Centerstone clinician outlines causes, emerging threats and treatments for substance use disorder at Monroe County Cares meeting

Ashley Collins, a licensed clinical social worker and director of adult and family services for Centerstone’s West Region, told attendees at a Monroe County Cares community meeting that addiction is “a chronic, often relapsing brain disease that causes compulsive drug seeking and using despite those harmful consequences.” Collins led a broad overview of drug categories, newer threats in the local supply and treatment options including medication-assisted treatment.

Collins framed substance use disorders as multifactorial, citing genetics, early exposure and trauma. She said children of parents with substance use disorder are about eight times more likely to be biologically predisposed to addiction and that individuals who try alcohol or marijuana before age 15 are nearly four times more likely to develop a substance use disorder than those who wait until 18 or older. To illustrate how substances affect the brain, Collins described three brain circuits that fuel compulsive use: the basal ganglia (reward), the…