Perceived Need for Addiction Treatment vs. Actual Need
December 25, 2007
A SAMHSA study showed that of the estimated 21.1 million individuals who need addiction treatment for drugs or alcohol abuse in 2004 did not receive addiction treatment (Department of Health and Human Services, 2005). 94.2% of these individuals felt that they did not need addiction treatment. This is an interesting phenomenon. Is this demonstrative of the power of denial involved with addiction? It seems important to ask how much our society contributes to this denial. How much education have these individuals had on when addiction treatment is necessary? While we value treating medical problems from birth, we are not encouraged to get any sort of mental health “check up” unless major symptoms begin to surface. 3.7% felt they needed addiction treatment but did not make an effort. There could be many reasons for this, but the one that instantly comes to mind is the utter hopelessness and despair that result from addiction, especially in its late stages. Interventions would be most useful in such circumstances. 2.1% of these untreated substance abusers actually made an effort but were not able to receive addiction treatment for a variety of reasons. Almost half of this group named cost and insurance barriers as the block to addiction treatment. A quarter said they had decided they were not ready to stop using. Other major factors cited were the stigma of entering an addiction treatment program, lack of knowledge on where to go for drug addiction treatment, feeling that they could handle the problems in ways other than addiction treatment, lack of time and lack of faith in the addiction treatment process. These result show the reality of how difficult it is to access individuals who could benefit from help. The managed care system continues to discourage the use of mental health benefits through discrimination against those who have been in addiction treatment as well as through the continual decrease in coverage for mental health treatment. This contributes to the stigma around mental health.If you are looking for an addiction treatment program, go to www.lakeviewhealth.com or call the national addiction treatment helpline at 1-800-511-9225.
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