Newswise — September is Recovery Month, an effort to promote the societal benefits of alcohol and drug use disorder treatment. Dr. Kitty Harris is available to speak to issues involving college student substance abuse and recovery.
Harris is director of Texas Tech University's Center for the Study of Addiction and Recovery (CSAR), the largest and one of the oldest college recovery communities in the nation.
Texas Tech's nationally recognized program currently serves recovering students from 20 different states. CSAR offers recovery and educational assistance to students in recovery from alcohol and drug addictions and to students in recovery from eating disorders.
Now preparing to celebrate its 20th anniversary, the center has grown to nearly 100 students and has utilized federal grants to develop a curriculum for creating recovery communities on other college campuses. Harris already overseen or advised on the development of recovery communities at schools such as the University of Colorado at Boulder, the University of Texas and the University of Texas at San Antonio.
Harris also has expanded the program's scope to include research initiatives to better understand the processes and factors involved in young adult recovery. Through this work, the center has the potential to impact national perspective and policy concerning methods of recovery support including: social networking, family involvement and relapse prevention.
More than 918,000 U.S. college students can be diagnosed as alcohol dependent; an estimated 50,000 are recovering substance abusers seeking support. Some studies estimate that more than 40 percent of student attrition involves substance abuse.
WHY ARE RECOVERY COMMUNITIES IMPORTANT?
"¢ Addiction treatment typically does not provide long-term recovery support, which is often necessary to prevent relapse.
"¢ Only four percent of college students with alcohol and drug related problems will seek help. Of those, only 50 percent will still be sober six months later.
"¢ The Hazelden Center for Youth and Families, a drug and alcohol addiction treatment center in Plymouth, Minn., posts a recovery rate of 54% for patients 18-25.
"¢ More than 918,000 U.S. college students can be diagnosed as alcohol dependent.
"¢ An estimated 50,000 American students are recovering substance abusers seeking support.
"¢ Existing college recovery programs in the United States have the capacity to support, at most, a few thousand students.
"¢ On an average campus of 30,000 students, nearly 9,500 meet the criteria for substance abuse disorders. Around 1,800 are substance dependent, and 225 are actively seeking help or recovery support.
"¢ Students who relapse are at a high risk of attrition, hurting a university's retention rates.
"¢ Some studies estimate that more than 40 percent of student attrition involves substance abuse. By retaining 50 percent of those students, a school can keep at least two percent of tuition revenue it would otherwise lose.
"¢ Texas Tech's Center for the Study of Addiction and Recovery opened in 1986. Since then, more than 500 students " around 70 percent " graduated through the program with only seven percent of active participants suffering relapses. The students' collective GPA is a 3.34.
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