Addiction

Addiction, be it drugs, alcohol, gambling, smoking or obesity, is now one of the main drivers of society. The statistics which you will find in our addiction survey are truly shocking; addiction not only costs money but costs lives. If you have not participated in the survey you still can on line?

Addiction has had a negative and financial impact within Government departments. Its cost to the Home Office and police force for example annually runs into billions of pounds while the economy as a whole suffers incalculably through loss of productivity.

On a social level families are torn apart and friendships broken due to the repercussions of addiction. The real social cost cannot be fully estimated as we cannot judge the damage addiction does to the children living with parents who are addicts. What we do know however is that over a million children who have parents who are registered as having an addiction.

The rise among young people who suffer with drug and alcohol misuse is outlined in the recent "Pathways to Problems" report made for grim reading, and we can only hope these behavioural trends can be reserved with the right of educational resources. While the financial and social impacts of addiction are obvious at the higher levels of government and society the actual day to day front line soldiers fighting against addiction are nurses.

Nurses do not tend to be told about the cost of addiction since you see it every day; you have a constant reminder of the human tragedy and the waste of resource that comes with addiction.

The survey which was completed by our members is specifically targeted at nurses. The new charity MyRecovery, is trying to put together a database which will provide nurses in the front line with the necessary information to really make a difference to the patients. MyRecovery needs to know about you and specifically about what you would need to help in the fight against addiction. Addiction is probably the greatest challenge facing the whole of the NHS and filling in this survey may be the first small step in fighting back.

Taking time to be part of this study could contribute to making your working life easier.