In a 1,880-word story titled “Substance Abuse Treatment Often Impossible to Find,” USA Today (12/19, Copeland) reported in its ongoing series called “Mental Illness: The Cost of Not Caring,” that research suggests that “about two-thirds of people who have a substance abuse condition also have a mental health condition, says Ron Manderscheid, executive director of the National Association of County Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Directors.”
Many substance abusers cannot conquer addiction until they seek professional help for underlying mental illness. Unfortunately, “the lack of treatment options for people with substance addictions and mental illness ‘remains a huge problem in the United States,’ says Frances Levin, chair of the American Psychiatric Association’s Council on Addiction Psychiatry.”
Dr. Levin added, “Programs need to be set up to recognize general mental health issues as well as attending to substance abuse problems.”
Related Links:
— “Substance abuse treatment often impossible to find,” Larry Copeland, USA Today, December 19, 2014.