New Drug Treatment Program Treats Mental Health Too

Patricia Murphy
03/24/2010

Researchers say most adolescents who use illegal drugs also have mental health issues. However, the two problems are usually treated separately. Now a Seattle based drug treatment provider is starting a promising new approach. It addresses both mental health and drug disorders. KUOW's Patricia Murphy reports.

TRANSCRIPT

Dr. Paula Riggs developed the program at the University of Colorado Denver. She found that kids with mental health problems who use drugs are much more likely to become addicted.

Riggs: " The impact of drugs of abuse on a developing brain is of much greater concern than we used to think. Even what we used to think of as benign experimentation can be quite dangerous on a developing brain that's really under construction really until their mid twenties to late twenties."

The new treatment uses medications for conditions like Chronic Depression and Attention Deficit Disorder. The other part of the program gets kids into activities that can last beyond the treatment period.

The program is being administered by Therapeutic Health Services. It's based in Seattle with eight sites around Puget Sound.

Dr. Susan Caverly is director of psychiatric services.

Caverly: "Some kids are going to want music some kids are going to want horses some kids are going to want to ride bicycles with a bike club. Doesn't really matter we're just going to try and get kids involved in stuff that's gonna turn them on in a way they feel good about. "

Caverly says the program does not require that kids abstain from drug use. She says demanding abstinence just doesn't work. But they do monitor clients with urine tests. The results become part of their treatment plan.

Caverly says the hope is to help young people learn to make healthy decisions that will keep them drug free.

I'm Patricia Murphy, KUOW News.

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