Recovery Focused Approach to Tackling Drug Use in Scotland

Recovery Focused Approach to Tackling Drug Use in Scotland

Scotland’s first national drugs strategy The Road to Recovery: A New Approach to Tackling Scotland’s Drug Problem was launched on May 29, 2008. The Government believes that preventing drug use is more effective than treating established drug problems and that treatment services in Scotland should be based on the principle of recovery.

The key priorities are:

• better prevention of drug problems, with improved life chances for children and young people
• more people recovering from problem drug use
• communities that are safer and stronger places to live and work
• ensuring that children affected by parental substance use are safer
• improving the effectiveness of delivery at a national and local level

The Government’s vision for how drug treatment services in Scotland should be delivered is based on the principle that recovery should be the explicit aim of all services providing treatment and rehabilitation for people with problem drug use.

‘Recovery’ is the principle that people suffering from problem drug use should receive support which does more than just reduce the immediate risks and harms of addiction. Individuals become active participants in their own care, moving forward in the hope and belief that they will get better.

What do we mean by recovery?

We mean a process through which an individual is enabled to move on from their problem drug use, towards a drug-free life as an active and contributing member of society. Recovery is most effective when service users’ needs and aspirations are placed at the centre of their care and treatment. There is no right or wrong way to recover.

The Road to Recovery sets out the Government’s vision of recovery as an achievable goal for people with problem drug use and the actions it intends to carry out to promote a shared understanding of how to promote and support recovery. These include establishing and supporting a ‘recovery network’, building the capacity of services which can help services users choose the treatment that is right for them, and ensuring that the principles of recovery are reflected in the reform of delivery arrangements and in training and workforce development programmes.

Quitting drinking, with help from friends

New Delhi: Alcoholics who want to quit drinking have only place where they can meet with like-minded people: Alcoholics Anonymous.

At an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting in Delhi, people will tell you that they have been “sober” for six months, or six years and even 16 years but it would take is just one drink to set them back on a path to disaster.

Alcoholics Anonymous gives the courage and willpower not to drink again, they say. “One alcoholic talking to another—that’s what works. That’s what happened in 1935 when our two co-founders met. When one alcoholic talks to another, he stays sober. The guy who’s ripe and ready will come and stay with AA,” says one member.

There are around 2 million AA members worldwide but the numbers in India are shockingly low. AA has been in the country for 26 years but it has just 5,000 to 8,000 thousand members in the country, most of them men.

There is a reason for that: alcoholism is largely under-detected in urban India and rarely even acknowledged as a disease.

AA doesn’t recruit members but provides support and survival strategies to people who walk in and want to quit drinking. “AA taught me to start loving myself and taking care of myself. Their programmes help me become aware of my own problems,” says a member.

Unfortunately, not everyone is ready for help. “I have seen lots of people die even after coming to AA, as they were not able to do what it takes to stop drinking. I know somebody who died two weeks ago,” says a recovering alcoholic.

Full story at IBN Live, India

See also;

• 12 Step Sponsor
• 12-Step Treatment More Effective than Alternative
• A Problem Shared is a Problem Halved
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Scots to Screen all Drinkers

Scottish patients face quiz over drink habits at Last

A MULTIMILLION pound scheme has been launched to halt serious alcohol problems before they take hold in drinkers who are unaware they are exceeding safe limits.

Doctors, nurses and dentists across Scotland will be trained to quiz thousands of patients about their drinking habits and offer counselling to those breaching safe levels.

Women who regularly drink more than three units a day and men who drink more than five will be subjected to a ‘brief intervention’, where NHS staff will warn them about the dangers of alcohol, ask them to cut back on their drinking and tell them to return for a follow-up appointment.

Despite repeated attempts to highlight safe levels of alcohol, in Scotland there is still confusion about how much it is safe to drink. High on the list of people health officials want to reach are those who drink at home in the evening, after work and at weekends. They are unwittingly putting themselves at risk of a range of health problems, including high blood pressure and liver disease.

The move, part of an £85m three-year Scottish Government alcohol strategy, will see around one in six Scots ’screened’ for their drinking habits during routine appointments with GP’s, dentists and nurses.

Full story at Scotland on Sunday

See also;

• Alcohol misuse: tackling the UK epidemic
• Focus on Recovery for Scots
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Treating Alcoholism

The Disease of Alcoholism

There are, and have been, many theories about alcoholism. The most prevailing theory, and now most commonly accepted, is called the Disease Model.

Its basic tenets are that alcoholism is a disease with recognizable symptoms, causes, and methods of treatment. In addition, there are several stages of the disease which are often described as early, middle, late, treatment and relapse.

While it is not essential to fully define these stages, it is useful to understand them in terms of how the disease presents itself.

This series of articles describes the signs and symptoms of each stage as well as exploring treatment options.

1. Early or Adaptive Stage
2. Middle Stage
3. Late Stage
4. Treating Alcoholism
5. Relapse to drinking

4 - Treating Alcoholism

An alcoholic will rarely stop drinking and stay sober without outside help. Also, he or she usually will not stop drinking without some kind of outside pressure. This pressure may come from family, friends, clergy, other health care professionals, law enforcement or judicial authorities, or an employer. For example, a spouse may threaten divorce, or the alcoholic may be arrested for driving under the influence.

One Can Quit Anytime in the Cycle

There was at one time a widespread belief that alcoholics would not get help until they had “hit bottom.” This theory has generally been discredited as many early and middle stage alcoholics have quit drinking when faced with consequences such as the loss of a job, a divorce, or a convincing warning from a physician regarding the potentially fatal consequences of continued drinking.

Early Treatment

There are obvious advantages to getting the alcoholic into treatment earlier rather than later. One advantage is that, the earlier treatment is begun, the probability of having less expensive treatment, such as outpatient care, is increased. There is also a greater likelihood of success in treatment with an individual who has not yet lost everything and still has a supportive environment to return to, including an intact family, good health, and a job. In addition, the employer has a stake in the early treatment of alcoholism, since the employee will have a greater chance of returning sooner to full functioning on the job if the disease is arrested at an earlier point. Early treatment is simply less disruptive and can help the alcoholic avoid further misconduct and poor performance. If an alcoholic doesn’t get help until very late in the disease, there may have been irreparable harm done.

Responsibility for Treatment

The alcoholic does not initially have to want to get help to go into treatment. Many people go into treatment because of some kind of threat such as loss of a job, divorce or possible incarceration. However, even the individual that is forced will eventually have to personally accept the need for treatment for it to be effective. Employers are a very potent force in getting the alcoholic into treatment. The threat of the loss of a job is often the push the alcoholic needs to enter treatment.

There are various kinds of treatment and programs for alcoholism. Though some alcoholics do stop drinking on their own, this is rare. Most alcoholics require some type of treatment or help.

See also;

1. Early or Adaptive Stage of Alcoholism
2. Middle Stage of Alcoholism
3. Late Stage of Alcoholism
4. Treating Alcoholism
5. Relapse to drinking

• Subscribe by e-Mail to Alcohol Self-help News

Relapse to drinking

The Disease of Alcoholism

There are, and have been, many theories about alcoholism. The most prevailing theory, and now most commonly accepted, is called the Disease Model.

Its basic tenets are that alcoholism is a disease with recognizable symptoms, causes, and methods of treatment. In addition, there are several stages of the disease which are often described as early, middle, late, treatment and relapse.

While it is not essential to fully define these stages, it is useful to understand them in terms of how the disease presents itself.

This series of articles describes the signs and symptoms of each stage as well as exploring treatment options.

1. Early or Adaptive Stage
2. Middle Stage
3. Late Stage
4. Treating Alcoholism
5. Relapse to drinking

5 - Relapse

An important and frustrating facet of treating alcoholism is relapse or a return to drinking and is common. An alcoholic often relapses due to a variety of factors including:

• inadequate treatment or follow-up,
• cravings for alcohol that are difficult to control,
• failure by the alcoholic to follow treatment instructions,
• failure to change lifestyle,
• use of other mood altering drugs, and
• other untreated mental or physical illnesses.

Relapses are not always a return to constant drinking and may only be a one time occurrence. However, relapses must be dealt with and seen as a sign to the alcoholic that there are areas of his or her treatment and recovery that need work. Relapse prevention is an area in the treatment field that is receiving increased attention and research. A basic part of any effective treatment program will include relapse prevention activities.

See also;

1. Early or Adaptive Stage of Alcoholism
2. Middle Stage of Alcoholism
3. Late Stage
4. Treating Alcoholism
5. Relapse to drinking

• Subscribe by e-Mail to Alcohol Self-help News