UP TO 30 Scottish doctors each year are turning to counselling for addiction to alcohol and drugs.
A leading support group for the medical profession has revealed the extent of the problem of addiction among the country's doctors.
Alasdair Young, of the British Doctors and Dentists Support Group, said the main problem suffered by doctors approaching his group was alcohol but increasing numbers were addicted to illegal drugs including cocaine and heroin.
He said: "Doctors are less likely nowadays to dishonestly prescribe themselves drugs like Valium. There are more checks on these drugs nowadays and a chemist would spot this fairly quickly.
"There is also a lot of heroin, cocaine and ecstasy going on among young people and doctors are human too.
Over the past few years the proportion of doctors coming to our organisation with addictions to street drugs has increased from 1% to 10%. However alcohol is the most common addiction among doctor
s."
Young's support group works in a similar way to Alcoholics Anonymous, organising local meetings for doctors to get together and talk about their problems. It keeps its information confidential and relies on protocols within the NHS to pick up problems with drug or alcohol addicted doctors at work.
But experts said the real prevalence of addictions among the medical profession could be three times higher than known numbers because many doctors would not think their drinking or drug taking was a problem.
Rowdy Yates, an addictions expert in the Scottish Addiction Studies Group at Stirling University, said: "If this group is seeing 30% of problematic cases they are doing pretty well. There will be a proportion of doctors out there who think they are drinking a bit too much but not enough to worry about and there will be some who are using drugs to get them through a bad patch."
http://news.scotsman.com/
Friday, March 21, 2008
Hyslop helped others fight addictions with an open heart
Gerald Albert of Northway is the 17th person awarded the Patti L. Hyslop award in recognition for his leadership in sobriety and commitment to healing.
Leadership and commitment in the sobriety movement was the cornerstone of Hyslop’s life in the years before she was murdered in January 1995, said Faith M. Peters, a friend of Hyslop and a social service Indian welfare agent in Tanana.
Hyslop led the sobriety and healing movement in the village of Tanana after she successfully completed treatment herself, Peters said.
“In addition to sobering up, Hyslop wanted to heal the whole person,” Peters explained. “If anyone sobered up one day, she gave them a gift or a card. She never gave up on them.”
Hyslop was responsible for bringing the Talking Circle into Tanana and held Alcoholics Anonymous meetings there. She started a New Year’s Eve sobriety dinner dance and the Babes puppet program in the elementary school, which builds self esteem and combats drug and alcohol abuse among children.
“She encouraged us to journal, pray and share,” Peters said, her voice breaking at memories of her friend.
Peters said Hyslop was one of the people who was instrumental in her seeking treatment for alcoholism.
“She was willing to accept me for who I was and who I could become,” Peters said in an interview Thursday at the Tanana Chiefs Conference annual meeting. “She helped me into treatment within five days after calling her.”
Peters went to the Old Minto Recovery Camp with her young son 17 years ago.
“I have been clean and sober ever since then,” she said.
In his remarks after receiving the award, Gerald Albert said, “For 15 years, I’ve lived a great life,” attributing his sobriety to his family, his “five beautiful children” and foster children.
“I did it for them to live a healthy life and to go on the right trail. We can all do it together ... no matter who you are. ... One day at a time, that’s what we have to do.”
http://newsminer.com/
Leadership and commitment in the sobriety movement was the cornerstone of Hyslop’s life in the years before she was murdered in January 1995, said Faith M. Peters, a friend of Hyslop and a social service Indian welfare agent in Tanana.
Hyslop led the sobriety and healing movement in the village of Tanana after she successfully completed treatment herself, Peters said.
“In addition to sobering up, Hyslop wanted to heal the whole person,” Peters explained. “If anyone sobered up one day, she gave them a gift or a card. She never gave up on them.”
Hyslop was responsible for bringing the Talking Circle into Tanana and held Alcoholics Anonymous meetings there. She started a New Year’s Eve sobriety dinner dance and the Babes puppet program in the elementary school, which builds self esteem and combats drug and alcohol abuse among children.
“She encouraged us to journal, pray and share,” Peters said, her voice breaking at memories of her friend.
Peters said Hyslop was one of the people who was instrumental in her seeking treatment for alcoholism.
“She was willing to accept me for who I was and who I could become,” Peters said in an interview Thursday at the Tanana Chiefs Conference annual meeting. “She helped me into treatment within five days after calling her.”
Peters went to the Old Minto Recovery Camp with her young son 17 years ago.
“I have been clean and sober ever since then,” she said.
In his remarks after receiving the award, Gerald Albert said, “For 15 years, I’ve lived a great life,” attributing his sobriety to his family, his “five beautiful children” and foster children.
“I did it for them to live a healthy life and to go on the right trail. We can all do it together ... no matter who you are. ... One day at a time, that’s what we have to do.”
http://newsminer.com/
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