Substance Abuse and Alcoholism: How the Church can Make A Difference
How can your church help your surrounding community escape life-controlling addictions and the havoc they wreak? This guest article by Sharon Torres offers practical suggestions.
According to reports, 70% of young people engage in drinking by the age of 19. This report should be worrying given that underage drinkers are likely to develop a lifelong alcoholism problem.
The impact of substance abuse and alcoholism is a problem for policymakers, church leaders, parents, and the community in general. Drug abuse and alcoholism has a huge impact on the society and reportedly costs the state $235 billion and $181 billion a year respectively.
Church leaders are aware of problems such as the opioid crisis, alcoholism and drug abuse. The challenge is to provide factual information and engage the affected people so that they can lead them to suitable treatment and recovery.
The church can tap into the community and start an outreach that will address addiction issues. This outreach can transform the community by taking preventive steps to check addiction, and at the same time help those with a problem begin their journey to recovery.
There are certain steps the church can take to address drug abuse and alcoholism in the community:
Education
One of the most important steps the church can take is to not only educate their congregation but also leaders within the church. For the fight against drug addiction to be effective, it is critical that those involved are well-equipped with the right information.
Illicit drugs and alcohol are not the only problems that the church community had to deal with. The abuse of prescription drugs is becoming a serious problem. In some places, there are more overdose deaths caused by prescription drugs than by alcoholism and illicit drugs combined.
Avoid Being Judgmental
Often when providing information on addictions such as pornography, alcoholism and drug abuse, it is not uncommon for those involved to take a judgmental tone. To be effective, counselors need to be able to relate to the problems of the recovering addict. They need to feel free to discuss these problems with counselors and other people within the church tasked with addressing drug abuse and alcoholism.
To treat substance abuse and alcoholism, they must first be recognized as illnesses. These drugs change the chemical composition of the brain and in the process, they cause tolerance and dependency. It must, therefore, be acknowledged, that continued drug use is not merely a moral issue.
A lot of unnecessary complications could arise if drug abuse is not recognized as an illness. For example, crystal meth tends to cause dependency within a short period. People with meth and opioid addiction often require medication to enable to recover from their addiction problem. Looking at it as a moral issue may act as an obstacle to providing effective treatment.
Additionally, there are people in the church that have an addiction problem. If they feel that their problem is not going to be addressed objectively, they are likely to continue hiding their addiction problems. They are most probably going to be more concerned about their reputation than addressing their drug problem.
12 Step, AA, and 12 Step Programs
To be sure, faith-based programs have been proven to be effective in addressing alcoholism and illicit drug use, but only when they address the problem using the evidence-based approach. Currently, AA, NA and the 12 step programs are mainly offered at faith based treatment centers across the country.
However, granted their proximity to the community, churches are in a good position to raise awareness about these programs for people with alcohol or drug abuse problem. Faith-based programs are designed to tap into the addict’s spiritual beliefs to give them the strength they need to get through the journey to recovery.
One advantage of the faith-based programs like AA and NA are more affordable than conventional rehabilitation programs. Recovering addicts can attend these programs and share experiences with others who are working to get better.
In addition,Faith-based systems can:
- Provide spiritual support
- Recognizing addiction as an illness that can be treated and not just a moral issue
- Organizing and hosting recovery groups
The church can enhance its outreach on alcoholism and drug abuse by including other aspects of the programs not offered by traditional faith-based programs like AA. This includes detoxification which is critical for people who are addicted to opioids and illicit drugs.
Relapses can be prevented by linking addicts with vocational opportunities. This can be achieved by working closely with other agencies within the community that has taken of the challenge of addressing alcoholism and addiction. These networks can also be used to report cases of overdoses or when someone shows signs of the substance abuse problem.
Rather than leave the problem of drug abuse to treatment centers, the church can use its position to make an impact on the community. Churches can organize seminars to inform young people about the dangers of drug abuse and alcoholism. They can provide an effective and affordable option for people looking to overcome their addiction and turn their lives around for the better.
PR
