Vigil aims to raise addiction awareness
Chatelain said addiction costs the U.S. $ 650 billion every year, and about 2 percent of that goes to treatment. … “We have to get behind the mask to get at a root cause of what's doing all this, and then we can start treating what's happening,” Paine … Read more on Indiana Daily Student

Task force targets pregnant drug abusers
At a meeting Monday, members of the legislative Commission on Mental Health and Addiction heard from task force coordinator Natalie Robinson, who said the incidence of babies born dependent on narcotics may have reached epidemic levels in Indiana. Read more on Kokomo Tribune

Passport looks to address substance abuse by Medicaid recipients
“Technical assistance will include the coordination of conference calls, webinars and meetings with subject matter experts about Best Practices for Substance Abuse Treatment and development of specific action plans to enhance the substance abuse … Read more on Business First of Louisville

Jeffersontown startup company wants to reduce drug abuse
(WDRB) — A Jeffersontown, Ky. startup company is hoping its high-tech product can stop the growing problem of prescription drug abuse. The company is PillGuard, located in the Bluegrass Commerce Park. The product, called the PillGuard, is a … Read more on WDRB

Question by Emma: what are some ways to reduce homelessness?
i am writing a proposal on homelessness in richmond va. I am looking for some ways in which we could reduce or eliminate the homeless.

So far i can only think of 2 which are affordable housing and increase in employment rate.

i need two more ways of which we could potentially reduce the amount of homeless or eliminate it altogether

any suggestions would be helpful

Best answer:

Answer by rec4lms
I think that the first issue for you to tackle is to determine why they are homeless.

The issues that I deal with find that a significant percent of the homeless have mental health issues. The second issue (not as large as mental health issues in my experience) is that many people have issues with alcohol or drug abuse. (Many people can function while abusing alcohol/drugs but many can not.) The third issue is that people have no jobs, no money, no credit, and no resources to turn to when they are down and out.

The USA does a horrible job in dealing with mental health issues, with most of the mental health hospitals being defunded or closed. Unfortunately the response the government has taken is to wait for them to commit a crime and then incarcerate them. Thus, determine how many mental health facilities are in the Richmond area that help those who can not afford treatment. (The only place we use is Central State in Petersburg.) Also note that those with mental illness can not be compelled to take their medications without a court order. And I’ve never seen the court order someone to take medication unless they are incarcerated and need to be up for trial.

Alchohol and drug abuse is a completely different problem to deal with. It may be recreational, it may be escapist, or it may be addiction. Some will respond to treatment, especially if they want treatment. However, they have to want to improve. To paraphrase one person that I worked with, when they were taking drugs they felt that everything was perfect.

Lack of job/money/resources is both one of the worst situations but also one of the easiest one’s to directly handle. Note that I listed “resources.” A resource is anything that one person can use. This can include friends and family. Religion is also important in this because even though it is often bad mouthed in TV and movies however in reality church members stick together. Affordable housing is a good idea but often politics gets involved in a situation. Several years ago I was earning $ 19,000 a year, which is not very much. My roommates and I got kicked out of an apartment because a new company bought it and made it Section 8. The reasoning we were given was that we earned too much money. A lot of the rules and laws are kind of idiotic and often geared to the lowest common denominator. Try to improve yourself and you don’t get help, but don’t try and you get supported. (There are many who truly do need help because they have hit rock bottom but unfortunately a lot of people take advantage of that safety net.) My neighbor is a great example of this. Her husband passed away and she works three jobs to keep her kids and house. However, she could quit all three jobs and get federal money. There is no tapering off of assistance, either you get assistance or you get nothing and this makes it difficult because the money for assistance is often more than the money you can earn on your own.

So, I give you the following: 1) Improve Psychiatric Care for those who need it.
2) Increase alcohol and drug treatment options.
3) Rework the Section 8, Unemployment Benefits, and the Food Stamp/WIC programs. We can probably go for Medicaid also but I don’t deal with that all that much.

I know, Too Long Didn’t Read. I used to be positive and felt that I could help those that are less fortunate than I am, and that lead to a career into such. However, a lot of troubles have been brought on by their own problems. Sadly, trying to save the world may have made me jaded but I also feel that it has made me realistic: Some people can only help themselves and the current system works against those who are trying to improve their lot in life.

I hope that this helped.

Good luck.

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The Men's Association for Addiction Treatment (MAAT) Welcomes Special Guest …
Newport Beach, CA — (SBWIRE) — 10/29/2013 — Balboa Horizons, a leading alcohol and drug addiction and dual diagnosis treatment center, proudly hosts this month's MAAT meeting on Tuesday, October 29th from 8:30-10:00am, featuring Mike Schaub! Read more on SBWire (press release)

Amanda Bynes New Diagnosis Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia
It has been reported that the rehab center specialises in “dual diagnosis” of mental illnesses. Amanda's mother, who was granted temporary conservatorship over her daughter, has said that all reports of her medical condition, treatment, and responses … Read more on Guardian Express

Cecil officials debate merits of lobbying for Kent County rehab facility funding
Only in the past three years has Whitsitt become classified as a dual-diagnosis treatment facility, meaning it treats patients for mental disorders along with substance-abuse issues. On Nov. 18, 2009, the Upper Shore Community Mental Health Center … Read more on My Eastern Shore

Orange County board of health talks substance abuse and legal options
Part of the board's regular monthly meeting was a panel discussion called “New Opportunities in Substance Abuse Treatment and the Legal System” with four panelists, Trish Hussey, executive director of the Freedom House Recovery Center; Lamar Proctor … Read more on Durham Herald Sun

Question by Evan: I NEED TO KNOW THE MONEY SPENT ON ALCOHOL REHABS YEARLY. RECENT AND RELIABLE PLZ.?
RECENT AND RELIABLE PLZ.

Best answer:

Answer by raysny
The most recent I could find for the US has the figures for 1997:

“A study shows that the U.S. spent a combined $ 11.9 billion on alcohol and drug abuse treatment, while the total social costs were more than $ 294 billion. The results were part of the National Estimates of Expenditures for Substance Abuse Treatment, 1997, which was released at the end of April by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Center for Substance Abuse Treatment.

The report, prepared by the MEDSTAT Group for SAMHSA, examines how much is spent in the U.S. to treat alcohol and drug abuse, how that spending has changed between 1987 and 1997, how much of the spending is done by the private and public sectors, and how substance abuse expenditures compare to spending for mental health and other health conditions in the U.S.”
http://www.usmedicine.com/newsDetails.cfm?dailyID=54

In NY:
“States report spending $ 2.5 billion a year on treatment. States did not distinguish whether the treatment was for alcohol, illicit drug abuse or nicotine addiction. Of the $ 2.5 billion total, $ 695 million is spent through the departments of health and $ 633 million through the state substance abuse agencies. We believe that virtually all of these funds are spent on alcohol and illegal drug treatment.”
Source: National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, Shoveling Up: The Impact of Substance Abuse on State Budgets (New York, NY: CASA, Jan. 2001), p. 24.

States Waste Billions Dealing with Consequences of Addiction, CASA Study Says
May 28, 2009

The vast majority of the estimated $ 467.7 billion in substance-abuse related spending by governments on substance-abuse problems went to deal with the consequences of alcohol, tobacco and other drug use, not treatment and prevention, according to a new report from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University.

The report, titled, “Shoveling Up II: The Impact of Substance Abuse on Federal, State and Local Budgets,” found that 95 percent of the $ 373.9 billion spent by the federal government and states went to paying for the societal and personal damage caused by alcohol and other drug use; the calculation included crime, health care costs, child abuse, domestic violence, homelessness and other consequences of tobacco, alcohol and illegal and prescription drug abuse and addiction.

Just 1.9 percent went to treatment and prevention, while 0.4 percent was spent on research, 1.4 percent went towards taxation and regulation, and 0.7 percent went to interdiction.

“Such upside-down-cake public policy is unconscionable,” said Joseph A. Califano, Jr., CASA’s founder and chairman. “It’s past time for this fiscal and human waste to end.”

CASA estimated that the federal government spent $ 238.2 billion on substance-abuse related issues in 2005, while states spent $ 135.8 billion and local governments spent $ 93.8 billion. The report said that 58 percent of spending was for health care and 13.1 percent on justice systems.

Researchers estimated that 11.2 percent of all federal and state government spending went towards alcohol, tobacco and other drug abuse and addictions and its consequences. The report said that Connecticut spent the most proportionately on prevention, treatment and research — $ 10.39 of every $ 100 spent on addiction issues — while New Hampshire spent the least — 22 cents.
http://www.jointogether.org/news/headlines/inthenews/2009/states-waste-billions-dealing.html

Key Findings

Of the $ 3.3 trillion total federal and state government spending, $ 373.9 billion –11.2 percent, more than one of every ten dollars– was spent on tobacco, alcohol and illegal and prescription drug abuse and addiction and its consequences.

The federal government spent $ 238.2 billion (9.6 percent of its budget) on substance abuse and addiction. If substance abuse and addiction were its own budget category at the federal level, it would rank sixth, behind social security, national defense, income security, Medicare and other health programs including the federal share of Medicaid.

State governments spent $ 135.8 billion (15.7 percent of their budgets) to deal with substance abuse and addiction, up from 13.3 percent in 1998. If substance abuse and addiction were its own state budget category, it would rank second behind spending on elementary and secondary education.

Local governments spent $ 93.8 billion on substance abuse and addiction (9 percent of their budgets), outstripping local spending for transportation and public welfare.¹

For every $ 100 spent by state governments on substance abuse and addiction, the average spent on prevention, treatment and research was $ 2.38; Connecticut spent the most, $ 10.39; New Hampshire spent the least, $ 0.22.

For every dollar the federal and state governments spent on prevention and treatment, they spent $ 59.83 shoveling up the consequences, despite a growing

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Question by Melissa M: My Future Career? Can Someone Help Me?
Ok, so I change my mind all the time. And right now I’m thinking about becoming a child psychologist (which I confuse with psychiatrist)

Basically I need to know the following things:

1. Whats the difference between the two?
2. How many years (and of what kind) of school does it require?
3. How much money is made on average a year?
4. Some specifics about the actual job?

Answer these for each..

Thank You

Also could you tell me the sites where you found this information, and perhaps some good ones that I could research them by myself?

Best answer:

Answer by Collegeplanner
The short answer is, psychiatrists are medical doctors and psychologists are not. The suffix “-iatry” means “medical treatment,” and “-logy” means “science” or “theory.” So psychiatry is the medical treatment of the psyche, and psychology is the science of the psyche.

Their Credentials
Psychiatrists begin their careers in medical school. After earning their MD, they go on to four years of residency training in mental health, typically at a hospital’s psychiatric department.

According to Marcia Goin, MD, past-president of the American Psychiatric Association and a clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Southern California, psychiatric residencies include a range of subspecialized training, such as working with children and adolescents.

After completing their residency, these physicians can be licensed to practice psychiatry.

Psychologists go through five to seven years of academic graduate study, culminating in a doctorate degree. They may hold a PhD or a PsyD. Those who are mainly interested in clinical psychology — treating patients as opposed to focusing on research — may pursue a PsyD.

Licensing requirements for psychologists vary from state to state, but at least a one- or two-year internship is required to apply for a license to practice psychology.

Prescribing Powers
As medical doctors, psychiatrists can do what most psychologists in the United States cannot: They can prescribe drugs.

Recently the state of Louisiana allowed psychologists to write prescriptions after consulting with a psychiatrist, joining the state of New Mexico, which allowed psychologists to begin prescribing in 2002.

A common misconception about psychiatrists is that they only treat people with severe mental illness, like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, diseases for which medication is the mainstay of treatment, leaving psychotherapy to psychologists and patients with less severe problems.

Psychiatrists who work at clinics and hospitals certainly see many hard cases. “The major patients they see are severely mentally ill, but there are others who are not,” Goin tells WebMD. She says she practices a lot of psychotherapy in her private office and that most of her patients there are not on medication.

Increasingly, however, psychiatrists in private practice spend their time with medication management and not psychotherapy. Other mental health providers usually do therapy sessions, and when they see a patient who could benefit from medication, they send the patient to a psychiatrist for an evaluation and possibly a prescription.

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Question by Noa Bach: What is the difference between a mental health counselor, social worker, or psychologist?
I’m not sure what I want to do. But I know I want to provide counseling to all types of people (children, teens, adults, elderly) my main goal is to help heal them so this can end up healing the Planet 🙂
Don’t want to do any type of testing. I want to help children dealing with bullying, childhood trauma, etc. Adults that need healing from abuse, self-esteem, depression, family problems, sexuality issues etc.

Best answer:

Answer by Weird.
Mental health counselor (clinical psychologist) works with people who have schizophrenia and OCD
and much more

Social Worker works with kids, teens, and adults dealing with troubled living situations and such

Psychologists go in to depth with the patient and can work in a variety of environments, they also prescribe patients when needed.

You sound like you want to be a counseling psychologist which is different from a clinical psychologist. You should look into it more.

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Drug Detox Passaic Creates New Customized Treatment Programs
Drug Detox Passaic announced the restructuring of its treatment programs to fit the needs of each patient seeking help in overcoming addiction. The new alcohol and drug addiction recovery programs have been designed to give patients more personalized … Read more on Newsday

Cutting-edge New Treatments are Helping People Get Sober at Drug Rehab …
Alex R., an addiction specialist at Drug Rehab Winter Haven, was concerned when he saw the influx of patients seeking his help for an addiction to dangerous opiate-based pain medications like Vicodin or Oxycodone. He realized that many of these people … Read more on PR Web (press release)

Drug Rehab Announces Services Now Available in Los Angeles Through Drug …
A new drug rehab in Los Angeles is offering free consultations for people seeking relief from their drug addiction and a new way to live. To get help and receive immediate help, call (888) 444-9148. Drug rehabilitation allows adults and adolescents a … Read more on PR Web (press release)