You're listening to Well Now Slight's podcast on Health and Wellness.

I'm Kavita Patel.

And I'm Maya Feller.

For many, the holiday season is a joyful time to make memories with friends and family,

but it's also a period of high stress, which can trigger dangerous ways to cope, especially for

people with substance use disorder. Substance dependence and addiction are complex and challenging.

The person who's struggling with addiction isn't alone in the turmoil. Their struggle deeply impacts

loved ones and society at large. Addiction is a public health crisis. The National Institute on Drug Abuse reported in 2020

that 40 million people in the United States had substance use disorder, and of those, only

six and a half percent received treatment. And in 2021, more than 100,000 people died of drug

overdoses. While those are really staggering numbers, Kavita,000 people died of drug overdoses.

While those are really staggering numbers, Kavita, and as of this taping, the U.S. is in the midst

of an opioid overdose epidemic.

There is an actual public health alert in effect from the U.S. Department of Health and Human

Services.

The numbers are staggering, and the lack of accessible treatment is disheartening.

Kavita, tell me about your professional experience with patients who've struggled with substance

use disorder. I think that my experience mirrors what the United States statistics show, that

there are far more people that either have a diagnosis or meet the criteria for a diagnosis,

but a very small fraction have received treatment.

And that's partly because treatment can be complicated.

I think there used to be, if you'll recall, Maya, the old days of, you know, basically

...