Instead of being paralyzed by the cultural connotations of addiction, we should approach it like other health problems that people can and do recover from.
Going to college and living on a campus can present unique, often difficult challenges for young adults. As they transition away from high school and the safety net of their home environment, they may encounter life-changing situations.
They might have underestimated the stress of college. There are worries about fitting in and concerns about living in a dorm or on their own. On college campuses, alcohol and other drugs are often more accessible than at any other time in a young person’s life.
This can create a “perfect storm.” The intersection of coping with intense stressors and the freedom to make decisions can lead to alcohol and other drug use, misuse and addiction.
Some students are not prepared for the realities of college life, and their parents are not able to protect them from every unexpected challenge. Students may choose to attend college across the country from their hometown and then discover that they don’t have the skills necessary for survival on their own.
At this stage of their life, young adults tend to view themselves as invincible and often discount the seriousness of high-risk behaviors. This combination can turn a seemingly benign situation into a dangerous one.
The fact is that most of us can get hijacked by unexpected obstacles. The sudden realization that “this is really much harder than I expected” can derail anyone.
A young woman I know shared recently that she was absolutely devastated by receiving a “B” grade in one of her first classes at college. As a high achieving “A” student, she couldn’t wrap her head around the expectations of college professors in comparison to her high school teachers.
When this derailment occurs, it’s not a big leap for young adults to turn to substance use to make the uncertainty and insecurity go away. What starts as maladaptive coping can spiral into a constant need. And once control is lost, substance use becomes a full-blown addiction or disorder. That’s when we start to see falling grades, damaged relationships and negative, risky behaviors.
Stress also plays into the cycle of addiction. Being in an unfamiliar environment away from the home support system can cause anxiety, which may escalate to panic attacks and depression. A typical reaction is to “self-medicate.”
This is also when we see both stress and addictive tendencies coming together. While the student may self-medicate in hopes of feeling better and avoiding more stress, this may also be the critical time when the light switch to addiction gets flipped on.
Those with a predisposition for addiction or addictive tendencies may now find that they are struggling with a co-occurring disorder like anxiety or depression along with an addiction to alcohol or other drugs.
For college-age young people, there is also a tremendous amount of pressure to “hold it together”– to be able to show family, friends and others they can handle challenges and not fail. As addiction develops, their first reaction may be to isolate and pull away from relationships with family, friends, teachers or mentors who might be able to help. This, in turn, exacerbates the problem.
In our society, there is a definite gender bias between males and females struggling with alcohol and other drugs. The “boys will be boys” mentality still exists, and while parents may be tolerant of their sons drinking, they don’t want to admit their daughters have a problem or are addicted.
Women with addiction issues tend to isolate more than men. When we get a college-age woman into our residential treatment, she often has been hiding it for so long that she is much sicker than her male counterparts.
For parents, it may also be extremely difficult to take that first step and admit that their son or daughter has a problem. This is where the stigma of addiction really becomes apparent. Parents of a child who is struggling with alcohol or other drugs may be experiencing intense feelings of personal failure, blame or guilt.
In reality, we need to look at addiction as a health issue. People of great character and great success have substance use disorders, too. And even the best, most well-adjusted parents have children with substance use disorders.
It’s important to not be paralyzed by stigma, but rather to look beyond it and see addiction for what it is: a health disorder that is dangerous, even deadly, but one from which many people can and do recover.
Breaking through the stigma and voicing concerns to a qualified professional – whether clergy, counselors, school administrators or school health care providers – is essential. Early assessment and treatment of the addiction can make a tremendous difference in the recovery process.
It’s equally important for colleges and universities to move beyond stigma and not deny that alcohol and other drug problems exist on campus. The healthiest institutions offer, and even promote, addiction care and recovery support services. That requires acknowledging that such care and support is needed.
The first step toward helping a son or daughter get help is to go through a comprehensive assessment of the problem. If depression or anxiety is suspected, an assessment of both chemical dependency and mental health issues is warranted.
It is also important to seek out the services of a trained professional and follow through on the treatment recommendations. We know the longer an individual stays engaged in the treatment and recovery process, the better the outcome. A common belief is that this issue can be “fixed” in a month.
However, the fact that a college-age youth completed treatment does not mean they will be successful once re-immersed in the same environment, with the same stressors. In some cases, the decision has to be made to put college on hold for a while, in order to get the care and establish the stability one needs.
A promising development is the rise and growth of collegiate recovery programs (CRPs). A CRP is a supportive environment within the campus culture that reinforces the decision to disengage from addictive behavior. It is designed to provide recovery support along with the educational opportunity to ensure that students do not have to sacrifice one for the other.
More than 150 colleges and universities now have CRPs either established or in the process of being launched. The Hazelden Betty Ford Institute for Recovery Advocacy is a strong supporter of collegiate recovery programs, and it’s our hope that one day, every campus in America will have one.
Leslie Adair, PhD, LP, LMFT, is director of Mental Health and Family Services at the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation in Plymouth, Minn. Her areas of focus include co-occurring disorder assessment and treatment; couples, family, and relationship counseling; abuse and trauma issues; integrating Twelve Step philosophy into mental health treatment; and cognitive assessment. She is a 2010 graduate of Fielding Graduate University in Clinical Psychology.