miriah, Author at Find Recovery

Barriers to Seeking Substance Abuse Treatment

There are over 46 million Americans who meet the criteria of having a substance use disorder — a little over 16% of the U.S. population — according to SAMHSA’s latest annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Of those, 94% haven’t received any form of treatment for their addiction. That’s a huge disparity between those who need help and those who get it.

One of the most common reasons is simply because some individuals don’t think they need treatment. However, many who actively want help face barriers to treatment that prohibit them from receiving professional assistance.

The 3 Most Common Barriers to Treatment

There are a lot of ways that a person might describe the addiction treatment process — quick is never one of them. In addition to the time needed for the drugs to pass through one’s system physically, there’s the time needed for psychological healing and unlearning destructive old patterns of behavior and ways of thinking. Undergoing treatment can be a considerable time commitment, making it a logistical nightmare for many, calling for money, time, or other resources they don’t have.

1. Affordability

The number one barrier to substance abuse treatment is paying for the service. The average cost of drug treatment is $13,475, and detox alone can cost nearly $2,000. Considering that most Americans don’t have the savings to cover a $400 emergency, shelling out two grand out of pocket can seem impossible.

What about insurance? You’re probably wondering. Well, only half of Americans in treatment have at least some costs that are covered by private insurance. A smaller chunk, one-fifth, has at least some coverage under Medicaid, a joint state and federally-funded health insurance program that provides coverage for low-income people. Everyone else is either paying entirely out of pocket or by some other means.

But having insurance doesn’t mean prospective patients are in the clear. Insurance coverage can be pretty patchy, depending on where you live. For instance, Medicaid in neither Connecticut nor Kentucky covers methadone treatment, whereas in Wisconsin, Medicaid only applies to lower levels of outpatient addiction treatment.

Aside from the actual cost of treatment itself, there are other financial consequences to consider. Taking time off from work can result in loss of income. Having dependents can mean arranging — and paying — for temporary caregivers.

2. Getting There

Even if someone can afford treatment, another major barrier can be just getting there — an issue that can manifest itself in two key ways.

One is the actual geographical location of an addiction treatment center. Drug rehabs tend to be located where the people are, so residents of populous states like California, Florida, and New York have a lot more treatment facilities to choose from compared to residents of states like Wyoming, Vermont, or Montana.

But a state’s population alone doesn’t guarantee accessibility. Facilities tend to be located in and around urban areas. This leaves residents of rural areas having to drive significantly farther for treatment and with fewer (if any) treatment options to choose from. Assuming they have means of transport — an issue that affects urban and rural residents alike.

Other common potential transportation issues include:

Their license has been revoked, so they can’t drive themselves
Limited public transportation is available
Paying for gas or public transportation

3. Social stigma

Aside from those logistical difficulties, there’s a social component that can prove a barrier to drug addiction treatment as well. There’s a stigma associated with drug use and addiction. It originated in the 1800s before the chemistry of how drugs affect the body and brain was understood. Instead, substance abuse was believed to be a moral failing, a lack of willpower, and that individuals simply didn’t want to be better.

Modern scientific research has proved how wildly false this 18th-century assumption is, but this unfair stigma still persists today. As a result, people who use drugs may be unwilling to ask for help or seek treatment as it would require revealing their struggle to others.

And whether we like it or not, humans are highly social creatures. Most of our actions are guided by an intrinsic desire to avoid deviating from the group — or at least, outwardly appearing to do so. Shame, embarrassment, and rejection are powerful deterrents that can keep a person from speaking out. Plus, if you’re not sure how your family members and friends will react, there’s the fear of potentially alienating them.

Find Recovery Today

Overcoming these barriers to treatment is possible. If you’re unsure where to start, it’s a good place to get advice from people who have gone through the same challenges as you. Find an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting near you today.

Alcoholism is Likely a Result of These 3 Factors

In the mood to tackle a really difficult question? Then let’s try and tackle a big one: What’s the cause of alcoholism? Like most things — including alcoholism itself — it’s complicated. There’s no simple, scientific conclusion that neatly answers the question.

Science shows that the causes of alcohol abuse are a mix of nature and nurture. Your genes can be a significant factor, and so too can the external forces in your day-to-day life; how you were raised versus your current lifestyle, can play a role in determining your

likelihood of becoming an alcoholic. In short, your alcoholism is likely a result of internal and external causes.

When Does Drinking Become Alcoholism?

In case you didn’t mean to stumble onto a philosophical query, there is actually a rather straightforward cause of what causes alcoholism. To try and put it simply, alcohol triggers the release of dopamine and serotonin—two feel-good hormones that your brain always wants more of (hello cravings).

However, while you might feel good while drinking, your body is dealing with the ensuing chaos alcohol causes to your heart, liver, digestive tract, hormones, and virtually every other part of your body. The harder and more frequently you drink, the more your body must work to overcompensate for its effects (quick reminder: alcohol acts as a depressant in many ways which slows down functions related to the central nervous system.

This sounds handy, but eventually, your body becomes conditioned to operating with alcohol in your system and working harder to keep you functioning as normal. So when you don’t have alcohol in your system, the whole thing goes haywire and your body is now working fast and furiously to overcompensate for a substance that isn’t there.

How To Tell if You’re an Alcoholic

The most obvious sign that you’ve become addicted to alcohol is a physical one: withdrawal. This is a sign that your body has developed a physiological tolerance to the substance and has become accustomed to functioning with alcohol in your system.

What takes alcohol abuse to the next level of addiction is once psychological dependence sets in. This occurs once maintaining your alcohol consumption becomes the top priority trumping your job, your family, and even your own health.

Possible Causes of Alcohol Abuse

The possible causes of alcohol abuse fall into a few main camps. The first, the biological component, we already covered. People can have a genetic predisposition inherited from the immediate family that puts them at a greater risk of developing alcohol (more on how this works later).

For others, it’s not so much a genetic fate but rather circumstantial; a toxic job or a bad relationship that puts you under chronic stress, or simply a lifestyle that’s so deeply intertwined with drinking that it can seem impossible to extricate yourself from one or the other.

A third, sort of hybrid between both of those potential factors is the psychological circumstances that can potentially cause alcoholism. These can be mental health disorders (which are strongly influenced by genetics), low self-esteem, or experiences with trauma.

It’s most likely that a combination of these factors is the likely cause of a person’s alcoholism.

Biological Influences

Your genes can determine a lot more than whether you look more like your mother or father, the color of your eyes, or how tall you will be. There are several genes that have a direct correlation to your potential risk of developing a drinking problem.

Some relate to stress. Certain people are lower stress thresholds than others; incidents that most other people could shrug off might send these individuals over the edge. This greater sensitivity to stress can increase a person’s proclivity to reach for a drink (though drinking can actually do the exact opposite and make you feel even more agitated).

Different genes can actually make a person more likely to get hooked on a substance—regardless of what it is. Other genes can spell an increased sensitivity to alcohol, which increases the odds of addiction.

How Common are Alcohol Problems in America?

If you have a drinking problem, it may comfort (and also disturb you a little) you to know that you’re far from alone. Alcoholism is one of the most common types of addiction in the U.S. It’s estimated to affect over 3 million Americans annually, approximately 10% of the entire population aged 12 or older.

Sadly, addiction isn’t even the worst of it. On average, 141,000 Americans die from alcoholism each year with 385 deaths each day. These tragedies are avoidable, find an alcohol rehab near you.

https://drugabusestatistics.org/alcohol-abuse-statistics/