For decades, addiction treatment in the United States has relied on a familiar explanation when people relapse: recovery is hard, addiction is chronic and setbacks are part of the process. That narrative is often delivered with compassion, but it can obscure a more troubling reality. Many treatment failures are not personal shortcomings. They are predictable outcomes of how recovery is currently designed.
After a tense day of confusion and backroom negotiations, the Trump administration moved Wednesday night to restore roughly $2 billion in federal grant money for mental health and addiction programs nationwide. The money had been cut off late Tuesday without warning, sending shockwaves through a segment of the country's patchwork system of public health that relies on grant funding. "After a day of panic across the country, non-profits and people with mental health conditions are deeply alarmed, but also hopeful that this money is being restored," said Hannah Wesolowski with the National Alliance on Mental Illness. An administration official confirmed to NPR that the cuts, first announced by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), were being reversed.
The Trump administration has reportedly slashed U.S. federal funding for mental health and addition programs, a move that experts say will exacerbate the country's already acute drug crisis. The loss could total some $2 billion in grants from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), NPR reported, citing unnamed sources. But the extent of the cuts has not been verified. The number of grants canceled could be as high as 2,800, according to STAT.
One in four people in the UK fear that a partner, relative or friend drinks too much, while one in six worry that a loved one is taking too many drugs. The findings, from a representative survey of 2,000 adults, appear to underline what some experts say is a growing epidemic of addiction to alcohol or drugs such as cocaine and cannabis.
In 1958, Charles Dederich, a recovering alcoholic, launched a program for addicts in Santa Monica, California, based on the Synanon Foundation. Those admitted had to cut their ties with family and friends and faced shock therapy that included public humiliation. The idea was to destroy people in order to rebuild them, and in the 1950s and 1960s, it was very successful, says Jaime del Corral, director of the Addictions Unit at the San Juan de Dios Clinic in Madrid.
One of the key elements of the new study was ensuring that treatments don't dampen the same neural responses that enable people to enjoy the positive feelings they receive from activities such as eating and exercising. Part of the reason it's so hard to treat drug addiction is because they essentially hijack brain circuits that are involved in processing natural rewards and essentially overstimulate those when these addictive drugs are ingested, said Scott Sternson, a study leader from UCSD's Department of Neurosciences.
Choosing a rehab centre involves evaluating the environment, team, and approach that best fits individual recovery needs. The right match is crucial for effective treatment.
Across France, various initiatives have emerged to improve addiction care in correctional settings, indicating a growing recognition of the importance of addressing substance use disorders among incarcerated populations.
If you look past the press releases and corporate media headlines, you'll see that what's actually happening is people in active addiction are being shuffled from one block to another, arrested, jailed, and released.
