CD program works on addictions

Here are some unsettling facts about Wahkiakum County’s population: The county’s population hovers around 4,000 people and, “A full 10 percent can probably be classified as chemically dependent, or chemical abusers,” said Larry Tedder, lead counselor at Wahkiakum Chemical Dependency Services in Cathlamet.

Statistics show the 10 percent figure is representative of the statewide average for drug abuse. In Wahkiakum that chemical abuse is growing in the middle-age population.

“I’d say more men than women are abusing drugs in this county,” Tedder said.

Alcohol and marijuana are just a few of the drugs used by Wahkiakum addicts. “There’s also a significant showing of methamphetamine use, especially among younger people,” Tedder said.

Heroin is less of a problem, but the numbers go back up when one adds in the abuse of, and dependency on, prescription drugs like the narcotic analgesic pain relievers oxycodone and oxycontin.

“A lot of people overdose on these kind of prescription drugs not knowing they're addictive and can cause serious liver damage,” Tedder said.

People use chemical agents to feel better and once they find a drug that works they’re motivated to continue using the drug.

Since the 1950s “Beat Generation,” casual drug use has grown in America. The use of pot, cocaine and ecstasy has become commonplace, Tedder said. Today these “club drugs” are often a first step to drug abuse or addiction.

Doctors inadvertently add to the problem of chemical dependency as well. Readily available and easily abused prescription drugs like Prozac often create a false sense of drug safety: If the doctor prescribed it, it must be “OK”.

Medical studies show it is easy to become chemically dependent and develop a chronic drug habit, a condition the user will have for the rest of his or her life.

“What the drugs do,” Tedder said, “is, over time, they permanently alter areas of the brain that contribute to the person’s compulsive behavior.”

The National Institute on Drug Abuse defines addiction as a compulsive pattern of abuse of a euphoric substance, combined with the person’s inability to reliably predict the outcome of their behavior once the drug is ingested.

People with chemical dependencies seem to have more than their share of depression, anxiety, trauma and physical accidents.

And there is no one determining factor in who becomes a drug addict, but the data shows chemical dependencies can run in families and the addiction can happen at the genetic level. For instance, Type 1 alcoholism can be passed from mother or father to son or daughter. Type 2 alcoholism is the more deleterious of the two and only passes from the father to son.

Tedder said that about 80 percent of the folks he sees at the Wahkiakum County Chemical Dependency Program are court ordered evaluations.

“Often people can’t recognize they are in a descending cycle of drug abuse,” Tedder said, “and that the drugs are creating their problems and depression.”

The result is that the person uses still more drugs to escape the pain and trauma.

The bad new is that drug addiction can’t be cured, but the good news is that it can be treated.

“That’s were we come in,” Tedder said. “The County’s Chemical Dependency program is anonymous and we teach differing methods for understanding and coping with the disease.”

The Wahkiakum Chemical Dependency Program also provides assessment services for both adults and adolescents to help establish a plan to recover.

For information call the Wahkiakum County Chemical Dependency Program Monday through Friday at 360-795-8630.