Everyone has their horror stories concerning the current economic downturn, which many experts claim is the worst financial disaster since the great depression of the 1930s. On Feb. 27, the Dow Jones Average sunk to a low of 7,062—less than half the market’s all-time peak of 14,164 on Oct. 9, 2007.

Millions of Americans have lost their homes to foreclosure, millions more lie awake at night worrying that they will find a pink slip with their next paycheck and unemployment rates have skyrocketed. In February, the recession snatched another 650,000 Americans’ jobs as our nation’s unemployment rate climbed to a quarter-century peak of 8.1 percent  (Aversa, 2009). As of this writing, the unemployment rate in California, the nation’s largest state, has surpassed 10 percent and some economists are predicting that our national unemployment rate will hit 10 percent by year-end and peak at 11 percent or higher by the middle of 2010. Currently, a full 21.1 million Americans are either unemployed or under-employed (i.e. unable to find full-time work) (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2009).

This dismal state of affairs is having a devastating impact on addictions programs and the clients they serve. Relapse prevention authority Terence Gorski observes that major calamities are often accompanied by increased alcohol/drug consumption and a spike in episodes of relapse. Concurrently, as people lose their jobs and medical coverage in record numbers, many treatment programs find themselves deluged by ­people in need of services who lack resources to cover costs of care (Newport, 2004).

Bleak prospects of obtaining employment in today’s economy place a heavy strain on many newly recovering people, who need to find gainful employment to support themselves and their families. Finding secure and meaningful work also plays a critical role in motivating newcomers to become active stakeholders in maintaining their sobriety. Among the hardest hit by the imploded job market are veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, an association representing veterans of these two wars, reports that the unemployment rate for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans is nearly double the national average. Some veterans individually report that they encounter discrimination by prospective employers, who stigmatize their involvement in an unpopular war.

Such episodes are most unfortunate, to say the least.  Regardless of one’s personal feelings concerning these conflicts, our brave men and women who have placed their lives on the line for their country deserve to be welcomed home with honor and compassion. U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan also are experiencing disturbingly high levels of post- traumatic stress disorder (PSTD) and suicide (Gomez, 2009). According to military data, suspected suicides in the Army reached an all-time monthly high of 24, doubling the
number of combat deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan combined! Significantly, the majority of suicides have occurred once troops returned home to the United States.

Coping with the challenges

What steps can you take, as an addictions professional, to help your clients cope with the special challenges posed by today’s highly stressful and uncertain environment? Here are some suggestions you may wish to consider:

1. Offer first aid for people on your waiting list. Many innovative programs that are booked to capacity are offering special pre-treatment groups for prospective clients who are “on hold.” If available, seasoned alumni can enhance pre-treatment offerings through serving as role models to inspire people to remain motivated while awaiting treatment.
2. Encourage clients to actively employ the serenity prayer as a stress management tool. The following exercise can be beneficially applied in both group and individual counseling sessions. Ask your client to identify a particularly problematic situation in his or her life.

For example, perhaps a client is desperately in need of work and has been actively searching for a job in his field to no avail. Then move on to the acceptance part, where you assist the client in identifying those aspects of the situation that are beyond his power to change or influence, at least for the moment. In this example, he may need to accept the bleak prospects for currently obtaining a job in his regular line of work. Then help him move forward into the realm of courage and action, where he focuses on identifying and executing practical immediate steps for lining up a survival job such as delivering pizza, telemarketing or whatever. With a survival job in hand to get him through the current crisis, your client can concurrently strive to locate a position that will more fully utilize his capabilities.
3. Let go and let God. In these challenging times, we all run into situations where we need to stop banging our heads against the wall and “turn it over.” Bob Tyler beautifully elaborates on this concept in his book Enough Already, where he emphasizes the need to let go of our attachment to outcomes by turning the problem over to our higher power, while at the same time assuming full responsibility our role, which is to actively listen for guidance and “do the legwork” (Tyler, 2005).
4. Encourage clients to take action to gain a competitive edge in this challenging economy. Encourage clients who are currently employed to increase their employability by volunteering to take on tasks that will stretch their horizons. You might also encourage them to consider part-time enrollment in a community college or vocational training program. Unemployed clients should be referred for employment counseling, and veterans should be urged to take full advantage of expanded educational opportunities available through their G.I. Bill benefits. As people working 12-step programs like to help each other, clients in search of work should be encouraged to take advantage of potential contacts through meetings to help with their job search. And very importantly, in this uncertain environment everyone needs to keep their resume updated while actively networking with others in their line of work.
5. Strongly encourage clients to take care of themselves. Clients need support in taking care of themselves to maintain the resiliency and fortitude needed to cope with these challenging times. Engaging in regular exercise and sound nutrition are important in maintaining one’s overall health status and becoming a “stress survivor.” Engaging in one of the many forms of meditative practice, including mantra meditation, yoga and inspirational reading can be very beneficial in nurturing the quality of resiliency and ability to flow with life, while remaining calmly centered in the here and now.  Nurturing healthy relationships with family and significant others, while surrounding oneself with positive people, is essential. It is also of paramount importance to maintain a healthy balance between activity, rest, recreation and spiritual renewal.

As you can see from the above suggestions, there many things we can do to help ourselves—and our clients—to effectively cope with these highly uncertain times. Until next time—to your health!

References

Aversa, Jeannine (2009). Huge layoffs push joblessness toward double digits. Associated Press. March 6, 2009.
Bureau of Labor Statistics (2009). Economic News Release: Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Summary. March 11, 2009.
Gomez, Alan (2009). Military puts focus on epidemic of suicides. USA Today. March 25, 2009. Gannett Co., Inc.
Newport, John (2004). Interview with Terence Gorski in The Wellness-Recovery Connection: Charting Your Pathway to Optimal Health While Recovering  from Alcoholism and Drug Addiction. Deerfield Beach: Health Communications, Inc.
Rieckhoff, Paul (2008). Happy Holidays: Military Divorce Numbers on the Rise. Posted on Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America website December 5, 2008.
Tyler, Bob (2005). Enough Already! A Guide to Recovery from Alcohol and Drug Addiction. Denver: Outskirts Press, Inc., 2005.

This article is published in Counselor, The Magazine for Addiction Professionals, June 2009, v.10, n.3, pp.18-19.

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