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Addiction and substance use disorders tend to have a heavy hand on the affected party's life. As such, these conditions might negatively influence you on so many levels - going so far as to cause severe damage to your relationships, mind, and body, as well as your productivity and creativity.
In certain circumstances, particularly after your drug and alcohol abuse gets out of control, you may even find yourself engaging in activities and behavior that could endanger your person, your health, or even that of others.
When you get to this point, you need help - which might be by choice, mandated through law, or through an intervention organized by your friends, family, and other loved ones. At this junction, the natural step would be to seek drug and alcohol assessment and evaluation.
This assessment will act as a tool that doctors and addiction specialists can use to determine the level and extent of your abuse and misuses of drugs, alcohol, and/or other addictive substances. The evaluation will also serve as the main reference point in determining how the addiction specialists will go about treating and rehabilitating you to achieve the greatest level of success.
In most cases, treatment for such problems will only begin after a comprehensive assessment of your condition. The purpose of the evaluation will be to determine whether you are an addict, the extent of your addiction, the presence of any co-occurring disorders, and as an aid to the development of a comprehensive treatment and rehabilitation plan.
These experts - who are trained and experienced in diagnosing addictions - will typically conduct the assessment in a private setting. They will also ensure that all the information you are provided with is kept confidential as well as reserved for exclusive use in helping with your treatment.
In the guide below, you will learn more about drug and alcohol assessment, what they are, how they are conducted, and why you need one. Read on to find out more:
If you are facing legal charged on account of your drug or alcohol use, or you have experienced severe consequences at school, work, or in your relationships, you might be required to undergo a drug and alcohol assessment - which is also referred to as a Rule 25 assessment or a chemical health assessment.
These evaluations and assessments can be defined as the process of evaluation or assessing, as well as providing diagnostic studies of a mental or physical condition. Doctors and other specialists use them regularly as part and parcel of a more comprehensive alcohol and drug addiction treatment plan to ensure that you will receive the right kind of help and care you need to resolve your substance use disorder, as well as any other co-occurring disorders you might have.
In many cases, drug and alcohol assessments are conducted under the guidance and direction of health professionals, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, addiction counselors, general practitioners, and medical professionals. These experts may have some dealing or working in the field of substance abuse and addiction treatment.
That said, the drug and alcohol assessment will typically start when you want or you seek some kind of help, or if your family looks for a general assessment if you refuse help with your substance use disorder.
In the same way, most of these assessments are conducted by people who are looking for professional opinions on their situation to see if they have a problem with alcohol and drugs, and to get help for such a problem. It might also occur as a precursor to addiction rehabilitation and treatment.
However, these assessments are not always done in person. Today, many medical websites and addiction treatment centers provide free addiction assessments over the internet using simple questionnaires that you can fill out to find the right answers to your questions.
After the initial evaluation has taken place, you (as well as your family and loved ones) will be provided with options and choices that might suit your needs best. At this point, it will all come down to how you make your choice about treatment and rehabilitation based on the results from the drug and alcohol assessment.
Whether the evaluation is performed by a professional or you do it on your own over the internet, you should keep in mind that it will be most important first step you can take to discovering whether you have a problem, as well as a guide towards finding the right type of help to ensure that you get to beat your addiction for good.
After you are referred to a particular type of rehabilitation facility after the assessment, however, it will be up to you and the help of professionals to ensure that you follow through with the treatment plan.
It is also essential that you understand that drug and alcohol assessments are typically provided free of charge in most local government healthcare systems and the private sector. This is because the government has mandated assessments as free services to ensure that more people suffering from a variety of substance use disorders receive the right kind of help overcoming their addiction and dependency on drugs/alcohol.
As you might probably imagine, drug and alcohol assessments are designed to do the following:
Different experts and professionals have been trained to provide drug and alcohol assessments. These include social workers, therapists, psychologists, counselors, nurses, and doctors.
In most cases, you may have to undergo evaluation in the hands of more than one of these professionals. This is especially true if you choose to get your assessment done at an addiction rehabilitation center.
By working with multiple experts, you may raise your chances of receiving a more accurate diagnosis for your substance use disorder. It might also ensure that you eventually get the best possible treatment and rehabilitation.
It is also important to keep in mind that most drug and alcohol assessments include self-assessments, physical examinations, and questionnaires - as well as a variety of interviews.
As mentioned above, the assessment process tends to be pretty straightforward. The clinician or doctor you work with will ask you to fill a standardized questionnaire about your current alcohol or drug use, your treatment and health history, the patterns of your behavior, any symptoms you are experiencing, as well as the effects of the substance abuse on your life.
After that, the clinician may conduct face to face interviews during which they will ask standard and open ended questions. These interviews will ensure that they receive more information - over and beyond that from the questionnaires - to help them make the best diagnosis.
During the interview, they make take notes and use such tools as the CAGE assessment, AUDIT-C (the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-C), as well as the NIDA (National Institute on Drug Use) Screening Tool.
If you get assessed by a medical doctor, you may also have to undergo a physical examination. Apart from evaluating you for any physical and behavioral symptoms of addiction, the medical doctor may also diagnose any co-occurring problems that should be treated alongside your substance use disorder.
SELF-ASSESSMENT
Even though it would be better if you obtained your diagnosis officially and from a qualified expert, you may also assess yourself to check for addiction. These tests are available online and from mental health and addiction treatment centers. They include questions that seek to find out if:
In most cases, you will find that drug and alcohol assessments are part of a more comprehensive testing regimen. Combined with addiction screening, these assessments comprise what is known as an evaluation for substance use disorders and addiction.
According to SAMHSA (the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration), screenings and assessments can be defined as follows:
Addiction screening refers to the process of evaluating a suspected addict for the potential presence of a given problem. As such, the outcome from a screening should either be a no or a yes.
Addiction assessment, on the other hand, refers to the process of defining the nature of the discovered problem, determining the right diagnosis, as well as developing specific recommendations for treatment and rehabilitation to address the diagnosis or problem.
As mentioned above, these components of drug and alcohol evaluations might be administered by a variety of professionals - who must be trained and experienced in assessing individuals for addiction, although screenings might be administered with little to no prior training and experience.
In most cases, however, you will find that addiction evaluations are administered by nurses, doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists, counselors, and social workers. Through the written interviews and assessments, these professionals will undoubtedly inquire about your health, your history, as well as any past and present alcohol or drug use.
They may also ask about how the substance use disorder has affected your life, as well as about any history of rehabilitation and treatment for these concerns. You might also have to undergo a physical if the drug and alcohol assessment is performed by a doctor/physician.
Drug and alcohol screenings are preliminary evaluations used to help experts to determine whether you have a substance use disorder or if you are addicted. In most cases, if they find that you have a condition, they may take an in-depth look into your situation.
Screenings are important because they allow for preemptive support and care if a risk factor is discovered. In the process, it will serve to help you before your substance use and addiction progress even further.
At the end of the day, you should keep in mind that these drug and alcohol screenings are often the first step to helping you and the professionals concerned to find out whether you have a problem with substance use.
Some of the tools that are commonly used for screenings that may be administered in person or online include:
The CAGE Questionnaire is a widely used method. It comprises 4 questions that will be asked in a brief but sensitive way. It is quite useful in those situations where you (or the individual concerned) might be trying to conceal the extent or progress of your drug and alcohol abuse.
Otherwise abbreviated as AUI, the Alcohol Use Inventory is a self-administered screening tool that you can use if you think that you have a problem with alcohol. It is best suited for those who are willing and able to remain honest about the extent of their alcohol abuse.
The AUI is particularly useful because it takes into consideration the fact that everyone has an unique set of perspectives associated with the lifestyle choices, results, and risks associated with drinking alcohol.
Commonly abbreviated as SASSI, this screening tool is a brief self-report and easily administered measure of psychological screening that helps to identify people with a high probability of being addicted or having a substance use disorder. The overall empirically tested accuracy of this test is currently listed at 93%.
According to the Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory Institute, this test identifies low and high probabilities of substance dependence disorders, while simultaneously providing clinical insight into the extent and level of defensiveness, desire for change, and willingness to acknowledge existing problems.
More particularly, this inventory is useful because it is quite easy to administer, score, and relay results. In addition, SASSI helps assessors to better determine if the affected individual's use goes over and beyond recreational drug use or social drinking, as well as the implication of the seriousness of their extent of drug/alcohol use.
Last but not least, some states in the US have screening tools that are widely used in addition to or in place of any or all of the tests listed above.
Although you can do some of these screening methods on your own or with the help of a friend or a family member, it is essential that you keep in mind that screening is often the first step towards your recovery journey.
For this reason, therefore, it may be in your best interests to ensure that the screening is administered by a trained professional - or at least reviewed by one. This is because such a professional would have the right knowledge and skills to ascertain your results correctly and provide you with the direction and support you need to get to the next step on the road to sobriety and recovery.
In most cases, you will find that drug and alcohol assessments tend to be more thorough than the screenings. The purpose of such an assessment is to discover direct evidence that would support either the absence or presence of a condition that could be medically diagnosable - such as an addiction, a substance use disorder, or any other co-occurring disorder.
At this juncture, the professionals may perform a diagnostic interview where they will go over the results from the screening, as well as ask you more questions to better understand your addiction. This type of interview may either be structured or semi-structured.
Though a structured interview - which comprises of a set of structured questions - tends to be easier for individuals who are not well versed in addiction matters to administer, the results might not be as detailed. As such, the information may not be enough to use as a base for a treatment plan.
Semi-structured interviews, on the other hand, are much better. This is because they may allow the expert concerned - who should be highly skilled in matters addiction and substance use disorder - to supplement the structured interview with other questions derived from their knowledge and specific expertise in the field. As such, this type of interview would allow the interviewer to cross-examine you better and find out more about your substance abuse.
The tools that are most widely used for drug and alcohol assessments include:
Otherwise abbreviated as DIS-IV, the Diagnostic Interview Schedule-IV is a fully structured questionnaire used to determine the presence of a certain diagnosis as outlined in the DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders).
Some experts, however, feel that this tool is quite limited. This could be because it only considers and looks at the qualifications that are outlined in DSM-IV. As such, it might not consider any new theories and research findings in the addiction and substance abuse field that could ensure a better understanding of your diagnosis as well as the circumstances that led you to your current condition.
Commonly abbreviated as ASI, the Addiction Severity Index is a semi-structured interview that is designed to assess the 7 areas outlined by the NIAAA as crucial to determining the existence of an addiction, a substance use disorder, or a co-occurring disorder. These areas include:
ASI allows the administrator to address all questions about your use of drugs/alcohol over the 30 days prior to the interview as well as about the implications of your substance abuse over the course of your lifetime.
In the same way, the assessor will be better able to understand all present conditions, those that are most persistent, as well as any re-occurring conditions that ought to be addressed during your treatment and rehabilitation.
In many cases, however, you can start the process by performing the drug and alcohol assessment over the internet. Alternatively, you can take an assessment on paper as a precursor to a full evaluation in person. At the face to face interview, the professional you will work with should get access to these online or paper questionnaires prior to and during your interview.
In most cases, if you get the drug and alcohol assessment at a treatment facility, you might have to work with several experts. This will ensure that you end up getting the most accurate diagnosis and assessment of your circumstance. It will also allow the experts to build a treatment plan that is specific to your particular needs and requirements.
As far as possible, keep in mind that the professionals who perform assessments and screenings for drug and alcohol abuse are there to support and help you. To this end, it would be in your best interests to remain as honest and as truthful as possible.
This is because your honesty will help the experts to build a stable framework and foundation from which they can proceed to create a rehabilitation and treatment plan with the highest chances of success.
In some instances, you might also be asked to sign release forms to ensure that those who are close to you and who have firsthand knowledge about your addiction and substance abuse disorder are permitted to report on their experiences and observations to the assessment professionals. The experts, in turn, will evaluate this information to determine the extent of your problem and - subsequently - your treatment and rehabilitation requirements.
In most cases, you will find that there are two instances in which you may find yourself needing a drug and alcohol assessment. The first would be when you decide to consciously take the steps towards enrolling for a recovery, treatment, and rehabilitation program while the second happens when a court requires it. The latter might also result in your checking into a rehab.
Every time a new individual checks into an addiction and substance use rehabilitation facility, the experts and staff should first seek to understand them and their particular situation.
The first step even before you can begin treatment is for the team at the facility to evaluate and assess your substance abuse disorder. Through this assessment, the team of professionals will gain an unique perspective into your individual situation. The tests will also reveal all special concerns that may need addressing during your treatment and rehabilitation.
If you are also struggling with co-occurring conditions - such as mental health concerns - you may falsely think that you should first deal with your addiction before you address the additional condition.
However, this is false. For treatment to achieve optimal success, it is imperative that you treat all co-occurring disorders as well. This is because mental health problems such as anxiety and depression may magnify your struggles with alcohol and drugs. In the process, these problems can make it harder for you to achieve full sobriety and attain recovery.
If left untreated, most mental health concerns may also create a situation that increases your chances of relapsing. Therefore, during your drug and alcohol assessment, you will be evaluated for such co-occurring disorders.
That said, you should keep in mind that all the information that the experts obtain during these procedures will be kept private and confidential. It will only be used for the sole purpose of planning, creating, and following through with the right method of rehabilitation, care, and treatment for your particular situation.
When a case is brought before a court of law and it involves intoxication, drunkenness, or substance abuse, the judge might order that you undergo evaluation and assessment to find out if you have a substance use disorder.
This type of assessment will typically be administered by an agency or program certified through the same state where you were brought before the court. In certain convictions and situations, the state might also require that you undergo evaluation as part of your mandatory sentencing.
Some of the convictions or circumstances where judges require evaluations for substance abuse include but are not limited to:
You need to bring certain documents - either on your own or through your attorney. These include, but are not limited to:
The evaluation typically lasts anywhere between 60 and 90 minutes. Over the course of this assessment, you may be interviewed by individuals who are trained and certified in alcoholism, addiction, and substance abuse treatment. These experts will perform in-depth reviews of your history of substance abuse as well as look through the documents you provided.
Court-mandated drug and alcohol assessments are relevant because they determine if you have an ongoing condition, such as addiction or substance use disorders. They will also check to see if there is enough evidence to support your struggle with either of these conditions. In the same way, the assessment may serve to check whether the circumstances leading to your arrest were repeat offenses or an one-time event.
In most states, you may also have to undergo various treatment obligations or check into a rehabilitation program as outlined and stipulated by the court that required you to get assessed.
Even before the evaluation, the court may require that you start on any or all of the following:
Although you might not have chosen these circumstances and the resulting sentencing, it is essential that you keep in mind that the earlier you start on treatment and rehabilitation - where the drug and alcohol assessment found that you are addicted or you have a substance use disorder - the easier it will get.
In particular, your compliance will demonstrate to the prosecution and the judge that you have started taking your responsibility seriously. It will also give you the opportunity to start receiving the assistance you need before your substance abuse gets out of hand.
At the end of the day, you should keep in mind that drug and alcohol assessments are tools that you can use to succeed in your personal and professional life. At first, you may feel ashamed and embarrassed about talking so openly about your addiction and the struggles you have with addictive substances.
You may also not be too inclined to be entirely honest and true about your substance use events and behaviors. However, you need to remember that evaluation through screening and assessment is done for your benefit.
To this end, the addiction specialist you work with will not be able to fully develop the right program or plan for you unless they know the full extent of your addiction and substance abuse.
Apart from your drug and/or alcohol problem, the assessment should also serve as an opportunity where you can be completely honest about everything else that might be a factor influencing your substance abuse and recovery options.
Remember, the more honest and truthful you are, the easier it will be for you to reap the full benefits of the programs recommended after the assessment. Conversely, if you choose to hide and conceal any information or habits, you will only be harming yourself. Such concealment may even hinder all your chances of living a healthier and more productive lifestyle.
