Hi, my name is Sarah Redgrave, LCSW. I’m a licensed clinical social worker with Tahoe Forest Behavioral Health. A common problem in our community of Truckee Tahoe, as well as other mountain communities, is drug and alcohol abuse.
Common reasons why we think that this is a bigger problem are living in a resort town, so there’s partying culture, and also our long and cold winters. Some reasons that you might notice you have a concern with your drug or alcohol use are tolerance, which is defined as a physical or mental adjustment to alcohol or drugs that develops after repeated use, or withdrawal, which can range from being mild and uncomfortable to very serious. Symptoms of withdrawal can include sleep and mood changes, fatigue, headaches, nausea, anxiety, and in severe situations seizures, hallucinations, and tremors.
Common questions that we often ask patients to identify if they have a problem with drugs and alcohol are:
Have you ever felt like you needed to cut down on your drug or alcohol use?
Have people annoyed you by criticizing your drug or alcohol use?
Have you felt bad or guilty about your drug or alcohol use?
Have you ever used drugs or alcohol first thing in the morning to steady your nerves or get rid of a hangover?
Often you may have noticed that somebody close to you has mentioned that they’re concerned over your drug or alcohol use. You can always talk to that person who mentioned those concerns, a close friend or family member, or anyone that you know who’s sober.
Here at Tahoe Forest, a great place to start would be talking with your primary care provider about a referral to our Medication Assisted Treatment program, or what we call MAT. Oftentimes what we find is that our substance use is covering up a pre-existing mental health condition. So we’re using what we call unhealthy coping in substance use for things like anxiety and depression. Through individual and group counseling we can help find better, healthier coping skills for managing things like anxiety and depression.
I’m a huge proponent of group therapy because I feel like the shared experience that patients have with one another in that group process is unparalleled. Talking with others who might be further along in a journey to recovery or to harm reduction is really beneficial, and patients will say over and over that they find the group process is paramount to their recovery from drugs and alcohol.
For more information, please visit our website.
