Alcohol Relapses Associated with September 11, 2001: A Case Report

Abstract

The timing of the terrible events of September 11, 2001 (9-11), and an ongoing randomized clinical trial of case monitoring have allowed a prospective examination of the effects of trauma upon the relapse rates of a group of clients following alcohol detoxification. The clients studied in this report were enrolled in case monitoring prior to 9-11. Case monitoring consists of telephone contacts on a tapering schedule designed to help clients avoid relapses, reduce the severity of relapses that do occur, and get clients back into treatment, at less intense levels, than would occur without case monitoring. For those clients completing a telephone contact before and a telephone contact after 9-11, none of the clients drank between detox discharge and 9-11, while 42% drank by the first telephone contact after 9-11. Data from another study were analyzed and results counter the rival hypothesis that the case monitoring study results reflect an annual seasonal effect. Results suggest that terrorist events may lead to a greater likelihood of relapse for those in alcohol recovery. These effects may be ameliorated by public education and outreach.

Mental health and primary care in a time of terrorism: Psychological impact of terrorist attacks.

“…Methodological characteristics and major findings of the studies are summarized in Table 1. Data collection methods included structured personal interviews (Beauchesne, Kelley, Patsdaughter, & Pickard, 2002; DeLisi et al, 2003; Factor et al, 2002; Ford, Udry, Gleiter, & Chantala, 2003; Ho, Paultre, & Mosca, 2002; Stuber et al, 2002; Weiss et al, 2002), self-administered or assisted self-report questionnaires (Applied Research and Consulting, LLC, et al, 2002; Chen, Chung, Chen, Fang, & Chen, 2003; Fredrickson, Tugade, Waugh, & Larkin, 2003; Halperin-Felsher & Millstein, 2002; Kinzie, Boehnlein, Riley, & Sparr, 2002; Kramer et al, 2002; Melnik et al, 2002; Melnyk et al, 2002; Murphy, Wismar, & Freeman, 2003; Pantin, Schwartz, Prado, Feaster, & Szapocznik,( text continues on page 15 ) 2003; Trout, Nimgade, Mueller, Hall, & Scott, 2002; Wolinsky, Wyrwich, Kroenke, Babu, & Tierney, 2003), telephone surveys (Galea, Resnick, et al, 2002; Melnik et al, 2002; Schuster et al, 2001; Zywiak et al, 2003), Internet surveys (Schlenger et al, 2002; Silver et al, 2002; Walker & Chestnut, 2003), and focus groups (Deren, Shedlin, Hamilton, & Hagan, 2002). Two studies used record reviews that reported numbers of people seeking clinical or counseling services (Connery, 2003; Wunsch-Hitzig et al, 2002).…”

“…Ten studies took advantage of ongoing longitudinal research or clinical treatment programs to examine pre- and postattack characteristics (Connery, 2003; Factor et al, 2002; Ford et al, 2003; Halperin-Felsher & Millstein, 2002; Melnyk et al, 2002; Pantin et al, 2003; Weiss et al, 2002; Wolinsky et al., 2003; Zywiak et al, 2003). In addition, Melnik et al (2002) reported the results of a special terrorism module for people living in New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey that was added October 11, 2001, to December 31, 2001, to the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a national telephone survey.…”

“…The majority of the studies included individuals from communities located in close proximity to attack sites (primarily New York City; Washington, DC; New Jersey; and Connecticut; Applied Research and Consulting, LLC, et al, 2002; Chen et al, 2003; DeLisi et al, 2003; Galea, Resnick, et al, 2002; Kinzie et al, 2002; Kramer et al, 2002; Trout et al, 2002; Wunsch-Hitzig et al, 2002), and Boston, where two of the hijacked flights originated (Beauchesne et al, 2002; Zywiak et al, 2003). Other locations include Atlanta, Georgia (Norris, 2001); Indianapolis, Indiana, and St. Louis, Missouri (Wolinsky et al, 2003); New Orleans, Louisiana (Murphy et al, 2003); Miami, Florida (Pantin et al, 2003); Dallas, Texas (Trout et al, 2002); Michigan (Fredrickson et al, 2003); northern California (Halperin-Felsher & Millstein, 2002); Rhode Island (Connery, 2003); North Carolina (Walker & Chestnut, 2003); and Oregon (Kinzie et al, 2002).…”

A critical review examining substance use during the disaster life cycle

“…For example, a significant number of relapses were reported in a small sample of recovering alcoholics, immediately after the September 11th attacks (Zywiak et al, 2003). Similarly, relapse was fairly high among former heroin, crack and cocaine users after September 11th, but this was limited to those who had recently stopped using drugs within the six months immediately preceding the attacks (Weiss et al, 2002).…”

Individual Vulnerability to Stress Is Associated With Increased Demand for Intravenous Heroin Self-administration in Rats

“…Substance use and addiction are strongly associated with risk factors like stress and mental trauma (Perkonigg et al, 2000; Breslau et al, 2003; Zywiak et al, 2003; Dewart et al, 2006; Mills et al, 2006). The evidence for stress and heroin use comorbidity is less extensive as for other drugs of abuse, but the existing findings from epidemiological research, and few preclinical studies, strongly link stress with opioid use.…”