New Hampshire Addiction Treatment and Info

New Hampshire has been struggling with high rates of substance abuse and addiction. Although there are several addiction treatment and rehabilitation centers in the state, few people seek help from these facilities.

Addiction in New Hampshire

With more than 1 million residents, the picturesque state of New Hampshire boasts easy access to neighboring Vermont, Massachusetts, and Maine. It also boasts expansive ski lodges as well as the Atlantic Ocean. Visitors and residents here enjoy its hiking trails, beaches, and foliage especially in the fall.

With so much to offer, it comes as a surprise to many that there are people who abuse drugs and drink alcohol excessively in New Hampshire. However, since these substances are widely available across the state, this is not exactly surprising.

By 2015, for instance, the state was ranked among the top 5 in terms of the rates of death involving drug overdose. That year too, more than 26 percent of its residents were enrolled in a professional addiction treatment and rehabilitation program.

In terms of alcohol abuse, 7.2 percent of the residents of New Hampshire above the age of 12 years abused alcohol and developed a substance use disorder as a result in the period between 2014 and 2015. By the end of the study period, 14.5 percent of the state's population were enrolled in an addiction treatment program for abusing this substance.

However, alcohol is not the only substance that has been causing problems in New Hampshire. Consider the following additional statistics about the rates of drug abuse in the state:

• A single day count made in 2015 revealed that 8164 people were in an addiction treatment program in the state - a number that had risen from the 6702 such admissions that were reported in 2013
• Between 2014 and 2015, close to 10 percent of the adolescents in this state abused marijuana
• In 2015, more than 28 percent of all admissions in an addiction treatment program in the state was due to an opioid use disorder
• In 2016, a total of 498 drug overdose situations were reported in New Hampshire
• More than 17 percent of the residents of New Hampshire abuse the age of 12 years abused marijuana or cannabis in 2015
• New Hampshire was ranked in the 2nd place in terms of deaths arising from drug overdoses linked to opioid substances like fentanyl, heroin, and prescription opioid pain relief medications
• The number of deaths linked to fentanyl in this state increased by more than 1600 percent between 2010 and 2015
• The state was ranked in the 1st place in terms of deaths related to fentanyl

Addiction Treatment in New Hampshire

SAMHSA - the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration - reported that the state of New Hampshire had a total of 64 addiction treatment programs in 1992. This number went down to 57 in 2006. Even so, 6234 people were enrolled in these programs in 2010.

The rates of alcohol abuse and addiction in the state, however, been among the highest across the United States starting in 2002 and going forward. This was particularly true in terms of the rates of alcohol abuse in the past year among people between the ages of 18 and 25.

At the same time, the rates of illicit drug abuse and addiction in New Hampshire have bene high for people between the ages of 28 and 25 years as well as for teenagers aged between 12 and 17 years.

Commonly Abused Substances in New Hampshire

The substances that are commonly abused in this state have been varying over the time. However, the following have been consistently reported among people checking into an addiction treatment program in New Hampshire:

1. Alcohol

In 2010, a total of 1636 people were enrolled in an addiction recovery program in the state for abusing alcohol as their primary drug. Another 1166 people received similar treatment services for abusing alcohol with another secondary substance of abuse.

2. Cocaine

The same year, 424 people checked into a drug rehabilitation program for abusing cocaine.

3. Heroin

In 2010 also, 907 residents of New Hampshire were admitted into an addiction treatment and rehabilitator program for abusing heroin. Of this number, 42 percent were female while 58 percent were male. People between the ages of 21 and 25 years comprised the largest population among these addicts.

4. Marijuana

Most of the marijuana that is available in the state has a THC content of more than 22 percent. By 2010, this drug was so widely abused that 26 percent of the residents of New Hampshire reported taking it in the month before a study was conducted that year.

5. Prescription Drugs

Prescription medications, including opioids, were the main reason why most people in New Hampshire sought addiction recovery services. They were closely followed by marijuana and heroin. In 2010, for instance, these prescription medications were responsible for 1146 admissions in drug rehabs across the state.

Drug Related Fatalities and Injuries in New Hampshire

Substance abuse and addiction is a recurring problem in the state, and one that has been causing a wide variety of issues. Consider the following statistics about the effects of drugs in the state:

• In 2009, more than 1400 marijuana plants were seized and eradicated in this state
• In 2007, New Hampshire made a total of 52 arrests linked to intoxicating substances
• In 2007, the state had a total of 7 drug courts
• The same year, close to 46 percent of all the people who were federally sentenced in New Hampshire had committed a drug offense
• Over 50 percent of all the drug offenses that were committed in this state involved crack

In 2008, the state lost 187 lives due to drug abuse and addiction. The same year, 138 people died in motor car accidents while another 78 lost their lives in incidents involving firearms.

Addiction Prevention in New Hampshire

There are several drugs that are commonly abused in New Hampshire. They include fentanyl, methamphetamines, heroin, crack cocaine, marijuana, alcohol, heroin that has been laced with fentanyl, as well as carfentanil - substance that is 100 times as strong as regular fentanyl.

With so many dangerous substances making way across the state and ruining and claiming lives in their wake, New Hampshire has been running several initiatives to reduce the rates of substance abuse and addiction among its residents.

Most of these programs are run under the state Department of Health and Human Services. They are often focused on promoting access to addiction treatment programs for addicts. However, some of them also focus on educating the residents about the various dangers and risks of substance abuse.

However, these are not the only programs in place. The state also has many other agencies and initiatives working to reduce the drug and alcohol use problem that is claiming so many lives. They include:

• 2-1-1 New Hampshire
• New Hampshire Alcoholics Anonymous
• New Hampshire Narcotics Anonymous
• Statewide Addiction Crisis Line

Addiction Treatment in New Hampshire

There are many different types and formats of addiction treatment and rehabilitation available in this state. All these programs are designed in such a way that they can help you overcome your substance use disorder as well as manage any other co-occurring medical and mental health disorders that you may also have been diagnosed with.

Most of them will first ask you to undergo an intake process comprised of a thorough examination or evaluation. The goal of this assessment would be to determine the extent, duration, and severity of your substance use disorder. It would also be used to uncover any signs and symptoms of poor mental health, as well as uncover other co-occurring disorders that you have.

The addiction treatment professionals working at the program you chose will then create a treatment plan for you. They will do so in such a way that this plan is highly individualized, unique, and personalized to meet your particular needs, preferences, and goals for recovery.

After that, you can go through the following standard addiction treatment and rehabilitation modalities:

i) Medical Detox

Detoxification is usually the first thing you have to do when you seek help for a substance use disorder - although this will largely depend on the types of drugs that you were taking when you were addicted.

In case you have been diagnosed with a substance use disorder involving a drug that causes physical dependence - such as alcohol, opioid, benzodiazepines, and meth - you will need medical detox services.

The goal of detox would be to help you overcome your physical dependence. In the process, you will experience some withdrawal symptoms and drug cravings - some of which might prove too painful for you to bear.

To this end, the detox program will offer you various treatments - including medication assisted treatment - to ensure that you do not suffer too much from these symptoms of withdrawal.

ii) Inpatient Drug Rehab

Even after you have overcome your physical dependence, you will still need to work on your emotional, psychological, and behavioral dependence. This effectively means that you will need more than medical detox services to be able to recover fully from your substance abuse and addiction.

In some situations, you will need to go for inpatient drug rehab at the end of your medical detox process. This means that you will be living at the recovery facility for a period of time - which could be for 30, 60, or 90 days, or even longer.

The time you spend at this facility will allow you to work on overcoming your substance abuse in a safe and controlled environment away from all triggers, temptations, and influences that might otherwise have caused you to relapse and start abusing drugs again.

Inpatient addiction treatment is recommended if you have a severe substance use disorder, multiple addictions, or have also been diagnosed with a co-occurring mental health disorder.

iii) Outpatient Drug Rehab

The other option would be to seek outpatient addiction treatment. this means that you will not be required to live at the recovery center. Instead, you can visit the center a couple of times every week to seek help with your substance abuse.

Outpatient treatment offers the same therapies that you would typically find in any inpatient drug rehab program. The only difference is that you will not be living at the center but in your own home or in a sober or transitional living facility.

This form of treatment is recommended if you have a less severe substance use disorder and were not diagnosed with any other co-occurring disorders. It might also work well if there are some obligations that you need to continue meeting at work, school, or home - and which would prevent you from enrolling in an inpatient program.

However, you can also use both inpatient and outpatient addiction treatment. this is known as a continuum of care, where you will first go through an inpatient program before moving into an outpatient one.

Both of these types of programs offer a wide variety of recovery services and therapies, including but not limited to:

• 12-step programs
• Acupuncture
• Addiction education
• Aftercare programming
• Alumni services
• Behavioral therapies
• Cognitive behavioral therapy
• Complementary therapies
• Coping techniques
• Dialectical behavior therapy
• Equine therapy
• Exercise programs
• Family therapy
• Gender specific therapy.
• Group therapy
• Individual counseling
• Journaling
• Life skills development
• Massage therapy
• Medical care for dual diagnosis disorders
• Medication assisted treatment
• Motivational interviewing
• Nutrition education
• Relapse prevention
• Specialized addiction treatment
• Stress management training
• Support group meetings
• Therapy for families
• Vocational training
• Yoga

Getting Help

Irrespective of the reasons behind your addiction, as well as the extent and severity of your condition, it is imperative that you seek help from a qualified and accredited addiction treatment program either in New Hampshire or beyond the state. The sooner you are able to do this, the easier it will be for you - at least in the long term - to overcome your substance use disorder as well as start getting your life back on track.

CITATIONS

https://www.carnevaleassociates.com/our-work/emerging-drug-trends-prevention-issue-brief.html

https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/data/statedeaths.html

https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2018-11/DIR-032-18%202018%20NDTA%20final%20low%20resolution.pdf

https://www.getsmartaboutdrugs.gov/news-statistics/emerging-drug-trends

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK234579/

https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/NewHampshire_BHBarometer_Volume_4.pdf

https://www.shadac.org/publications/50-state-analysis-drug-overdose-trends-evolving-opioid-crisis-across-states

https://www.unodc.org/documents/wdr/WDR_2010/2.0_Drug_statistics_and_Trends.pdf

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/2017-06-28/why-new-hampshire-has-one-of-the-highest-rates-of-opioid-related-deaths

For more information about treatment centers in New Hampshire, Click Here.