SEPTEMBER IS RECOVERY MONTH

Prevention is Always the Best Treatment

By Ralph Provenza

Is 13 old enough?

That's the average age that a young person first tries alcohol in the communities of the Southern Vermont Supervisory Union.

It's a fact that the later in life a person is exposed to alcohol or drugs, the less likely that person is to develop addiction. Youth who drink before the age of 15 are 5 times more likely to develop alcohol dependence than those who don't begin drinking until age 21.

September, the National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month, aims to shine a spotlight on the role of treatment and recovery from substance use disorders. It's also important to think about prevention in a broad way.

Are students and young adults better equipped to make the right decisions to avoid addiction? Are people in the community aware of the dramatic and destructive extent of substance abuse locally?

As we begin to celebrate our 50th birthday in 2008 at United Counseling Service, we've been thinking about how far we have come - and how far we still have to go.

In 50 years, we have learned a lot. When it comes to the treatment of substance abuse, there is no question things have changed dramatically. One only has to think back a couple of decades to a time in Bennington County when support groups like Alcoholics Anonymous rarely met. In contrast, today someone who is struggling with an addiction can meet in a support group several times a day and pick from many locations across the county.

Of course, over time, numerous changes in treatment have saved lives and helped people overcome addiction. In fact, treating substance abuse is just as effective as treating other chronic conditions, such as high blood pressure, asthma, and diabetes.

Fifty years ago, it took almost a lifetime for someone to sink low enough to realize that they needed substance abuse treatment.

Today, better awareness and acceptance makes it possible for people to talk about their substance abuse problems more openly with less fear of being stigmatized.

As a result, people get to that low point sooner and there is more hope for recovery. In essence, early treatment is prevention.

We know that treatment programs prevent the onset of long-term medical conditions, saving lives and money.

We also know that treatment boosts our workforce and is a boon to employers and businesses. Spread across a community, the effect of treatment is associated with a 19-percent increase in employment and an 11-percent decrease in the number of clients who receive welfare.

Moreover, treatment reduces a host of workplace problems - incomplete work, absenteeism, tardiness, work-related injuries, mistakes, and disagreements with supervisors - by an average of 75 percent among employees who have received treatment.

The need for substance abuse treatment is not going away, and skilled, highly trained counselors at UCS will continue to provide it. But over the next 50 years, we must continue talking about substance abuse. We must continue to improve treatment and recovery.

And increasingly we must shift our focus to prevention, because 13 is not old enough.