Substance Abuse

From the Mental Health America website, http://www.nmha.org/, information about substance abuse, http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/go/substance-abuse which affects millions of people, some warning signs and what help is available:

SUBSTSANCE ABUSE

Substance abuse affects an estimated 25 million Americans. In terms of people who are affected indirectly such as families of abusers and those injured or killed by intoxicated drivers, an additional 40 million people are affected. The monetary cost to society and the economy because of reduced productivity, property damage, accidents, and health care are astounding. Alcoholism is a progressive disease and afflicts 10 million adults and 3 million children. An estimated 12.5 million Americans are addicted to other drugs such as sedative-hypnotics or barbiturates, opiates, sedatives, hallucinogens and psychostimulants.

There are many symptoms and warning signs of substance abuse including: using the substance on a regular basis (daily, weekends or in binges), tolerance for the substance, failed attempts to stop using the substance, physical and/or psychological dependence, withdrawal symptoms (delirium tremens, trembling, hallucinations, sweating and high blood pressure), and in some cases dementia.

The specific causes of substance abuse are unclear, though they seem to be a combination of hereditary, environmental and social factors.

Treatment of substance abuse is geared towards abstinence and includes a variety of therapies. Psychotherapy aids patients in understanding behavior and motivations and in developing self-esteem and coping with stress. Self-help groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous are very effective in helping the patient establish a support network. In some cases medications such as disulfiram (Antabuse) or methadone may be used with some success.

Other Resources:
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
5600 Fishers Ln 7C-02
Rockville MD 20857
Phone 800-729-6686

Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics AnonymousCheck phone book for local chapter in your area.

Mental Health America needs your financial support to continue to improve awareness and understanding of mental illnesses.

This publication is generously supported by a grant from the William H. Donner Foundation and Eli Lilly and Company

Information compiled from:" Facts About: Substance Abuse", American Psychiatric Association, 1400 K Street NW, Washington DC 20005.

For More Information:
For more information, contact your local Mental Health America affiliate or the national Mental Health America office.

Post-War Mental Health Issues

I saw an interview yesterday on TV with a soldier back from Afghanistan who is suffering terribly from post-traumatic stress syndrome and his mother who was trying to get his commanding officer to understand her son needed mental health care. I don't know whether there are adequate resources in the armed forces to deal with post-war mental health issues, but from the interview, I understand that there is still room for improvement where understanding among some commanding officers is involved.

There is still a stigma with mental illness in society, let alone the military where part of the traditional image of a soldier is not to show weakness or emotion.

From the Wednesday, October 17, 2007, Comment section, page AA6, is an edited version of an editorial that originally appeared in The Gazette, Montreal, Quebec, Canada:

Worth Repeating
HELPING SOLDIERS COPE WITH WAR

After World War II, medical professionals and others began to understand fully, for the first time, the toll that combat takes on soldiers, sailors and airmen.

Comprehensive statistics and a better understanding of mental-health issues brought out, in the post-war years, a reality that had been only poorly understood after World War I: Prolonged exposure to the risks and realities of organized bloodshed can cause psychological problems that can linger for a lifetime, just like the loss of a limb.

Many Canadians never came home from World War II, and some came home injured. But many others strode off the troopships healthy in body but damaged or vulnerable psychologically. Post-war, a disproportionate number of veterans - and their families - suffered from alcoholism, depression and the like, or committed suicide.

Now we are reminded that while much has changed in our society since then, the stress of warfare has not. New Canadian Forces statistics suggest that many of our Afghanistan veterans say they are enduring depression, the package of symptoms known as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or other problems.

The survey was conducted among some 4,700 Canadian Forces personnel who have served in the Kandahar area, polled between three and six months after coming home.

The findings were distressing: Of the 2,500 who responded, 15 per cent indicated they had to deal with one or more problems such as PTSD and depression; some reported panic attacks and suicidal tendencies.

The government has a responsibility to make sure that veterans can get the medical help they need to cope with their invisible wounds.

Fortunately, that does not seem to be happening. The defence department boasts of "robust measures" to help veterans, including pre-deployment preparation, in-theatre access to chaplains, psychiatrists and social workers, and attentive monitoring once vets get home.

That's all good. The costs of war are more than deaths and wounds and money; war is hard on all those who fight it.

As long as there are worse things than war, however, we must sometimes be prepared as a country to pay the price. But where money and attentive care can reduce the human toll, we owe it to our soldiers to do all we can.

This is an edited version of an editorial in The Gazette, Montreal, yesterday.