Addiction Treatments in the US and Afghanistan - Essay Sample

Addiction is a complex condition that affects people globally and is characterized by the use of substances compulsively even when if it has harmful consequences. People were suffering from addiction use substances such as drugs, alcohol, or other substances that affect their normal functioning. People suffering from addiction need to be a treatment to avoid adverse effects, which may sometimes lead to death. Drug addiction can be treated through medication, counseling, skills training, and long-term follow-up aimed at preventing addiction relapse. This paper discusses the similarities and differences in treatment of addiction in the US and Afghanistan, the religious concept of addiction between the two countries, chronic war ad loss, political, economic upheavals, and specific health problems.

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In the treatment of addiction, both US and Afghanistan have some similarities and differences. One of the similarities in the treatment of addiction between the US and Afghanistan is that it is ignored, and the people with the disorder are stigmatized. In Afghanistan, the increase in cases of drug addiction that are untreated is attributed to the failure of the government, the medical professionals, and society. It is estimated that 40.3 million people in the United States have substance use disorder.

These people have other diseases, such as cancer and diabetes. The amount of money spent in treating addiction is far less than what is spent on other diseases, yet addiction is a disease that affects a significant percentage of Americans; thus should be given as much attention and allocation of funds just like other diseases. This is worse in Afghanistan, where the centers for drug addiction treatment are less. A study carried out revealed that only ten percent of the people who use drugs could access treatment, which is disturbing since 90 percent of the users said that they really needed the treatment (United Nations, 2020). This, therefore, shows that majority of the people suffering from drug addiction in Afghanistan, even when in need of treatment, they are unable to access treatment.

Religious beliefs play a role in drug addiction and addiction treatment in both the United States and Afghanistan. Although America has strived to save the lives of those struggling with addiction through medicine and psychological approaches, the rescue, and recovery of those affected are affected by their religious beliefs (Grim & Grim, 2019). There are people who emphasize spirituality during counseling and treatment as they believe the recovery journey should involve body, mind, and spirit.

Religion does prevent not only alcohol addiction but also prevents relapse. Children and youths who have spiritual and religious support are less likely to become addicted as compared to those who have no religious or spiritual support. The connection between religion and spirituality has also been established as spiritual programs have been found more effective in mitigating addiction relapse as compared to other approaches such as medication.

Faith does not only help in the prevention of drug use but also helps in helping those who already suffer addiction. The religious beliefs discourage people from consumption of alcohol, therefore helping in the reduction of drug addiction prevalence (Grim & Grim, 2019). Additionally, people who are spiritually educated during treatment keep off from the drugs at least for a year of follow-up. Also, youths and adults who are involved in religious activities are able to avoid the drugs as compared to other people as they value their spirituality; therefore, even when faced with stressors, they are resilient enough to avoid the temptation of alcohol.

Many Native Americans have suffered over the years from the conflict between the United States and Afghanistan. The forms of suffering include American soldiers dying in the war, where they leave their young families without anyone to take care of their young children. Many Americans have lost their lives in the Afghanistan war, which is a loss to the American people. Alive citizens contribute to the development of the country, and therefore the ones who died during the war stopped contributing towards the development of the country. Native Americans lose their most hardworking and productive members of society, which is a huge loss.

Native Americans have also suffered financial loss from the costs that the state has incurred in the war. The resources could have been spent on other purposes that benefit the people. The Afghanistan war has been happening at a time when many Americans have been suffering, including being unable to access medical services because of the lack of resources. The resources could have been used for other purposes that solve the challenges affecting the people. The resources spent were mainly borrowed money that will be paid by Americans. The loans are burdening Americans, and if the resources could have been invested, many Americans could have gotten employment opportunities, thus avoided the unemployment challenge that continues to affect many Americans.

Pre-employment drug testing has become popular in the US, where employers do drug testing on their employees when being hired to ensure that the hired employees do not have a history of drug abuse, which might affect their productivity. Candidates that have a drug history have fewer chances of being hired because of the organization's fear of low productivity and the ability of the person to influence other people at the workplace to start using drugs (Trondsen, 2019). There are other risks associated with the failure to do drug testing where the organizations risk incurring huge costs sustaining the health of the employees because of the health risks of the people that abuse drugs. The paper discusses how Pre-employment drug testing affects the organization.

There are arguments that Pre-employment drug testing reduces the turnover of the organization, especially for companies that hire frequently. The reduction in turnover is because of the costs incurred to do drug testing whenever the organization is hiring new employees (Trondsen, 2019). Companies are forced to budget resources to be incurred in drug testing. The costs incurred in drug testing reduces the turnover of the organization because the resources spent in drug testing are not recovered back to the organization. Employers can do several tests on different people during employment; hence some costs that the company incurs might not help the organization in the long run when the candidate is not hired.

Different organizations have different policies when hiring new employees that have a history of drug abuse. There are employees that know how to balance their drug use and work while others may have a drug history, but they reformed; hence the history might deny them the opportunity to get hired (Trondsen, 2019). The influence of drug history when hiring new employees might influence the organization to hire employees without proper skills and qualifications and leave out candidates with skills and experience because of their drug history. Organizations need to have policies that enable them to hire the best-suited candidates to fill the vacant position.

There are organizations that have policies of random drug tests while they are working for the organization. The random test creates an environment of lack of certainty among the employees that use the drugs not banned; laws and policies keep on changing; therefore, such employees don't know their fate once the drug test is done (DiThomas, 2018). The employees have low productivity levels because they feel that they are likely to be discriminated against based on drug test results, including losing their jobs. There are employees hired with fewer drug levels depending on the policy of the organizations. Such employees have low productivity because of the uncertainty leading to low turnover.

Organizations also benefit from Pre-employment drug testing, where there is a reduction in health insurance expenses and employee compensation due to drug-related injuries. The employees that get hired by the organization have higher productivity because of the good environment provided working with sober employees (DiThomas, 2018). Other employees do not have a fear of other colleagues that they work with. Organizations are justified to conduct drug testing in a creative conducive working environment for all the employees. Organizations aim at reducing employee absenteeism, which is attributed to drug abuse. Pre-employment drug testing does not violate the rights of people; organizations have different reasons why they do the testing for their benefits to ensure they achieve their goals.

Despite knowing the effect that alcohol is causing to an individual, individuals who have been addicted to alcohol do resist undergoing treatment. This is because the drug zone has become their comfort zone. This can lead to a great effect on both the family and society (Liu et al. 2020). The addict can use family resources in acquiring such drugs, thus leading to a great decline in family resources. Also, addiction can ruin the relationship in the family, friendship, or even destroying one career. Since you can't watch your friend battle alcohol addiction, it is of importance you encourage them to undergo medical treatment in order for him or her to come out of such a situation.

These can only be attained by taking the individual to a rehab center. Since most of the addicts do resist such advice, it is of importance to assure them support while in the rehabilitation center and after them being discharged from the center (Liu et al. 2020). The support can either be financial support, for example, settling the hospital bill or even, according to them, advise support after being discharged from the rehab. If the situation remains hopeless and helpless and the addict remains resisting to undergo treatment, involuntary admission to rehab remains to be the only left option. The patient is put in such facilities under the court order.

In conclusion, the assessment indicated that the patient has different disorders; hence the treatment must be handled by professionals with experience. The patient is willing to get treatment support from family members who will play a critical role in helping the patient live a sober life after the treatment. The patient will have to change friends and the environment after recovery to avoid returning to drug abuse again.

References

Grim, B. J., & Grim, M. E. (2019). Belief, behavior, and belonging: How faith is indispensable in preventing and recovering from substance abuse. Journal of religion and health, 58(5), 1713-1750.

United Nations. (, 2020). UNODC Reports Major and Growing Drug Abuse in Afghanistan. United Nations: Office on Drugs and Crime. Retrieved 9 December 2020, from https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/press/releases/2010/June/unodc-reports-major-and-growing-drug-abuse-in-afghanistan.html.

DiThomas, M. (2018). Advantages and Disadvantages of Workplace Drug Testing. SafeWork Laboratories. Retrieved 19 May 2020, from https://safeworklaboratories.com.au/advantages-disadvantages-workplace-drug-testing/.

Trondsen, T. (2019). 3 Ways Pre-Employment Drug Testing Reduces Employee Turnover. Workplacesafetyscreenings.com. Retrieved 19 May 2020, from https://www.workplacesafetyscreenings.com/blog/3-ways-pre-employment-drug-testing-reduces-employee-turnover.

Liu, L., Chui, W. H., Deng, Y., & Li, H. (2020). Dealing with resistance: Working with involuntary clients in community-based drug treatment programs. Australian Social Work, 73(3), 309-320.