Alcohol and Drug Rehabilitation Programs in Tennessee

Tennessee is among the states that have the highest rates of ongoing substance abuse in the entire country. This could be attributed to the fact that there are many prescriptions for addictive medications being written on a daily basis. Other people find substances of abuse from other sources, such as on streets and in back alleys.

In many cases, those who receive prescriptions for opioid pain relief medications often find that they are addicted. When they are unable to get their hands on a new prescription, they typically make the transition to other drugs that are readily available and cheaper especially heroin and street-sourced opiates.

Substance Abuse Statistics in Tennessee

Although many states have witnessed a rise in the rates of opioid use disorders and addiction, Tennessee seems to have a higher than normal rate of similar substance abuse among local residents.

In particular, the state has been ranked 2nd among all the 50 United States for the rates of opioid prescriptions being issued per person. This means that physicians and doctors in Tennessee have been prescribing more of these drugs than those in other states.

Opioids, in particular, are dangerous because they are habit forming. In many cases, people who are using these drugs for medical reasons find that they have developed a substance use disorder. Others even end up suffering an overdose especially when they take more of the medications than their doctor recommended. Others still lose their lives from these overdose situations.

In 2014, for instance, Tennessee lost 1,200 lives to the opioid crisis. This number, however, did not take into account the additional people who died as a result of suffering other addiction complications including drug combinations involving opioids and other narcotic substances and from infections contracted from shared needles.

On the other hand, alcohol has also come into the limelight for the issues that it is causing in the state. Today, alcohol is ranked as the most widely used intoxicating and mind altering substance in the United States.

As such, it is relatively easy to obtain and inexpensive especially in comparison with other substances of abuse. Even people who are below the drinking age can access it.

At the moment, it is estimated that more than 9 percent of teens in Tennessee between the ages of 12 and 17 drink alcohol on a regular basis. This accounts to over 50,000 teens. Another study showed that close to 60 percent of the high school students in the state reported that they had consumed alcohol at one point or the other in their lives.

That said, the rates of substance abuse in Tennessee are so high that 11,717 joined addiction treatment and rehabilitation centers in 2010. Of this number, 33 percent were female while the remaining 67 percent were male.

The N-SSATS or the National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services for 2006 also reported that Tennessee had a total of 195 centers providing treatment and rehabilitation services for people with substance use disorders. Of these centers, 75 percent or 147 were private non-profit organizations while 18 percent or 35 facilities were private profit-making organizations.

The same report illustrated an increase in rehab admissions related to drugs only from 18 percent in 1992 to 41 percent in 2006. At the same time, admissions into these facilities for both alcohol and drugs seemed to have decreased to 28 percent in 2006 from 45 percent of all admissions in 1992.

From 2007 to 2008, however, Tennessee was ranked the top state for the non-medical use of pain relief medications by people older than 26. It was also among the leading states for many substance abuse categories including the use of illicit substances (other than cannabis or marijuana) in the past month by people above the age of 12.

While the total national average of people who reported using illicit in the months prior to the survey was at 8 percent, close to the same percentage of people in Tennessee reported that they engaged in similar activity in the last month.

Commonly Abused Substances in Tennessee

Tennessee like the rest of the United States has been struggling with a substance abuse and addiction crisis. This epidemic seems to transcend all boundaries, including age, social and economic background, education level, income, and other criteria.

Consider the following commonly abused substances in Tennessee:

1. Alcohol

4,064 people enrolled into addiction treatment and rehabilitation centers citing an alcohol use disorder as their primary ailment in 2010. At the same time, an additional 4,931 individuals received similar treatment with a secondary drug use disorder over and above their alcohol abuse.

That said, the rates of past year alcohol abuse in the state were ranked among the lowest in the United States across every survey year and for every age group.

2. Cocaine

The same year, however, 1,099 individuals received addiction therapy and rehabilitation for smoking this drug. Similarly, 338 people underwent similar treatment for abusing cocaine through other routes of administration other than smoking.

3. Marijuana

In 2010, 2,041 people checked into Tennessee rehabilitation centers citing marijuana abuse and dependence as their primary issue.

4. Prescription Drugs

Other figures have shown that opioid drugs prescription medications in particular are among the most commonly abused substances by people who enroll into addiction treatment and rehabilitation facilities in Tennessee.

In 2010, for instance, a total of 3,379 people checked into these centers for opioid drugs other than heroin. Of this number, 42.4 percent were female while the remaining 57.6 percent were male.

Statistics on Drug Courts, Fatalities, and Injuries in Tennessee

Substance abuse was the main reason that Tennessee lost 1,035 lives in 2007. The same year, 1,303 people died in motor vehicle accidents while 924 lives were lost to incidents involving firearms. Even so, the rates of death induced by drugs in the state continue exceeding similar rates at the national level.

Addiction Prevention in Tennessee

But how has the state been responding to these trends of substance abuse and addiction among its residents? Essentially, state officials have been striving to keep up with and overcome the opioid epidemic that is sweeping across the United States.

In particular, the state government is now participating with the Department of Health and Human Services in the United States. They have created an addiction prevention program that is aligned with the national campaign termed Healthy People 2020.

The latest objectives for this campaign relating to substance abuse revolves around reducing the rates of addiction for purposes of protecting the quality of life, safety, and health of all people children in particular.

In the same way, the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services in Tennessee is focusing on addiction and mental health disorders as well as their impact and consequences on residents of the state. The department has also been working to improve public awareness on mental health disorders while simultaneously addressing the interrelationship between substance abuse and poor mental health.

Last but not least, the state is trying to work through the opioid crisis by going to the root of the problem. Today, it works with doctors who write prescriptions for opioid pain relief medications one of the main causes of this epidemic. It also provides additional education resources and awareness campaigns designed to help healthcare practitioners understand the effects of these prescriptions.

Further, Tennessee has a database that is used to track the number of prescriptions that every enrolled patient gets. As such, doctors can identify those who might be trying to engage in doctor shopping seeing more than one doctor to get additional prescriptions for opioids that they intend to use for non-medical purposes.

Addiction Treatment in Tennessee

Rehab centers in Tennessee provide a wide variety of treatment and rehabilitation services to those in need. By so doing, they effectively address all the different substance abuse and other related issues that addicts have to struggle with on a daily basis.

These centers offer rehabilitation programs that are designed to suit the needs, requirements, and preferences of their patients. Some, for instance, provide inpatient addiction treatment to help addicts with severe substance use disorders such as those who might have overdosed on drugs and alcohol.

Others have outpatient rehabilitation programs that work best for people who have already undergone addiction treatment on an inpatient or a residential basis but who still require ongoing therapy to help them keep up with their sobriety in recovery.

Rehabilitation is also provided on both a short term and a long term basis. The length of your stay at a rehab center will mostly depend on the severity and duration of your addiction, your age, your preferred substances of abuse, and the existence of other conditions related to your drug and/or alcohol abuse among many other factors.

Overall, you should know that there is help for anyone who is struggling with a substance use disorder in Tennessee in the form of addiction treatment and rehabilitation. As long as you are able to find the right facility for you, you should be able to overcome your addiction and go on to lead a better, healthier, richer lifestyle.