NOTION OF ADDICTS HAMPERS DIAGNOSES

"Skid-Row Stereotype" Is Factor, Expert Says

Too many health professionals have a stereotype of the kind of people who
abuse alcohol and drugs and are pessimistic about whether addictions can be
treated, a national addiction expert said Friday in Charlotte.

"Many physicians will not make the diagnosis unless the person fits into a
skid-row stereotype," said Dr. John Chappel, a psychiatrist and medical
director of the addiction treatment program at the University of Nevada.

Chappel spoke to substance abuse professionals at Behavioral Health
Center-Amethyst to kick off Substance Abuse Awareness Month in Mecklenburg
County.

To illustrate his point, Chappel recounted the life of Vincent van Gogh,
the 19th-century Dutch painter who cut off part of his ear in a fit of madness.

With slides of van Gogh paintings flashing on a screen, Chappel described
the painter's frequent quarrels with his parents and teachers. He drank too
much and suffered from depression. And in his 30s, while living near Paris,
his bizarre behavior prompted neighbors to petition to have him committed
to a mental hospital. In 1890, he shot himself and died.

Chappel suggested that people reacted differently to van Gogh, just as they
do to people with addictions, depending upon how well they knew him.

"As we get to know another person, we have much different feelings about
them," he said. "Not everyone who comes into the emergency room is Vincent
van Gogh, but every individual who comes in there has a history."

Chappel also described his surprise at findings during the past decade that
"drug-focused" prevention programs don't work as well as "skill-based"
programs.

Drug-focused programs use authority figures, such as police officers, to
teach kids about drugs and how they work, topped with a strong message not
to use them.

Skill-based programs teach kids how to refuse drugs without being rejected
by their peers.

Researchers found that, with drug-focused programs, "the percentage of kids
that will experiment will go up," Chappel said. "We were shocked."

For information about Substance Abuse Awareness Month activities, call
375-DRUG (3784).

Reach Karen Garloch at (704) 358-5078 or kgarloch@charlotte.com.