{"id":9749,"date":"2024-01-17T19:08:11","date_gmt":"2024-01-17T19:08:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/irtinc.us\/?p=9749"},"modified":"2024-01-21T01:00:53","modified_gmt":"2024-01-21T01:00:53","slug":"addressing-the-nationwide-addiction-crisis-with-media-literacy-education-mentoring-mindfulness-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irtinc.us\/es\/addressing-the-nationwide-addiction-crisis-with-media-literacy-education-mentoring-mindfulness-and-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Addressing the Nationwide Addiction Crisis with Media Literacy Education, Mentoring, Mindfulness, and More"},"content":{"rendered":"

January 17, 2024, Durham, NC \u2013 The federal government and medical facilities across the United States have made substantial efforts to impede growth of the national opioid crisis, but trends in substance use have evolved in recent years making it increasingly difficult to thwart the addiction crisis. Updates on the decades-long opioid epidemic and prevention efforts have consistently made headlines as millions of Americans have faced opioid use disorders in the last three years. However, as rates of cocaine, methamphetamine, and fentanyl use continue to climb, it is vital to spread awareness of the pervasiveness of polysubstance use, in addition to opioid use, in communities across the United States. Recent data<\/a> has shown that 70-80% of people who are addicted to opioids also use other illicit substances. Between May of 2022 and May of 2023, over 34,000 deaths were attributed to methamphetamine and 28,000 were attributed to cocaine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Polysubstance use is a slippery slope, and people who use multiple substances often do so unintentionally. Many receive substances that have been laced with other drugs without their knowledge, resulting in complex, unpredictable polysubstance use disorders that are difficult to treat. In addition, people who are pregnant have fewer treatment options to aid their recovery from substance misuse, and national prescription drug shortages (e.g., Adderall, a stimulant medication sometimes prescribed to curb urges for methamphetamine) affect patients\u2019 abilities to receive treatment for substance misuse.<\/p>\n

Not only can substance misuse be challenging to treat, but it may also be difficult to identify. A common misconception surrounding substance misuse is that it is always concurrent with homelessness and\/or unemployment. Many individuals facing substance use disorders have shelter and are employed, and this misconception may cause their struggles with substance misuse to go unnoticed. Also, these individuals may not seek help or medical treatment because of the stigmas surrounding substance use disorders, indicating that substance misuse affects more people than we are aware of. Left untreated, substance use disorders can have significant negative impacts on families and often coexist with mental health disorders. Altogether, the challenges to treating, identifying, and combating the negative impacts of substance misuse highlight the importance of prevention efforts to stop substance misuse early and the need for resources to support individuals and families impacted by substance misuse.<\/p>\n

iRT has developed several cutting-edge substance use prevention programs designed to delay or prevent onset of substance use, and support asset-building to provide children, teens, and adults with the skills they need to live a sober and healthy life. Our research and programs address substance misuse prevention through five complementary, evidence-based approaches including: media literacy education, mindfulness education, social-emotional learning interventions, mentoring, and impaired driving education.<\/p>\n

Media Literacy Education for Substance Use Prevention<\/strong><\/p>\n

From early childhood, youth are bombarded with media messages about substance use. These messages are often unrealistic, inaccurate, and have negative impacts on youth\u2019s decisions and beliefs about substance use.\u00a0Media literacy education-based substance use prevention is designed to help youth reject inaccurate messages by helping them build skills to critically analyze media. Media literacy education subverts the influence of unhealthy media messages by helping youth become more skeptical of the ideas behind media messages, rather than taking them at face value.\u00a0iRT\u2019s media literacy education-based substance use prevention programs include:<\/p>\n