Why does it matter?
70.3 Million people in 2022 used illicit drugs in the United States. Only 13.1 million received treatment and furthermore, 107,081 people died due to drug addiction. (SAMHSA, 2023). Monterey County may be a beautiful, tourist destination with multi-million dollar housing lining its coast, but it is not free from the widespread problem of substance use disorder and the death it can cause. An addiction and overdose map (ODMAP) created by High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) has already documented 76 suspected overdoses in the city of Salinas so far in 2024. There were 469 overdoses in the city of Salinas documented in this system in 2023, 73 of those were fatalities. (Close, 2024). The non-fatal overdoses documented in ODMAP only represent those that are reported to the system. The countless overdose victims who never seek medical attention after being saved by friends and family are not documented and their suffering and the suffering of their friends and family and our community is not represented. (Close, 2024).
The need for family centered drug treatment is also found in the children of the addicted parent. Children with addict parents may be struggling with poor school performance, emotional and/or behavioral problems, low self-esteem, high risk of a form of abuse, anxiety or depression, and earlier onset of experimentation with drugs or alcohol. (Armstrong, et al., 2024). If the parental figure leaves the family unit to seek treatment, that still leaves the child to deal with the above outlined issues alone… if they deal with them at all. The children also can have a huge impact on their parents in treatment with them even through something as small as encouraging them to finish treatment. Finally, while in treatment together, the family unit can work to undo the role reversal that occurs often when parents are in active addiction. (Armstrong, et al., 2024). This creates a full spectrum of treatment services for the addict, the child of the addict and the family unit as a whole. This approach is known as ‘family-focused approaches’ to treatment. (McComish, 2011).
Armstrong, L., Generes, W., Regan, J., Thomas, S., Kelley, R., Fuller, K., & Ackerman, K. (2024, February 7). Children of addicted parents guide: How to deal with addict parents. American Addiction Centers. https://americanaddictioncenters.org/rehab-guide/guide-for-children
Close, Reb. Personal Interview. March 30th, 2024.
McComish, J. F., Greenberg, R., Ager, J., Essenmacher, L., Orgain, L. S., & Bacik, W. J. (2003). Family-Focused Substance Abuse Treatment: A Program Evaluation. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 35(3), 321–331. https://doi.org/10.1080/02791072.2003.10400015
