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Karen Pizano

SUBSTANCE ABUSE AWARENESS TRAINING

Alcohol, drug, and tobacco addiction can be caused by various factors. One big factor is

metal illness which include depression, anxiety disorders, ADHD, schizophrenia, and personality

disorders, among others. Mental illness is a steppingstone to addiction. It is important to treat

mental illnesses in order to lessen the possibility of having an addiction. Addiction can lead to

coma or death and has many long-term effects such as damage to heart muscles and malnutrition,

stomach disorders like gastritis and ulcers, and the liver loses its ability to detoxify blood. In

some cases, in order to treat a mental illness, medication is required, but if someone has an

alcohol addiction, it would be hard to treat because medicines interact negatively with alcohol so

any side medication can be harmful. In order for someone to be treated for a mental illness, that

person has to be evaluated by a health care provider, and then from there decide on a treatment

plan such as a behavioral therapy and medication. Some behavioral therapies for adults are:

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Assertive

Community Treatment (ACT), Therapeutic Communities (TC), and Contingency Management

(CM). Some behavioral therapies for kids and adolescents are: Brief Strategic Family Therapy

(BSFT), Multidimensional Family Therapy (MDFT), and Multisystemic Therapy (MST). The

medications are based on what the health provider decides is the best treatment for the patient.

Treating mental illness is the first step to insuring that people don’t end up with an addiction.