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Archive for the ‘Addictions’ Category

The rule of thumb to the question of “When can I tell if my drinking is a problem?” is usually that as soon as you start thinking that it may be a problem, it probably already is problematic. Most people, at least in the American culture, have to justify their use of alcohol, even when someone isn’t becoming intoxicated.

It isn’t uncommon to hear people attest to the fact that they only drink two glasses of wine a day because they have read that two glasses is good for one’s heart. Those professionals who have work with recovering alcoholics will tell you that problem drinking could have been identified years before it came to light for the alcoholic.

To really answer this question so that others can more closely evaluate their use of this drug (yes, alcohol is certainly a drug and a very addictive one, as well) is to say that if you are concerned about the amount that you are drinking, then that is ample reason to have an objective professional alcohol determine if it is a problem or is about to become a serious problem.

There are numerous research articles that identify the stages of alcoholism. These can be useful in evaluating one’s drinking, but these stages are not a flawless diagnostic tool.

Problem drinking is usually divided into four stages, alcohol treatment with the first stage being when drinking is no longer a part of one’s social interaction, but is a means to escape emotional pain, problems and inhibitions.

The second stage is usually characterized by the “need” for a drink. A person begins to notice that they are building a tolerance for alcohol and they are drinking more to get the same affect. At this stage, the drinker isn’t easing emotional problems, but is drinking because he feels a dependency for alcohol and can’t function as well without it. At this stage you find relatives and other loved ones commenting on the fact that one is drinking too much. They are also experiencing more of the effects of hangovers or withdrawals by missing work and other important appointments.

In the third stage in this progression, you find the drinker has severe loss of control. This may be evidenced by being arrested for Driving Under the Influence or loosing one’s job because of the effects of drinking. At this stage the drinker will start avoiding relatives and friends that are usually worried about his drinking and are wanting him to face the reality of his situation.

During the forth stage of alcoholism, the drinker is having repeated binges and never quite recovering from one before he starts the next. At this stage it is no secret that the person has a severe drinking problem. People at this stage experience physical signs of alcohol poisoning, such as quivering hands, etc.

It is true that there has never been an alcoholic who started drinking to get to the third of forth stage of addiction, addiction treatment so if you are questioning is your drinking is a problem, it is time to see if you can cut it in half and not experience negative consequences from this reduction. If you start feeling better because you new use of alcohol is giving you less problems and you wish you had reduced it sooner, then you are smart to have taken notice and action and you will probably continue to have a “normal” relationship to alcohol.

If you feel that you can’t reduce your intake, then it is important to find a competent counselor that can evaluate your drinking from an objective point of view. The trick will be to give the counselor all of the truth about your drinking. Denial is very cunning and keeps many who need help thinking that they are just fi

The Japanese first created methamphetamine in the late 19th century. In 1943, meth was commercially made by Abbott Laboratories for the treatment of narcolepsy, depression and even as a treatment for alcoholism. Today, the drug is only approved for the treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or, in some cases, obesity.

Historical documents show that meth’s earliest uses were during World War II when it was given to both the Allied Forces and the German military. There is some evidence that Hitler’s physician have him meth in intravenous injections, which may account for some of his hysterical actions.

By the 1980s, Americans had learned how to manufacture their own brand of methamphetamines by using over-the-counter cold medications and other household chemicals. This led to the passing of laws in the United States to prohibit the possession of the precursors and equipment related to methamphetamine methamphetamine production.

It is easy to notice that American society today is drawn to drugs and drinks that increase one’s normal energy levels. Some project that it is a symptom of a society that is expecting too much of themselves and others say that it is related to the malaise felt by many that are consuming unhealthy junk foods and need stimulates to counteract their sick metabolism.

Whatever the reasons for this surge in seeking stimulants, meth has become a more acceptable “middle-class” options than ever seen in the past. It isn’t uncommon to find successful professionals that are taking meth daily to sustain their level of activity. They know that if they reduce or stop their use of the drug, they will immediately begin need days of sleep and rest to recover from the stress that they have chemically forced their bodies and, especially their nervous systems, to operate under.

When a person first uses meth in average doses, it is very enticing because it makes you feel that you are unstoppable and feel that you are in your “A-game”. In reality, people on meth have the feeling that they are excelling, but their actual intelligence is suppressed, leaving them less capable than they believe. Once they have pushed their systems to operate in over-drive, they are inevitably going to pay the consequences of feeling the opposite as the body attempts to come back to a normal operating basis.

Most people can’t tolerate depression crystal meth rehab for very long periods of time and even a few days of being depressed seem intolerable. For this reason, it is very easy for someone to “medicate” away his or her lethargy and depression by taking another dose of meth, and many times a larger dose. This, of course, is just putting the depression on hold because there will become a time when the body must rest and the depression must be confronted.

It doesn’t take must imagination to picture how taking meth can easily lead to a need for the addictive use of the drug. Because meth is pushing the body to operate in extreme, one’s nutrition suffers and the chemical balance of the body is disrupted. This leads to many health and dental problems that can only be prevented by restoring the nutritional base and getting ample rest. Meth does, indeed, kill and it does so while the user believes that all is well. A strong prevention meth abuse message is vital to protect our public from escalating their use of energy-drinks to meth without knowing the dangers.

America has supported the illicit drug trade for many decades, but recently, the diversion of legal prescription drugs has become our most pressing problem.

A study in 2006 discovered that there are as many new teenager abusers of prescription drugs as there are for those abusing prescription drug abuse marijuana. Studies of teenager prescription drug abuse found that girls are more likely to abuse these drugs than boys and their rationale is a false feeling that medicines are safer than street drugs.

Other studies show that prescription drugs are the second most abused category of drugs with marijuana being in first place. Prescription drug abuse is more prevalent than the abuse of tranquilizers, sedatives and stimulates, including methamphetamines.

This diversion of prescription drugs didn’t happen without the support of those who profit from their sale, in particular, unethical physicians, pharmaceutical companies and, of course, drug peddlers.

OxiContin, addiction an opiate pain reliever, has become an epidemic addiction problem because it produces the same or even more euphoria than heroin. The manufacturer of this drug states that it was a coincidence that their product has an almost identical molecular structure as heroin, but in 2007, three of the company’s executives pled guilty to misleading the public about the addictive potential of their drug and paid a $634 million fine for their crime. However, the FDA still reports that OxyContin has a low addictive potential.

Ethical physicians and the public have started petitions to ban the manufacture and sale of OxyContin since there are other analgesics that are equally has effective and much less addictive. Again, the federal regulators have supported the pharmaceutical corporation and not the evidence or the public.

The United States government through the FDA has approved the sale of more opiate-based painkillers than are found in most other western countries. Many other countries do not allow for the sale or use of opiate addictive painkillers other than morphine; a drug which is less attractive to someone looking for the euphoria that can accompany some of the approved drugs in America.

The street trade from prescription drugs opiates is also a factor in this rise of abuse since many of the opiate pain relievers sell at the pharmacies for $2 to $4, but their street values are over $40 a pill.

In spite of these financial incentives that continue to continue to support prescription drug diversion, American are lacking an appreciation of the consequences of addiction to these drugs. Physicians from all areas of our country are inundated with patients that are seeking these addictive drugs. Many are posting signs in their offices that they do not write prescriptions for controlled substances, but there are many other doctors that are filling their waiting rooms with new and returning patients because they have liberal prescription policies and their reputations soon spread. Any physician that prescribes an addictive drug should spend the time to educate their patients on the outcomes that they can expect from continued use.

What is missing is a concerted effort to promote prevention messages that will help the public to raise their awareness about the personal physical, emotional and financial cost of becoming addicted to these “medications”.

This history of marijuana information shows us that most of what we have been told about this drug is either embellished fabrications or outright lies. In the Depression Era, American were given marijuana propaganda through the movie “Reefer Madness”, where it was shown that smoking marijuana could change you from a loving friend to someone killing your friends and loved ones and becoming a drug crazed psychotic.

In the 60s and 70s the youth of America rebelled against any untruths from the “establishment” and the idea that “you can’t trust anyone over thirty” led to the idea that any negative information about marijuana was propagated by special interest, such as the alcohol industry, to manipulate society.

Today, the use of marijuana marijuana drug rehab is perceived by the public as a somewhat safe drug that doesn’t need be overly regulated or kept illegal. Celebrities and other opinion leaders are continually talking about their marijuana use as a truly recreational drug with only slight inference to negative aspects of its use.

An educated and informed public is essential to a prosperous democracy and a stable society, but when it comes to marijuana, most of us are still unsure of whether it should be a legal commodity or even if the idea of medical marijuana is well founded.

First of all, one needs to challenge the assumption that man needs to have some chemical to help him “unwind” or to relieve the stress of modern life. Most people would argue with that idea, but it is one of the major tenants in alcohol marketing.

The public should be able to make our own personal evaluation on the use or legalization of marijuana since there have been over forty years of good and reputable research on the effects of marijuana effects of marijuana that can show us the truth about this drug.

Many tout that marijuana isn’t addictive, like alcohol, but the research shows that long-term use of marijuana leads to compulsive seeking of the drug in spite of knowing that its use is detrimental, which is one definition of addiction. About 9 percent of marijuana users become addicted, with that number being as high as 17% for those who start smoking in their youth.

There is ample research documenting that marijuana use is associated with increased anxiety and depression as well as many cases of marijuana psychosis taking high doses of the drug.

Marijuana increases the heart rate marijuana treatment from twenty percent to a doubling of the normal resting heart rate. This side effect translates into a nearly five-fold increase in heart attacks in the first hour after marijuana smoking.
Marijuana smoke contains approximately 60% more carcinogens than tobacco smoke, which is accepted as a public health problem.

These are other studies that show the impact of marijuana reduces one’s ambition and worsens personal problems.

It is vital to know the truth about marijuana before we become apathetic about its use in our society or in our families. Alcohol and many other drugs have similar and other side effects, but marijuana isn’t as benign as users wanting to believe and enlisting your support for their denial. All drug use has its consequences and none of them are life supporting.

When professionals look back at the progression of addiction within a family, they always see a lack of confront to address an addiction problem in a timely manner. The reasons for this reticence in addressing an issue that leads to the destruction of lives and families is based on our culture’s ambivalence about alcohol and drug use.

Alcohol and drug rehab professionals find that the definition of alcohol and drug use changing to abuse becomes more liberal as the use increases. Addiction usually happens over years and the increased use begins to be more acceptable as time passes.

But when there is obvious abuse leading to addiction, the indicators are unavoidable. When this is the case in families in American families, what should be done?

In analyzing alcohol use versus abuse alcohol rehab , there is an adage that holds true for every family; that “any use by a minor is abuse”. If you have someone in your family that is drinking alcohol before it is legally allowed, then you should address this issue no matte the amount of consumption. When it comes to illicit drugs, of course, any use at any age is abuse.

Any family member that gets arrested or ticketed for “Driving Under the Influence” is showing you another benchmark that helps families know that drinking is a problem that needs attention.

When interviewed after addiction is obviously a problem, most parents will say that they knew that the drinking or drug problems were getting out of hand, but it seemed nearly impossible for them to confront this issue with the individual that needed help alcohol . Again, much of this ambivalence comes from unclear rules in families about what is and is not acceptable when it comes to alcohol or drug use.

In making rules about acceptability, families need to evaluate their own attitudes towards their use of alcohol and if they are taking tranquilizers or sleep medications, than they need to accept that there is little difference in these behaviors and having two martinis after dinner.

Parents should first evaluate their own possessions on alcohol use and determine if they would be comfortable if their children used alcohol or drugs at the same level. If they are okay with that decision, then they need to make rules related to what age and what settings are appropriate for their children’s use of these substances.

If they are not okay with having their children use at the same level that they consume these substances, then they need to address that issue themselves and openly discuss what they are doing and experiencing with their children. The more real and open a family discusses these issues, the easier it will be to prevent or confront a problem situation related to alcohol and drug use.

In looking at families that are successful with addressing alcohol and drug issues before they becomes problems, one always finds that open and ample communication is the solvent that keeps family from having dire problems alcohol addiction in this area later in their lives. If it is difficult to talk to your children about alcohol and drug use, then you must examine why it is difficult and solve this problem. Families act out family secrets. Not confronting this issue is almost a sure guarantee that alcohol and/or drug use will become a problem at some point in time.

You will not have a hard time finding drug addiction info as they are readily available be it the treatment options or the causes. There are various opinions regarding the onset of addiction and the most appropriate solutions. This makes deciding on a specific addiction program and philosophy a bit problematic for people hooked on drugs. When one is trying to find a life changing, life saving treatment program, the individual, be it the actual addict or a loved one of the addict, they want to know that they are investing their time and money into the most effective and most successful program possible. Given the wealth of info how does one go about finding the best rehab center en route to overcoming addiction?

You might find the info below useful while navigating through the information. In the end becoming drug dependents or alcoholics is a sure way to get your ability to live healthily stolen from you. When a person is addicted his friends and family are also affected. Addicts beat themselves up over their addictive behavior and deplorable health so they feel guilt and develop depression. Upon closer scrutiny it will become apparent that all the feelings and problems displayed by the addict are signs of his own doing after drugs took away his essential capabilities to survive.

What then are the skills needed to make it through?

• Staying focused on a particular activity or goal long enough to complete it.
• The facility to control personal actions and yourself.
• Effective communication skills.
• Having the intelligence to identify and solve life problems.

These standard abilities disappear with drugs which causes addicts to undergo a destructive behavior that takes with it their loved ones. For revitalization and enhancement of these abilities toward a better life addicts need only enter a rehab center and get well. Once drugs walk off with these abilities it is pretty much all downhill for the addict in terms of his life and relationships. Treatment at a rehab center will help addicts get back the abilities they lost so they can hurdle addiction and mend the damage it has caused.

Those seeking assistance in shaking the drug habit should opt for programs or counselors that see the link between drug addiction persistence and the absence of life skills in addicts. You cannot go wrong with a rehab center that is big on reestablishing and making these abilities stronger.

Turning to substitute meds is not the way to go however and they would completely sabotage your efforts at reinforcing these skills that are necessary in combating alcohol or drug addiction forever. This will only prolong your addiction. When it is time for you to quit, do not be fooled by the “magic bullet” of substitute method. Quit the drugs. Quit for life.

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Plenty of info is available regarding drug addiction including what causes it and how it is cured. Numerous opinions are put out there to explain the roots of addiction and ways to hurdle them. Drug addicts find it hard to pick out one program given the many viewpoints on the matter. How then do people sift through such mountains of info and treatment options to get at the rehab center that is most suitable and shake the addiction?

Below are some handy tips to make the process easier. The bottom line is that alcohol and drug addiction steal the ability to live healthily and productively of a person. Without doubt it is the family and friends who suffer too when a person they love succumbs to addiction. The addict lifestyle and unfavorable health picture also certainly cause addicts grief making them depressed or unhappy and guilty. However a closer look would reveal that these issues and feelings are merely symptoms that addicts create in response to having basic survival abilities robbed from them by drugs.

What skills exactly are necessary for survival? There are certain skills that can help with survival: maintaining focus on something until its completion; being able to practice self control; ability covering effective communication; being capable of identifying as well as managing problems thrown your way. Focus on one task or goal and sustain that focus until the end; self control that includes controlling actions taken; effective communication skills; skill in spotting the cause of various life issues and having the smarts to decide and formulate solutions to solve the problems.

Drugs steal such essential abilities from people and it is their absence that triggers the destruction of their lives and their relationships with others. In checking into a rehab center for treatment addicts can restore these abilities and conquer addiction so they can fix the damage it has caused in their lives and move on.

Drug abusers who want help should search for programs or counselors that know from the start that substance abuse is linked to the absence of the fundamental life skills that were taken away from users. The trick to conquering addiction is to sign up with a rehab center offering methods for reestablishing and enhancing such abilities.

Keep in mind too that using substitute meds in alcohol or drug rehab as extended sobriety solutions will negate any possibility for strengthening the basic abilities that are crucial to giving an addict back a more productive and worthwhile life. The substitute medicines can only do so much for your addiction rehabilitation but if you want to be sober forever you have to get serious about rebuilding those life skills. With an effective drug rehab, a once addict can become a thriving member of society.

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For people working in rehab centers depression is almost a given when undergoing treatment. One reason addicts are stuck in the addiction is depression and when not handled properly it could trigger relapses in treatments that were unsuccessful.

Certain rehab centers engaged in psychiatric and medical treatment of addiction say the root cause of it all is depression. Antidepressants or psychotropic drugs are often prescribed by such program practitioners to achieve depression management. Medications do not cure depression they just hide the usual addiction symptom and leave the real cause unaddressed. The thing is with the additional drugs given an addict might find it harder to recover from his existing drug use problem.

There might be truth to depression contributing to drug issues however these are just for some addicts and not all of them. With a true drug addict it is the messed up life that is behind the depression. Aside from legal and financial difficulties these people have tense relationships with pals and relatives and cannot manage to stay employed for extended periods. They are displeased with their existence it being so difficult. It therefore becomes clear that for drug addicts to become depressed can be viewed as rational. Those being treated at rehab centers clearly might not benefit from being given further drugs to solve their problem. Lives will not be rectified by a few drugs given to an addict.

Being addicted to drugs can be physically exhausting and be the reason for developing depression. The body is worn out from not getting enough sleep and food plus the chemicals ingested practically every day. Someone who is sluggish usually lacks the energy and his overall health is poor. Loading up on drugs will again not fix the problem here. In receiving adequate sleep as well as eating correctly and including some exercise physical and mental health will be restored faster and all these will benefit a person physically and mentally.

Addicts diagnosed with depression are usually put on medications because it is the easier solution. The counselors in rehab centers opt for giving medications since it requires less time and effort while also contributing to the joy of addicts. There is no question drugs represent the easier route since little time and effort is invested in doing it compared to actually working on the addiction problem and making addicts better in all aspects of their existence.

It takes a while to recover from the addiction largely because addicts get into the process dejected and reluctant to look at what they have become and account for their irresponsible actions. At the end of the process if successfully completed an addict gets to go home cheerier and able to handle life without need for drugs.

Both prescription and over the counter drugs will not have the same effect. Depression accompanying addiction temporarily disappears thanks to the drugs but it always comes back because the true problem was never confronted. When the effects of the medication wear off the depression usually comes back magnified. In making the symptoms that cause addicts uneasiness go away they inadvertently spiral into further addiction and abuse more drugs.

Addicts might get the same effect taking a legal drug as one that is not so being aboveboard does not make it any better. Who can spot where the rehabilitation claimed by rehab centers appears in this situation?

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Since the 70s when President Nixon declared his “War On Drugs”, the public and private schools have attempted to find the right messages to give their students to help prevent them from abusing alcohol or other drugs. Over the past forty years, the use of these substances has increased, with some years showing lower rates than the previous years, but no one in the alcohol and drug education and prevention field would claim that we are doing all that is needed to help our students make proactive and positive decision about their use of alcohol and other drugs.

Since prevention research takes years to establish the effectiveness of a prevention or education strategy, the prevention field drug education floundered with programs that have proven to produce untoward consequences with some prevention programs actually raising the experimentation and use of these dangerous substances.

When evaluated, the D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program ne program, that received ample funding and support, was criticized for not producing the level of outcomes that would be expected. When compared to programs that emphasize social and general competencies and used interactive teaching strategies, the D.A.R.E program was substantially less effective. D.A.R.E brings samples of illicit and dangerous prescription drugs to the classroom in a presentation by a local police officer in an attempt to raise awareness and create fear about using these drugs.

Research found that for some students, this approach fueled their adolescent tendency to experiment with those things that adults say are dangerous, causing some students to use more than they would had they not had the D.A.R.E. presentation.

Since that research, D.A.R.E. has revised their approach, but the message that what adults and a caring community may feel is logically the right thing to help prevent adolescent alcohol and drug abuse may have other consequences.

The Scared Straight program alcohol abuse that has convicted drug users and pushers tell their stories to adolescents has lately been criticized as having some of the same negative outcomes as seen in the D.A.R.E. program, with too many youth emulating the negative behaviors rather than learning from the consequences of these actions.

As mentioned earlier, programs that utilized interactive teaching strategies have proven to be successful. One program that has had a significant impact on reducing early alcohol and drug abuse uses the total truth about drugs. These classroom presentations use scientific data and true stories about the effects of drugs. Surprising many parents and educators, young adults take the truth about drugs seriously and the success stories from these drug education classes has been astounding.
Certainly we all need to support alcohol and drug prevention drug rehab in our schools, but it behooves us all to use the accumulated data from earlier attempts to find out what works and what doesn’t. Youth substance abuse affects our communities and our futures, so we need to be smart about choosing the most successful approach.

Although video gaming addictions are not clinically diagnosable, addictive behavior can be detected by a good psychologist. The life of a person becomes unbalanced if he is too immersed in a game to care about what happens in real life. One factor that contributes to the addiction may be the promise of a reward at the end of each game or level.

If there is another type of addiction that is similar to this, it would be gambling addiction. Gambling addicts don’t stop until they get a win, like a gamer doesn’t stop until he reaches a level or kills a boss. For gambling addicts, the reward is money or the potential of making money by using pure luck. It’s the old Pavlovian response system coming in. The addict wants more once he gets to the reward.

What are the signs that a person is addicted to video games? It’s simple, if a person cannot stay away from a game, he may be a gaming addict. When a person disregards real life and cares more about his game than anything else, he is an addict. It’s true that gamers hole themselves up for days just to finish a game. Lack of sleep may also be a recurring problem for gamers. Because the gamer is immersed into his game, he doesn’t consider other people important. Most of the time, gamers are not aware that they have to cultivate relationships outside their games in order to live their life. A gamer would often forget what time it is, or what he needs to do that day.

Because most people are not threatened by gaming addicts, they feel no need to set up a rehabilitation center for these people. A good way to cure this is to go on a long vacation away from the games and other gaming gadgets. A gamer should go on a great vacation away from his usual lifestyle in order to get a grip of what’s real and what’s not. A gaming addict may have become a burden to some people without realizing it, so he has to snap out of it fast.

In conclusion, video game addictions is real and can happen to anyone if you are not careful.