Tips On How To Help Someone With Addiction.

June 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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When it comes to family and friends, most people say they’d be willing to do anything for their loved ones, But when your loved one is addicted to alchol or drugs, how can you help? Here are a few suggestions  to help your loved one with addiction:

1. Confront them.  If your loved one has an addiction and you want to talk to them about it, it helps to be firm and confront them about it. Be direct. State that you care and want to help, but you need them to cooperate with you.

2. Set up a formal intervention. If you have tried the personal confrontation and it didn’t work. setting up a formal intervention with professional and familial help is another way to offer a wake up call to those who are suffering from addictions.

3. Establish boundries and set limits. There is only so much you are willing to go through and do for your addict, so state that to them. Let them know what you are willing to do and what you WONT do. Be Firm, but kind about it.

4. Understand addiction before confronting them. Realize that it’s NOT brainpower vs addiction in the addicts mind, their brain is a complete slave to the substance, and you yourself have to recognize how hard it is to just “quit”. Offer loving support and willingness to help, but know that sometimes, a person has to want to quit on their own terms before they will seek help.

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For Doctors: Overcoming Your Addiction

May 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment

If a physician makes a mistake while practicing, it can cause injury and even death to patients. This is why it is of the utmost importance doctors overcome their addictions. Mistakes can lead to having to defend themselves against malpractice suites. A physician does not want to find himself on the other end of a Los Angeles malpractice action. Malpractice can be damaging to any physician’s reputation and increase their malpractice insurance premiums drastically.

There are rehab facilities just for addicted doctors, who are in no condition to continue working. These rehab facilities are known for taking extra care for privacy. Sadly the medical profession’s statistics for addiction are high. The benefit of seeking treatment alongside other physicians with addictions is that there is someone who can understand you situation and who can relate to the pressures and access to drugs which are unique to the medical profession. Doctors in treatment can truly relate to what the person is going through.

It takes great courage for a doctor to come forward and admit he has an addiction and needs help. It is a terrifying time in the physician’s life for fear of damage to his reputation and individual practice. Facing the addiction, seeking treatment and following through will far outweigh the costs if the addiction is allowed to continue

 

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Detoxification and Rehabilitation Solutions

February 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Detoxification and Rehabilitation Solutions

If you are suffering from a substance abuse problem, whether it is alcoholism or a drug addiction that is plaguing you, the solution is to find a detoxification and rehabilitation program that is going to walk you down the road to recovery. You cannot completely and fully overcome a substance abuse problem unless you are willing to go through both rehabilitation and detoxification, because these are two different programs that aim to meet two different types of goals. The first thing to know is that detoxification or “detox” is all about the physical aspects of the drug addiction like the physical cravings and the physical withdrawal symptoms. The rehabilitation leg of the journey, on the other hand, is all about the emotional and mental aspects of the addiction, including overcoming bad habits and learning how to lead a healthier lifestyle.

It is vitally essential that you shop around and explore the different options and opportunities that are available to you when you are ready to overcome your addiction. There are so many different types of programs offering help for these substance abuse problems that you really need to choose a program that is designed to meet your unique and individualized needs. No two detoxification or rehabilitation programs are created equally, and so you are going to want to really shop around and compare what is available to you.

Try to make a list of some of the detoxification and rehab programs that appear to appeal to you, and then whittle down the list according to which ones are going to meet your needs in the best possible way. Do not simply choose the first rehab or detox program that you find and hope for the best, because there is no single one size fits all solution to overcoming a drug or alcohol addiction. A little bit of shopping around and comparing your options is going to have a profound impact on how effectively you are able to kick your habit once and for all.

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Substance Abuse in Senior Populations

December 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Substance Abuse in Senior Populations

Seniors and Substance Abuse

1. Seniors who abuse substances are at greater risk of health problems than those who don’t. That doesn’t take a science degree, but we don’t always know how to chart how far the disease has advanced. A senior who has been drinking for fifty years will likely have more health related issues from alcohol than a younger person. Older people work harder to breathe and to get blood to their heart. These are serious issues. Substance abuse can throw your balance off for seniors this is especially dangerous.

Seniors and Prescription Medicine

2. As we age things may not work so well any more. Body parts like legs may stiffen with arthritis and our sight may decrease over time. Because growing old involves our bodies changing we have to make adjustments. Sometimes this includes prescription medicine. This will certainly have a negative effect if we are also abusing substances while taking prescription medicine. Your dosage won’t be as effective and you run the risk of an allergic reaction from mixing chemicals.

3. Help is Available

Don’t let age stop you from getting help. Detox programs and rehab centers have clients and patients of all ages. Congratulations for taking time out to stop and think about life and your future. The title of Senior carries some weight. You have lived a bit. Deciding to live better is one of the best gifts you can give to yourself.

4.Staying Sober

Staying sober may seem hard some days. But you can do it. Support groups and meditations help. Finding friends who don’t drink alcohol but prefer a healthier way of living may be more of what you need. Sobriety is possible. People can change. The desire has to be there. Working towards ending addiction is a process that doesn’t

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Addictions Not all the Same

November 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

What is addiction? With the proliferation of celebrity rehabs stints and celebrity doctors doling out advice the definition of the word seems to have been lost. Addiction is now used to describe anything that might be considered a hobby or a vice. Golfer Tiger Woods seemed to blame his affairs on sexual addiction. While many people might consider their obsessions with sex to be unhealthy, scientific evidence has yet to provide a conclusive physical dependency on sexual activity.

It is not enough to let something become a mental crutch or to have it become an unhealthy obsession. The definition of the word addiction at one time meant a complete reliance on the substance. As in without heroin the person will shut down and begin foaming at the mouth. Addiction used to denote a chemical dependency. Alcohol treatment is treating addiction. Drug rehab is treating addiction. Sexual addiction therapy is treating something else.

While there might be studies to show that people need treatment for certain behaviors and that some people are more likely to become obsessed with an action than others, the portrayal of people suffering from sexual addiction or an addiction to getting tattoos confuses the general public and produces a negative societal impact.

Treatment programs can get their budgets cut by a stumping politician or the public can lose the will to support positive social programs. While it might be interesting to tell stories about a person’s unhealthy compulsions, it becomes a disservice to portray all addictions as the same. Physical addiction is different than others, and the treatment of physical addiction needs to be portrayed as such in the media.

Failure to adhere to facts provides policy makers with the justification to enact terribly damaging laws, which punishes addiction as if it were a crime rather than something the addict cannot control.

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Types of Substance Abuse

November 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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Substance abuse is classified into different types and each type has specific method of

dealing with it and a specific way to cure the addiction. Also each type of substance abuse

has a particular type Rehab that is dedicated to help addicts get rid of the addiction once

and for all. The numbers of substances available for abuse are unlimited and the options

for a normal person to turn into an addict in a legal way too are quite a lot. Any

uncontrolled need for a particular psychoactive substance is termed substance abuse. An

experienced substance abuser will have knowledge of the effect that various drugs bring

about.
Alcohol: One of the most common and wide spread types of substance abuse. Its acceptance in

society has made it legal to consume as much alcohol as one likes. Alcohol is sold in

supermarkets and is available for anyone to buy and consume conveniently. This abuse of

alcohol affects the largest number of people around the world since nowhere is it illegal.

Only drinking and driving is illegal since this causes harm to other and to public

property.
Cocaine: This is one of the most dangerous types of addictions. It causes harm to all

aspects of the users life. Its side effects include prolonged depression and deteriorating

health.
LSD: This is a very powerful psychoactive drug that is used by abusers by their own choice.

This drug is mostly taken by people who want to escape from the realities of life.
Prescription Drugs: This is another form of legal drug abuse which is slowly on the rise

among all ages. These drugs are first prescribed by a doctor for a particular pain, which

turn into an addiction.
There are many other sorts of drug addiction which cannot be covered here, these are just

the most general types of Substance abuse.

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Understanding the Mental Aspects of Addiction

October 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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The physical hold that an alcohol or drug addiction has on a person is pretty obvious. The chemicals in the brain are altered when we take these drugs or drink alcohol, and our bodies respond accordingly by creating a dependency on the drug. It is pretty apparent why our bodies react in this way, but what about our minds? Another facet of addiction is the mental aspect of addiction, which means that someone who is an alcoholic can want to drink alcohol, feel the need to drink alcohol or be outright obsessed with the idea of drinking alcohol regardless of whether their bodies are going through withdrawals or not.

It is vitally important that you take a hard look at the emotional and mental aspects of addiction when it comes to attending an alcohol rehab center or a similar program for recovery. When you are able to look long and hard at yourself, then that is when you can really start to get the help you need for what ails you. You have to be able to look at yourself, your personal flaws, your bad habits and whatever it is that has led you astray in this manner. If you are struggling with an addiction to alcohol, then you need to figure out why, what caused it, and how you can prevent that negative influence from impacting you any further.

Something led you to drink or take drugs, and it is important to determine what caused this mental need for self-medication or taking drugs or alcohol so that you can overcome the hold that it has on you. It is not uncommon to develop a serious emotional dependency on drugs or alcohol, but it does mean that you need to start getting some help so that you can kick your addiction and move on with your life once again

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Substance Abuse and celebrities

October 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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Substance Abuse and celebritiesa
Celebrities from around the world have been victims of drug abuse. This has been on a slow

rise since the last half century. Only in the last decade has the rise been so phenomenal

that big celebrities have been arrested and sent to Rehab by the courts. The substance

abuse list includes common alcohol to marijuana and to occasional cocaine along with many

other. Some celebrities have even lost their lives because of this habit.
One of the most famous celebrities to meet disastrous results is Elvis Presley. The man

known as the king of rock and roll. The person with looks, talent and a charisma to die for

fell for prescription drug abuse. Although his death was covered up as a cardiac arrest

because of his unyielding popularity and the disastrous effects if could have. Marilyn

Monroe the queen of Hollywood was a victim of an high dose of chloral hydrate. Though many

theories surround her death, this is the only one that was officially declared.
And there are many celebrities who have had close association with drugs but have come back

strong by fighting their addictions. One such celerity is Robert Downey junior who was a

huge substance abuser from the age of 6. He first started with marijuana but went on to try

vivid number of drugs like cocaine, valium alcohol, etc. He has had many visits to the drug

rehabilitation centers. Drew Barrymore was a huge addict of cocaine, marijuana and alcohol.

She began abusing from the age of 10 when she would get drugs from her mother Courtney love

who herself was a huge addict. In the list of models the fist most popular celebrity drug

addict would be Kate moss. Kate is big fan of cocaine and has been spotted snorting cocaine

in public. Recent arrests include Paris Hilton and Bruno Mars.

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Substance Abuse

October 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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Although using anything to above certain limits is can be termed as substance abuse, it is

confined to the use of psychoactive substances. An abuse of any equipment or an ingestible

material that causes harm to the body is known as substance abuse. These drugs can include

any drugs or natural substances which may or may not have been termed illegal by the

governments. Substance abuse is also common with over the counter drugs that have

psychoactive effect on the human nervous system. Many substances act as mood modifying

chemicals which can be used in the form of solvents of inhalants. These drugs have varying

effects on the nervous system and surprisingly no two drugs have the same effect on the

brain. Some of the substance abuse is directed towards muscle building. These are termed as

steroids which promote muscle growth. People using common drugs such as pain killers start

over using these drugs, this kind of drug abuse is also known as substance abuse. These

drugs are addictive and cause the body to have varying reactions to their withdrawal form

continuous use. But some psychoactive drugs are used for recreational purposes and

shouldn’t be termed substance abuse as it is generally done. Some of the drugs that are

used as a recreational drug are marijuana which is illegal in most of the countries.

Drinking too much alcohol too is a kind of substance abuse since the alcohol has

detrimental effect on the connections between neurons and muscles. Even visually harmless

substances such as caffeine and cigarettes over use is termed as substance abuse. Any drug

that alters the condition of the brain has been termed illegal and any use is considered

substance abuse. Hence a proper knowledge about these drugs needs to be gathered so that it

can be stayed away from.

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Naltrexone for Substance Dependence

September 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Naltrexone for Substance Dependence

For substance abuse, specifically dependence on alcohol or opiates, there is a prescription drug that has been shown to aid in detoxification: naltrexone hydrochloride.

What is Naltrexone?

The prescription drug naltrexone hydrochloride (commonly called naltrexone) is classified as an opioid receptor antagonist and is used for long-term dependence control and/or rapid detoxification. Its main use is to treat dependence upon alcohol, although it is also used for opiate addictions. Although naltrexone does not affect cravings for opiates, It does temporarily block substance intake, meaning that is blocks the euphoric effects of the drug. On the other hand, naltrexone does reduce cravings for alcohol while is being used. It is also being studied as a way to treat cocaine addiction.

Dosage and Side Effects

The standard dosage is a daily 50 mg tablet, which can initially cause some nauseousness for the first several days. In order for the drug to work, it must be taken daily and regularly. Other symptoms are rare. There is also an injectable form of naltrexone that was approved in 2006 by the US FDA to treat the disease alcoholism. The last option is the implant (see the rapid detoxification section), which seems to be more suited than the oral pill for heroin addictions.

Rapid Detoxification

Rapid detoxification can be used as an initial step in treating opioid dependence, as it inhibits or blocks opioid receptors. The patient must be under sedation or general anesthesia to receive the procedure – while they in this inhibited state, the patient is intubated and placed on ventilation. An implant can also be used – it is surgically placed in the stomach in order to aid in the detoxification efforts. Following this procedure, oral naltrexone is then used daily for up to one year to manage the dependence.

Trade Names

The drug naltrexone is marketed under the brand names Revia and Depade. In the US, it is also distributed as Vivitrol, which is an extended release formula. The related drug that treats constipation induced by opiates is Methylnaltrexone Bromide, and is marketed under the name Relistor.

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