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Pathway provides articles about teen and young adult substance abuse and recovery.

Puzzle pieces labeled acceptance and peace.

Acceptance

By on May 7th, 2021 in Articles, Substance Abuse Recovery Tools

Let’s begin by borrowing what is fondly known as “the acceptance page” from the book, Alcoholics Anonymous. This excerpt comes from one of the personal stories of recovery. It is one of the most well-known and often cited paragraphs by those in recovery, and for good reason, it is densely packed with relevant and usable truth.

It reads as follows:

“Acceptance is the answer to all my problems today. When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, thing, or situation—some fact of my life—unacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing or situation as being exactly the way it is supposed to be at this moment. Nothing, absolutely nothing happens in God’s world by mistake. Until I could accept my alcoholism, I could not stay sober; unless I accept life completely on life’s terms, I cannot be happy. I need to concentrate not so much on what needs to be changed in the world as on what needs to be changed in me and my attitudes.”

This perspective can be as helpful to a parent or loved one as it can be to an alcoholic/addict because the desire to control outcomes or other people affects both the addict and parent.

First let’s take a look at the addict.

Addicts despise feeling out of control and are very uncomfortable with accepting things that don’t go their way. They often attempt to control everything around them, including their emotional state, particularly the way that they feel right now. The drugs and alcohol help them to accomplish this.

How many parents have been on the receiving end of controlling addicts? Trick question, it’s probably all of them. Addicts regularly set up situations in order to get their way. Most are very capable at this, they use varying tactics including: being nice when convenient, rehashing past mistakes of the parent, emotional blackmail, manipulation, dishonesty, threats, guilt, self-pity, and even violence. Being on the receiving end of these behaviors can be very hard to cope with.

Reflect for a moment and think about a situation where somebody tried to control you and how it felt. What was your reaction? Did it motivate you to want to comply?

Now let’s look at the parent. What is a parent usually trying to control?

Usually, parents are attempting to control the addict, the world around the addict and the outcomes of their addiction. Parents often use many of the same tactics as listed above to try to make the addict do what is best for them.

Take a moment to think about it. When have you tried to control something or someone you are powerless over? How do you think that made the other person feel? Sometimes when we take a deeper look, we see that we have more in common with the addict than we first thought.

The solution proposed in the above excerpt from AA offers a solution that works for addicts and parents alike.

To put this acceptance into action is to admit that we are powerless over just about everything other than ourselves and to acknowledge the reality that we must let go of the illusion of control. We must stop playing God. We must turn inward and focus on the little power we do have, the power over our behavior and choices. Here we turn to God to handle the rest of the universe, including our loved ones, as He sees fit.

What we invariably find is that this acknowledgment of powerlessness and acceptance of it is actually a key to real peace. Once we become aware that we are not responsible for the outcome of other’s lives or the world as a whole, life becomes much simpler. We can then focus on our own behavior and choices.

Once we are practicing acceptance, we can see much more beauty in the world. Many of the things we were frustrated about look a lot different and it becomes much easier to see God’s work in daily life. We can then focus on Gratitude instead of fear and anger; laughter and joy even have room to exist in this state of mind.

This article was written by Josh Azevedo for Parents of Addicted Loved Ones and originally appeared on their blog for families of addicted loved ones here.

A road sign with the word progress written on it.

Progress, Not Perfection

By on May 7th, 2021 in Articles, Substance Abuse Recovery Tools

Parents come to PAL or other support groups usually after suffering a tremendous amount of stress, fear and struggle. Once they reach this point of defeat, they seek support, and what they usually find is that their awareness grows quickly and immensely. Many feel “I can’t believe I didn’t find this earlier“ or “why doesn’t everybody know about this?” Through attending the meetings, they learn about addiction and how the family is affected, they quickly begin to see that many of their responses to the addict are not helping the addict or themselves. Sometimes even becoming aware that they are perpetuating dysfunction.

Simultaneously, as they are gaining hope and learning practical solutions, potential for change becomes a reality. Parents gain hope for themselves and for their child when they are able to identify with other parents who were once in their shoes, struggling, but are now happy and thriving whether the addict is sober or not. They find mentors who inspire them to grow and make changes and give hope that they can be free of the effect of an addiction in their lives.

Early in the process when parents first reach out for help and start attending a support group, they often desire a huge leap, a breakthrough change that comes all at once. Although this does happen occasionally it is not the norm. A more typical journey may be that the awareness shift within is quick, but the outer response when presented with a stressful situation with the addict takes more time to change.

Many changes will come quickly, but on occasion it is common for a parent to slip back into old behaviors or patterns. This can be terribly frustrating for the parent because they may think to themselves, “I know better!” but that is not all there is to it. We know better when it comes to many things. Everybody has had a bad or a good habit that is hard to break, or something they know that they should or ought to do but then when it comes into reality it doesn’t go like we planned. Conditioned responses to stressful situations with loved ones can be particularly difficult to change. For many parents, the responses to the addict took a long time to develop and are really ingrained. Asking a parent who has been doing it for 20 years to immediately stop enabling an addict, is akin to asking them to slam dunk a basketball, it is unlikely.

Thankfully, this is not a cause for concern and definitely not a reason to give up or fall into self-pity. What we are really seeking in recovery is progress not perfection. The hope given to us by the meetings, our new friends and mentors, and all of the new awareness provides us with an ideal to strive for. It gives us a picture of what we would like healthy interactions with our addicted children to be like, calm in the face of calamity. There’s not an expectation to meet this ideal in a certain period of time, it is critical for parents not to be too hard on themselves. Recovery is a marathon not a sprint, and it would be unwise to tire yourself too early. It is great to have a goal to aim for, i.e., I am not going to enable my addicted loved one’s substance use any longer, but every single action taken will not be perfect going forward. Even a little improvement at a time is great for peace of mind.

So, as you develop a picture of how you would like to respond to the addict in your life and any other life challenges you may be experiencing, please be mindful to account for the progress and strides forward rather than focusing on what you haven’t done yet. If you have a setback, bring it up in a meeting and make a plan for next time.

It’s very important to remember that making mistakes and having setbacks is a normal part of the recovery journey and life in general. It took time to build the perspectives, responses, fears, and anger that drove you to seek help, and it will take time to change those responses.

A Caveat: “Progress, not perfection” is not to be used as an excuse. Addicts often use it as a rationalization excuse during arguments saying things such as, “At least I left you a few dollars for bus fare when I stole your wallet!”

A couple of mental activities to help with seeing the progress in ourselves and others:

Count your little wins.

Can you name a few lately?

Have you seen your spouse make progress?

Have you seen another parent at a meeting make progress?

Do you take time to acknowledge it to them?

Remind yourself that we are all a work in progress, nobody has life down perfect or the right response for every situation. Do your best to grow with each opportunity and never lose hope.

This article was written by Josh Azevedo for Parents of Addicted Loved Ones and originally appeared on their blog for families of addicted loved ones here.

A road with a crooked line.

God Writes Straight With Crooked Lines

By on May 7th, 2021 in Articles, Substance Abuse Recovery Tools

Dealing with addiction is scary, painful, and taxing on any family. Addiction is almost never expected, so most families don’t spend any time preparing for it. It’s as if you are moving through life normally and all of a sudden you find yourself in the middle of a whirlwind of insanity where the normal rules of life do not seem to apply, and often actually don’t.

Many addicts when questioned during some of the worst times in their addiction about how they arrived where they are, are baffled. They might basically know it was their decision to use drugs and alcohol along with other poor decisions that led them to the spot they are in; however, the truth is they often do not truly understand why or how they ended up there. Many times, they say things such as: “I never intended to let things get to this point” or “I’ve tried to stop myself, but I haven’t been able to.”  Parents echo these sentiments saying to themselves and others “How did this happen?” “Why did this happen to us?” “Did we do something wrong?” Or “Is there something wrong with our family or with our kid?” It is easy to ask these things and fall into negative reflection of the past. Parents and addicts alike can find themselves lamenting over unfulfilled plans and dreams and wishing things were different. Sometimes this can even spiral into severe self-pity or depression. Many are hoping they will wake up to find that it is all just a bad dream.

Clinging to these unmet expectations about life and just waiting for “all of this” to end can become part of the problem and keep any member of the family sick. “Am I supposed to be happy about it?” you ask!

No. At least not yet. What I will suggest is to begin a change of perspective that starts with acceptance of the current situation. The sooner the addiction and all that comes with it is accepted, the sooner healing can begin.

To find meaning in adversity is within our power, controlling the adversity we face is not. I have heard many addicts say, “I wish I had a different set of problems other than addiction” and although the sentiment is understandable, they only begin a spiritual awaking when they realize its futility.

By this time, we know there is no wishing it all away.

Once the addict or parents have accepted the problem, that is usually when they decide to seek help in facing it. That is when despair is often met with hope and love. They reach out and find PAL or other support where they learn they are not alone and that there is a way forward. Addicts find support groups of people they identify with and they see a way out too. This begins the process of a total change of perspective for many families. Every day there are people in recovery who share stories of how they thought addiction was the worst thing that could ever happen to them, they thought their lives were over at first, but after some time in recovery, they look back saying things like, “I wouldn’t change my journey.” “It took what it took for me to find a relationship with God.” “If I hadn’t gone down this road I would not be who I am today.”  “My relationship with my family is better than ever.”  Or “I appreciate what I have in life more than I ever have.”

Families of these same addicts often voice similar things in parent support group meetings saying things such as “I would never have chosen this path, but I have definitely learned a lot about myself as a result.”

Now, going back to the name of this post…

The concept that God writes straight with crooked lines is often expressed in recovery. It means that we often end up where we really wanted and needed to go (which is closer to God and becoming better people), but the journey does not usually go in the straight line we were hoping it would. Happiness, joy, self-awareness and spiritual development are all too often found in places we would not think to look or are convinced there could be nothing good there. We are lucky that God knows better!

I’ll leave you with a few questions to reflect on and ask yourself:

What are some of the crooked lines that have come out of your journey?

What have you learned that you thought you never would have?

What positive things have happened along the way to build your faith in God?

Ah yes, there’s that change in perspective.

This article was written by Josh Azevedo for Parents of Addicted Loved Ones and originally appeared on their blog for families of addicted loved ones here.

Teenagers in substance abuse recovery getting out of themselves.

Getting Out of Yourself in Adolescent Substance Abuse and Addiction Recovery

By on April 9th, 2021 in Adolescent and Young Adult Substance Use, Articles, Substance Abuse Recovery Tools

An often-repeated piece of advice in recovery is to “get out of yourself.” Usually, this piece of direction is given with the understanding that to get out of ourselves, we need to “get into others.” What our sponsors typically mean when they give this piece of direction is that we should go out of our way to be of service to someone or something. This can come in the form of reaching out to a newcomer, setting up a meeting, helping clean, or just holding the door for someone and asking how their day is going.

What we typically mean when we say “get out of yourself” is: do something that causes you to think of yourself less. This can be achieved by being of service to someone else, or by simply linking up with our positive peer group and having fun for an afternoon or evening. Whether in a traditional 12-step program like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) or an enthusiastic sobriety support group, we normally have an abundance of opportunities to do both of these things, provided we are paying attention and looking for opportunities.

But does this piece of advice hold any water in the grand scheme of recovery from drug or alcohol use? Academics have produced a lot of literature on the merits of many addiction recovery tools – mindfulness, meditation, group therapy, family counseling, and support group participation, to name a few. However, the literature is relatively sparse on the benefits of “getting out of ourselves” in recovery – slightly ironic given the fact that helping others is one of the cornerstones of 12-step recovery. One of the most iconic recovery stories is the classic story of AA’s two co-founders, Bill W. and Doctor Bob staying sober by being of service to each other.

There is one source of literature on the topic – numerous studies by Maria Pegano et al have shown the benefits of service and “helping behavior” in adolescent drug and alcohol treatment. While detailing these studies may be the topic of another post, this 2016 article entitled Can Helping Others Keep You Sober? would be a great place to start if you’re interested in learning more.

Why the Emphasis on Helping Others?

Those of us in recovery know the value of “getting out of ourselves and into others,” especially where staying sober and emotionally on track are concerned. We know that when someone is “out of self and serving others,” there are massive positive reward outcomes. People in long term recovery know just what this does for the process of getting and staying sober and what it essentially does in terms of substance addiction relapse outcome studies. These simple “acts” can most assuredly improve quality of life and overall level of happiness.

One of the greatest tools we instinctively know that we have internally is to shift our focus from thinking about ourselves and onto other people when all else fails as a sort of “master key” to humanity.  It seems no matter how far down on their luck someone is, human beings just seem to want to render aid and support to someone who needs it even if they are suffering themselves.

Those in 12-Step recovery have known about this for years. It is a recurring theme in 12-step fellowships and literature and recovery circles. In the opening line of Chapter Seven, Alcoholics Anonymous (the Big Book) itself declares, “practical experience shows that nothing will so much insure immunity from drinking as intensive work with other alcoholics. It works when all other activities fail.” This book, authored in 1939, had the right idea even 80 years ago when providing strategies to help with our human condition and addictive issues.

What about Taking Care of Ourselves?

We’d like to emphasize the following caveat to everything above – getting out of ourselves is not a replacement for taking care of ourselves. It is simply a piece of the puzzle. There is a reason that the 12-steps also include principles such as self-examination, making amends, and meditation. Additionally, we wouldn’t suggest that someone blow off their IOP program or other counseling / therapy in order to simply serve others or have fun. What we’d simply like to state is that when all of the work on ourselves is done for the day, there’s only one thing left to do: turn the lens away from focusing on ourselves and get some relief. This habit goes a long way towards the healing process.

Why Getting Out of Ourselves Works

When someone has a behavioral or emotional issue, it is something within themselves that they are struggling with. Add to this the fact that when most of us are in pain, we have a tendency to metally laser-focus on the problems in our lives. Most of the time, even the traumas of our past which are still affecting us day-to-day are simply internal emotional hurdles by the time we hit recovery. When we turn our focus away from focusing on ourselves, these emotional hurdles get turned on their head for a little while. This effect is easy to observe even in early recovery from drugs and alcohol. The act of “getting out of self” can add tremendous staying power to our recovery and emotional state as we heal.

How to Get Out of Yourself

As stated above, those of us around enthusiastic sobriety or other forms of 12-step recovery tend to be surrounded by opportunities to get out of ourselves, as long as we’re willing to look for them. Here are some ideas:

  • Take a walk
  • Call a newcomer and ask how their day is going
  • Think of someone in your sober network that you haven’t talked with in a while and call them
  • Go to an AA event or sober social activity
  • Link up with some sober friends and get an activity started!

Benefits of Getting out of Yourself

Some of the possible positive benefits of getting out of self include:

  • Deepening the experience of getting out of the way of problems
  • Getting focus off of negative events
  • Breaking out of obsessive thinking (or at times completely forgetting whatever it was that was initially occurring)
  • Helping us let go of being connected with any problem
  • Developing the ability to return to a problem with a clearer perspective

As stated above, getting out of yourself isn’t a catch all tool – we still need to work through our problems and address any behaviors and thoughts that may be impeding our progress. However, some of the best stories about finding joy and connection have started with someone deciding to serve someone else. When you’re done working through whatever issue is eating your proverbial lunch, don’t forget to get out of yourself!

Teens dealing drugs to one another.

Arizona Youth Survey | Young Adult and Teen Drug Use Statistics in AZ

By on December 8th, 2020 in Adolescent and Young Adult Substance Use, Arizona Substance Abuse, Articles

Finding out that your teen has begun to experiment with drugs can be a scary reality. Many times parents we have worked with already had a sneaking suspicion, but often the discovery leads to more questions than answers. If you live in Arizona, hopefully we can answer a few of those questions about middle school, high school, and teen substance abuse in Arizona for you today. Note: if you’re not sure, check this resource about warning signs of teen drug use for some helpful tips to determine whether you should be concerned or not.

Whether you are a professional who works with teens and young people, a parent looking to determine information pertaining to the potential risks your loved ones face, or a concerned citizen, we would like to present the teen drug abuse statistical data available to us in as straightforward a manner as possible. The data below has been compiled from the 2018 Arizona Youth Survey, which covers topics ranging from risk factors such as dangerous behaviors and teen drug use to environmental factors such as gang involvement and family attitudes. For the purpose of this article we will focus solely on drug use among Arizona teens statistics.

What is the Arizona Youth Survey (AYS)?

The AYS is an anonymous survey given every two years to youth all across the state of Arizona in middle schools and high schools that decide to participate. The report is reported on state-wide, as well as broken down by county. Due to the anonymity involved in the testing tool (see the tool used in the survey), students are far more likely to tell the truth than in other settings. We believe this is the most reliable glimpse into the reality of drug, alcohol, and tobacco / vape use among teens and youth in the state of Arizona. The teen drug abuse statistical information is also particularly helpful in monitoring the future of prevention efforts in our state.

This teen substance abuse statistical information is, of course, specific to Arizona, but we find it mirrors what we see in other parts of the United States. For instance, here’s a resource on statistical information about teen drug use in California.

Will there be a 2020 AYS?

The AZCJC reports that “Due to school closures in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the 2020 Arizona Youth Survey (AYS) has been postponed until Fall 2020.” We eagerly await the results of this newest installment of the AYS, and we will update this post accordingly once the results come out.

What grade levels take the Arizona Youth Survey?

The Arizona Youth Survey is taken by 8th graders, 10th graders, and 12th graders throughout Arizona. This allows for an accurate picture of age of onset and progression of use as teens get older.

Key Statistics: Why do Arizona teens use drugs?

One of the most common questions we get revolves around the motivation for substance abuse, especially for first time drug use. When we meet parents they are often bewildered that their kids have made the decision to turn to drugs. While it is natural to start questioning our parenting skills, as well as wondering if our kids have other mental health problems, we find that the real reasons kids use drugs are often extremely simple. Here at Pathway, we have an expression – we lovingly call teenagers “fun machines”. This is because so much of what they do has such a pure and simple motivation: to have as much fun as possible, today. The other commonly cited reason is to deal with stress. The results from the Arizona Youth Survey speak for themselves:

When asked about the reasons for using alcohol and other drugs in the past 30 days:

  • 50.8% of teenagers replied that they used drugs “to have fun”. 
  • 38.6% stated that they used drugs “to get high or feel good.”
  • 36.0% cited school-related stress as a reason for using substances.
  • 31.5% cited family-related stress as a reason for substance use.
  • 28% cited feeling sad or down.

Other common answers were “to stay focused or think better” (20.1%), and to deal with peers and friends (23.0%). For a full breakdown, see page 64 of the AYS.

Key Statistics: Where are Arizona teens getting drugs and alcohol?

Below we have listed the common sources of various drugs of abuse. It is important to note that not all the numbers add up to 100%. This is because a teen obtaining drugs could technically qualify for two or more categories. An example would be a student who acquires a drug at school from a friend. This student would have checked the boxes for “at school” and “from a friend” for the same drug. Here are the numbers:

Sources of marijuana

67.4% of students who used marijuana reported that they obtained it from friends, and 27.2% reported that they obtained it at a party. One particular statistic of note is that 25% of students reported obtaining the marijuana from someone who had a medical marijuana card, and 15.4% reported that they obtained it at a dispensary either within or outside of Arizona. Other sources included over the internet (5.7%), from school (17%), and from home (9.6%), among others.

Sources of alcohol

47.1% of students reported obtaining alcohol at a party, and 22.8% reported that it was given to them by a relative over the age of 21. 20% reported that alcohol was given to them by a non-relative over 21. Other common sources included stealing it from home (18.0%) and stealing from a store or someone else’s home (6.8%).

Sources of prescription drugs

Unlike other drugs, the most common source of prescription drugs was from friends at 29.0% and from home at 23.6%. As these drugs are particularly dangerous, this goes to show the importance of keeping your prescription drugs locked up and disposing of them once you are done using them. Other common sources were from a doctor or pharmacy inside or outside of he US (21.8%), at a party (11.9%), and at school (10.5%).

Key Statistics: How prevalent is teen drug use in Arizona?

Marijuana

29.7% of all students across all grades reported using Marijuana one or more times in their lifetime. 23.4% reported using marijuana concentrates (such as wax or hash oil). We can extrapolate that 79% of those who used marijuana were using some form of concentrate. The number did not significantly decrease or increased across the 2014, 2016, and 2018 surveys. This makes sense, as  our own data shows that marijuana is firmly the number one drug used by teens.

15.7% of students reported using marijuana in the past 30 days, and 12.3% reported using marijuana concentrates in the last 30 days, confirming the statistic above that about 80% of marijuana use is through concentrates. It should be noted that, like the relationship between cigarettes and vaping, marijuana concentrates are significantly stronger than even modern plant marijuana.

Alcohol

44.9% of students across all grades reported having drunk alcohol for “more than just a few sips” in their lifetime. This number dropped slightly across 2014, 2016, and 2018 surveys. The number of students reporting using alcohol in the last 30 days was 20.2%, about one in five. In surveys of our own clients, we’ve found that alcohol is still second on the list of the top drugs used by teens.

Tobacco and E-cigarettes / Vaping

37.1% of students across all grades reported having used electronic cigarettes in their lifetime, and 16.9% reported smoking traditional cigarettes in their lifetime. While the number of students using traditional cigarettes has dropped significantly (by as much as 77%, depending on the grade), the number of students who have vaped has increased by as much as 74%. This shows that while traditional cigarettes have fallen out of vogue with teenagers, nicotine use levels among students remains about the same.

This trend continues when students were asked about use over the last 30 days – 19.0% reported having used e-cigarettes in the last 30 days, whereas only 4.7% reported using traditional cigarettes in the last 30 days. As noted above in the marijuana section, vaping nicotine tends to be significantly stronger than traditional cigarettes.

Prescription Drugs

Multiple prescription drugs were reported on, with the most commonly used being prescription pain relievers (9%), followed by prescription sedatives (4.8%) and prescription stimulants (4.6%).

While these numbers may seem less significant than the higher numbers reported for marijuana and alcohol, it should be noted that 3% of students reported using prescription pain relievers in the past 30 days, followed by 1.4% for prescription sedatives and 1.3% for prescription stimulants. These drugs are known to be very dangerous and addictive, and they are present in schools.

Poly Substance Use

A particularly alarming statistic is that 11.7% of teenagers report using more than one illicit drug at once during their lifetime, with the highest number being 12th graders at 18.1% (almost one in five). 3% report that they have utilized the specifically dangerous combination of alcohol and prescription pain relievers at the same time.

This number drops to 4.7% when students were asked about poly substance use in the last 30 days. 1% of students also reported combining alcohol with prescription pain relievers in the past 30 days.

Other Drugs

Other drugs were reported on in the survey, with levels of lifetime use being between 1-3%. These drugs include cocaine / crack, ecstasy, methamphetamines, heroin, and steroids, among others. View pages 49-50 of the survey for complete data on these substances.

Are there teens who do not use drugs?

Absolutely! While the teen drug abuse statistics above can paint a bleak picture, there is evidence that prevention works. The survey even details (on page 63) reasons students chose NOT to use alcohol or other drugs. This information is particularly useful for prevention efforts, but can also be helpful to parents.

Among teens who reported that they have turned down drugs in the past 30 days, the most common reasons were:

  • 87.9% stated that they turned down drugs because they are not interested in drugs.
  • 74.2% stated that they turned down drugs because they knew their parents would be disappointed.
  • 56.5% reported that they avoid drugs because their parents would take away privileges.
  • 48.2% avoided substances because would get a bad reputation and 31.1% cited that their friends would stop hanging out with them. This is known as positive peer pressure.
  • Other common reasons were because drugs are illegal (61.4%) and because they are aware of the damage drugs can do to the body (73%).

This goes to show the importance of a family making it clear that they do not approve of drug use, the importance of drug abuse / drug addiction related education and positive peer relationships.

If you have any questions or would like to speak with one of our professional counselors further regarding your specific situation, please call (877) 921-4050. We will gladly discuss your situation or recommend a course of action based on your circumstances.

Teens dealing drugs to each other.

2020 Teen Drug Abuse Statistics in California | Prevalence of Adolescent Substance Use in CA

By on November 16th, 2020 in Adolescent and Young Adult Substance Use, Articles, California Substance Abuse

Is substance abuse among teens and young adults a major problem in California? We believe that it is. This is especially true considering that in the United States, 90% of adults who meet the criteria for Substance Use Disorder began using substances (including tobacco) prior to the age of 18.

Drug abuse can be a scary topic. As of this writing towards the end of 2020, we are in the middle of a global pandemic, but there is another, often forgotten epidemic going on: the widespread use of drugs, alcohol, and vaping among youth and teenagers. Whether you are a parent dealing with the realization that your young one is experimenting, a representative from a school or community organization, or simply a concerned citizen, we would like to present the information to you in as straightforward a manner as possible. As a drug abuse program specializing in working with teenagers, we wanted to present some of the teen drug abuse facts and statistics.

Though this topic can be hard to make sense of, luckily there are a number of sources that compile teen statistics on the top drugs used by teens:

Sources of statistical information on teen and young adult drug abuse

The substance abuse in adolescence and teen statistics below are compiled from three primary sources:

Though all of these resources include data on other topics (such as instances of mental health issues), for the purpose of this article we will keep the discussion on their insights in to youth and young adult substance use in California. If you would like to see a complete list of references contained in this article, click here.

Defining the terms of Substance Use and Substance Use Disorder

We would like to start by defining a few commonly used terms in the substance abuse and drug abuse / addiction world.

Substance Abuse – This term refers to using a substance in a way that is problematic to the user. For instance, an individual may use substances and it may cause them to miss a school assignment, miss a family gathering, or affect their work performance. The presence of these “consequences” is one of the first symptoms we look for in determining whether someone has a substance use disorder.

Substance Use Disorder – This term was first introduced in 2013 in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders, 5th Edition by the American Psychiatric Association. It is a diagnosable disorder characterized by the user reporting any of 11 criteria. These criteria range from reporting a desire to cut down on use, experiencing tolerance, experiencing withdrawal, and a number of others.

Alcohol, Marijuana, and Tobacco use among California adolescents aged 12-17 Statistics

The following three tables outline the statistics of substance abuse among secondary school students between the ages of 12-17. If you would like to skip ahead to specifically see data regarding young adults (aged 18-25), click here.

The California Health Care Foundation reported in their 2018 PDF that:

Lifetime use of substances for various grades
  Grade 7 Grade 9 Grade 11
Alcohol 13.3% 32.3% 51.7%
Cough/Cold Medicine – 43.6% 43.5%
Marijuana 7.9% 23.1% 37.9%
Cocaine – 3.7% 6.4%
Prescription Pain Medications – 16.8% 21.8%
Percentage of 11th grade public school students that used a specific substance at least four times to get high
Alcohol 33.0%
Cold/Cough Medicines 31.2%
Marijuana 25.1%
Prescription Pain Medications 8.2%
Ecstasy 3.4%
Inhalants 3.6%
Cocaine 3.0%

The table below details statistics from the Behavioral Health Barometer, Volume 5 in regards to substance use in teens aged 12-17.

Additional statistics on youth aged 12-17 (According to the Behavioral Health Barometer)
  Initiation of use in the past year Used in the past month
  California National Average California National Average
Marijuana 5.2% 4.8% 7.5% 6.8%
Cigarettes 2.9% 3.9% 2.9% 3.9%
Alcohol 8.5% 9.4% 9.8% 10.1%

Other statistics on adolescent drug use

Kidsdata.org reports in their PDF that:

Percentage of students who have used alcohol or other drugs in the previous month.
  Female Male
7th Grade 7.3% 7.1%
9th Grade 22.7% 16.6%
11th Grade 30.0% 27.7%

Key takeaways regarding adolescent / teen substance abuse in California

The above three substance abuse categories represent the most commonly used substances among adolescents. The report notes that while tobacco and alcohol use among teens age 12-17 were down in 2017 from their levels in 2005, marijuana use has not dropped. The report also does not detail use of other drugs, such as opioids, stimulants, or prescription drugs. In our professional experience, we have seen that many teens are using other drugs, especially prescription drugs, more often and we would like to see these numbers included in the next survey.

Additionally, it should be noted that as the older the kids get, it appears the more likely they are to experiment with drugs or alcohol. While this is not surprising, it is very revealing to see statistics approaching 1 in 3 students using substances as they approach the 11th grade level.

Young adult (ages 18-25) drug use in California Statistics

There is significantly less data compiled on this topic, since “young adult” generally means that the subjects are over the age of 18. This age group tends to get lumped together in the “over 18” category, which typically includes any adult over the age of 18. However, the SAMHSA’s 2017 data does provide some insight on the topic: 

Young Adults aged 18-25 who reported (in the past year)
  California National Average
Tobacco Use 33.4% 42.6%
Marijuana Use 34.7% 33.0%
Marijuana Use Disorder 5.8% 5.1%
Heroin Use 0.9% 1.3%
Illicit Drug Use Disorder 7.5% 7.2%
Binge Alcohol Use 35.2% 38.1%
Alcohol Use Disorder 10.9% 11.0%
Substance Use Disorder 14.4% 15.1%

Key takeaways on young adult substance use and substance use disorder in California

As with the reported numbers on youth, key numbers have dropped since 2005 – alcohol and tobacco use are down. However, there is one notable exception. Marijuana use among young adults has risen from 28% to almost 35%.

Young adults are far more likely to have experimented with drugs in their lifetime, and they are far more likely to have experimented with “harder” drugs such as cocaine or heroin. The key point to remember with this age range is that many of them used for the first time before the age of 18, and the ones that didn’t are still at much higher risk of developing dependency than 25+ year olds who have fully developed frontal cortexes.

What to do about a young person’s drug use

This is often the question that parents, guardians, and loved ones have for us when we first meet them. For many of us, the day we realize that our loved one is using drugs can be described as the worst day of our lives. It’s common to experience guilt, shame, fear, anger, distrust, feelings of betrayal, or a combination of these emotions upon first discovering that a family member is using drugs.

We’d like to start by saying that – there is hope, and you are not alone in this realization.

We often say that there are no guarantees in the drug and alcohol treatment world, but what we do know is that as a program, we see the results of young people and teenagers changing their lives and mending their broken family relationships every day of the week.

Our first recommendation is that you connect with a professional in the field of youth and young adult substance abuse. Many programs offer free assessments, or will talk with you on the phone. It is especially valuable to receive an assessment from a professional because it can be incredibly difficult to assess the severity of an individual’s substance use without a proper assessment. Sometimes this process makes you realize that perhaps the problem wasn’t as bad as you thought, and other times you realize that it’s time to seek real help and/or treatment.

Though our offices are located in California and Arizona, we are more than happy to spend time with you on the phone discussing options. Please reach out to us if you have concerns, questions, or would like a free assessment.

References:

Alcohol/Drug Use in Past Month, by Grade Level

Beharioral Health Barometer, Calofornia, Volume 5

California Student Mental Health Scorecard, 2015-2017

Mental Health and Substance Use: A Crisis for California’s Youth

Substance use among adolescents in California: A latent class analysis

Youth Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug Use in California

Wine glass with a cry for help.

Does AA Really Work? New 2020 Research on AA Effectiveness

By on August 13th, 2020 in Addiction, Alcoholism, Articles

A new analysis of research on AA published this year by Keith Humphreys, PhD et al. has sought to answer some long-standing questions about whether or not Alcoholics Anonymous is effective for alcohol use disorder and other substance use disorders.

Alcoholics Anonymous has been considered the gold standard in the treatment and mental health world for decades as a method of helping individuals beat their drinking and drug use problems. There have also been over 30 other free fellowships formed that directly utilize their 12-step program model of recovery. This number doesn’t even include the many fellowships and groups out there that credit AA with influencing their model, such as Celebrate Recovery. However, the fellowship’s insistence that each AA group remains autonomous, that access to the fellowship remains free of charge, and it’s historical resistance to being directly studied may lead one to some very logical questions:

  1. How effective is AA and 12 step treatment?
  2. If it is effective, is it more effective than other forms of treatment such as cognitive behavioral therapy?

AA Research – some quick background

Humphreys is a professor of psychiatry and behavioral studies and a member of the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute at Stanford University. For the past 3 years, Humphreys and his co-authors have been reviewing research from over 57 independent studies concerning the effectiveness of Alcoholics Anonymous as a solution to the basic trouble of the alcoholic, drug addict, or substance abuser.

They ran the meta-analysis through the standards set forth by the Cochrane Collaboration, which has long been considered the gold standard for meta-analysis. It is trusted by clinicians and considered to be bias resistant. After holding the 57 studies up to Cochrane Reviews’ standards, it was decided that 27 of them were suitable for inclusion in the meta analysis. The 27 studies represented research on over 10,000 individuals ranging in age from young to old and who either attended AA or received other types of therapy. The average ages of participants in the studies was between 34 and 51. This is quite a large evidence base!

The original abstract of the research can be found in the Cochrane Library by clicking here.

The basics of the AA 12-step approach – a quick overview

Alcoholics Anonymous chips for lengths of sobriety

Alcoholics Anonymous gives out chips denoting various lengths of sobriety.

Alcoholics Anonymous is a grassroots movement that dates back to the 1930’s between two alcoholics who were trying to maintain abstinence from alcohol. They found that when they connected with each other, and attempted to deliver their message of hope and recovery to alcoholics still suffering, they were able to maintain their own sobriety, and even find peace and happiness.

This realization flowered into multiple free support groups in Akron, New York, and Cleveland. They later formed the basis of their recovery process, the well known approach using 12 steps. This process starts with admission of powerlessness over one’s addiction and developing a relationship with a higher power of the participant’s choice. It proceeds to complete a thorough inventory of one’s conduct and life, continues through a process of making amends with those harmed, and culminates with the 12th step – delivering the message to those who still suffer of alcoholism and addiction.

AA’s model is completely free and self-sustaining, denying charitable contributions from outside organizations. AA members are free to consider themselves members if they have a stated desire to stop drinking.

The study’s results – does AA really work?

The study refers to AA/TSF interventions, which means Alcoholics Anonymous and Twelve Step Facilitation. These interventions were compared with other psychological clinical interventions, such as cognitive behavioral therapy. Three areas were studied: rates of continuous abstinence, percentage of days abstinent, intensity of drinking/using, and healthcare cost savings.

It was found that:

AA improves rates of continuous abstinence at 12 months, and that the effect continues at 24 and 36 months. This means that AA meetings and 12 step interventions are particularly better at producing continuous abstinence in the long term.

For percentage of days abstinent (days sober compared to days not sober), AA performs as well as other clinical interventions at 12 months – but AA outperforms other interventions at 24 and 36 months.

For drinking intensity (drinks per drinking day / percentage heavy drinking days), AA was found to perform as well as other clinical interventions at 9 months and 12 months.

3 of the 4 studies reporting on the cost of health care reported that AA and 12-step interventions showed greater health care cost savings. The fourth study concluded that other interventions outperformed AA, but that those with the worst prognostic characteristics showed greater health care savings from AA. While at first this may seem like it should be obvious, keep in mind that things like overdoses, hospital visits, and sickness add to healthcare costs as well. Sober people have lower healthcare costs in general.

The authors’ general conclusions, as quoted directly from the abstract:

“There is high quality evidence that manualized AA/TSF interventions are more effective than other established treatments, such as CBT, for increasing abstinence. Non‐manualized AA/TSF may perform as well as these other established treatments. AA/TSF interventions, both manualized and non‐manualized, may be at least as effective as other treatments for other alcohol‐related outcomes. AA/TSF probably produces substantial healthcare cost savings among people with alcohol use disorder.”

What does this mean for counseling, therapy, and rehab?

Humphreys also addressed the controversy that can surround Alcoholics Anonymous at times. He noted that while physicians tend to support 12 step approaches, psychiatrists and psychologists will sometimes regard the fellowship with skepticism. After all, how can lay people do a better job at facilitating recovery from alcohol and drugs than a trained psychologist with degrees?

Humphreys was quick to point out that while the study has made him a true believer in the Alcoholics Anonymous approach, he isn’t saying that counseling or substance abuse treatment shouldn’t be considered. He recommends that counseling for substance users can be designed as a “an extended, warm hand-off into the fellowship.” He noted in a podcast interview with Stanford Medicine that he felt validated for his recommendation that so many different people try Alcoholics Anonymous over the years. While he does admit that the AA way of life doesn’t necessarily work for every single person, an individual with a substance abuse problem will likely be better off if they give AA a try.

Based on our extensive experience helping young people and teens stop drinking and find sobriety, we would agree with Humphrey’s assessment here. Alcohol and drug treatment programs, whether inpatient or outpatient, in addition to therapy, are all valuable tools, but we see success rates dramatically improve when the participant is willing to make a transition into Alcoholics Anonymous or a similar fellowship (such as those directed at drug addiction) once their participation in our support groups comes to a close.

Further reading on this important research on Alcoholics Anonymous can be found Stanford University and Inverse.com.

It's possible to seek freedom from drug usage during the COVID pandemic.

Should I Still Seek Drug and Alcohol Treatment or 12 Step Meetings During COVID-19?

By on April 17th, 2020 in 12 Steps, Addiction, Alcoholism, Articles

Who knew how much the Stay At Home Order would affect our substance abuse recovery?

Over the past month, we’ve all had a lot of time to think, pray, and reflect on the implications of our current situation. As of this writing, we have been under quarantine for one month, and I was reminded of this moment today:

After the last in-person 12 Step meeting I attended before the stay at home order, one of the regulars in the meeting joked, “I’m not sure what’s worse for us alcoholics, to risk getting COVID-19 by attending meetings or to risk drinking by not attending meetings.”

It was a sullen half-joke. We both chuckled, but in the back of our minds we thought of the countless alcoholics and addicts around the city, country, and world who would struggle in this unprecedented situation. In a very real sense, we both knew that access to recovery resources is a matter of life and death for many. We exchanged phone numbers with one of the newer members of the group and went home.

It’s been over a month since that moment, and at the time, none of us in that meeting realized how long this quarantine would last. We also didn’t realize how serious this pandemic would be.

A friend of mine recently wrote an article in which she indicated that she had spent her entire recovery fighting her natural desire to isolate. How ironic that, for our own good, we are now being directed to isolate! As a recovering person, that sentiment really resonated with me.

However, a few questions that have come up over and over throughout this process:

  • What are the newcomers to recovery going to do? (I couldn’t imagine having 30 days sober at this moment in time)
  • Are the drug & treatment programs even open right now? (Yes, they are on the essential services list)
  • Is it even worth it to see drug and alcohol treatment right now? (Hint: yes, it is)
  • My son or daughter is using drugs; how am I supposed to help them with everything shut down?

I’ve noticed that while there has been a lot said about the struggles of the recovering person, I haven’t seen very much said about the solutions that are still available to us and to our families. For that reason, I’ve decided to compile a list of resources that I KNOW are available to each and every one of us, right now:

COVID-19 Stay At Home Order Alcohol & Drug Recovery Options For the Newcomer & The Recovering Person:

  • Recovery meetings (12 Step and otherwise) are available virtually over Zoom, GoToMeeting, Skype, and other platforms. You can find links to those resources…
  • Treatment centers are still open. As an essential service, in-person and virtual IOP’s are open. Please, please, please do not hesitate to seek treatment for yourself or a loved one who needs it during the COVID-19 crisis.
  • You’re probably carrying an $800 recovery supercomputer in your pocket right now. Your phone is your friend. Call your safety nets, sponsors, and friends. Share, laugh, cry, do whatever you need to do. If you don’t have phone numbers, Alcoholics Anonymous help lines are up and running. You can also call SAMSHA’s helpline 1-800-622-HELP (4357).

Resources For the Parents of recovering (or using), teenagers, young adults, or loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic:

Tools for anyone Affected by Drug Use or Recovery During This Time

The stay at home order has forced me to be reminded that, as we say in recovery, happiness is an inside job. Here’s some things that any of us can do:

  • Finish some Stepwork. You know the inventory you’ve been putting off? Yeah, THAT one. Go ahead and write it.
  • Write a Gratitude List.
  • Read Page 60-63 in the Big Book – or any other of your favorite passages. 

My challenge to recovering people & families over the next week:

  • Utilize ALL of the recovery tools listed above that apply to you.
  • Write your own gratitude list. You might be surprised what you come up with.
  • Do all things with love.
  • Follow Rule 62: DON’T TAKE YOURSELF TOO SERIOUSLY.
Marijuana or weed is one of the most popular drugs used by teens and young adults today

My Teenage Experience Using Marijuana

By on April 10th, 2020 in Addiction, Adolescent and Young Adult Substance Use, Articles

As a substance abuse counselor for young adults and adolescents, the use of marijuana by young people is a topic that comes up daily. On one side of the discussion, there are those who speak of the multitude of health benefits from marijuana. On the other side of the discuss, there are those who argue that a drug is a drug and that it is never acceptable to use drugs. In this article I hope to provide a personal testimony of my own experience with marijuana and my opinion on marijuana’s effects on teenagers specifically.

My Story with Teenage Marijuana Use

I remember being in elementary school, learning about various drugs and sitting in the classroom making a personal vow to never to use drugs. Especially hearing these various stories of people overdosing from drugs, getting caught by the police, or losing everything they love. It was easy as a child to determine that drugs were bad and that I wanted to avoid them. As I grew, however, that perspective began to shift. I began to see TV shows and movies where kids sneak out and smoke weed or get drunk at a party. They made it look like a lot of fun! By middle school I had friends who were cool to me that used marijuana, and they were the rebels. My personal vow was losing it’s appeal. My idea condemning marijuana lost the foundation of its argument.

I tried marijuana for the first time when I was 14 years old. I didn’t get high, but another thing stood out about that experience – I got in no trouble whatsoever! I didn’t get caught by the police, my family had no idea, and I didn’t experience any adverse health effects. This immediately changed my perspective on marijuana and I decided to try it again.

The next time I smoked marijuana, I actually experienced its effects. At that point I felt I had every reason to continue smoking marijuana! At the age of 14, I was concerned with one thing more than anything else: having fun. Despite the fact that I had a basic understanding that drugs were bad, I did not care. I had a host of new friends that I thought were cool and getting high felt extremely positive to me. Like many teenagers who begin abusing drugs, I wouldn’t start to experience real consequences until much later in life.

Consequences of Marijuana Use and Recovery

The first time I got caught doing drugs was spring break when I was 15. My friends and I stole a little alcohol from the top of every bottle from a friend’s parents’ liquor cabinet. We drank the liquor in my room, and a few hours later one of my best friends was puking all over himself and barely conscious. Worried, I woke up my mom. She was upset at the scene she found, but I was careful to insist that “it was the first time and I won’t do it again.” I took my month’s grounding and moved on.

Gradually, using drugs and alcohol took over my life. I continued to drink, but primarily used marijuana. By the time I was a senior in high school, there were a few distinct changes in my life. I constantly argued with both of my parents. I had manipulated my mom to the point where she was okay with me using marijuana because she believed I was limiting my use to once a week. Little did she know that I was using drugs every day! At this point, my life centered around my marijuana use. I viewed it as essential to be able to use marijuana. It had become more important to me than sports, extracurricular activities, or my schoolwork. I had changed groups of friends multiple times to people who used drugs the same way I did. I tried other drugs, including LSD, prescription stimulants, and prescription benzodiazepines (Xanax). I believed that I was having fun, and looking back, the insane part is that I didn’t see anything wrong with it.

Not unsurprisingly, I began experiencing more significant consequences. I found myself in the hospital. I was nearly expelled from high school. By this time, I was completely dependent on drug use to get through the day.

Something had to change.

Thankfully, it was during this time that I was introduced to sobriety. At my family’s urging, I begrudgingly agreed to have an appointment with a professional. I got into a good treatment program that specializes in adolescent drug use in my area. Though I fought it every step of the way, I began to abstain from drug use.

During my first six months of recovery, I began to understand and accept the consequences of using other drugs besides marijuana. I gained new tools to cope with life and rebuild my broken relationships. However, I could not part or wrap my head around the negative consequences of marijuana. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I had become everything I had sworn not to be when I was younger. I talked loftily about how marijuana was actually good for the brain and led to better decision making, rather than worse.

However, around the six month point, some things finally clicked. After months of staying clean, I began to clearly see some of the real consequences from marijuana specifically.

The Turning Point in My Recovery

The counseling staff and my peers in my recovery group used to use the term “three degrees off” to describe marijuana users and pot smokers. This is not intended as an insult, it’s simply a description of the effect of marijuana on our brains.

It’s important to remember that in marijuana users, cognitive functions are affected until 28 days of abstinence. Click here to read one of the many clinical studies on the topic. What this meant for me was that my decisions were not only affected for the few hours that I felt intoxicated, they were also affected, on some level, for up to 28 days after using marijuana. Compound this with daily marijuana use, and we end up with somebody who makes chronically bad decisions and doesn’t experience the true emotional repercussions of their actions.

For the first time, I took stock of the real effects of marijuana use on my life:

I didn’t become a drug using teenager overnight. However, with my slightly altered, “three degree off” decision-making, the end result was same. Over time, I had gone from a respectable, athletic, smart teenager to someone who lied to family and friends, cheated those around him, and stole from those he loved to be able to use marijuana and obtain drugs. I was willing to manipulate and argue to get high. While my brain was in the its peak of cognitive and emotional development, I was using a substance that blocked its normal functioning.

Manipulative and dishonest behaviors became easier and easier to justify. It wasn’t a bad kid, but I was willing to do anything to protect getting high. Over time, I even moved on to using other drugs, answering the age old question of if marijuana is a gateway drug. One national study by Secades et al shows that for people who were life-time marijuana users, 44.7% moved on to other illicit drugs. Comparatively, this is significantly higher than someone who never tries marijuana in the first place. In my professional experience counseling drug using teenagers, young adults, and their families, nearly every young person who receives counseling services started with marijuana.

Why Teenage Marijuana Use is So Damaging

I especially take notice of teenagers who use marijuana. The results are in: this 2014 evidence based study showed that marijuana users who began before age 17 experienced long-term issues with executive functioning. This includes problems with abstract reasoning, verbal fluency, verbal learning, and memory. This differed from users who began using after 17.

Another study showed that users who began using marijuana before 18 were 4-7 times more likely to develop some sort of substance use disorder.

From personal experience, I see that my marijuana use held me back from gaining the real tools to succeed long-term. Rather than coping with the problems in my life, I resorted to using marijuana. Marijuana created such a strong instant gratification that I had no need to develop real friendships. Rather, I made a decision to choose friends based on whether or not they used marijuana. As my tolerance for marijuana developed, I had nothing to fall back on to create lasting self-esteem and happiness.

Giving Back

Today, I want to help prevent young people from moving backwards because they didn’t give their brains time to develop. It is not surprising to me that marijuana is the number one drug used by teens. My goal is for teenagers and young adults to find long-term happiness. In my life, I ended up finding and utilizing real self esteem building tools. I utilize the 12-steps, a sponsor/mentor, and positive relationships to help accomplish this. The result of this has been a life that is more fruitful than anything I attained when I was using marijuana or other drugs. Even if it is “only marijuana” I hope to encourage any young person to seek sobriety to support long-term success.

References

Crean, R. D. Crane, N. A. Mason, J. M. (2011, March 1) An Evidence Based Review of Acute and Long-Term Effects of Cannabis Use on Executive Cognitive Functions. Journal of Addiction Medicine, 5(1). Retrieved From https://journals.lww.com/journaladdictionmedicine/Abstract/2011/03000/An_Evidence_Based_Review_of_Acute_and_Long_Term.1.aspx

Pope, HG Jr., Gruber, A. J. Hudson, J. I. Huestis, M. A. Yurgelun-Todd, D. Neuropsychological performance in long-term cannabis users. Archives of General Psychiatry                (2001, October) Retrieved from ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11576028/

Secades-Villa, R. Garcia-Rodriguez,O. Chelse, J. Jin. Wang, S. Blanco, C. (2014, August 2). Probability and predictors of the cannabis gateway effect: A national study. International Journal of Drug Policy, 28(2). Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2014.07.011

Winters, K. C. Lee, C. S. (2008, Jan 1) Likelihood of developing an alcohol and cannabis use disorder during youth: Association with recent use and age. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 92(1-3). Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0376871607002979?via%3Dihub

Depression and strained family relationships are symptoms of substance use disorder

What is Substance Use Disorder? (SUD)

By on April 6th, 2020 in Addiction, Alcoholism, Articles

When you’re looking for help for yourself or a loved one, it can be difficult to navigate terminology and information when you’ve never been exposed to the recovery or treatment world. The purpose of this article is to break down some of those barriers. The term “substance use disorder”, or SUD, is a term related to drug addiction and substance use that you may hear and/or read often on this journey. We want to provide you with definitions for the terms you will hear and see, as well as give you some insight into recovery terminology.

What does the term SUD mean?

SUD is a commonly used acronym in the treatment field that stands for Substance Use Disorder. Prior to 2013, providers would use the 4th edition of the American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statical Manual (DSM-IV) to diagnose an individual with either substance abuse or substance dependence, but not both. The manual gave a list of symptoms, such as tolerance, withdrawal, the presence of legal consequences, etc. Substance abuse was defined by the presence of 1 or 2 symptoms, whereas substance dependence was defined as 3 or more.

In 2013, a new edition of the manual was released. In the updated DSM-5, SUDs are not characterized by abuse vs. dependence. Without this distinction, an individual would receive a “use disorder” label with a reference to a specific drug class (i.e. “cannabis use disorder” or “cocaine use disorder”).

This new classification and symptom criteria for SUDs came on the heels of professionals recognizing that many different synergistic factors contribute to addiction tendencies involving alcohol and other drugs. This means that it is usually not just one thing (i.e. trauma, strained family relationships, negative peer groups) that causes addiction.

What this means for treatment of Substance Use Disorder

The new classification recognizes that not all substance use disorders are driven by a single cause, and not all of them can be labeled as “drug addiction”, “drug abuse”, etc. Use of drugs, alcohol, nicotine, whether legal or illegal, is a multi-factorial issue.

This is especially true of young people. Not everyone that that meets the criteria for a substance use disorder identifies as an addict or an alcoholic; however, we believe that the treatment for an individual should be consistent regardless of their personal admission of being and addict or alcoholic. This means assessing each person individually to determine the severity of their substance use disorder and to uncover underlying issues that may also be at play.

Signs and symptoms of Substance Use Disorder

The diagnosis of substance use disorder is done in an assessment with a drug and alcohol treatment professional. We take a look at the various signs, symptoms, and consequences of an individual’s consumption of drugs, alcohol, or other substances over the course of the last 12 months. Using information from the assessment, we determine things such as:

  • Did the individual’s consumption increase over the 12 month period (tolerance)?
  • Did the individual experience cravings for the drug or substance?
  • Did the person desire to cut down or quit and find they were unable to?
  • Did the individual miss out on school, work, or family obligations as a result of their substance use?
  • Many more factors

What Substances Qualify for the Diagnosis of Substance Use Disorder?

Substance abuse disorder is a diagnosis that can be applied to any substances or drugs that are causing a problem or issue in the patient’s life. We are often asked if this applies to legal substances like nicotine, alcohol, or prescription drugs. The answer is YES. The legality of the substance is not a deciding factor in the diagnosis – the main factors are the ones described in the section above. Namely, we want to assess what the effects of the substance have been on the user’s life. Substances that could qualify someone for the diagnosis of substance disorder include:

Other important definitions for treatment of substance use disorder:

  • MAT- Medicated Assisted Therapy: involves the use of medications (such as Buprenorphine) to assist in the detox and treatment of a patient.
  • Co-occurring disorders: condition in which an individual has a co-existing mental illness and SUD.
  • Intervention: A process by which family and friends confront an individual about their addiction in order to seek help for the individual. Interventions are usually facilitated by a trained personnel. Contacting a trained interventionist is the best place to start when seeking help for a loved one, as the interventionist will help with the process by providing assessments for appropriate levels of care along with referrals to treatment centers.
  • Residential Treatment Center (RTC): Intensive treatment for individuals outside of their home in which individuals participate in a live-in health care facility under trained staff supervision. Not everyone is appropriate for RTC, so be sure to have yourself or a loved one participate in an assessment to determine the appropriate level of care.
  • Intensive Outpatient (IOP): Usually 10-20 hours of group and individual therapy each week. IOP is a step down from residential treatment, and is usually recommended as follow-up care after successful completion of an RTC; however, completing a residential program is not always necessary prior to participating in an IOP program. Refer to a professional to determine which level of care is an appropriate starting point.

Visit https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-high-functioning-alcoholic/201106/understanding-addiction-treatment-levels-care for more information regarding levels care for SUD treatment.