Drug Abuse

Question by igor f: Mental health/Substance Abuse Assessment?
Hello,

I was ordered a “Mental Health/Substance Abuse Assessment” as per one of the conditions of a pre-trial diversion program I elected at my recent court arraignment for a simple battery charge. The battery charge was actually because of a five second scuffle over a laptop between a cohabiting relative and myself, with the relative in question suffering a half-inch scratch on his. He called the police to have them “scare me straight,” more or less, but they insisted in making an arrest because it was a domestic violence related incident, regardless of my relative’s wishes against the arrest.

I’m actually a bit worried about this “assessment,” because if they actually find that I do need treatment for whatever reason, I’d be forced to pay like $ 50 per class, and the minimum amount of classes is16. I’m currently unemployed and it’d be catastrophic for me. I have talked to some people who, like myself, were nonviolent, relatively calm individuals who didn’t use drugs and had clean records, but were somehow ordered extensive treatment regardless based on a long psychological questionaire (the assessment).

I guess my question is, what can I expect to be asked during the assessment and what advice would you give to me so that I don’t get duped into having to take classes?

Thanks,

Happy New year

Best answer:

Answer by Bailey
Well, I would like to suggest that you consult to an experienced family attorney as they will help you in this matter. I too have recently consulted to Benjamin and Melmer who helped us a lot in solving our case.

Answer by El Jefe
A drug and alcohol assessment will ask you questions like how often do you drink, how many drinks do you usually have, have you ever drank because you feel stressed, do you often drink alone, etc.

Same for drugs.

Mental health screening is similar. Do you feel like there’s no point to living, do you stay in bed all day just because you feel down, do you ever feel like hitting someone to solve a problem, etc.

My advice is to not be “excessively honest”. When you see each question, try to figure out what kind of problem it is trying to address. “Do I often stay home from work or school when I don’t have to?” is addressing basic responsibility. Someone who plays hooky a LOT usually has some sort of personality disorder. Is that you? If not, you don’t answer, “strongly agree”, even if you take a couple of unwarranted “sick days” each year. On the other hand, if you take 3 or 4 “sick days” each month, well, then maybe you do have a problem and need some help.

Don’t automatically try to give the “right” answer to all the questions. For example, if they give you a test about violent tendencies, and your answer to all the questions is that you never even think of harming a flea, they’re going to figure out that you’re lying, especially if they interview you afterward, push a couple of buttons, and you start snapping at them. If you really are a calm person, then you’ll have a couple of “2s” and maybe a “3” on a 5-point scale out of 20 questions, and the rest all “1s”. 20 “1s” is usually a liar (unless it is REALLY true for you), but the excessively honest guy is the one who has only been in 2 fights in his entire life and puts down a couple of “5s”, 3 “4s”, and scatters the rest of his answers around “1s”, “2s” and “3s”. He’s really making himself out to be a more violent person than he really is…don’t fall into that trap.