The Spellman Centre in Irishtown is a community-based project that provides its eleven participants with training programmes, which assist in their rehabilitation and their re-integration into the community, and also helps towards employment.

According to Teresa Weafer, co-ordinator of the project, “Each participant is proactively encouraged to avail of counselling, one-to-one supports, addict and family support, confidence building, but we also see our role as developing a broad addiction awareness in the community.”

Dr. Shane Butler of the Addiction Research Centre, based in Trinity College believes our national alcohol treatment services are “haphazard, confused and not integrated,” and that scarce resources are not being used effectively.

A report published in 1984, ‘Planning for the Future’, recommended community and evidence-based treatment for those with alcohol problems within the mental health services, with outpatient counselling replacing hospital admissions. Yet in 2003, some 17% of all admissions to psychiatric/hospitals, such as St. Loman’s, in Mullingar or St. John of God (private) were still alcohol related.

An integrated treatment service must ensure equal access to what should be a comprehensive public health service, and greater co-operation between various government departments, the health boards, hospital consultants, GPs, counsellors, social workers, community and voluntary groups.

Ongoing Match Research has demonstrated the importance of therapy/counselling, which can help to match the client to treatment. For example some clients with high social support for drinking did better with Twelve Step Facilitation (TSF) because of their Alcoholic Anonymous involvement, whilst clients with higher psychiatric severity may require Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to develop their motivational readiness to change. The Spellman Centre is an integrated service provider, with a highly trained support staff, operating within a National Drug Task Force.

Why are people with alcohol related problems treated differently? A recent government initiative, the Joint Committee on Health and Children has produced a report ‘Alcohol Misuse by Young People, June 2004’. This compromise agreement between the Department of Health, hospital consultants, representatives of the licensed trade, the alcohol industry and the Pioneer Abstinence Movement highlights the need for more control, regulation and education on alcohol. One important recommendation contained in this report states; “The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment introduce price controls for non-alcoholic drinks served in licensed premises within a period not exceeding six months.”

Why are more young people still seeking enjoyment or escape through alcohol, drugs (including prescribed drugs, methadone and benzos), smoking, food and gambling even as they become aware of their related effects? Are certain individual characteristics already predisposed to addiction or is there also a societal or cultural dimension to this issue?
According to the Irish Times journalist, John Waters, what is required is a more integrated response with a view to prevention as opposed to cure. He believes it is vital that we bring together the various forms of expertise from the medical, socio-cultural and spiritual disciplines, with a view to answering a question broadly along the lines of “Why have we come to fear living so much that we choose to kill ourselves slowly in the guise of enjoying ourselves?”

Ringsend and District Response to Drugs welcomes this ongoing healthy debate on addiction, institutional versus community care, control (Department of Justice) versus treatment (Department of Health), individual characteristics versus the influence of present day society.

If you do need advice, information, or support on addiction why not contact The Spellman Centre. Tel. 6677666

Tom Crilly is chairperson of RDRD, which is the board of management of The Spellman Centre.