CC Sabathia Entered a Treatment Facility for Alcoholism

Posted on October 5, 2015 by rehab

CC Sabathia a pitcher for the New York Yankees has announced he has entered a treatment facility for alcoholism as the Yankees are starting the playoffs.

Photo of CC Sabathia, from his official web site.

His statement:

Today I am checking myself into an alcohol rehabilitation center to receive the professional care and assistance needed to treat my disease.

I love baseball and I love my teammates like brothers, and I am also fully aware that I am leaving at a time when we should all be coming together for one last push toward the World Series. It hurts me deeply to do this now, but I owe it to myself and to my family to get myself right. I want to take control of my disease, and I want to be a better man, father and player.

I want to thank the New York Yankees organization for their encouragement and understanding. Their support gives me great strength and has allowed me to move forward with this decision with a clear mind.

As difficult as this decision is to share publicly, I don’t want to run and hide. But for now please respect my family’s need for privacy as we work through this challenge together.

Being an adult means being accountable. Being a baseball player means that others look up to you. I want my kids — and others who may have become fans of mine over the years — to know that I am not too big of a man to ask for help. I want to hold my head up high, have a full heart and be the type of person again that I can be proud of. And that’s exactly what I am going to do.

I am looking forward to being out on the field with my team next season playing the game that brings me so much happiness.

It is good he realizes he has a problem and is seeking treatment.

Upon signing with the Yankees prior to the 2009 season, Sabathia became the highest-paid pitcher in MLB history. He is now 35 years old.

This is another reminder that alcoholism is a devastating problem to a large number of people. Treatment is helpful but we also really need better options for addiction treatment (and more study of what is effective) to help those in need.

Jon Hamm Exits Rehab for Alcohol Addiction

Posted on March 25, 2015 by rehab

Jon Hamm is best known for his role as Don Draper on Mad Men. He has recently completed a stay at a rehabilitation center where he sought treatment for alcohol addiction.

Jon Hamm at PaleyFest 2014

He reportedly received rehab treatment at the Silver Hill Hospital in New Canaan, Connecticut which is affiliated with Yale University.

The hospital describes their addiction treatment program as follows:

The Addiction Program provides a highly structured, intensive program of education, behavioral skill development and increasing psychological awareness. The focus of this abstinence-based program is to help patients identify triggers and learn relapse prevention strategies that will help them remain substance-free.

Treatment for addiction disorders often begins in our inpatient level of care. Patients are admitted for detoxification from alcohol, prescription medication and other substances. Simultaneous treatment of psychiatric symptoms is also provided for mood and other psychiatric disorders as needed. The goals of this phase of treatment are crisis stabilization, symptom reduction and medication management. This phase of care is generally covered by insurance.

After stabilization, the next phase of treatment is our Transitional Living Program. Patients reside on campus as they focus on developing a psychological understanding of their illness and developing new behavioral skills to manage their recovery process. The length of stay for this phase of treatment is 4 weeks, and some patients extend their treatment beyond this minimum. This program is self-pay – a small portion of the program may be covered by insurance. Our staff will help you determine if you have this benefit.

Funding Drug Addiction Treatment Would Cost 1/7 the Cost of the Current Criminal System Focused Policy

Posted on January 14, 2015 by rehab

Treatment: Effective (But Unpopular) Weapon Against Drugs

Paying for treatment of hard-core drug users is a bone in the throat of middle class taxpayers–and small wonder. Drug abusers are not an appealing group, and the programs themselves largely fail to wean their clients off drugs for good. Nonetheless, say RAND researchers, treatment programs are a sound investment of public funds because they effectively cut consumption–and consumption is what drives the drug trade.

RAND corporation aims to provide policy guidance, driven by data and research, to policy makers. They differ from many others in that they pay more attention to what works than to the interest groups often telling politicians what to do. RAND is willing to take stands that others are not and often propose policies that conflict with the accepted positions held to for decades by interest groups.

When data supports a policy RAND will encourage the use of that policy even if it seems odd – like paying for drug treatment for those breaking the law. Without treatment RAND data shows the government will spend 7 times as much money. But politicians have been resisting spending 1/7 as much money because they fear voters can’t understand that doing so is wise. This is from a 1995 report by RAND:

Treatment is seven times more cost-effective in reducing cocaine consumption than the best supply-control program and could cut consumption by a third if it were extended to all heavy users, according to the study. Such a strategy could also substantially reduce the number of users and the costs they inflict on society through crime and lost productivity.

And RAND doesn’t even factor in the costs of wasted lives, pain and suffering that are aided by good addition treatment help. Some propose we aid drug users with treatment programs because human suffering is something we should reduce when we can. RAND proposes we do so based solely on the hard cash benefits government will gain. It is hard to argue with a program that reduces costs by 86% (6/7).

While we may have made a little progress has been made in getting more funding since 1995, if we have it is a tiny portion of what would be a wise investment. The failure to use addiction treatment progress continues to add to the budget deficits our governments face and the suffering of drug abusers in our society.

The Success Rate of AA is Only 5-10%

Posted on March 23, 2014 by rehab

The treatment of drug addiction continues to be difficult. Even finding data on success rates is hard. And analyzing that data is difficult (the data is not straight forward and leaves open many possible questions or criticisms). This study calls into question the effectiveness of a 12-step recovery method to treat addiction.

With Sobering Science, Doctor Debunks 12-Step Recovery

There is a large body of evidence now looking at AA success rate, and the success rate of AA is between 5 and 10 percent. Most people don’t seem to know that because it’s not widely publicized. … There are some studies that have claimed to show scientifically that AA is useful. These studies are riddled with scientific errors and they say no more than what we knew to begin with, which is that AA has probably the worst success rate in all of medicine.

It’s not only that AA has a 5 to 10 percent success rate; if it was successful and was neutral the rest of the time, we’d say OK. But it’s harmful to the 90 percent who don’t do well. And it’s harmful for several important reasons. One of them is that everyone believes that AA is the right treatment. AA is never wrong, according to AA. If you fail in AA, it’s you that’s failed.

The reason that the 5 to 10 percent do well in AA actually doesn’t have to do with the 12 steps themselves, it has to do with the camaraderie. It’s a supportive organization with people who are on the whole kind to you and it gives you a structure. Some people can make a lot of use of that. And to its credit, AA describes itself as a brotherhood, rather than a treatment.

Dr. Lance Dodes has written a book looking at the data behind the results of AA. The Sober Truth: Debunking the Bad Science Behind 12-Step Programs and the Rehab Industry.

2012 National Drug Control Strategy for the USA

Posted on April 25, 2013 by rehab

The USA has published their 2012 National Drug Control Strategy. The intro from President Obama includes:

Illicit drug use in America contributed to an estimated $193 billion in crime, health, and lost productivity costs in 2007, the year for which the most recent estimate is available. In today’s challenging economic environment, we cannot afford such a drain on our economy and public resources. While difficult budget decisions must be made at all levels of government, we must ensure continued support for policies and programs that reduce drug use and its enormous costs to American society.

Research has documented that substance use disorder treatment is a sound public investment. For example, a 2006 study found that every dollar spent on treatment yielded an average of seven dollars in costs savings. The majority of these savings came from reduced criminal justice system involvement and increased employment earnings. **Benefit-cost in the California treatment outcome project: Does substance abuse treatment‘pay or itself’? Health Services Research, 41(1), 192-213, 2006**

Other studies document substantial cost-offsets in the healthcare domain alone . Another 2006 study reported a net savings of $2,500 per person per year in Medicaid costs associated with treatment, and a State of Washington report found that treatment yielded a con- servatively estimated $252 per person per month in cost reductions associated with medical care and state and community psychiatric hospitalizations. **The effect of substance abuse treatment on medicaid expenditures among general assistance welfare clients in Washington State, The Milbank Quarterly, 84(3), 555-576, 2006 and Washington State supplemental security income (SSI) cost-offset pilot project: 2002 progress report.

In 2010, an estimated 23.1 million Americans (9.1%) aged 12 or older needed specialized treatment for a substance use disorder, but only 2.6 million (roughly 11.2% of them) received it. We need to stop wasting money and lives and costing our society much more over the long term.

In 2010, over seven million people in the United States were under the supervision of the criminal justice system: over two million incarcerated and the remaining five million on probation or parole.

Compounding the significant expenditures on corrections is the fact that far too many offenders return to drug use and reenter the criminal justice system. Among state prisoners with substance use disorders, 53% had at least three prior sentences to probation or incarceration, compared to 32% of other inmates.

Many offenders deal with a chronic substance use disorder—a disease for which too many are inadequately treated. These offenders need effective substance use disorder and mental health treatment while incarcerated and should continue with recovery support services that assist with employment, housing, medical care, and other support upon their reentry into the community.

UK Drug Policy Commission Recommends Decriminalizing Drug Use

Posted on November 2, 2012 by rehab

Decriminalise drug use, say experts after six-year study

A six-year study of Britain’s drug laws by leading scientists, police officers, academics and experts has concluded it is time to introduce decriminalisation.

The report by the UK Drug Policy Commission (UKDPC), an independent advisory body, says possession of small amounts of controlled drugs should no longer be a criminal offence and concludes the move will not lead to a significant increase in use.

The experts say the criminal sanctions imposed on the 42,000 people sentenced each year for possession of all drugs – and the 160,000 given cannabis warnings – should be replaced with simple civil penalties such as a fine, attendance at a drug awareness session or a referral to a drug treatment programme.

They also say that imposing minimal or no sanctions on those growing cannabis for personal use could go some way to undermining the burgeoning illicit cannabis factories controlled by organised crime.

But their report rejects any more radical move to legalisation, saying that allowing the legal sale of drugs such as heroin or cocaine could cause more damage than the existing drugs trade.

Abusive drug use should be a medical matter not a criminal one. The appropriate treatment options to provide people the change to regain their lives is what is needed; we don’t need to throw them in jail. Use the money saved from wasting people’s lives in jail and all the costs associated with that to help provide better drug abuse treatment options.

Recovery High Schools

Posted on April 4, 2012 by rehab

In 1989 the first recovery high schools in the USA began. The Ecole Novelle (now known as Sobriety High) and Peers Enjoying A Sober Education (PEASE Academy) were both started in started in the Minneapolis, Minnesota area, and are still operating today. Today, there are approximately 30 recovery high schools around the USA.

Sobriety High School.

Sober High (on PEASE)

Since 1989, educators have used the basement and Sunday school classrooms at University Lutheran Church of Hope on 13th Avenue SE. as a haven, and one of 15 recovery schools in Minnesota, with names such as Sobriety High or Solace Academy.
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Heidi Judge, the school’s full-time chemical dependency counselor, has attended funerals of students killed by overdoses. She left behind the 30- and 90-day stints of treatment centers for the chance to work with students long-term.

PEASE takes an almost zero tolerance stance on drug and alcohol use, unless students come forward and confess their relapse. Last year, 80 percent of the students who walked through the door stayed clean.

“We can empathize, but we try not to enable,” Durchslag said.

“You don’t put your arm around the kid and say ‘Oh, poor little addict.’ If you choose to use, you choose to leave the school.”

Drug and Alcohol Abuse and Rehab Centres in Australia

Posted on September 6, 2011 by ellinor

There are many of reasons why people resort to abusing substances such as drugs or alcohol. People from different levels of society and from different age brackets fall into drug or alcohol addiction. Many use it for socialization or enjoyment but others tend to abuse it leading to addiction. Drug and alcohol rehabilitation is so easy to plan about but it is in fact so difficult to start with and to be able to sustain it. This is great challenge for addicts, and why avoiding the problem in the first place is far more preferable. But if you find yourself, or a loved one, addicted there is hope.

Substance abuse/addiction is considered as a disease and should be treated by a health care provider with specialization on this area in order to arrive at a proper treatment protocol for that particular stage that client maybe in. For whatever the reason and at whatever kind of lifestyle the abuser may have, the question is, “Is help readily available and accessible for them?”

The good news is that help is just around the corner. Once someone makes the decision they need to make a change, in order to put their life back on track the next step is choosing the right option for them from the available drug and alcohol detox centers.

Here are some Rehab Centres in Australia:
The Sanctuary Byron Bay
Location: Byron Bay 2481, Lismore
Specialization: Offers inspiration, advice and support for those who want to overcome addiction.

Banyan House
Location: Berrimah, NT 0828
Specialization: treatment for people recovering from alcohol and drug addictions and any co-occurring mental health disorders

Karobran
Location: Adelaide, Melbourne
Specialization: Residential programs with intensive assistance in addiction recovery and life skill watching with a Christian Philosophy.

Narcotics Anonymous of Victoria
Location: Victoria, Australia
Specialization: fellowship of recovering drug addicts

Looking at the Evidence of Treating Alcoholism

Posted on July 3, 2010 by rehab

AA is Faith-Based, Not Evidence-Based

Alcoholics Anonymous is the most widely used treatment for alcoholism. It is mandated by the courts, accepted by mainstream medicine, and required by insurance companies. AA is generally assumed to be the most effective treatment for alcoholism, or at least “an” effective treatment. That assumption is wrong.

We hear about a few success stories, but not about the many failures. AA’s own statistics show that after 6 months, 93% of new attendees have left the program. The research on AA is handily summarized in a Wikipedia article. A recent Cochrane systematic review found no evidence that AA or other 12 step programs are effective.
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The 1992, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism’s National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey studied 42,000 Americans. 4500 had been dependent on alcohol at some time in their lives. Of these, only 27% had had treatment of any kind, and one-third of those who had been treated were still abusing alcohol. Of those who had never had any treatment, only one-quarter were still abusing alcohol. George Bush is a well-known example of someone who stopped drinking on his own without attending AA and without admitting that he was an alcoholic.

To me what matters is finding solutions that work. It is known that the success rates for treating addiction are not great no matter what treatments are used. We certainly should be doing more study of the effectiveness of various treatment methods to improve the success rates people experience. The impact on people’s lives is too large to rely on whoever markets better to end up being the deciding factor.

Improving Addiction Treatment with The University of Wisconsin – Madison

Posted on April 8, 2009 by rehab

University of Wisconsin-Madison based program aims to better drug treatment

Green-Milon’s apparent success in overcoming her addictions is all too rare, experts say. Only about a tenth of the 24 million Americans who need drug treatment get it, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and at least half of them relapse.

Part of the challenge, scientists say, is that addiction, like heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes, is a chronic condition; it changes the chemistry of the brain. But there’s another hurdle that’s getting attention: treatment programs, with their voice-mail systems and multiple forms to fill out, aren’t very patient-friendly, especially to people whose lives present many barriers to staying in treatment.

A national program, based at UW-Madison, is trying to change that by bringing process improvements to drug treatment. The Network for the Improvement of Addiction Treatment, or NIATx, attempts to get addicts into treatment quicker and retain more of them by making the programs more appealing.
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24 million Americans need treatment for illicit drug or alcohol problems.
2.5 million get the treatment they need.
The economic cost of substance abuse exceeds $500 billion a year (including alcohol and tobacco; for just illicit drugs, it’s $181 billion).

The NIATx (formerly know as the Network for the Improvement of Addiction Treatment) at the University of Wisconsin – Madison is focused on improving the success of addition treatment.

Use what you learned in Walk-through exercises (See the NIATx Conducting a Walk-through guide for guidance) to identify problems in processes within your organization from the clients’ point of view. Consider changes to test based on that experience. Prior to starting, you should decide the parameters of the change project, including where (e.g., location) you wish to introduce the change, as well which clients (e.g., level of care, population) you expect to impact.

The PDSA Cycle is an efficient way to learn what will work in your organization, and should be the foundation of every change you make. The PDSA Cycle begins with a Plan, and ends with Action based on the learning gained from the Plan, Do, and Study phases of the cycle

They also offer many case studies on improvement successes by treatment centers.

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