WHY ADDICTS FAIL TO RECEIVE TREATMENT
Substance abuse treatment providers understand why many addicts are not in treatment. Most addicts don’t believe they need any help because they can stop drinking or using drugs anytime they desire to do so. Others fail to enter treatment because they are unwilling to do what is necessary to get well. Sadly, a large number do not enter treatment because most health insurance plans don’t pay for long-term treatment or hospitalization for addiction.
Here are some of the excuses I have heard during my work with addicts:
- "I don’t need treatment. I can quit anytime I want to." My response to this statement is, "If you can quit anytime you want to why don’t you stop using a drug that is destroying your life?" I have watched addicts on a downward spiral lose their families, jobs, possessions, freedom, and lives.
- "I will lose my job or business." They don’t think their drug use will affect their employment until they lose their source of income. "I will fall behind with my obligations. I have payments and child support. If I go into treatment I will lose my automobile, house, or go to jail for failure to pay child support.” I recently dealt with a child support case after placing a young man in treatment. Because he had entered the treatment facility, his caseworker stopped the legal action and allowed him to continue in treatment.
- "All I need is a few days to detox. Once I get the drug out of my system I will stop using. I don’t need long-term treatment." Addicts don’t get well in 30, 60, or 90 days. Nor do they get well in six months. It takes a minimum of eighteen months to twelve years for the brain chemistry to return to normal provided there is no permanent damage.
- "If you will get my doctor to give me some medication, I will detox at home." The only time I have seen this work was when a family member monitored the individual and controlled the medication. One relative took a young man to his farm and dispensed the medication. Once he returned to work he started using again because he didn’t receive any treatment.
- "I’m not going to be locked up and let people tell me what to do." I have watched addicts arrested, tried and sent to prison where they are told what to do and what not to do twenty-four hours a day.
- "It’s not the drug! I don’t care what you say, it’s not the drug. I have problems and you don’t understand." As we talked it was apparent this individual was high on methamphetamine. The drug was his problem!
- "I’m not going to any treatment facility where there are no women." This addict was not only addicted to methamphetamine, but also had a sexual addiction. Individuals addicted to methamphetamine often discard the moral standard they adhered to for years, compromise their convictions, and live deceptive and self-destructive lives.
- "I can’t leave my children. I have to take care of them." Addicts are incapable of taking care of their children. They are undependable, usually never home, and often leave their children in the care of neighbors or relatives. Their lives are controlled by drugs and they neglect their children. Addicts do not make good parents.
Most addicts don’t have the resources to enter a treatment facility. Health insurance plans have few provisions for substance abuse treatment. Some will pay for seven days detoxification but offer few, if any, options for substance abuse treatment. Individuals addicted to drugs usually fail to enter treatment because they are enslaved by their drug of choice. These individuals need to be forced into treatment before they destroy their mental capacity to think rationally.
Addicts arrested for substance abuse should be ordered by the Courts to enter substance abuse treatment programs staffed by licensed therapist and certified addiction counselors. Addicts with few resources should be placed on Medicaid and Medicaid HMOs should be required to pay for long-term substance abuse treatment. If this provision were adopted by the State more inpatient facilities with work programs that require participants to pay for their housing and living expenses would open. Contact your State Representative and Senator if you think this is a good idea.
John L Bledsoe, Ph. D., D. MinDiplomate American Psychotherapy Association
NAADAC Substance Abuse Professional