People with Substance Abuse Disorders More Likely to Have Mental Disorders…and Vice-Versa

People with a substance use disorder are more likely to experience a mental disorder and people with a mental disorder are more likely to have a substance use disorder when compared with the general population.Co-Occurring Disorders Head 1

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), about 45% of Americans seeking substance use disorder treatment have been diagnosed as having a co-occurring mental and substance use disorder. Those findings, reported in SAMHSA’s National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services, support integrated treatment approaches like those used by The Council on Recovery’s Center for Recovering Families.

The Center for Recovering Families goes beyond conventional outpatient programs by utilizing the integrated approach for treating co-occurring mental and substance use disorders. Integrated treatment addresses mental and substance use conditions at the same time and requires collaboration across disciplines. The Center’s integrated treatment planning addresses both mental health and substance abuse, each in the context of the other disorder. This planning is client-centered and better addresses clients’ goals by using treatment strategies that are acceptable to them.

Recent research, including the 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, shows that integrated treatment is associated with lower costs and better outcomes such as reduced substance use, improved psychiatric symptoms and functioning, decreased hospitalization, increased housing stability, fewer arrests, and improved quality of life.

For individuals and families dealing with co-occurring mental and substance use disorders, the Center for Recovering Families’ integrated treatment approach is creating new hope in the healing process. Contact the Center for Recovering Families at 713-914-0556.

Does Alcoholism Run in Your Family? Are You at Risk?

NIAAA Provides Answers to an Age-old Question

Alcoholism in the Family Tree

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism (NIAAA) is providing answers to people who have a parent, grandparent, or other close relative with alcoholism who wonder about their risk from this family disease.

A Family History of Alcoholism: Are You at Risk? provides useful information based upon scientific studies about the genetic factors that influence alcoholism. These findings show that children of alcoholics are about four times more likely than the general population to develop alcohol problems. Children of alcoholics also have a higher risk for many other behavioral and emotional problems. But, the research also shows that many factors influence your risk of developing alcoholism. Some factors raise the risk while others lower it.

For those who personally affected by the disease of alcoholism, the NIAAA provides useful information and additional resources for getting help.

If you or a loved one has a problem with alcoholism or other addictions, The Council on Recovery can help. As Houston’s oldest and largest non-profit organization providing the full spectrum of prevention, education, intervention, treatment, and recovery services for individuals of all ages, The Council on Recovery is committed to helping Houstonians through a focus on family healing and long-term support that is equally accessible to all in need.  For more information, visit www.councilonrecovery.org.

 

The Lifelong Quest for Sobriety…The Ultimate Hero’s Journey—Part 3

Guest Blogger and long-time Council friend, Bob W., presents Part 3 of a series dealing with Alcoholism and Addiction from a Mystical, Mythological Perspective, reflecting Bob’s scholarly work as a Ph.D. in mythological studies.

In the early days of our Quest for Sobriety, we experience extreme highs and lows of spirit.  The realization that we are actually abstaining from the destructive substances or behaviors gives us a lift, a real sparkling of joy, here and there.  But the pain of the emotional and physical withdrawal comes and goes as well…and sometimes it crashes on our heads as unbearable torment.  The Journey we have begun must now proceed in earnest…

The various treatment systems provide a road map for us to travel.  Accepting the seriousness, the powerlessness and uncontrollability of the disease is the first critical step.  In concert with this, we must also accept that the disease and the power to recover are beyond our own individual resources. In the terms of the Hero’s Journey, these steps begin a journey to the Underworld, confronting the demons and trials therein, not unlike Jonah in the Belly of the Whale.  The examinations thus begun are necessary to determine the core truth of the outer and inner worlds before us.   For the addict, this part of the Journey is to travel over the past, down, down deep into the events of our addicted lives, to see in a clear light all that happened in the world we thought we ruled.  And in the process, as this Journey progresses, we begin to discover who and what we really are…

Kids Camp at The Council March 16-18 Heals the Hurt of Addiction

Kids from homes affected by alcoholism and drug addiction have it tough. Caught in the maelstrom of the disease, children struggle to understand what’s going on and why. Parents struggle with what to say to kids about the madness. And everyone needs a break.

Kids Camp at The Council is the break families need. Held at The Council on Recovery March 16-18, Kids Camp is a prevention and support program for kids ages 7-12 from families affected by alcoholism and/or addiction. The three-day program helps kids learn they are not alone and that other children and families have similar experiences.

Kids Camp at The Council uses art, games, role-play, and other fun activities to help children learn to identify and express feelings, develop self-care skills, and deepen communication with their parents. Parents or caregivers join their children for a portion of the program focusing on education and support, and all services are provided in a safe, confidential, and nurturing setting.

“Kids Camp helps parents and children open lines of communications and heal the hurt in their relationships,” says Kierstin Thornhill, MS, Coordinator of Children’s Clinical Services. “By learning about addiction in an age-appropriate way, kids gain valuable insight and understanding. The entire family learns new skills and is given the tools to recover. Above all, children learn that addiction is not their fault.”

To make it easy for families to participate, Kids Camp at The Council is being held Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of the upcoming spring break week, March 16-18. Space is limited, call for more information 281-200-9270.

Lecture Series | The Family Hour–Focuses on Relapse & Renewal, March 11th, 10-11:00AM

Relapse & Renewal is the topic of the next Family Hour, the popular new lecture series at The Council on Recovery, Saturday, March 11th at 10 AM. The lecture will focus on the emotional, mental, and physical stages of relapse that can precede a “slip” anytime during sobriety. Effective ideas for preventing relapse, safe-guarding sobriety, and renewing confidence in recovery will be discussed.

The Family Hour, held on the second Saturday of each month, is a lecture and Q&A series that focuses on the disease of addiction and its inevitable impact on the entire family. Hosted by The Council’s Center for Recovering Families, the Family Hour is facilitated by the Center’s Clinical Director Lori Fiester, LCSW-S, MAC, CIP.

This community series is free and open to all families, loved ones, and members of our community who seek up-to-date, accurate information about addiction and related issues.  Registration is not required, but seats do fill quickly, so plan accordingly. Adult-themed.

For listing of upcoming Family Hour lectures at The Council, click here.

For more information about The Family Hour, contact the Center for Recovering Families at 713.914.0556 or email events@councilonrecovery.org

The Lifelong Quest For Sobriety…The Ultimate Hero’s Journey—Part 2

Guest Blogger and long-time Council friend, Bob W., presents Part 2 of a series dealing with Alcoholism and Addiction from a Mystical, Mythological Perspective, reflecting Bob’s scholarly work as a Ph.D. in mythological studies.

The Chinese philosopher, Lao Tzu, has said that “the journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step.”  For those of us sufferers of addiction, the first step in the Journey to Sobriety may seem more like “a giant leap for mankind.”  Few of us are able to take that step without great difficulty and without many, many mis-steps.  The step to commit ourselves to the pursuit of a sober life can actually be the most difficult one in our lives.

In the concept of the Hero’s Journey, as it is known in literary and psychical circles, the first step results from a very poignant internal “call to adventure.”  It is the call to pursue a journey to gain some desperately needed boon for one’s self, for one’s family or for one’s community. For the addictive personality, mired in the terror of mindless consumptive or behavioral activity, this call is a deep internal cry for help.  When that cry finally hits us as unavoidable and impossible to ignore, we finally begin the journey…we enter the “rooms.”

We may have begun this before, perhaps many times. In the Hero’s Journey, there is a phase called “refusing the call,” where intense fear of the journey causes hesitation and procrastination.   For we sufferers of the diseases of addiction, the required admission of powerlessness to begin the journey can be elusive. Each time, the ability to reject the notion that the substance or behavior pattern that consumes us is too “valuable” to relinquish, looms as impossible.  Each prior time we couldn’t make that leap.  But then something hits us, that internal call to “adventure,” the call to pursue the life we see more clearly as absolutely necessary, strikes deep in our soul…and we begin. We embrace all the women and men who are standing by to help. We open our ears and we finally begin to listen. It still hurts, it still pains us to live each moment, each day without the drug…but we do, because we must, because to not do so is, eventually, to die.

…and, by doing so, by beginning, by surrendering, by just listening, we slowly but surely start to grow….