Drug treatment centre ‘can’t cope with demand’
The Aiseirí organisation, which provides treatment and extended care centres in Tipperary, Wexford and Waterford, said it “cannot keep up with demand” from a growing number of young addicts suffering from a range of addiction.
The group revealed there was now a waiting list of over six weeks at its residential centres.
Aiseiri founder Sr Eileen Fahey disclosed: “Addiction now usually involves drink and drugs and there aren't enough places available.”
Over a 21-year period, Aiseiri has assisted over 5,000 addicts, boasting an impressive track record of a 60% full recovery rate.
But Sr Eileen warned that addiction had changed greatly over the last decade. “Up to 10 years ago, nearly all our patients were addicted to alcohol,” she said. “Today, alcohol alone accounts for only 50% of the clients we assist on our residential programmes.”
Describing poly-addiction, or a range of addictions, as the norm, she added that it was an increasing national problem.
Sr Eileen said addicts are mostly young people, in their 20s and early 30s, engaged in “abnormal levels of drinking complicated by a mix of drugs like hash and ecstasy and even more serious drugs.
She said: “There is a much greater demand than we can respond to, with a waiting list of over six weeks and waiting lists in every centre. A waiting list puts a huge demand on an addicted person trying to stay clean.
“They are under great pressure to pay bills to the pusher, they are living in fear and anxiety and addiction needs to be recognised much more as a reality by the Government.”
Sr Eileen said that addicts come from a broad cross section of society.
The charity director also disclosed that 10% of the clients at the centres were now addicted to internet gambling. She commented: “It has become a huge problem with people up all night gambling.”
A former nurse, Sr Eileen set up the first residential centre in Cahir as a registered charity in 1983, followed in 1987 by a centre in Wexford and, last year, a half-way house for recovering addicts in Waterford. The centres follow the internationally approved Minnesota method of addiction treatment which is based on the 12-step programme of Alcoholics Anonymous.
Despite significant recent progress in treatment and care programmes countywide, Sr Eileen warned: “The increase in addiction is there for all to see. There simply are not enough centres to keep up with the demand from addicts ready to face their addiction and make a radical change.”
She said: “Addicts are swamped in active addiction, they are immersed in depression and their families are traumatised.”
Sr Eileen added that 60% of Aiseirí's patients had “achieved lifetime recoveries with a resultant positive impact in human terms.”
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
