Living Essentials: Dealing with Substance Abuse

Understanding Alcohol and Drug Addiction:
an LDS* Perspective

Living Essential Television Show
"DEALING WITH SUBSTANCE ABUSE"

On this episode of Living Essentials, experts outline warning signs and the inevitable negative impacts that accompany substance abuse. They also discuss treatment options, including help for friends and family in dealing with this sensitive issue.

Featured Guests

Dr. Gordon Lindsay is chair of the department of health science at BYU.
He can be contacted at gordon_lindsay@byu.edu.

Stephen Biddulph is an author and executive director of a residential treatment center in St. George, Utah. He can be contacted at (801) 375-7437 or thru Red Rock Canyon School.

Elder Merlin Baker is an author and previous missionary with LDS Family Services Addiction Recovery. Contact Merlin at (801) 278-5845, merlinbaker@gmail.com, or thru UnderstandingAddictionLDS.com.

Kristine Fales and her family have been dealing with substance abuse ever since her 15-year-old son approached her for help in overcoming his addiction to drugs and alcohol. Kristine and her son Ben produced Wings of Glory: Songs of Hope and Healing from Addiction, a CD and accompanying book about overcoming substance abuse through Christ. Contact Kristine or purchase her CD thru Fales Productions, PO Box 2263, Salinas CA 93902, WingsOfGlory.net or by calling (877) 434-HOPE (4673).

What is Substance Abuse?

Dr. Lindsay said substance use becomes abuse when it begins to harm yourself, your family or society. Stephen Biddulph further explained that abuse is use of a substance that is excessive, illegal, dangerous or not for its intended purpose. Addiction included this dependency but also entails spiritual, moral and human bankruptcy.

Statistics

The three most prevalent abused drugs are alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana. Two of the three are legal.
The age of onset is crucial. 42% of children who begin drinking before 13-15 have major problems later. When the first drink is postponed until age 21, 70% have no major problem later.
The likelihood of abusing drugs increases sharply with age. A recent study revealed that at:
- 14 years old: 5 in 10 have tried alcohol; 3 in 10 use alcohol regularly.
- 16 years old: 7 in 10 have tried alcohol; 4 in 10 use alcohol regularly.
- 18 years old: 8 in 10 have tried alcohol; 5 in 10 use alcohol regularly.
Most substance users abuse multiple drugs. For instance, smokers are more likely to drink or use drugs.

Barriers to Seeking Help

Embarrassment-especially in a strong religious community.
Fear of repercussion-including legal repercussion.
Fear of being discovered
Sense of denial-both for abuser and family. Some families hope the user is in a phase that will eventually just fix itself.
Sense of hopelessness-sometimes people wait too long and the problem becomes more exacerbated. There are people to help. Seek them out.

Protective Factors

Stephen Biddulph offered six areas parents can strengthen to reduce high risk factors that increase the possibility of falling into addiction.

1. Bonding

As a parent you have to remember that you can't control everything and people have agency. But if you will bond with you children and take the time and effort to develop the relationship by eating together or doing recreation together, it goes a long way.

2. Role Modeling

Parents and siblings who model proper behaviors are less likely to have children who use alcohol and other substances. Children often learn attitudes about alcohol and drugs from their parents. The real key to prevention, though, is to have multiple people in a child's life, such as parents, teachers, peers, church leaders and coaches, all sending the same message.

3. Supervising, Monitoring & Limit Setting

As a society we are taking less time to raise our kids, increasing the risk of children abusing substances. Supervise and monitor your child. Monitoring is being aware and knowing your child well enough that you can tell when changes are occurring. It is being actively involved, and knowing what their extra curricular activities are, who their friends are and what is happening at school. Parents also need to set limits and discipline their children. Stephen believes many parents don't set boundaries, trying to be their child's friend instead of parent. Don't back off when a child is cranky or having a hard time.

4. Values & Standards

Have a set of values and standards for your family that you adhere to and talk to your children about why you believe in them. Stephen believes that parents who get caught up in only enforcing rules often have children who rebel. If fear is the only thing you are instilling in them, they will eventually overcome that fear, Stephen said. Conversely, if you teach and model values, your children will be more capable of making good decisions.

5. Self-esteem

Help you child develop self-esteem and psycho-autonomy. If they have an identity, they will be strong enough to stand up for what they believe in.

6. Spirituality

When a child can believe in something bigger than them and internalize who they are--that they are a child of God--they have faith and integrity which will lead them through tough times.

The Twelve Steps

These steps are used by the LDS Family Services Addiction Recovery Program. They have been adapted from Alcoholics Anonymous.

1. Admit that we of ourselves are powerless and nothing without God.

(Mosiah 4:5; Alma 26:12)

2. Come to believe that God has all power and all wisdom and that in His strength we can do all things.

(Mosiah 4:9; Alma 26:12)

3. Make the decision to reconcile ourselves to the will of God, offer our whole souls as an offering unto Him, and trust Him in all things forever.

(2 Nephi 4:34; 2 Nephi 10:24; Omni 1:26; Mosiah 3:19)

4. Make a searching and fearless written inventory of our past in order to thoroughly examine ourselves as to our pride and other weaknesses with the intent of recognizing our own carnal state and our need for Christ's Atonement.

(Mosiah 4:2; Alma 15:17; Jacob 4:6-7; Ether 12:27)

5. Honestly share this inventory with God and with another person, thus demonstrating the sincerity of our repentance, and our willingness to give away all our sins that we might know Him.

(Mosiah 26:29; Alma 22:18)

6. Become humble enough to yield our hearts and our lives to Christ for His sanctification and purification, relying wholly upon His merits, acknowledging even our own best efforts as unprofitable.

(Helaman 3:35; 2 Nephi 31:19; Mosiah 20:21)

7. Humbly cry unto the Lord Jesus Christ in our hearts for a remission of sins that through His mercy and His grace we might experience a mighty change of heart, lose all disposition to do evil, and thus be encircled about in the arms of safety because of His great and last sacrifice.

(Alma 34:15-16; Alma 36:18; Alma 38:8; Moroni 10:32; Mosiah 5:2)

8. Make a list of all persons we have harmed and become willing to make restitution to all of them (even those we harmed in what we considered righteous anger), desiring instead to be peacemakers and to do all that we could to come unto God by being first reconciled to others.

(3 Nephi 12:9, 24, 41-47)

9. Make restitution directly to those we have harmed, confessing our own wrong doing in each instance except when to do so would further injure them or others. (Mosiah 26:30; Mosiah 27:35; 2 Nephi 12:25)

10. Realizing that the weakness to be tempted and to sin is a part of the mortal experience we continue to take personal inventory and when we are wrong promptly admit it, being willing to repent as often as needed.

(2 Nephi 4:18; 2 Nephi 10:20; Mosiah 26:30)

11. Seek through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God seeking the words of Christ through the power of the Holy Ghost that they might tell us all things that we should do, praying only for a knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

(2 Nephi 32:3; Alma 37:37; Helaman 10:4)

12. Having experienced a mighty change and having awakened unto God as a result of our sincere repentance, demonstrate in taking these steps, we are willing to become instruments in carrying this message to others and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

(Alma 5:7; Mosiah 27:36-37; Moroni 7:3)

Further Reading

Charity-Key to Gospel Motivation

by Merlin Baker

Cedar Fort Inc., 2000

Understanding Alcohol and Drug Addiction-An LDS Perspective

by Merlin Baker

Cedar Fort Inc., 2004

"Powerful Cravings, Powerful Motivations"
by Dr. Gordon Lindsay

Ensign, Feb. 2002

"Five Elements of Recovery" and
"Twelve Suggestions for Families and Friends"
Wings of Glory: The Story Behind the Songs
by Kristine Fales