What about the 30 million Americans who are addicted

As the senate and house representatives finalize what many consider to be the largest effort in history to turn around a failing economy I hope portions of their proposed relief will be designated to help those 30 plus million Americans who are addicted to drugs and alcohol. These addicted citizens are sons and daughters of our nation as well as potential bread winners and societal contributors if they recover from their addiction. At present these individuals represent major expenditures on state mandated programs that don't work, incarceration expenses that are astronomical and welfare expenses that boggle the mind.

It is no secret that we have an abundance of individuals in the United States who need addiction treatment. In fact, in 2007, 23.2 million persons aged 12 or older needed treatment for an illicit drug or alcohol use problem. But of that estimated number, how many actually received the help they need?

 According to government estimates via the National Survey On Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), of the this 23 plus millions 20.8 million persons (8.4 percent of the population aged 12 or older) needed treatment for an illicit drug or alcohol use problem but did not receive treatment at a specialty substance abuse facility in the past year.

Roughly 2.4% of those needing specialty addiction treatment at a drug and alcohol rehab facility actually admitted into a facility of that type. This is a huge gap. In fact, of the 20.8 million persons in 2007 who were classified as needing substance use treatment but not receiving treatment at a specialty facility in the past year, only 1.3 million persons (6.4 percent) reported that they perceived a need for treatment for their illicit drug or alcohol use problem (Figure 7.7). Of these 1.3 million persons who felt they needed treatment but did not receive treatment in 2007, 380,000 (28.5 percent) reported that they made an effort to get treatment, and 955,000 (71.5 percent) reported making no effort to get treatment.

What does this all mean? Well for starters there is a huge mass majority of those addicted to drugs and alcohol that don't think or won't admit that there is even a problem to be dealt with. This is old news to families who are struggling to get someone they love to "see the light" through the process of addiction intervention, but may come as a shock to those who are just discovering the denial and lack of desire to change encountered when trying to help someone get their life back. To complicate matters even more, few things are as frustrating as finally getting the person you love to reach for help and be denied that help because of financial constraints, waiting lists at rehabs or detox facilities and other time related delays due to facility operation policies and funding. Discouragement and failed hope turns in to reluctance to reach for help in the future and the problem becomes even bigger and harder to solve accordingly.

With all this it is certain that more efforts need to be expended to educate those addicted about the fact that life can actually be better off drugs and alcohol than on. Further, those addicted need to be educated about the real honest solutions to addiction that do exist and are available to many. And lastly, the families of those addicted would be well advised to keep the will power energized and push through any barriers to getting the person help and be persistent enough to actually see the person admitted into a treatment center that has a proven track record of achieving sobriety and not further frustration.

Look around the neighborhood you live in. Take a wandering glance around the office you work at. Look closely at everyone you know or have known. As you gander, keep these statistics in mind. 1 out of every 10 are potentially addicted to or some other substance of abuse. While this may seem like a huge exaggeration, consider the following study results.

According to the NSDUH, in 2007, an estimated 22.3 million persons were classified with substance dependence or abuse in the past year. These were all over the age of 12 years of age and that means just fewer than 10 percent of the young adult and adult population suffers from addiction. One could assume that 1 out of every 10 people you meet on the street potentially suffers from addiction to either drugs or alcohol or both. This is a very sobering fact.

With the above facts in mind, we can take a look a little closer to home. When we attend a family function such as a reunion or holiday dinner, we are often reminded of how true the 10 percent data is. Almost everyone has either a child, sibling, parent, cousin, uncle or other familial connection to addiction. We very often are aware that someone in our life has a problem but we just as often resist doing anything about it. We are embarrassed to say something to the person or we don’t want to embarrass them. We get mad at the person for the horrible things we think they have done to the family or we pity the person and don’t feel like they would understand or even admit there is a problem. In short, we let the person continue their addiction and continue to get worse and worse.

In truth, many good people die each year by not having family members or friends who are willing and able to get past their own considerations about the addiction they suffer from and step in and get that person some help. The next thing you know it is too late. A person addicted runs the risk of dying from overdose, fatal accident, suicide, homicide and illness related to their drug or alcohol use more and more every day they use. It may sound trite to say that the person may not have another day but the statistical truth is that they really may not.

The real answer to the problems of addiction start with the addict and those around them who love them. The thing that should occur is to stop for just a moment and decide that this person WILL GET BETTER. To decide that this person WILL RECOVER. To decide that this person WILL LIVE. From there, the logical next step is to relentlessly pursue getting that person the help they need, even if they don’t appear to want it at that moment. An addiction will kill a person with postponement and avoidance of the issue. It is up to the family and friends of that individual to decide that the destructive cycle of addiction ends and it ends now followed up by doing everything possible to make sure that the drug and alcohol rehabilitative tools that are available get applied and recovery is begun. While bad things can still happen, more times than not the person will wind up alive and better solely due to those around them making this decision.

Across the U.S. there are countless millions struggling with addiction and the recession is both highlighting this previously existing problem as well as causing the need for treatment to become apparent as well.

The recession is rough on everyone. From farms to inner city shop owners the recession is disrupting literally everything about the lives of Americans today. Everywhere you look there is uncertainties, disappointment and lack of trust in the basic stable culture we know as U.S. citizens. For the millions currently addicted to drugs and alcohol this is merely a heightened form of how they already experience the world around them.

A person addicted becomes ultimately overwhelmed by life. Every argument, financial struggle and social agitation can seem like a catastrophe to those who's attention is completely distracted by their drug and alcohol use and the problems created by that usage.

When you add to this misery a nation in peril from recession's lost jobs, home foreclosures, poverty bound families and constant alerts from the media that things are only getting worse, you wind up completely collapsing an individual who would have previously been able to hand on.

When this collapse occurs, drug and alcohol use escalates. The legal, familial and economic factors around the person addicted become worse and more exaggerated. Wives leave, addict's get arrested and employers who used to tolerate lateness and non-production now can't afford too. This sets the stage for a huge plunge down the spiral of addiction that only has 3 ends, death, long term imprisonment or recovery.

This then can be a good thing for some. This recession driven chaos can ultimately produce a new awareness of an ongoing addiction problem and make it real to the individual addicted that he/she simply can't manage life and therefore must seek help if they are to every restore any kind of quality to their existence.

Of course, this can be the windfall a loving family has been waiting on because it means they now have a possibility of restoring the person they love back to condition of being a part of the family instead of someone who is ripping the family apart.

Once the individual realizes that they must get help, the family would be advised to seek that help immediately. Especially in this day and age, families need every member contributing anything they can. This includes some of the most creative and intelligent people alive whom have also fallen prey to substance abuse. Getting the person treatment doesn't just save the life of someone you love. It can also mean continued survival for a family struggling to make ends meet.