50 Addiction Facts in 50 Days to Celebrate 50 Years of Spectrum Health Systems
50 days from today, the team at Spectrum Health Systems will be celebrating the company’s 50th anniversary. Since our inception, we’ve seen a lot of positive changes in the addiction treatment field and recovery community. While many improvements have been made, there’s still much work to be done. We’ve worked ...
Addiction and Depression: A Vicious Cycle
According to the 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 7.9 million Americans have been diagnosed with both depression and addiction. Each disease can be difficult to deal with on its own, so dealing with both at the same time is obviously more challenging. With depression being one of ...
Spectrum’s Domestic Violence Education Program Aims to Change Harmful Behavior, Beliefs and Attitudes
On average, 20 people each minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States. Each year, this equates to more than 10 million women and men who suffer from domestic violence. With one in four women and one in nine men experiencing severe intimate partner physical violence, ...
How Spectrum and Massachusetts DOC Work Together to Treat Female Offenders
According to the American Civil Liberties Union, there are more than 219,000 women incarcerated across the United States. Many wonder what brought them in contact with the criminal justice system. Oftentimes, women serving time behind bars struggle with co-occurring disorders – the combination of mental health disorders and addiction – ...
Today’s Students Aren’t Worse Off, They’re Simply Different
According to the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, there is a strong connection between childhood trauma and substance use disorders. Adolescents who engage in problematic substance use are more likely to develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression, suicidal thoughts, violent behaviors and other mental health disorders. Our VP of ...
Inside Spectrum – Winter 2019
In This Issue: January was Human Trafficking Awareness Month | Four Legged-Friends Provide Therapy | Recovery Month in the State of Georgia | Outside Spectrum | Spectrum Girls’ Detention Program Wins Statewide Decorating Contest | 17 Spectrum Employees Are Inducted into the President’s Club This Quarter | Spectrum Receives $10,000 ...
The Importance of Children of Alcoholics Awareness Week
While the nation continues to confront the public health crisis that is addiction, events like Children of Alcoholics Awareness Week help remind us of often forgotten victims. Alcoholism remains a prominent issue in the US, and as a result, one in four children live in a family impacted by parental ...
Why Are Women Overdosing More Than Men?
A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) contained some troubling statistics. Overdose deaths among women aged 30-64 have rapidly increased. From 1999 to 2017, the number climbed a staggering 260 percent. And the drugs causing them have evolved as well, with more overdoses being attributed ...
Jeffrey Born’s Story of Opioid Addiction, Torn Relationships, and the Overdose That Changed His Life
There’s a stigma against people who struggle with addiction that often exists because people believe it could never happen to them – but it can. Addiction is a disease that knows no boundaries, has no preconceived notions and leaves no clues as to who it will touch next. Jeffrey Born ...
A Startling New Trend: Viral Overdose Videos
Social media has changed our world, for better or for worse. When it comes to addiction, it’s a double-edged sword. While it opens up a whole new avenue for support – online communities and educational resources – it also makes someone’s personal struggles quite public. A recent report from the ...
Is Your Middle Schooler at Risk? What Every Parent Needs to Know About Addiction
Remember middle school? Braces, binders, first dances and budding friendships were always top of mind. But it’s around this age that less innocent topics begin to show up as well. Children between 13 and 17 are the most easily influenced age demographic, which can make them more susceptible to experimenting ...
Inside Look: Driver Alcohol Education Program
If you’ve been following our Inside Look series, then you know of our comprehensive continuum of care for people with substance use disorders. What many people don’t know is that we also offer several court-ordered sessions that could fall under the category of preventative care. One such program is our ...
Get to Know Joe Rose, Spectrum Health Systems’ New Chief Financial Officer
As we continue to grow our services for people struggling with drug and alcohol addiction, we’re also growing our leadership team. We recently welcomed a new Chief Financial Officer, Joe Rose, to our senior leadership team. Previously, Joe served as the Vice President of Finance and Administration at SleepMed, the ...
How One Veteran Tackled Physical Pain, PTSD and Addiction
Every year, in the second week of November, this country honors its heroes. Veteran’s Day is a stark reminder that courageous men and women have fought hard for America’s freedoms. In the addiction community, it inspires us to pause and reflect on the effects of war on our soldiers, long ...
The Forgotten Population: Inmates in Recovery
An Airing Addiction Recap In a recent study conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, it was found that 84 percent of current inmates in the state prison system were under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol at the time of their crime. While that may come as a ...
