Counselor Magazine, the Magazine for Addiction Professionals - Double Jeopardy, Addiction & Depression: Viewing the World Through Clouded Lenses

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Continued Decline in Youth Substance Abuse

Current illicit drug use among teens is continuing to decline, according to a new report by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) released today. The study also shows positive signs that teens are seeing the dangers of abusing prescription drugs and methamphetamine and are pushing back. Among youth ages 12-17, the 2007 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), the Nation's largest substance use survey, shows that the significant decline in overall past month illicit drug use that began in 2002 continued through 2007, from 11.6 percent to 9.5 percent.

The survey, released at the start of the 19th Annual National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month, shows that the reductions in youth drug use occurred for nearly every type of illicit drug including marijuana, cocaine, hallucinogens, LSD, and Ecstasy. The survey also shows dramatic declines in meth use, down by 67 percent (from 0.3% to 0.1%) and prescription drug abuse among teens, which declined overall by 18 percent, from 4 percent to 3.3 percent between 2002-2007.

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Double Jeopardy, Addiction & Depression: Viewing the World Through Clouded Lenses

Columns - Media Review

Friday, 31 January 2003

Double Jeopardy, Addiction & Depression: Viewing the World Through Clouded Lenses, is a 28-minute instructional videotape by Claudia Black, MSW, PhD, a veteran of the field of addictions since the mid 1970s. She is the author of numerous books, including It Will Never Happen to Me, and over 20 videotapes - Double Jeopardy is the latest. Claudia is the recipient of a number of National awards including the Marty Mann Award, the SECAD Award, and the National Council on Alcohol and Drug Addiction Educator of the Year. She is the past Chairperson of the National Associa-tion for Children of Alcoholics and presently serves on their advisory board.

The format of this informative video is simple and straightforward. It runs the perfect length of time for a subject that has the potential of putting viewers to sleep. The audience in this case might be a professional or a client. Dr. Black peppers the tape with case scenarios that bring the topic alive, while defending the validity of dual diagnosis.

Near the beginning of the tape she goes directly to valued sources just in case anyone has an argument with the debilitating nature of depression, or how it is further complicated by the presence of addiction. She starts with a quote from President Abraham Lincoln speaking about his own depression. Then she offers a quote from Bill W. on emotional sobriety: Bill Wilson wrote these words in AA's Grapevine Magazine in January of 1958 to a close friend that shared his problem with depression:

"I think that many oldsters, who have put our AA Booze Cure to severe but successful test, still find they often lack emotional sobriety. Peace and joy still eludes us. That is the place so many of us AA oldsters have come to. It's a hell of a spot, literally. Last autumn, depression, almost took me to the cleaners. I began to be scared that I was in for another long chronic spell. Considering the grief I have had with depressions, it wasn't a bright prospect." - Grapevine, 1958

Bill sought out help for his depression. Black states that "women are much more willing to accept treatment for depressions; men are more willing to accept treatment for addiction." Yet women are four times more likely to commit suicide than men.

A portion of the video, necessary for client viewers reviews various types of depression: "Low" mood occurs for all, and is normal, situational, and transient. Major Depression however "sees the bad sides of everything, only the flaws," (depressed moods, diminished interest or pleasure in most activities, change in weight or appetite, insomnia or excessive sleep, agitation, fatigue, feelings of worthlessness/guilt, indecisiveness, inability to concentrate, and recurrent thoughts of death). Bipolar disorder (Manic Depression) is simply presented as "severe and intense mood swings." Dysthymics (all the symptoms of major depression but less severe) often report that they simply lack joy in their life.

She also provides a primer on causes of depression: Biochemical imbalances (runs in families), with onset of depressive episodes in both childhood and adulthood. She explains: "when the addiction is no longer there as a mask, the hidden depression rises to the surface." The video reinforces that the treatment of addiction alone may not eliminate depression as both the addiction and the depression have taken on lives of their own. She feels that antidepressant medications, therapy, and sound recovery practices are all important aspects of recovery for both addiction and depression, being careful not to imply that anti-depressants will treat an addict's depression without other supports. A belief in powerlessness to alcohol (drugs) and depression is valid and allows the use of similar approaches to both diagnoses. The "closeted depressed" compartmentalize ("I'm just fine ... just fine"), a defense that becomes a finely honed skill, an appearance of doing OK on the outside while experiencing despair on the inside is observed.

This tape should be a helpful tool, especially for programs specializing in co-occurring disorders, or for those professionals that need to heighten the awareness of recently sober clients experiencing discomfort in early recovery. One may obtain more information on Claudia Black by visiting: www.claudiablack.com.

Lindsay E. Freese, MEd, MAC, LADC, is associate professor of Human Service at the New Hampshire Community Technical College in Concord, NH. Over the past 20 years he has worked in private practice and both clinically and administratively in residential programs. He is a past president of the New Hampshire Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselor Association.