![]() ![]() ![]() It's a time marked by uncertainties and loneliness, which Warren said could bring on some of the emotions-boredom, fear, anxiety, and depression-that often trigger people to use and abuse drugs and alcohol. Americans are being encouraged to self-isolate and stay home as much as possible, distancing even from family and close friends. People worldwide have lost wages, work hours, or their jobs entirely, and longstanding routines have been broken. Nearly 80 percent of the county's behavioral health services are now being provided virtually, Warren said, and the transition, for the most part, was smooth.īut Warren still worries about accessibility at a time when it's more important than ever to have support. ![]() Group meetings and therapy sessions, court-mandated addiction programs, and DUI programs are by and large being held via Zoom, and SLO County Behavioral Health is leaning on telehealth and telepsychiatry for one-on-one counseling and appointments. For now, the COVID-19 pandemic is changing the way addiction treatment is conducted on the Central Coast. Group therapy allows people to feel connected."īut with a statewide shelter-at-home order in place and social distancing measures being encouraged, connecting face to face has become a challenge for everyone. "And most people who have hit bottom or have had some sort of extremely negative impact because of their substance use can be ostracized by their family or their social group or their work group, and they feel isolated. "People like to know they're not alone," said Frank Warren, coordinator of the Mental Health Services Act for the SLO County Behavioral Health Department. Support groups and group therapy play an important role in treating a number of mental and behavioral health issues, but nowhere are those strategies more prevalent than in addiction and substance-abuse treatment programs.įrom SLO County's court-ordered and voluntary addiction programs, to private in-patient rehab centers, to Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, the sharing of lived experiences among nonjudgmental peers-the people who've been there and done that-is a reoccurring theme. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |