Montana ranks fourth nationally among states most at risk for addiction, prompting Governor Greg Gianforte to designate it a growing crisis as overdose deaths continue to devastate families. Behavioral health officers and treatment centers across the state are working to address root causes and expand access to care.
Malcolm Horn, a behavioral health officer at Rimrock Foundation in Billings, characterizes addiction as a chronic disease that fundamentally changes brain function. “We understand now addiction fundamentally changes areas of the brain that help us with learning, problem-solving, memory,” Horn said. He identifies two primary drivers of Montana’s high-risk status: inadequate behavioral health care systems and limited treatment access. Montana’s rural geography compounds the problem—even in metropolitan areas like Billings with numerous providers, resources remain insufficient. “It can be really hard for people to access care. So even in a metropolitan area like Billings, where there’s lots of providers, there’s not enough to go around,” Horn explained.
Cultural stigma presents an additional barrier. Horn pointed to what he calls the “cowboy-up mentality,” a cultural tendency to suppress emotions rather than address them openly. “The idea was you don’t need to deal with those emotions. You just set them aside. So, there’s definitely that idea that we don’t share that. We don’t talk about that,” he said. This stigma prevents many from seeking help, with Clinical Supervisor Malissa Raasakka at Healing Rock Recovery noting that fear significantly hinders treatment access. “There are so many people in America that struggle with addiction that are too afraid to talk about the struggle with addiction and mental health,” Raasakka observed.
Healing Rock Recovery, an outpatient treatment center in Billings, offers intensive outpatient programs (IOP) and partial hospitalization programs (PHP), also called day treatment services in Montana. The facility prioritizes creating supportive environments where people feel safe. “We create such a safe environment that they’re able just to be real people here when they walk in those doors. They don’t have to worry about the shame and the guilt and the stigma,” Raasakka said. Patient Jeffrey Shelton described the impact of such care: “It changed my life. This was the perfect place because they made it safe. And they made it comfortable.”
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://www.ktvq.com/news/local-news/montana-addiction-crisis-how-treatment-centers-are-fighting-to-save-lives