Schools in the US tried for many yrs to successfully implement a program “Just Say No” when it came curbing drug use/abuse. That campaign – well intentioned – failed miserably.
Some of the programs had police officers. Some had moms & dads who were impacted by losing loved ones to drunk driving. But the takeaway from all of these programs was: just don’t do them, they’re bad…they fry your brain.
What this led to was a large % of the audience that sat thru these assemblies & the programs thinking 1) “I don’t do drugs or alcohol, this doesn’t apply to me, I can tune it out,” or 2) “OK drugs & alcohol may impact me, but it takes the edge off, & you haven’t provided me w good alternatives.”
Maybe some grace has to be given, bc back then, we didn’t know as much abt trauma as we do now. But regardless, in these programs what was NEVER addressed was the root underlying cause as to why folks turned to drugs & alcohol: bc of how quickly (despite the negative side effects) they sooth emotional pain. They “take the edge off.” What was also never taught (& still isn’t being taught en masse) was healthy alternatives to turn to, in order to deal w & even heal that emotional pain.
In this article, & the NIH’s stats shared – there’s no greater concrete evidence that what we’re doing w our current system of “healthcare” when it comes to MH, is failing us miserably.
Numbers related to diagnoses like: depression & anxiety are subjective. They’re based on a human’s (doctor’s) interpretation of symptoms. What’s not subjective is: the suicide & overdose numbers that have all risen, & now the USE of alcohol & drugs that have risen. Behaviors that either happen, or don’t happen – those are black & white, like these slides.
In the same yrs measured, our Rx drug use as a country has now gone up to 1 in every 4 for MH. More than any other country by far. So let’s get this straight – Rx drug use has gone up that high…& yet maladaptive coping thru recreational drugs & alcohol has jumped this much too? Do we need a better example that the current diseased-focus/chemical imbalance, take a Rx & it’ll “fix” it model does NOT work?