Substance abuse is a national epidemic raging throughout our country. It does not discriminate against age, gender, sexual orientation or social status (Cherry, Dillon & Rugh, 2002). People think they can control their use but the brain changes, the addiction takes over your life and all sense. Addiction is a disease that can affect anyone anywhere, although not everyone becomes addicted (NIDA, 2018). While some clients can simply stop their substance abuse without any assistance, many addicts require outside help to cure this disease that is caused by untreated mental illness, abuse or simply genetic makeup.
Anyone anywhere can fall to the crippling effects of substance abuse. Currently, younger white non-Hispanics that have not graduated from college are the group at the highest risk to becoming addicted (Cherry, Dillon & Rugh, 2002). Anyone suffering from untreated mental illness, acts of violence or abuse is at a greater risk of experiencing substance abuse. Also, it has been discovered that certain people are born with a predisposition to becoming an addict.
There are many underlying causes to substance abuse that range from genetics to environmental issues. Mental health issues, lack of worth and self esteem all play a major role in substance abuse. A person growing up not having good role models and not being able to make a parental attachment could lead to experimenting with substances at a younger age. Something we are seeing a lot in our world today is the abuse of prescription pain medication. A person could sustain a serious injury that requires pain medication and eventually either the pain medication is no longer effective or the doctor deems the person no longer needs the prescription. At this point the person who sustained the injury could go out looking to buy heavier narcotics, illegally purchase someone else’s prescriptions or become an alcoholic to deal with the pain.
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The medical model looks at addiction as a disease that requires medication to ease withdrawal symptoms, assist in treating underlying mental health issues or aid in abstinence from a substance. When using this model to assist in dealing with addicts there is basically a medication for everything (Tarkington, H., 2014). When a client comes to you and you begin using the medical model as a means of treatment most addicts do not initially want recovery, they just do not want to feel. This can mean a few things, they do not want to feel the detox or they do not want to feel emotions they have been covering up with substances (McMillan, S., 2013).
The medical field can treat many of the physical and mental issues of substance abuse with medication. There are medications that lessen the effects of certain drugs so you do not get high or drunk and medications to get you through withdrawals. Once you are off of the substances there are medications to stabilize mood, assist with depression and sleep (Tarkington, H., 2014). Many studies are being done to see if with the right medication, a person can become abstinent from substances indefinitely (Tarkington, H., 2014).
While all of this medication can be extremely beneficial to someone stopping drugs or alcohol, you are only treating symptoms. With the use of prescription medication you can make the transition to sobriety an easier one but, you are not treating the core cause of the addiction. Yes, there are medications for PTSD, depression and mood swings but getting to the bottom of why a person feels these things is crucial to their success in sobriety (McMillan, S., 2013).
The public services model addresses more of the public actions of the client and how they affect the community. A major focus of the public service model is to look at how substance abuse affects the community as a whole, not just the individual, and how to prevent the substance abuse before it begins. This model does deal with the clients in many ways once they are addicted as well.
The public service model for substance abuse is responsible for a few campaigns that many are familiar with. “Just say No!” and the D.A.R.E. program are excellent examples of public service (Hovath, T., Kaushik, M., Epner, A., Cooper, G.). These programs teach younger children to just say no and educate them on what substance abuse is, what it looks like and how it effects you and those around you. These programs may seem silly to some but, they do work in some cases in keeping youth clean and sober. AA and NA are also examples of public services available for substance abusers.
The other side of the public service model is aid addicts once they have become addicted. Addicts run a higher risk for communicable diseases such as AIDS and Hep C. One service that is offered in a lot of cities is a clean needle exchange, this is where addicts can come and turn in dirty needles for new ones. This keeps the used needles off of the streets once discarded and also keeps addicts from using the same needle over and over again or sharing used needles with fellow addicts. Another service is methadone clinics, these keep addicts from looking for drugs in worse places than they already do or trying other drugs that they know nothing about. Methadone clinics give heroin users an alternative to heroin.
And, while all of these may sound like great options for someone who is suffering from substance abuse addiction many people look at the latter options as feeding addictions. Many think that teaching abstinence is a great idea but, it just does not always work. Giving addicts options in their addiction is crucial to ensuring the safety of the public as a whole.
The human services model teaches problem solving skills based on the strengths of the client. It uses the “whole person” approach to enhance the clients well being and quality of life (Woodside & McClam, 2015). This model differs greatly from the other two models; it looks at issues and problems as being a result of just living a day to day life (Woodside & McClam, 2015).
The human service models focus is mainly looking at the strengths of the client and growing their self esteem (Woodside & McClam, 2015). Focusing on their strengths helps them to see that they are strong enough to overcome the issues in front of them and that they have the power within themselves to make the necessary changes. A great example of the human services model is substance abuse rehab. In rehab, clients are removed from their environment, which could be contributing to the substance abuse. It puts them in a safe, drug and alcohol free place where there are trained professionals to assist the client in learning about themselves and how to do deal with situations.
While there are many pluses to the human service model, one major downside is this model does not look at substance abuse as a disease. It does help an addicted person learn to deal with their day to day life in a way that does not require additional substances when there are a lot of substance abusers that have underlying mental or physical ailments that do require some time of medication.
Even though the three previously discussed models provide lots of assistance in dealing with substance abuse, health care professionals do come across barriers in giving clients’ help. Two of the barriers that professionals may come across are a clients own perspective of their substance abuse and being able to obtain needed services.
Admitting to others that the client has a problem they cannot fix themselves can be extremely embarrassing and can cause shame to the family (Woodside & McClam, 2015). Many substance abusers are ashamed and feel guilt because they cannot stop. Families of substance abusers are often angry with the abuser and shun them out of the family. Because of these two reasons, a lot of addicts seem themselves as unworthy of the assistance required to stop the addiction.
Worrying about how you will get or obtain services is another large barrier in receiving assistance in substance abuse. A lot of people in active substance abuse are homeless, do not have jobs or insurance and do not have transportation. This may cause severe anxiety and worry about how one would get to required counseling sessions, doctors visits or meetings with a case worker. Also, things like rehab, medical treatments and medication, and medically supervised detoxes cost a lot of money. The act of finding ways to receive assistance and aide in paying for these things can be an extremely daunting task.
Substance abuse is a national epidemic raging throughout our country. It does not disreminate against age, gender, sexual orientation or social status (Cherry, Dillon & Rugh, 2002). There are three main models of service when looking at the human services perspective of substance abuse: the medical model which looks at the client as having a disease, the public service model that tries to address the issues before the client becomes addicted and the human services model which works on the personal strengths of the client to overcome their issues. Although some people will never see the need of becoming a client in a human services type of environment, there are hundreds of thousands of people, including addicts, which would never see a normal life without the assistance. The three models discussed in this paper are an enormous help to so many people on a daily basis.
References
- Antoine, L. B., Cherry, A. E., & Dillon, M. B. (2002). Substance Abuse A Global View.
- NIDA. (2018, June 6). Understanding Drug Use and Addiction. Retrieved from https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/understanding-drug-use-addiction on 2019, February 2.
- Tarington, H. (2014, May 20). Medical Model of Substance Abuse Treatment. Retrieved from https://firststepnc.com/pure-medical-model-of-substance-abuse-treatment-good-idea.
- McMillin, C.S. (20103, July 15). Models of Addiction: The Medical Model. Retrieved from https://treatmentandrecoverysystems.com/library/models-of-addiction-the-medical-model/.
- Horvath, T., Misra, K., Epner, A., & Cooper, G. Introduction to Causes of Addiction. Retrieved from https://www.pbmhmr.com/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=48340&cn=1408.
- Woodside, M. & McClam, T. (2015). An Introduction to the Human Services, 8th Edition. Retrieved from https://ambassadored.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781337364270/cfi/6/10!/4/2/4@0:0.
