Essay Sample on Substance Abuse: Impacts on Individuals, Families, and Communities

Introduction

Substance abuse or drug addiction is one of the major problems among teenagers and adults alike, causing significant impacts on individuals and families, as well as their communities. The consequences of drug addiction are cumulating and often lead to costly mental, physical, social, and health problems to the abusers and the people around them. Struggling with substance abuse is not a sign of weakness or a character flaw, and may sometimes require not only an individual's willpower but also the inputs of experts and the loved ones to overcome the problem. Essentially, continuous use of certain drugs usually alters the brain's function, therefore, making sobriety seem unachievable. Even so, there are various treatment options for people struggling with substance abuse; they just need to acknowledge that they have a problem and decide to change. One of these approaches is SMART Recovery, which integrates cognitive-behavioral principles and motivational enhancement. This option is more rigorous in approach and is usually preferred because of easy implementation steps, limited cons as well as limited policy, ethical, or legal implications.

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Overview of SMART Recovery

SMART Recovery is a self-empowerment program that is usually used to help people with behavioral disorders and addiction to substance use. It is always an excellent approach for people who have recognized that substance abuse has become a problem in their lives and need a change in order to improve the quality of their lives. According to Horvath and Yeterian (2012), the protocol for SMART Recovery for change usually incorporates motivational enhancement with cognitive-behavioral principles and strategies for transformation. It teaches individuals struggling from substance abuse ways to control their addictive behaviors by focusing on their underlying thoughts and feelings. They develop long term skills that can help them in managing unwanted urges and cravings for drugs to prevent relapse. SMART Recovery approach also shares certain principles with 12-step groups, which include mutual support, confidentiality, and accessibility; however, unlike these AA programs, SMART does not require addicts to admit feebleness to their habit. It is a self-empowering program which links participants to a worldwide network of help, anytime they may be willing to get involved.

According to research studies, SMART Recovery program uses strategies that are more rigorous compared to the 12 step groups approach to tackle all the addictive behaviors in patients (O'Sullivan, Blum, Watts, & Bates, 2015). However, the choice and the use of these strategies are usually based on the aspect of addiction an individual is experiencing. The choice can be based on the etiological factors relating to the emergence and the maintenance of addictive behaviors in a person, and in some cases, the choice is based on the overall applicability of these strategies as supported by research outcomes in past addiction treatments. For example, in the short run, addictive behaviors emanating from drug or alcohol abuse often produce certain changes that can be impactful, therefore, identifying these consequences at this stage is critical in developing more adaptive alternatives. Ideally, all these strategies are adapted from various addiction treatment interventions which are designed to assist participants in confronting their struggle with substance abuse, and significantly reduce their appeal for or engagement in negative addictive behaviors.

Implementation of SMART Recovery Approach

In contrast to 12 step groups and other programs, the implementation of SMART Recovery program is simple as it follows fewer and well-defined processes, which makes it safer for participants in its standardized and facilitated approach to overcoming addictive behaviors. The implementation process involves trained volunteers whose main focus is to help willing participants identify problems that require immediate attention by examining different behaviors related to substance abuse. Also, through the volunteers' guidance, the patients are taught valuable lessons on self-reliance, which can be effective in controlling their addictive behaviors. Overall, these skills are based on the motivational enhancement and cognitive-behavioral techniques and follow a four-point process which includes developing and maintaining motivating, dealing with impulses, managing the underlying thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and preventing relapse by living a balanced life (Hester, Lenberg, Campbell, & Delaney, 2013).

The first step of the SMART Recovery four-pint process is for trained volunteers to help participants build and maintain motivation for a desired positive outcome. Here, with the help of the volunteers, participants can learn values and the decisional balance exercises that could assist them in weighing the pros and cons of changing, and the cost and benefits of using as opposed to being sober. The participants need to recognize by themselves that having the will to stay sober is an important aspect in eliminating addictive behaviors and having a long-lasting recovery.

The second point in the SMART Recovery process is copying with the continuous desires to use. Here, volunteers need to provide the participants with a brief discussion on the relationship between impulses and sobriety, as well as relapses. Participants, in turn, learn how to self-monitor their desires to use by recording factors such as time, date, duration, and the intensity of the urge (Hester et al., 2013). They may also note down the circumstances that triggered the desire, how they were able to deal with it, and their general feeling on how they handled the situation. With these pieces of data, participants may be able to obtain graphic feedback on intensity, frequency, and the duration of their urges over time which can help them know whether they are positively progressing or not. For instance, if the data does not indicate any significant progress in terms of the reduction in intensity, frequency, or duration of impulses, then a new technique can be required. In some cases, users may be encouraged to adopt exercises that can help them identify and manage various triggers prior to their desires to use. Through interactions, the users can identify strategies others have found helpful in dealing with such triggers. Moreover, with sufficient information, participants can learn how to identify and overcome irrational beliefs about desires to use.

The third point in the SMART Recovery handbook is managing one's underlying thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in a constructive way without engaging in addictive behaviors. Here, volunteers guide users to avoid relapses by personally examining and identifying their underlying thoughts, behaviors, and feelings that may eventually lead them to substance use and abuse (MacGregor & Herring, 2010). The participants are encouraged to learn self-acceptance and are told that it is usually normal to feel uncertain about themselves after they start using. They also learn that it is normal to feel conflicted with oneself and how to manage such feeling as depression, which may be impactful in their lives. Overall, the exercises encouraged in these steps is problem-solving, unconditional self-acceptance, and the ABCs of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy.

The last stage in the SMART Recovery process is cultivating a lifestyle balance with embedded rewards, either long term or short term, to prevent sudden relapses. In this point, the trained volunteers should encourage the participants to take account of everything they feel is important to them. They should be taught how to live a sober life, which is critical for a successful recovery. Specifically, the participants should focus on five important interventions to turn their life around. To begin with, they should focus on eating the right diet and sleeping enough to be able to regain their health. Secondly, those users with a high level of trait anxiety or those that are often sensitive to certain situations should focus on relaxation to avoid relapse. Thirdly, participants should also focus on setting short term and long term goals that are timed, measurable, realistic, specific, and achievable.

Additionally, the participants should identify social and recreational activities which they believe are enjoying, relevant, and rewarding to their endeavor to stay sober. These activities should be consistent with their short term and long term goals, as well as values, and should be able to make their sober life more interesting and rewarding than the substances. Finally, with the help of volunteers, the participants should identify relapse prevention strategies to be to help them combat the random urges that often sprung and interferes with one's sobriety.

Advantages and Limitations of SMART Recovery Approach

The first treatment option for working with people who struggle with substance abuse was Alcoholics Anonymous. However, years after the program was discovered, many issues emerged over the dissatisfaction of the program and its questionable success. A major part of the controversy was how effective the 12-step programs are in reducing addictive behavior among substance users. For instance, many questioned the meager success that came with the program, and as a result, a number of alternatives were developed. Although most of these new approaches have been unable to overcome the limitations of the Alcohol Anonymous program, some of them, such as the SMART Recovery program has been quite successful.

There are several advantages that the SMART Recovery program pose to the participants. One of the advantages of the program is that it allows patients to graduate and not constantly stay in recovery. According to Lavitt (2017), SMART Recovery opens the door to leaving the addictive behavior behind. It provides the participants with the opportunity to decide whether they should abandon the addictive behavior. Essentially, this program treats addiction like a disease that can be combated by scientific approaches; therefore, one cannot be in a state of recovery forever. It gives users the chance to free themselves completely from their troubles caused by continuous substance abuse.

Similarly, the SMART Recovery program allows everyone to participate in the meetings despite not being abstinent (Humphreys & Lembke, 2014). In early programs, the participants had to indicate an absolute desire to stop substance abuse. In fact, programs such as the Alcoholics Anonymous could discourage users from getting involved with other people in a meeting if they abuse any kind of substance in the last 24 hours. For this reason, many people prefer the SMART program since, although being abstinent based, have no obligation to maintain their sobriety within 24 hours of a meeting. They are allowed to participate in any meeting provided they remain undisruptive to others. Additionally, another edge that the SMART Recovery program has over other treatment option is the locus of control. Essentially, the SMART program is a self- empowerment program which teaches participants that no higher power is more effective than personal reliance. The philosophical and the psychological framework of this program assert that it is the participants who must discover and plan out their path to recovery. Through this approach, the SMART program helps the users understand that their road to recovery, as well as their destiny, is entirely upon their will to change. The participants need to develop the will to take the new direction in their lives through building and maintaining motivation.