Substance use disorders, substance abuse, or SUDs are complex and intricate problems, like drug addiction and alcoholism. Scientists and researchers think that SUDs are long-term illnesses and a person’s dependence on drugs and alcohol is due to problems like diabetes, high blood pressure, or asthma. A person who has developed SUDs can become dangerous and even compulsive at times. Substance abuse can affect everyone and anyone. Its causes are not yet properly known although it is said that genetics can be a cause for a person developing it. An individual’s psychological trait, the amount of stress he or she goes through, and the environment play a major role in their life. A person dealing with these become highly dependent on certain substances and a number of changes occur in their brain. This is when they develop SUDs (Rush, 2003).
When the matter of substance abuse is considered, special concerns dealing with our ethics come into play keeping the matter of providing assistance and other services to the people in our minds. It is better for individuals to know whether a person has this disorder or not so that they can take proper actions about it. There are two main factors concerning substance-related disorders, which highlight the issue of ethics when we think about human-related services and health care provisions. The first is that the people who suffer from various substance abuse are not always willing to admit their behavior. Some of them are not able to do so. Secondly, substance abuse creates a negative impact on not only an individual but also people who are significant to them and even society. The sufferers are often prodded, coerced, and even poked at making them examine themselves and obtain proper treatment based on the assessment made. This is where their ethical plights come into play (Koocher, 2005).
The issues that have to be dealt with are more important than mandating services of substance abuse for the patients who require assistance and treatment. People suffering from this disease are often referred for testing by special medical programs, various schools, and offices, and by our judicial system. A number of doctors who deal with the mental health of their patients understand that testing the referred people is required. These people are either suffering from depression, anxiety, or have family problems. Once they are admitted into the treatment programs, the doctors need to deal with not only the requirements stated for the patients but have to broaden their area of services and meet the difficult needs of the patients, their families, and even society. We need to be aware of the ethical dilemmas, which an individual may face when his addiction is being assessed so that he receives proper services (Sims, 2005).
In order to mandate treatment of substance abuse in our workplace, we need to keep certain things in mind. We should completely understand the circumstances leading to the contract of the treatment and how it will influence the relationship shared by the doctor and his patient. The clients sometimes succumb under the pressure of the treatment and anger and hatred towards their doctors start to build up in them. The doctors should understand that the clients are under tremendous pressure and handle them effectively. There should not be any conflicts among the interests of the doctors. They should be aware of their thoughts and take care of the client’s needs. They should be able to face the circumstances and realities faced by their clients in their daily life and consider their opinion. They should also listen to the patient’s view about personal mental health and how it is affecting life. This helps to devise a better treatment program for the patients (Grella, 2008).
The doctors also need to determine whether the patients have actually volunteered for the treatment or have been forced into it, as they are afraid of losing their job or having to pay official penalties. If they have been forced to volunteer, they may not be ready for the treatment. The various policies of the treatment offered should be properly checked so as to determine that the restrictions made on the clients are unnecessary or not and do not curb the liberties of a person. The focus of the programs and that of the doctors should be on the needs of the clients so that they are provided with proper and effective treatment. When the treatment of substance abuse is mandated, the issues regarding ethics, which arises from it, are rather complex, and thus, the clients need to obtain proper counseling for it. Their associates can offer guidance to them and the clients need to come out with their problems. The guidelines and principles that the clients need to follow should as given by well-known professionals who understand what they are dealing with. As they are experienced, they will be able to understand the client’s unstated needs too. If a client has been forced into obtaining treatment, he or she may be afraid of being disrespected by others. This might cause them to deny that they are suffering from substance abuse. Thus, it is up to the doctors to make the clients aware of the impact which their substance abuse is having on his or hers everyday life (Swanson, 2003).
As per the judicial system, it has been made mandatory for those patients who have been diagnosed with SUDs to get proper treatment to cure their disease. However, we do not know a great deal about the characteristic features of this disease. The patients should also know about the perceptions involved with the treatment before taking it, differences among the pre-treatment characters, and the treatment should be such that they are satisfied with it. The patients who have been mandated may have a minor and not very intense clinical profile at the beginning of the treatment. However, this does not explain their outcome, which has been observed to be better and was present due to the same gains obtained from therapy by them during their treatment (Grella, 2008).
The perceptions of this treatment and the satisfaction obtained from it are enormous and more and more people are taking the treatment. Those who have been diagnosed with SUDs have a huge opportunity to benefit from and access the treatment under the current judicial system. It is difficult to work with people suffering from substance abuse and thus we need to create a mandated treatment setting in our workplace. If our colleagues have this illness, we cannot excuse them for having bad behavior towards us or any other person. Although we know that it is not the person’s fault for developing the disease, it is his or her responsible for obtaining proper treatment for it. Thus, it is better to use this form of treatment for the time being. On a personal note, I would surely work in a mandated treatment setting because no matter how difficult it is the fact remains that this process is workable and results are there as evidence (Galanter, 2008).
References
- Galanter, Marc & Herbert D. Kleber; 2008; The American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook of Substance Abuse Treatment; American Psychiatric Pub
- Grella, Christine E, Lisa Greenwell, Michael Prendergast, Stanley Sacks, Gerald Melnick; 2008; Diagnostic profiles of offenders in substance abuse treatment programs; Behavioral Sciences & the Law; 26, 4, 369-388; John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
- Koocher, Gerald P, John C. Norcross, Sam S. Hill; 2005; Psychologists’ Desk Reference; Oxford University Press US
- Rush, Brian R & T. Cameron Wild; 2003; Substance abuse treatment and pressures from the criminal justice system: data from a provincial client monitoring system. Addiction; 98, 8, 1119-1128; Health Systems Research and Consulting Unit, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, ; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, ; Department of Public Health Sciences and Centre for Health Promotion Studies, University of Albertaand ; Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada
- Sims, Barbara; 2005; Substance Abuse Treatment with Correctional Clients: Practical Implications for Institutional and Community Settings; Haworth Press
- Swanson, Jeffrey W, Marvin S. Swartz, Eric B. Elbogen, H. Ryan Wagner, Barbara J. Burns; 2003; Effects of involuntary outpatient commitment on subjective quality of life in persons with severe mental illness. Behavioral Sciences & the Law; 21, 4, 473-491; Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Box 3071, Brightleaf Square Suite 23-A, Durham, NC 27710, U.S.A