Maine’s Substance Abuse Services Report Card

The Maine Substance Abuse Services Commission recently released the first ever  report card that measures how well a state is doing in addressing alcohol and drug prevention, treatment and recovery related issues and needs. The report card was modeled after Join Together’s “Blueprint for the States: Policies to Improve the Ways States Organized and Deliver Alcohol and Drug Prevention and Treatment,” a 2006 report.

The report card uses four categories, the scores of which are used as a baseline for biennial review. Background regarding each score and recommendations for improvement are included in the report. Here are some of the key findings from the report card:

Leadership/Structure and Sustainability Grade: C
Recommendation – Maine needs to ensure that substance abuse is seen as a public health issue and all agencies and organizations that are impacted are engaged in a statewide strategy to address the challenges specifically the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Departments of Correction, Education and Public Safety.

Resources Grade: C
Recommendations – Maine needs to reinstate drug courts and juvenile services for youth to intervene with high-risk young people before they create additional drains on local, county, and state law enforcement, corrections, and social service agency budgets.

Prescription Monitoring Program is an asset which supports efforts to reduce misuse and diversion of prescription drugs; use of this system should be mandatory.

Legislative Initiatives Grade: C
Recommendation – Maine needs to complete a comprehensive analysis of the state alcohol control and licensing system to fully understand how current practices address the state’s interest in balancing the availability of alcoholic beverages with the need for public safety and health.

Measurement and Accountability Grade: B
Recommendation – Provide state officials and policy makers with educational training on substance abuse as a disease and a public health issue that has real human and fiscal costs.

The report also called for the state to develop a recovery-oriented system of care, and to increase the access to treatment through insurance coverage.

In 2005, the Maine Office of Substance Abuse estimated that the cost of substance abuse in Maine was at $898.4 million or $682 for every resident in that year alone. It is most likely higher in 2010. While these grades aren’t too bad to start off with, there is much more work to be done. The Maine Substance Abuse Services Commission is hoping to implement the recommendations in the report in order to address the alcohol and drug issues that all Mainers are paying for.

View a copy of the Report Card

Mainers: Help Crossroads for Women Win a $5,000 Grant from Bangor Savings Bank

Bangor Savings Bank is looking for input from the community to decide which nonprofits they will award grants to in 2010. Voting started this week! The organization in each region that earns the most votes, listed or write-in, will be awarded a $5,000 grant, and the top 20 write-in winners will each be awarded a $1,000 grant (at least 2 in each region).

In early March, Bangor Savings Bank Foundation will give a total of $100,000 to 68 local non-profit organizations as part of their Community Matter More program.

Please Vote Here and write in Crossroads for Women in both the Greater Portland/Lewiston/Auburn and York County categories.

Crossroads for Women addresses substance abuse and mental health so that women and their families can lead healthy lives. Any extra grant money we get will help support our work with women in treatment and recovery!

Thank you for your support.

Find out more about the Community Matters More program

Managing the Emotional Aspect of Pain

A recent article found on CNN.com talked about how living with chronic pain can hurt personal relationships. Michael E. Geisser, a professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at the University of Michigan, states in the article, “It has been shown that relationships in which one partner has chronic pain tend to be more strained, have more marital distress, more conflict, and a greater likelihood for divorce.”

Those living with chronic pain know how truly debilitating it can be. It can keep you from doing simple things like going to the grocery store, playing with your kids, going to a social event or even working. It is not uncommon for emotional health problems, like depression or anxiety, to accompany physical pain.

In addition, the reality for a number of people is that addiction to the prescribed medications to treat chronic pain can occur. The stress of the chronic pain itself can lead many sufferers to abuse alcohol and/or drugs to help mask the physical and emotional pain.

Crossroads for Women (Maine) believes that effective pain management should take a holistic approach, addressing mind, body and spirit. At Kennebunk Counseling Center, we work with our clients’ pain management specialist to coordinate a treatment plan tailored to her specific and unique needs. This can mean working one-on-one with one of our licensed counselors, coming in with your spouse for couples counseling, or attending a group therapy session with other women in similar situations. For more information, call 207.467.3369.

Educated, Professional Women More Likely to Drink Heavily

A recent study coming out of England shows that highly educated, professional women are more likely to drink heavily. According to researchers from the University of Lancaster, the higher the household income, the higher the alcohol consumption among women.

The study looked at female alcohol consumption in the U.K. and Denmark, where excessive drinking is common. While they found a decline in binge drinking by women in these countries since 2000, there has been an increase in “hidden forms of drinking” such as home drinking and wine drinking into middle age.

So, why are these women drinking more? The authors of the study argue that part of the problem is Britain’s approval of “civilized” European-style drinking at home. While the government has looked down upon excessive drinking by its youth and the working class, it has essentially ignored, and possibly validated, drinking by the middle aged and middle class.

This claim could be true in America as well. Past studies have shown an increase in the amount of middle aged women binge drinking. As for professional women, substance abuse is twice as likely among attorneys as compared to the general population. And, tragic cases like Diane Schuler have shown us that it’s not always the poor, lower class, single mom that gets into trouble with excessive drinking and drugs.

Alcohol abuse and misuse doesn’t discriminate. Period. Crossroads for Women holds an outpatient therapy group specifically for professional women in recovery. Find out more about the Professional Women’s Recovery Group and other therapy groups being offered in Maine (PDF)

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Study: Female Professionals More Likely to Be Problem Drinkers
Professional Women More Likely to Be Heavy Drinkers, European Study Find