Nature of Addiction
Why can't they just stop?

The Journal of the American Medical Association in 1992, defined alcoholism as a primary, chronic disease with genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations. The disease is often progressive and fatal. It is characterized by continuous or periodic: impaired control over drinking, preoccupation with the drug alcohol, use of alcohol despite adverse consequences, and distortions in thinking, most notably denial. Addiction is the disease process characterized by the continued use of a specific psychoactive substance despite physical, psychological, or social harm. A child of an alcoholic has four times the risk of becoming an alcoholic compared with a child of nonalcoholic parents.

Addiction begins when an individual makes a conscious decision to choose to use alcohol or drugs. Alcohol and drugs interfere with normal brain functioning and continued use has long-term effects on brain metabolism and activity. If there were no long-term changes in the brain due to alcohol or drug use, people would be able to go through withdrawal and be able to stop drinking or using drugs. Unfortunately, the changes that have taken place in the brain make the problem much more complicated.

There are specific parts of the brain that are affected and one significant area that is highly affected regulates judgment and planning. This is obvious to anyone who has observed someone that is drunk or high, but not so obvious when the person is not high. The changes that occur in the brain can turn the use of substances into an addiction that is a chronic and relapsing illness. Once addicted, people suffer from compulsive cravings and usage. Most addicted people cannot stop using alcohol or drugs without significant treatment interventions.

The 1998 Annual Report from Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services (DHFS), Bureau of Substance Abuse Services (BSAS), stresses the importance of providing substance abuse programming and treatment services for women, pregnant women, and women with dependent children. This report further indicated that in 1997, Wisconsin had approximately 96,000 women in need of services, 23,000 in Milwaukee County alone, representing 33% of all substance abusers in the state. Treatment improves the overall condition of women's lives. These 1997 statistics show that among the number of women discharged from substance abuse treatment centers across the state, 50% abstained or reduced usage behavior, 55% improved relationships, and 62% improved their employment status.

The majority of participants involved in Wisconsin Works (W-2) are women. Unlike men, women tend to make a conscious decision to use alcohol or drugs for the first time in direct response to severe emotional pain. Studies consistently indicate that there is an extremely high percentage of addicted women that have long histories of violent abuse and mental illness. Among drug-using women, 70% report having been abused sexually before the age of 16; and more than 80% had at least one parent addicted to alcohol or one or more illicit drugs.

Alcohol is present in more than one-half of all incidents of domestic violence, with women most likely to be battered when both partners have been drinking. A research study by Meta House, a women's treatment facility in Milwaukee, indicated that over 87% of the women in treatment for substance abuse had also experienced severe abuse.

Typically, women who are depressed or suffer from anxiety disorders are at increased risk for drug abuse. A 1996 report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), found that women who experience a major depressive episode, generalized anxiety syndrome, panic attack, or agoraphobia (fear of being in an open space) in the past year are several times more likely to also have been dependent on illicit drugs in the past year.

Specialized substance abuse programs are needed for women. However, these programs are not always available throughout the entire State. The result may be failure upon failure to stop the substance abuse and more indignation from society. Despite the seemingly hopeless situation, thousands of people are integrated into society after being treated for an addiction. It makes sense to identify the problem and provide the necessary treatment so that people can succeed. Early identification and engagement in treatment is imperative to the success of a participant's ability to upwardly progress on the W-2 employment ladder.