared to 20.8 deaths per 100,000 for the 12 months ending in the second quarter of 2018.

Efforts to increase access to addiction treatment services and the overdose reversal drug naloxone has paid off, some. However, the public health crisis this country faces is still as real as ever. As many as six million people could be living with an opioid use disorder involving the use of prescription painkillers or heroin.

Each day, more than 100 Americans succumb to the deadly effects of an overdose. While the above findings are promising, there continues to be a significant cause for concern, particularly with younger demographics. A new analysis of alcohol, drug use, and suicide among Millennials is startling.

Troubling Statistics About Alcohol, Drug Use, and Suicide

The latest federal data indicates that drug-related deaths skyrocketed 108% between 2007 and 2017 among people 18 to 34 years old. Alcohol-related deaths rose 69 percent and suicides increased 35 percent during the same period, USA Today reports. The findings were published by the organizations Trust for America’s Health and the Well Being Trust.

“There is a critical need for targeted programs that address Millennials’ health, well-being and economic opportunity,” says John Auerbach, CEO of the Trust for America’s Health and Massachusetts’ former health secretary. 

What are the driving forces behind what some experts dub “deaths of despair?” According to Mr. Auerbach, there are several, including:

• Education debt
• Housing costs
• The Great Recession
• Opioid epidemic

When people are unhappy, or they feel unable to get ahead in life, they are more likely to look for relief and escape. Drugs and alcohol can ease people’s worries for a time, but such effects are fleeting. Those who attempt to anesthetize their feelings put themselves at significant risk of developing a use disorder, and co-occurring mental illnesses as well.

The executive director of the mental health services non-profit agency, McClendon Center, Dennis Hobb, points out a disconnect between mental health and addiction services adds to the problem, according to the article. He said that it impacts patients who struggle with co-occurring illness.

“When people are ready for treatment you have to get them into treatment right now, you can’t wait,” said Hobb.

People who are dealing with a mental illness are at a higher risk of self-medicating with drugs and alcohol. The behavior can lead to behavioral health disorders, such as an addiction. It is vital that each condition is treated simultaneously. Many of the young people who resort to self-harm and suicide never receive treatment.

Faith-Based Dual Diagnosis

If you are struggling with alcohol or substance use and feel that you may be contending with a co-occurring mental illness, please contact Celebrate Hope. Our faith-based dual diagnosis treatment program can help you address both disorders concurrently.

We are standing by to answer any of your questions and to help you get on the road toward recovery.

Cure Stigma: Suffering Because of Silence

Wednesday was World Mental Health Day; this is Mental Illness Awareness Week 2018. Please join the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and everyone working in the field of addiction medicine and dual diagnosis treatment in putting an end to the virus keeping people from seeking help. The target virus? Stigma!

NAMI’s Cure Stigma campaign or #CureStigma aims to identify individuals who are infected by stigma and educate them as to the facts of mental illness with the hope that such people will exercise more compassion, empathy, and understanding. Mental health disorders are far too prevalent to be treated as anything but the severe health conditions that they are; such issues are not moral failings or the fault of anyone. However, unlike other serious medical problems, much of society looks at mental illness through a distorted lens.

Most Americans are unaware that 1 in 5 Americans lives with mental illness and that nearly 60 percent of those individuals have never sought treatment. Far too many people consider alcohol and substance use disorders as being the result of bad decisions rather than mental health disorders; it also isn’t a coincidence that among the 20.2 million adults in the U.S. who experience a substance use disorder, more than half have a co-occurring mental illness. What’s more, both figures are probably low estimates; the exact prevalence is believed to be much higher because of under-reporting. Stigma keeps people in the dark, they fear that opening up about their illnesses will lead to ridicule and social ostracization.

 

Encouraging Treatment

At Celebrate Hope, many of our articles deal with stigma and the value of combating stigma. We follow studies in the field of mental health with great interest and make a concentrated effort to disseminate the facts to our readers. When people are informed, they are more likely to disregard preconceived notions and do what they can to effect change in their community. Since mental illness affects every town and city across the country, we can all benefit from encouraging men and women into treatment. A mission that many agree revolves around ending stigma.

When people in society have open and honest discussions about mental illness, everyone benefits. When more individuals voice support for those in the grips of illness, more of the afflicted seek help. Anxiety disorder, depression, PTSD, and bipolar disorder – for instance – are psychological conditions accepted by science and included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5); the same can be said for alcohol and substance use disorder and dependence.

Mental illness is real, and people are suffering, and they will continue to do so as long others play host to stigma. Adults in the U.S. living with serious mental illness die on average 25 years earlier than others despite the existence of effective treatments, according to the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors Council.

Please take a moment to watch a video about stigma:

If you are having trouble watching, please click here.

You are also invited to take the Cure Stigma quiz. Please click here.

 

Dual Diagnosis Treatment

Dual diagnoses, or co-occurring disorders, are common in patients dealing with addiction. When people have a dual diagnosis, it is paramount that both the use disorder and other forms of mental illness are treated at the same time. Please contact us to learn more about how we can help you or a loved begin the courageous journey of addiction recovery.

Recovery Begins With Treatment

As May winds down hopefully all of our readers found some time to take part in some of the events involving mental illness. May is Mental Health Month after all, and even in the 21st Century millions of people are reticent to seek help for addiction, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. The good news is that mental illness campaigns empower people to take action in service to well-being.

Addiction and co-occurring disorder recovery are vital; the lives of those unable or unwilling to seek treatment are at significant risk. Over time, the symptoms of mental health disorders only get worse; those using drugs and alcohol are also at risk of severe physical health problems, i.e., overdose and liver disease. Raising awareness about the efficacy of mental health treatments is of the utmost importance, people suffering need to understand that treatment is available, and recovery is possible.

Mental illness is paradoxical in many ways, most notably concerning some individuals' resistance to seeking help. Those who are in the deepest depths of despair often have the most challenging time mustering the strength to reach out for assistance. While a person needs just one reason (life) to seek treatment, those living with mental health afflictions adduce scores of reasons (i.e., work, school, and the risk of others finding out) for not utilizing the available clinical services. And yet, paradoxically, without treatment life is in jeopardy; if life is at risk, or ceases to continue, all the explanations for not seeking help are moot.

 

Recovery Begins With Treatment

At Celebrate Hope, we understand the difficulty in asking for help; the members of our team of skilled professionals know how hard it is to rebel against their condition and disregard the social stigma of addiction and accompanying co-occurring mental health disorders. Those who have a long history of battling psychological illness convince themselves that they are doomed to suffer, some even convince themselves that they deserve what they are experiencing. An objective look at the points above reveals that neither is correct; no one deserves the mental distress, and it is always still possible to turn one’s life around provided one takes action.

If you are living with addiction, there is an exceedingly high likelihood that you meet the criteria for three conditions: major depressive disorder, general anxiety disorder, or bipolar disorder. Such illnesses, like addiction, are treatable and recovery from each is possible for anyone who commits their self to working a program of long-term maintenance. We must stress that successful treatment outcomes rely heavily on treating both the addiction and dual diagnosis at the same time. Addressing one, and not the other, sabotages making headway with either condition.

Mental illness is not something to feel shame about; hundreds of millions of people around the globe have any one of many conditions. Putting it simply, individuals living with mental illness are not alone, and together all can experience the miracles of recovery. Please use Mental Health Month to say no to stigma and take advantage of the help that is available. Let treatment be the catalyst for progress and lasting change.

 

Dual Diagnosis Treatment

Celebrate Hope at Hope By The Sea can help anyone struggling with an addiction and dual diagnoses, or co-occurring disorders. We can help you end the cycle of addiction and help you manage several co-existing conditions, including but not limited to, eating disorders, depression, anxiety, PSTD, bipolar disorder, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Please contact us today!