Drinking, drugs and depression: SAMHSA's study
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| Topics: addiction, adolescents, depression, testimony
Roughly one in ten youngsters between 12 and 17 years old have a depressive episode each year, SAMHSA administrator, Dr. Terry Cline, told a House subcommittee on Weds. "[T]these young people are twice as likely to take their first drink or use drugs for the first time as those who did not experience depression.” Help, should they become addicted, is not readily available. Cline said that slightly more than 10 percent of the 23.6 million needing treatment for drug or alcohol addiction get help at a “specialty facility.”
Cline’s testimony referred to recent findings published in SAMHSA’s annual report of patterns of depression, alcohol and drug use broken down by states and age.
