A lot of people have said that the 21st century has been two decades of proving grounds for the United States of America. It is pretty well understood that we have come head to head with some of our most significant challenges yet, and we have had some of our most significant victories as a nation too. A lot of the feelings and opinions regarding drug and alcohol abuse and addiction in this country are at the point where people feel as though we have made some headway in some areas, but we have experienced some losses in some areas too. We have to work more on addiction prevention through intervention as well as education.
When the statistics are examined as being a serious issue in this country, we can start to see that drug and alcohol addiction is a growing problem, one of which has only gotten worse as each year has gone by. When the factors and characteristics of addiction are more closely examined, we can start to see that this is a pretty severe problem overall.
Addiction is a Growing Problem in the United States
One of the most significant errors that the U.S. as a nation made when substance abuse began to grow in the country around the turn of the century was that we did not make a dedicated effort towards getting people to see that drug and alcohol abuse and addiction was indeed a huge problem. We did not make a concerted effort in the direction of showing the American people just how dangerous addiction can be. We did not make a collaborative effort towards addiction prevention through intervention and education.
Addiction prevention through intervention can be achieved along with addiction education. The first approach is straightforward. Just educate family members and loved ones and other individuals on the truth about addiction.
Listed below is some of the information regarding this issue and where exactly it is at this time:
- When the different factors of drug and alcohol abuse are looked at, one of the most concerning matters here is the sheer number of people who are consuming substances. Now more so than perhaps ever before there is an entirely massive number of people in this country who are addicted to drugs and alcohol. Drug and alcohol abuse is a severe problem, and studies show that there are currently twenty to twenty-three million people who are addicted to drugs and alcohol in this country. This number does not bode well for the future health and vitality of our nation and especially for the young adult population. In fact, significant action needs to be taken if something useful is going to be done about addiction as it stands in the country right now.
- When people think of drug and alcohol abuse and addiction in the country today, they usually only think of the individual people who are addicted. It is very rare that they think of other people who also suffer from loved ones’ addictions. Now more so than perhaps ever before, though the other people who are affected by addiction do need to be helped. When you look at it, every single drug or alcohol addict in this country is going to have four or five people who they are very close to who is affected by this problem. These could be mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, grandmothers, grandfathers, sons, daughters, spouses, best friends, loved ones, co-workers, employees, etc. The simple truth of the matter is that there are a lot of people who are directly affected by the substance abuse habit of another person. When the actual numbers or looked at, it is very quickly seen that about 100 million people are directly affected by the substance abuse habits of another person.
Addiction Prevention Through Intervention
Addiction prevention through intervention is another very valuable approach for getting people to see their path to freedom and abstinence from substance abuse issues and struggles. The way that addiction prevention through intervention works is quite simple and straightforward.
So, a family member or loved one becomes addicted to drugs or alcohol. Maybe they just start consuming substances sort of recreationally, but before long their substance abuse habit becomes a real issue. Regardless of the extent or severity of the exact problem, prevention through intervention involves performing an intervention as soon as the family knows the person is abusing substances. This way, if they act fast enough, they can help their loved one find treatment before the problem gets even worse. This efficient and stabilizing approach does a lot of good for the addicted individual because they are intervened on before their habit gets entirely out of hand.
