Well also have with us an expert with some safety tips on travel thats whether you travel abroad or stay domestic. But first, we bring you some new information on alcohol addiction. It was a recent study by jama psychiatry that shows that although a third of americans suffer from some type of alcohol abuse, only about 20 actually seek treatment. Joining us in the studio from Summit Behavioral Health are dr. William stanley, the medical director, jim kane, their c. E. O. , and maria ulmer, whos the executive director of clinical services. Thanks so much for being with us. Doctor, lets start with you. Why is that so many people dont seek treatment when they drink on a regular basis or maybe drink too heavily on a regular basis . I think when we start looking at alcohol in the context of society today, it is socially acceptable to some degree. However, at the same time, people arent aware of their tolerance levels and sometimes becomes more of an issue where encumbered, they know that the
Thanks so much for being with us. Doctor, lets start with you. Why is that so many people dont seek treatment when they drink on a regular basis or maybe drink too heavily on a regular basis . I think when we start looking at alcohol in the context of society today, it is socially acceptable to some degree. However, at the same time, people arent aware of their tolerance levels and sometimes becomes more of an issue where they know theyre becoming encumbered, they know that theyre becoming impaired, but they dont want to recognize or accept that. So at what point theres the big question. At what point is it encumbering on a person . Does it sneak up or do they just wake up one day and say, all right, todays the day . Or is it just little incremental steps, shades of gray, and do they not realize and thats the problem . Very well. To a large point, it is incremental shades of gray. Dont want to accept that it is a problem, and they will go ahead and, whatever their tolerance level, cont
Country cannot arrest itself out of the epidemic. Instead of prosecuting abuser, they are encouraged to call police and the officers will get them into rehab. If an addict comes to the Police Station with their drugs or paraphernalia and asks for help, we do not arrest them. We facilitate them into treatment. Reporter the Gloucester Police chief says the Police Department is a safe haven and his approach appears to be working. We think its been successful. Weve had 150 people placed into treatment in the last 95 days. Ernie linda, we know its a huge problem. Tell us about gloucester. How is that working . Reporter its going really well for them. We were talking about as far as relapsing. Because many times many users end up relapsing. The police chief says if they relapse, they come back to the Police Department. They get them back into rehab. His philosophy is this. The drug dealers, theyre there. We can always arrest them. If you dont deal with the users and get them off the stuff, t