The Treatment Chasm

In the world of substance abuse treatment today there exists a great chasm separating profitable in-patient programs and struggling outpatient programs. The problem however is more than just a profitability problem, it is a social problem that leaves a huge void in the front lines of the war against substance abuse.

Personally I am very much an advocate of our free market system, although probably everyone would agree there are some significant problems related to heath care. Although the topic is somewhat less popular, at the leading edge of the healthcare issue resides substance abuse treatment. There are some tell-tell attitudes about substance abuse that are less than healthy. I have had occasion to speak with many parents that say something to effect that they had sought professional help for their addicted child only after they had tried all other options. I spoke with one father who told me that he did not live far from the treatment facility where I worked and that before he found out that his son was addicted to heroine he had passed a petition around his neighborhood in an attempt to shut us down. There has been some improvements in the community, most of which unfortunately have been forced due to substance abuse symptoms experienced.

The way the system is set up is not necessarily a bad idea, the problem is that we are unable and unwilling to stick to the plan. An addict should first of all be recognized early on in the addiction and receive the appropriate treatment, but they don’t. The addict should receive an assessment from a real therapist, but they don’t. The addict should be admitted into an in-patient facility regardless of bed availability or affluence, but they are not. The addict should receive General Out-patient treatment when needed and not when they have the ability to pay or six months down the road when the County finally has an opening.

Let me paint a familiar scenario for you. We will start with a well known Methamphetamine addict who has racked up a bunch of felony possession and theft charges. This guy has been in and out of jail for years and has charges out of multiple courts. Now usually what happens is that he gets put in jail, the Public Defender relates to the Judge that this individual has a crippling addiction and they work out some kind of plea agreement and the defendant is ordered to get an assessment and follow the recommended treatment. The addict gets the assessment which recommends in-patient followed by intensive out-patient and then general out-patient. This guy has been an addict for a while and there is no way he is coming up with $ 30,000.00 plus to attend a private in-patient facility, so he gets on the waiting list behind hundreds just like him for the county, or state ran in-patient facility. In the meantime he is still an addict and amazingly he was not instantly cured when he entered the criminal justice system, so in the six months or so it takes to get into the county treatment system he of course continues using and steeling etc. Inevitably the addict ends up getting arrested several more times and never makes his appointment for the in-patient treatment he needs.

Some Judges have caught on to futility of this disturbing trend and in an attempt to brake this criminal justice system cycle will order people who need in-patient treatment to a private General out-patient facility. The general outpatient treatment provider will generally do as the judge orders and provide the treatment as best they can. I do not want to lay the blame on our Judges, they are just reacting the best they can to a problem that is largely out of their control. The private GOP facility is obliged if not obligated to follow the Judge’s order, if they don’t there is another ready and willing to pleas the court and get all those referrals. Most GOP facilities that are not subsidized by the State are just scraping by and they can’t afford to turn down a single referral even if they belong in an in-patient facility.

The obvious solution to this problem is for more people to offer in-patient treatment. Well that all sounds great but in-patient is expensive to run and although most in-patient programs are not struggling financially they are still expensive programs to run and you can’t get away with bringing the price low enough for the average addict to benefit from it. The only people who make it into a private in-patient facility have some kind of wealthy benefactor, unfortunately this exclude our long time meth addict who has lost everything and burned every bridge.

The short and long term solution to the problem is to show people the truth about substance abuse. As soon as enough of our kids die from heroine overdoses, soon as the epidemic effects enough of the decision making population then I expect we will do as we have done in the past with all catastrophic problems, that is throw a bunch of federal money at the problem and wonder why things got so out of control. It would be nice if we could show the public what the future holds if we continue on the currant track, and get the help for the people who really need it but cannot afford it. Eventually society ends up paying the price for the un-helped addict. We pay for them in prison, we pay for their children’s care, we pay when our kids die. So lets pay now and pay less and maybe even save a lives in the process.

Perpetuating Gift

During this incredible time of year I am compelled by my every encounter to do good to all those I come in contact with. This year as in years passed I ask myself, what is it that has unhardened my hart? And not just me, but seemingly all of mankind is brought to consider that which is holy. I have seen mercy extended by the merciless, kindness from the hard man, charity from the miser and peace from the war monger. Radio stations usually dedicated to propitious propaganda and vile content play Christmas music, siblings take on extra jobs and spend hard earned money not on themselves but delight in the joy their gifts may bring to another. Long and festering grudges seem to melt away in the warmth of forgiving kindness. Black sheep are welcomed back into the fold with loving arms. We are led to consider those less fortunate and joy in giving as we see not the dross of society but our brothers and sisters.

What a profound influence that babe in Bethlehem born over 2000 years ago has had on the world and yet continues to have. Surly Christians and non-Christians can appreciate the goodness and peace perpetuated as we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Perhaps the goodness demonstrated during the Christmas season is a reminder to all of us of how we ought to act. Perhaps we are once more the recipients of yet another gift of Jesus of Nazareth, perhaps our souls are lifted up at this glorious time as a reminder of our divine potential.

May God look upon us and see that spark of the divine reflected in our souls as we turn our faces toward our beloved Redeemer and may we carry the Christmas spirit in our harts forever. God bless you and yours and may we all magnify the spirit of the season by giving of ourselves.

Pornography and Addiction

• Effects on the brain and psyche.

1. Many people believe that images that we view are harmless, or that the only harm it inflicts is moral in nature.
2. Our brain is like a supper sophisticated computer, any image we take in stays with us and is forever recorded and becomes a part of our psyche. We may not want to remember certain things we have scene, but it will always be there, and you may not always be able to control when it will surface.


Example: I was a Police Officer for ten years and a Detective for most of that. I also served several years on the Metro S.W.A.T. team. I have observed more than my fair share of gruesome sights. I have investigated more deaths and attended more autopsies than I care to remember. At one point I was called out for SWAT on an individual that wanted to commit suicide and was barricaded in is house. I will not go into detail but while dealing with the particular circumstance I was exposed to the most horrific scene. As the other Officers I dealt with the incident and did my job, and later that night I did not think much about it. Several days later however I started to experience nightmares, irritability and an inability to keep from replaying in my mind every dead body I had ever investigated. I sought help and found out that I along with the other officers at the scene had been experiencing Post traumatic stress disorder. I was able to work through the problem and resume my duties, unfortunately some of my colleagues were not able to work through the incident and ended up leaving the profession.

If you think that images can not hurt you think again.

3. when one views pornography several things begin to happen. Blood vessels dilate the heart rate speeds up and chemicals are released into the brain. These chemicals are called endorphins and endorphins are custom made in the body to produce the feeling of pleasure and euphoria. Each individual produces endorphins that are designed specifically to work the best for that person. These chemicals when appropriated in the body in the prescribed amounts and through normal means, they work perfectly. Pornography like any other external stimulus acts on the amount and frequency that these chemicals are released

Pornography actually causes a chemical bath in the brain, when this happens the endorphins released are 5 to 7 times more addictive than cocaine. The addiction begins and at that point the addict can receive a chemical bath just by thinking about previously viewed pornography, or by rehashing fantasies that were concocted while viewing pornography. I have known individuals who would receive an endorphin release just by hearing the sound the computer makes as it logs onto the internet.

Prolonged use of pornography will actually alter the chemistry of the brain. People in this condition need constant stimulation and endorphin release just to feel some what normal. If the stimulus stops usually a deep depression or anxiety takes them over.

Like any other addiction the mild images that you begin with will soon lose their effect in the release of endorphins, and to obtain the same level of excitement more and more vulgar scenes will be sought out until you are far from the person you were when you started.

As a Police Officer I investigated a young man who started by viewing swim suit models on the internet, in a matter of months he had reached the depths of depravity. He had devised a plan to kid nap, torture and then kill a young girl to gratify his now warped lusts.

If you indulge in pornography you will become desensitized to that which is wholesome, good and natural and be left to pursue that which is filthy, vulgar and unnatural.