Mental Health And Addiction Services Essay

In order to work effectively and appropriately with vulnerable and marginalised groups in society such as individuals with mental illnesses, it is fundamental for a social worker to have a comprehensive knowledge base and proficient skills.

Recovering from addiction presents you with challenges to say the least. You have to give up your drug of choice, which can be scary, literally painful, and sometimes, even sad. It’s the sadness, or rather the emotional side of addiction that I want to address here.

Social work professions need to understand the importance of how individuals interact both with other people and their environment, to have an understanding how individuals are affected by these interactions (Rogers, p. 2). According to Rogers (2016), “Social workers are knowledgeable about human behavior across the life course; the range of social systems in which people live; and the ways social systems promote or deter people in maintaining or achieving health and well-being. Social workers apply theories and knowledge from the liberal arts to understand biological, social, cultural, psychological, and spiritual development (p. 2). Their work with clients begins with assessments to evaluations of intervention and is based in and supports of the core value system of the profession.

Substance abuse as well as addiction is a topic many people choose to ignore or tend to believe that it does not affect them. Addiction itself does not seek out certain types of people but can affect anyone, at any time, for any reason. Stress, per pressure, financial trouble, even genetics all play a role in substance abuse and addiction. Unlike others, I don’t see substance abusers as weak willed but instead in need of guidance and someone to talk to about their problems. That is why, when I decided to go to school I was very interested in becoming an Addiction Counselor. I am one of those types of people who really enjoy learning new things and coming up with solutions for myself or others. The biggest reason that I decided to go to college was to find a job that I was actually fascinated with and wouldn’t dread going to work day in and day out. The biggest concern I have for my future job is stability and job availability. One area that I don’t really find high on my priority list is the money. I want to be able to make enough that I can survive and even thrive at times but I’m not looking for a job just for the financial gain. If I’m going to spend my life in a working profession it might as well be doing something I love.

Substance abuse disorders are common in our society. It is a disorder that each one of us will most likely experience through a family member, friend, or our self. I felt very drawn to this topic due to the fact that I have a family that has background of substance abuse and I myself have battle the demon. Not until I struggled with my own addiction did I become more tolerable and understanding to those that have a substance abuse disorder. Substance abuse is not something anyone wants to have; it is a disorder that takes control of a person’s life. It is a beast that tears a person apart; from their being to the lives of their loved ones. This disorder is not biased in anyway; rich or poor, male or female, employed or unemployed, young or

Being an addiction counselor is a very good job for anyone who is interested in helping others. It will help with making a better understanding how other lives can be so different from yours and anyone else’s. Along with helping others, you get good pay with little schooling involved. Being “close” or “friends” with your client is normally frowned upon in the health business.

Many individuals at some point during their lives require mental health services in order to enjoy life. Clinical social workers constitute the biggest group of mental health care workers who provide the majority of therapy and counseling services. For instance, professionals aid individuals to ascertain solutions to issues that fall along a continuum from the lack of independent living skills and capacity to cope with quotidian to severe depression and mental illness. Steve Taylor, Clinical Manager at Preferred Family Healthcare located in Trenton, Missouri. Now occupying a laudable position that inspires and encourages students to stay in college and work towards giving back to the community as a social worker. Taylor on many occasions explains the duties of his case managers in a simple but effective educational quote, “teach a man to fish and he will never go hungry, give him fish he will be hungry again.” Instead of doing everything for a person, you are teaching how to do for themselves; this is a very effective way to educate mental health individuals.

The agency that I visited was the University of Houston-Clear Lake Psychological Services Clinic (UHCL PSC) which was located in the Arbor building. In order to learn more about the UHCL PSC program, I interviewed Dr. Julia Strait. Dr. Strait is the Clinic Director at the UHCL PSC and She is also a Clinical Assistant Professor of School Psychology. Dr. strait was very kind and gave me the opportunity to learn more about her. She received her Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Texas at Austin and her Ph.D. in School Psychology from the University of South Carolina. Her areas of interest in psychology are the brain, memory, and behavior problems. She is a Licensed Psychologist (TN), Provisionally Licensed Psychologist (TX), Licensed Specialist in School Psychology (LSSP; TX), and a Nationally Certified School Psychologist (NCSP). Dr. Strait was previously an English High school and middle school teacher before she started in the school psychology Ph.D. program at the University of South Carolina. Dr. Strait also has experience with children who suffered from neglect, maltreatment (physical and sexual abuse) while working at a hospital for a couple of years.

Social work may not be the most respected profession but it’s a recognizable one. Social workers help people or groups identify their problems, determine their skills and capacities, what they are doing well, and how that was accomplished, and then analyze ways that those strengths might be applied to the identified problems. Social workers are helping professionals.

Substance abuse complicates almost every aspect of care for the person with a mental disorder. When drugs enter the brain, they can interrupt the work and actually change how the brain performs its jobs; these changes are what lead to compulsive drug use. Drug abuse plays a major role when concerning mental health. It is very difficult for these individuals to engage in treatment. Diagnosis for a treatment is difficult because it takes time to disengage the interacting effects of substance abuse and the mental illness. It may also be difficult for substance abusers to be accommodated at home and it may not be tolerated in the community of residents of rehabilitation programs. The author states, that they end up losing their support systems

Living with in poverty with a mental illness and a substance abuse problem is not an easy job. The struggles of life as well as a traumatic event can cause a person brain to malfunction. There is approximately 27 % of the United States population that fits the criteria for a mental illness. Mental illness, substance abuse, and poverty go hand and hand. However, health care providers call mental illness and substance use a dual diagnosis or a co-occurring disorder when combined. Dual diagnosis is a very broad subject, not just one type of disorder. For instance, a person that has experienced a traumatic event in life and have continually relived it. This is called Post traumatic stress, which is an anxiety disorder. This can happen to a person that has be raped, in an accident, or witnessed or has been a victim of a violent crime, or even abused. The person will continue to relive the incident and every time they think about the incident they can become overwhelmed, anxious, with the same fear as they did when the incident took place. There are many problems that are associated with a person that has a dual disorder. For example, a person can suffer from major depression and not be able to resume a normal life. The symptoms of depression, anxiety and fear often appear maybe a few months after the traumatic event or even years later. Furthermore, people that have these traumatic experience may start to drink heavily or become addicted to illegal drugs. May scholars have

Prevention methods for substance abuse are taught to children as early in their kindergarten years and follow throughout their lifetime. Current programs available are school-based programs, parent and family, work programs and community and public media campaigns.

There are several theories of addiction. All of them are imperfect. All are partial explanations. It is for this reason that it is important to be aware of and question addiction theories.

Substance abuse and addiction have become a social problem that afflicts millions of individuals and disrupts the lives of their families and friends. Just one example reveals the extent of the problem: in the United States each year, more women and men die of smoking related lung cancer than of colon, breast and prostate cancers combined (Kola & Kruszynski, 2010). In addition to the personal impact of so much illness and early death, there are dire social costs: huge expenses for medical and social services; millions of hours lost in the workplace; elevated rates of crime associated with illicit drugs; and scores of children who are damaged by their parents’ substance abuse behavior (Lee, 2010). This paper will look at

Medical social workers collaborate with other human service workers to help severely ill patients, suffering from physical and psychological issues. Throughout the many challenges of patients, medical social workers and other professionals meet the common and severe needs of people with physical and mental illnesses. Andrews, Darnell, McBride, & Gehlert (2013) state “Social workers are familiar with the complex and overlapping systems that must be negotiated to ensure that the social, psychological and economic needs of individuals and groups are addressed in a way that underscores optimal health” (p. 67). Once the patient discuss their core issues with the medical social worker and other medical staff members at the hospital, physicians, nurses, and medical social workers can give patients ' positive feedback the concerns their health and well-being. Medical social workers interact with each other for the patient’s safety.