College students who require treatment for substance-abuse disorders are not only faced with the daunting task of recovery but also with the reintegration into college life.
Although there is a brand new program that will soon begin showing up on college campuses throughout the United States to assist young people who are trying to recover and aid those who wish to achieve sobriety.
The Collegiate Recovery Communities was born from a program at Texas Tech University and now has similar programs at a number of U.S. universities. The program is a peer-based, on-campus model aiming to promote a culture of recovery. There is not much to say about how exactly these programs can help drug-addicted students however data so far suggest students benefit from the support.
There is growing interest in how to help both high school and college students continue on with their education after substance-abuse treatment, said Alexandre B. Laudet, the director of the National Development and Research Institutes in New York:
“It’s believed that a lot of young people may be forgoing their education because they are afraid it will jeopardize their sobriety…There is a shocking lack of recovery support. And, in the absence of symptom management, the problem is going to start again…If we can show…work to keep kids in college and sober, everybody wins…They are going to be role models in society, and they are going to give back to their colleges.”
It is too soon to tell whether the programs curb relapse rates, which are typically high in college-age students. Laudet’s study showed many of the students in the programs had a history of serious substance abuse and emotional problems. But more than half of the students said they would not have enrolled in their particular college if it had not had a recovery program.
When you learn how to recognize the signs of drug addiction, you will be in a position to help a loved one or a friend at school seek much-needed help.