Saturday, August 26, 2017

DOT Supervisor Training in Reasonable Suspicion: Don't Get Confused by Terminology

alcoholic employees can't drink safely ever again and be DOT drivers
"I hope above hope I can drink again.
I just need to deal with my depression, and I'm set." NOPE!
If you are new to education about substance abuse, the first think you need to know and teach others (if you are a DOT educator) is that alcoholism, drug addictions, and addictive disease are generally interchangeable terms. 

Don't get confused by the terminology. It will not be that important.

Realize however that medical professionals are continually debating the mostly settled science on the cause of alcoholism, and the psychiatric community especially, has a lot to lose by the growing end of psychiatric treatment for alcoholism -- in other words treating alcoholism as a mental disorder. Those days are done. It's nearly all about genetics.

By the way, alcoholics and drug addicts absolutely love to hear that their addiction is a psychiatric based illness. Do you know why? After all, who wants to think of themselves as psychiatric ill?

Well, if you
think alcoholism or addiction is a psychiatric problem, then you have hope of using again! You simply need to treat your psychiatric problem successfully, right. This is completely bogus. This however, is why so many millions of addicts die of their illness. They psychiatric message is KILLING THEM.

When alcoholics learn their illness is bio-genic and they can never, ever drink alcohol safely, all hope is lost for drinking alcohol again. See the difference? Now you must get angry, grieve, but face the truth and do what it takes to quit consuming beverage alcohol and other psycho-active substances that affect the mood. Any less is A RELAPSE brother!

Many alcoholics have used other drugs, legally prescribed or not, that are addictive. DOT supervisor training has to spend a little bit of time on this reality. Addictive disease or chemical dependency are terms used to help the public understand the clinical nature of addiction. They are helpful in reducing stigma. But terms like "chemical dependency" are particularly popular among the psychiatric community, and especially in California where a heavy mental health model to explain addition still lingers like deadly cyanide gas for unwitting patients who are addicts seeking treatment there.

Addiction is a disease process and it is primary.  Patients are therefore taught to manage their disease in order to prevent relapse in the same way diabetics are taught to manage their illness.  Use of alcohol or drugs begins with experimentation or peer pressure for almost every drinker.  Physiologic susceptibility determines the progression of the disease. This heavily influenced by genetics, but other factors can influence severity and course of the disease.

Alcoholism declared a disease in 1957 by the American Medical Association.

Alcoholism declared a disease in 1956 by the World Health Organization.

Research demonstrates most people believe alcoholism (addiction) to be a disease, however, this belief does not contribute easily to self-diagnosis because of denial.  Most people attempt to define alcoholism by behaviors (how much one drinks, when, or what) rather than medical, objective symptoms. Changing this view is key to intervention and reducing stigma.

Some occupations are characterized by more frequent opportunities to use alcohol socially or without observation.  Higher rates of alcoholism may therefore be found among a workforce that are predominantly male, or in occupations such as traveling sales, etc. (NIAA Research) The opportunity to tax one’s susceptibility increases one’s risk and the speed of onset for the illness. Train your supervisors in drug and alcohol education for the DOT

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