Feature Issue on Addiction and IDD

Our cover image features a group of people, with and without disabilities, created through artificial intelligence prompts. We blurred the image of one of these adults to represent the loss to our communities when someone suffers from addiction.

People with intellectual, developmental, or other disabilities suffer disproportionately from the ravages of addiction. Treatment providers turn them away, claiming they lack expertise in treating people with co-occurring conditions. Most substance use disorder programs don’t offer plain-language materials. Health providers, or even family members, may miss the early signs of addiction because they don’t think a person with intellectual disability could be addicted to drugs or alcohol. All of this is particularly troubling when we consider that addiction’s common triggers–high rates of loneliness, joblessness, and exclusion–are ones that people with disabilities commonly endure.

More than three decades after the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and with rates of stress and addiction rising for all of us, it is beyond time to address these inequities.

This issue offers insight into the problem and discusses emerging best practices in treatment. We include addictions to alcohol and other substances but also discuss excessive sugar intake and problematic video game play. Anything that takes over lives and keeps people with disabilities from participating fully in their communities is important for our field to address.

We hope this issue helps you think anew about your own intersections with disability and mental health. And we hope that as you encounter those crossroads at work, at home, or in the community, you will use that knowledge to help create better pathways to recovery.