22. January 2011 by stationmanager.

The new version of the Addiction Severity Index (ASI) gives health professionals the opportunity to design an integral and personalised plan of assistance for patients suffering disorders due to substance abuse.

Developed by the University of Pennsylvania (USA) in the 1980s, the ASI is the most used tool for studying disorders due to substance abuse. After more than 25 years of use, current trends have led ASI creators to update their index and adapt it to the present day reality. The new ASI-6 includes significant structure and content changes in regard to the previous version.

However, as Eva María Díaz-Mesa, a researcher at the Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM) and author of the study explained to SINC “any assessment test must involve mathematical procedures that determine whether or not it is a valid indicator of a particular psychological conduct.”

This study examines the version of the method translated and adapted into Spanish. The study was carried out at 13 centres in Spain, where a total of 258 patients participated, and compiles four periodic assessments that determine the evolution of patients and the ability of the tool to detect changes.

The results, published recently in the journal Psicothema, reveal that the ASI-6 performed well in psychometric terms, that is, “when applied, the tool gives stable measurements (reliability) and actually measures what it intends to (validity),” Díaz Mesa continued. Furthermore, it is worth highlighting the inclusion of smoking and gambling in the assessment, together with caring for children.

The ASI is an interview designed to measure the state of a patient in regard to seven functional domains: alcohol and drug abuse, physical and mental health, employment/resources, family relationships and illegal activity. The scores obtained in the different areas provide information about the severity of the addition (the higher the score the more severe).

Addiction to Legal and Illegal Substances

Although there is widespread social belief that people who consume illegal substances suffer more negative effects, consumption-related health problems are actually primarily due to legal substances.

The World Health Organization (WHO) expected tobacco to explain 16.8% of mortality in Spain, alcohol 3% and illegal drugs 0.6%. However, in regard to the burden of disease, tobacco accounted for 12.3%, alcohol 7.6% and illegal drugs 3.9%.

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15. January 2011 by stationmanager.

Millions of Americans suffer from severe addictions that can ruin lives
and are extremely difficult to control. Nearly 2 million enter roughly
12,000 addiction treatment programs in the U.S. each year. Adi Jaffe is
completing his Ph.D. in psychology at UCLA, where he specializes in
addiction issues. Next year, he will serve as a postdoctoral fellow at
UCLA’s Integrated Substance Abuse Programs.

A former drug addict who spent almost a year in treatment, Jaffe holds
strong views about addictions of all types and the process of
rehabilitation. He believes addicts can be treated successfully - but
not quickly or easily. “Treating addicts with 30-day programs is a
horrendous idea,” he says. “Almost nobody changes a habit in 30 days.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse has long recommended a minimum of
90 days residential treatment. Most people don’t get that, and rehab for
a month is just not enough.

“The longer the addiction and the more entrenched, the longer you need
to be away from it. You need to give yourself time for all the physical
aspects of the addiction, the cravings and triggers to wane. After your
mind has quieted down, you can start adapting new routines. Otherwise,
you will jump right back into your old routines - that’s all you know
how to do.”

The success rate for many rehabilitation programs is less than 25
percent, according to Jaffe. But addicts, and their loved ones, should
not be discouraged if their first effort to quit does not succeed, he says.
“A misconception is that addictions are almost impossible to overcome.
If you fail one rehab with one version of treatment, it doesn’t mean you
can’t get better,” he says. “It means you have to try again. Instead of
blowing $80,000 on a month of rehab in Malibu, focus on the treatment
you’re going to get and not the catered food or the ocean views.

“My research on addiction over the last eight years has taught me that
we have a lot of tools that increase the probability that somebody will
be fine after treatment. I believe you can recover from an addiction.

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9. January 2011 by stationmanager.

An Army report on the record number of soldier suicides says the trend
reflects a rise in risky behavior including drunken driving and drug
abuse in a military stretched to the breaking point by the wars in
Afghanistan and Iraq. The report says the Army is failing its soldiers
by missing signs of trouble or by looking the other way as commanders
try to keep to tight schedules required to meet deployment schedules.
The Army vice chief of staff, Gen. Peter Chiarelli, said Thursday that
statistics on levels of drug and alcohol abuse suggests that soldiers
are taking more risks while discipline has slipped. The Army counted 160
suicides last year, the highest total ever. The rate was above that of
the civilian population for the second year in a row. The study counted
an additional 146 deaths in 2009 that it says were due to drug overdoses
or other causes the Army lumps together as risky behavior. There were
also 1,713 known suicide attempts last year. The ramped-up tempo of Army
life, with faster deployments and too little time at home, underlies the
problem but is not its sole cause, Chiarelli said.

Most suicides occur early in a soldier’s Army career, and some come
before a soldier has deployed. The report raises the possibility that
part of the increase in risky behavior comes from an increase in young
soldiers attracted to the wartime force precisely because it is dangerous.

“Looking across the Army, the (report) team found that there appeared to
be an overall increase in high-risk behavior,” including drug and
alcohol use/abuse.”Leader accountability had atrophied,” the report
said. “There were too many gaps and seams in programs and processes that
allowed high-risk behavior to continue undetected and seemingly
unchecked.” Among dozens of recommendations are increases in drug and
mental health staffs and ways to encourage soldiers to seek help.

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