August 15, 2023 – Results from a brand new survey show that drug and alcohol addiction is widespread in U.S. families, with two-thirds of respondents saying they or someone of their family has experienced addiction or an overdose.
Specifically, 29% of respondents said they knew someone who had been hooked on opioids, which include prescription painkillers and heroin.
The survey results were released Tuesday by research organization Kaiser Family Foundation and include responses from a nationally representative sample of 1,327 U.S. adults who accomplished the survey online or by phone from July 11 to 19. The survey was conducted in English and Spanish.
Overall, 19% of respondents reported personal experience with addiction and 62% said a member of the family had experience with addiction. The survey asked participants in the event that they or anyone of their family had ever been hooked on prescription painkillers, illegal drugs or alcohol, had taken an overdose that required hospitalization or an emergency room visit, or had been homeless as a result of addiction. Nearly one in ten said a member of the family had died from a drug overdose.
Last 12 months, an estimated 110,000 people died of drug overdoses within the USA, greater than ever before.
Addiction is taken into account a mental illness and, in line with the American Psychiatric Association, is probably the most serious type of substance use disorder.
“People with SUD focus intensely on the use of certain substances, such as alcohol, tobacco, or illicit drugs, to the point where the person's ability to function in daily life is impaired,” the APA says. Description the disorder. “People continue to use the substance even when they know it is causing or will cause problems.”