Posts Tagged ‘mental health’

The overlooked victims of 9/11: Mental health workers

Tuesday, March 27th, 2012

We’ve all heard about the stress experienced by victims of 9/11, but have we ever paused to think about the effect of those terrorist attacks on mental health clinicians who provided care to the victims? A new study by Mary Pulido, Ph.D., from the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in the US, provides a sobering account of what it was like for these professionals and reports on the lack of support they received. Her exploratory study, published in Springer’s Clinical Social Work Journal, highlights the critical need to develop training and expand support systems for clinicians in order to combat secondary traumatic stress.

People may suffer symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder through secondary exposure to the trauma histories of others. Disaster mental health workers may be at particularly high risk of this co-called secondary traumatic stress. Not only are they exposed to the stressors and psychic pains experienced by their clients, they carry the professional burden of being expected to remain open and available to their clients on an emotional level. In the case of 9/11, these clinicians were also exposed to the same disaster as those they were helping.

To gain a better understanding of the effects of indirect exposure to terrorism, Pulido conducted in-depth, one-on-one interviews with 26 mental healthclinicians (a combination of therapists, social workers, and psychologists) who had carried out 9/11-related therapeutic work with clients. She asked them about the extent of their work with clients impacted by 9/11; how working with these clients and their issues had affected them; and what types of supports were available to them through their job for handling 9/11-related stress.

The clinicians’ experiences differed based on the type of client: some dealt directly with family members who had lost loved ones, others dealt with people who fled the burning towers, and some worked with individuals considered indirectly exposed, but who were still fearful and symptomatic. Thirty months after the attacks, secondary traumatic stress levels were high among clinicians who provided care to victims of 9/11. The clinicians being interviewed were themselves surprised at the intensity of these stress levels. In addition, they described availability of supervision and agency support as ‘weak’, but said peer support was helpful.

Dr. Pulido concludes: “For many professionals, these interviews, conducted several years after the attacks, served as the first time they had discussed their 9/11 work and the stresses they encountered. This factor alone speaks volumes for the lack of support that they received while providing such intense clinical support for their clients. These findings need to be integrated into training and practice.”

Provided by Springer. For more information: Pulido ML (2012). The ripple effect: lessons learned about secondary traumatic stress among clinicians responding to the September 11th terrorist attacks. Clinical Social Work Journal. DOI 10.1007/s10615-012-0384-3

Tags: clinicians, emotional level, high risk, mental health, mental health workers, post traumatic stress disorder, psychologists, social workers, stressors
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Addiction and Mental Health Parity explained

Monday, February 1st, 2010

With the mental health parity laws going into effect in October of 2009, the levels of health care available to those struggling from addiction or mental health issues have increased. Under the new Wellstone Parity Act, group health policies and employers must provide equal or higher coverage to addiction and mental illness as they would a physical illness, such as cancer. These new rules will make access to treatment much more available to the general public, as insurance companies have often set limits on days for addiction or mental health treatment, but put no limits on other types of hospital care. A government spokesperson said, “…the rules would benefit 111 million people in 446,400 group health plans offered by private employers, and 29 million people in 20,000 plans sponsored by state and local governments.”

The American Psychiatric Association had this to say: “Mental health parity was a major advance for the APA and for our patients living with mental illnesses,” said APA President Alan F. Schatzberg, M.D. “The APA will continue to work hard and submit the important feedback to the Administration that is necessary to make sure our patients receive the care they need.”

So what does that mean for us? Obviously, more access to addiction services bodes well for the general public. With more people gaining access to the resources to get help, one would think more people would get help. But is that the case? Will we see an uptick in treatment admissions? Our bet- probably not. Those who are unable to ask for help for themselves won’t magically be able to get help even when it’s available. That’s why we encourage families to break free from the traps of secrets, and get help for their loved ones. Reaching out and asking for help can provide access to those much-needed treatment options that may not have been available before this act was passed.

If you or someone you love need help with an addiction, call us at 877-320-0247 or visit us on the web at www.a-i-r.com.

You can also follow us on Twitter at @airecovery.

Tags: addiction, addiction intervention, addiction parity, AiR Assistance in recovery, chemical dependency, drug addiction, eating disorders, gentetics of addiction, intervention, mental health, mental health parity, mental illness, parity, recovery, recovery assistance, Recovery Assistance Program, substance abuse, Treatment, wellstone
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A new year, a new start.

Friday, January 8th, 2010

With a new year (and a new decade as well, depending on who you ask) upon us, we in the addiction world often see many people come to us with New Years resolutions, things such as:

“2010 will be the year I get sober.”

“Maybe I should cut down on my drinking.”

“This is the year I talk to my son about his drug use.”

“This is the year of big changes in my family.”

We at AiR encourage these resolutions- they can be a big catalyst for change, and help people get on the path to recovery. However, what’s important to remember here is how many times one has made these said resolutions. If you find yourself saying for the fifth year in a row that it’s time to quit drinking, it’s probably time to seek outside help. If you’re a family member and you’re hearing the same resolution year after year- we can help with that too.

Since the holiday season seems so volatile (as we’ve covered here), now is the time to act. A new year can bring about new changes. If you’re a family member and your loved one is hurting from a compulsive behavior, reach out. Ask for help. If you can’t make the phone call yet, then check out our book, It’s Not Okay To Be A Cannibal (available here); some good advice is available there, but be sure to get outside assistance when you decide to move forward.

If you or a loved one are in crisis, please call us at 877-320-0247 for immediate assistance, or visit us on the web at www.a-i-r.com.

Tags: addiction, addiction intervention, AiR Assistance in recovery, assistance in recovery, chemical dependency, drug addiction, drugs, eating disorders, gentetics of addiction, heroin addiction, intervention, mental health, methamphetamine, pain addiction, pain medication, prescription drug abuse, recovery assistance, Recovery Assistance Program, substance abuse, Treatment
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Worldwide Heroin Problems Growing

Wednesday, October 21st, 2009

Looks like CNN has been reading our blog! A post of theirs last night talked about treating heroin addicts with heroin, something we wrote about almost a month ago. Glad to see a large media source picking up on the news, and making it a topic of discussion.

A headlining article on the CNN website today spoke about the United Nations’ concerns with the ever-growing Afghan heroin trade. According to the article, Afghan opium is responsible for over 100,000 deaths across the globe per year, which is easily more than any other drug. The heroin trade also kills, as stated by UN figures, nearly five times as many people in NATO countries than total casualties of war in the eight-year Afghan conflict. The Taliban forces have been using a local “heroin tax” to raise money for their endeavors, and 15 million or so heroin addicts around the world are a sad part of this $65 billion trade.

Antonio Maria Costa, head of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, has said the solution to this problem is very clear. “We need a much greater effort and commitment by governments to prevent drug addiction, to take care of drug addicts … to reduce demand.” Basically, when we provide treatment to heroin addicts, and the treatment is successful, we’re going to be able to decrease demand. However, Ethan Nadelmann, founding executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, had this to say about the UN study: “It’s very good at describing a problem. But it truly is devoid of any kind of pragmatic solution, and it essentially suggests that the answer is to keep doing more of what’s failed us in the past.”

Both are valid points- we need an overhaul of drug policy both in our country and abroad. The best way to do this is innovative treatment options and improving the quality of care that we, in the treatment field, provide. With better rates of success, and better treatment available, we’ll be able to gradually decrease demand- and if not decrease demand, at least provide better solutions to the people who are still struggling. Our Recovery Assistance Program is exactly that. Designed to help families and addicts better manage their early recovery, we’ve provided a step in the right direction to help improve treatment outcomes. We will continue to move forward in providing more comprehensive solutions for families and addicts; our best hope is providing the best help.

In other news, please be sure to check out our addiction education series, put on in conjunction with Hazelden. Find out more details here or call us directly at 877-320-0247.

Tags: addiction, addiction intervention, AiR Assistance in recovery, alcohol, alcoholism, heroin, heroin addiction, mental health, mental illness, recovery assistance, Recovery Assistance Program, substance abuse, Treatment
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Heroin for Heroin Addicts?

Monday, September 28th, 2009

An interesting post in Time Magazine today touched on a new British trial, over the last four years, of providing free daily heroin injections as a method to wean them off the drugs. Since the results of the trial were positive (i.e. lower street drug use, lower crime rate among participates, etc.), officials are talking about making this a permanent addition of state-funded heroin clinics for the drug addicts in the U.K.

A quote from John Strang, one of the researchers with the National Addiction Centre (who helped lead the project): “It’s a less than perfect treatment, but for entrenched addicts, it gives them the first steps toward getting their life together. Some make a virtually complete recovery, but others, we get them from a bad place to a less bad place.” According to the research, those treated with heroin had better results than those treated with methadone. However, Paul Hayes, head of the National Treatment Agency, stressed in the Guardian this month that the services would be available to only a  “very small proportion” of the nearly 200,000 heroin addicts in treatment.

So, government, if this works so well, why is it only available to a very small population? Shouldn’t this be the course of treatment for everyone? Obviously not. By giving drug addicts more drugs, aren’t we simply condoning and encouraging their habit? Why not fund a comprehensive, state-funded detoxification program followed by residential treatment? And harm reduction, in the long run is, in the words of our CEO Andrew Wainwright, simply a “band-aid on a bullet wound.” With addiction being a disease, and a malady of the physical, social and spiritual, simply medicating the addict’s “need” for the drug will not create a long term solution. We need to be moving people into comprehensive treatment, not helping them sustain their addiction.

For more information on heroin addiction and getting your loved one help, please call us at 877-320-0247.

Tags: addiction, addiction intervention, air, AiR Assistance in recovery, alcoholism, andrew wainwright, assistance in recovery, chemical dependency, drugs, heroin, heroin addiction, intervention, legal heroin, Legalization of Drugs, mental health, substance abuse, Treatment
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AiR's COO, Jim Geckler, on 107.1 July 31 from 9am-11

Friday, July 31st, 2009

Jim will be talking with radio show host Kevyn Burger about intervention, addiction and alcoholism on The Kevyn Burger Show in the Twin Cities market. Listen to it live or subscribe to it on iTunes.

James P. Geckler has been actively involved in the recovery community for the past 9 years. Jim has been a key member of the AIR team for the past 5 years, working with families, clinicians and treatment centers to develop solutions for people struggling with Addiction, Eating Disorders and Mental Health Issues.

Jim is a certified HIV/AIDS Educator with the American Red Cross and acts as a lead facilitator with Alternatives to Violence, a non-profit program which addresses anger and violence issues with at risk adolescents and incarcerated adults and has managed transitional sober housing for people leaving a treatment environment.

Tags: addiction, alcoholism, eating disorders, FM 107, intervention, jim geckler, kevyn burger, mental health
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The face of substance abuse today

Friday, July 3rd, 2009

As posted July 3, 2009 on CNN’s American Morning

From my desk on the front lines of addiction treatment, the view is staggering. Prescription drugs are prevalent, proliferating and have introduced a new generation to the wonderful world of drug addiction.

These are people who otherwise might never have experienced addiction. The previous barriers to entry of stigma and circumstance were too high. Dangerous neighborhoods and unsavory characters, untrustworthy chemicals to be taken in unspecific amounts and the fear of becoming addicted kept most amateurs on the sidelines. But in 1996 that all changed.

In January of 1996, Purdue Pharma, a privately-held pharmaceutical company, launched the marketing campaign for their new pain relief product OxyContin. OxyContin was supposed to be nonabusable thanks to a special time-release ingredient. Unfortunately, this proved not to be true.

This might not have been such a big deal had Purdue not launched a multi-million dollar national advertising campaign, targeting both doctors and consumers alike. This campaign had a two-pronged approach. First Purdue incented doctors to prescribe their products then they encouraged consumers to request them by promising legitimacy, safety and lack of consequences.

From a purely business standpoint it was the right thing to do ““ if you can drive demand you can sell more product. From a “What are the long term effects on our society?” standpoint ““ it was devastating.

Today, three percent of our population is abusing prescription drugs. Prescription drug abuse accounts for forty percent of all treatment center admissions. Prescription drug abuse is growing fastest among teenagers and young adults.

These are the worst stats we could hope for.

Now, 13 years later, we are beginning to understand what happened. The question that haunts us all is “What are we going to do about it?”

Long-term solutions are indeed challenging, but here are three ideas you can adopt right now that will foster immediate positive change.

1. Restrict readily available supply. One of the easiest ways prescription drugs get diverted to the street or abused is through unmanaged access or theft from American homes. If you have leftover, unused portions of prescription pain medication in the medicine cabinet at home ““ get rid of them.

2. Talk to your doctor. The more information you give your health care professional(s) about medications you are on and the more questions you ask about medications the better for both of you. Avoid becoming an “accidental addict” due to lack of communication.

3. Don’t accept the status quo. Just because someone tells you, “it’s okay, I’ve got a prescription,” doesn’t necessarily make it okay. Trust your gut. Be willing to take risks to keep others safe. Be willing to be the bad guy. Be willing to be wrong.

4. Make help available to those that are struggling. If someone you know is struggling with an addiction to prescription drugs get him or her help as soon as possible. Treatment works.

Substance abuse is one of our nation’s largest health issues and prescription drug abuse is its face today. There are no easy solutions but there are solutions if we are all willing to do the work.

I also found this blog on  addictiontomorrow.blogspot.com’s in-depth look into the federal advisory panel’s decisions to recommend a ban on Percocet and Vicodin because of their effects on the liver. Addiction Tomorrow talks about the  growing concern about over prescribing, long-term effects, and information from the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Andrew Wainwright.

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Andrew T. Wainwright is a national expert on addictions and intervention. He is co-author of the book “It’s Not Okay to Be a Cannibal ““ How to Stop Addiction from Eating Your Family Alive” and CEO for AiR, which provides behavioral health case management services that are a beneficial addition to the treatment of chemical dependency, mental health and eating disorders.

Tags: air, american morning, andrew wainwright, assistance in recovery, chemical dependency, cnn, eating disorders, mental health, substance abuse, Treatment
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