Some people are able to use recreational or prescription drugs without ever experiencing negative consequences or addiction. For many others, substance use can cause problems at work, home, school, and in relationships, leaving you feeling isolated, helpless, or ashamed. If you’re worried about your own or a friend or family member’s drug use, it’s important […]
Levels of Care and Treatment Options
TREATMENT SETTINGS & OPTIONS Brief Intervention Screening & Assessment DetoxificationOutpatient Treatment Day/Evening Treatment Residential Treatment 12 step facilitation Minnesota model therapeutic community Continuing Care Sober Living i.e. Oxford houses Self-help Groups TREATMENT STAGESDevelopmental Models of Recovery (Recovery is a complex process that emerges in stages over time. Each developmental stage of recovery […]
Addiction
Short Definition: Addiction is a primary, chronic disease of brain reward, motivation, memory and related circuitry. Dysfunction in these circuits leads to characteristic biological, psychological, social and spiritual manifestations. This is reflected in an individual pathologically pursuing reward and/or relief by substance use and other behaviors.Addiction is characterized by inability to consistently abstain, impairment in […]
Motivation to Change
What About Motivation? You cannot motivate anyone else. Attempting to do so only annoys them, frustrates you, and wastes your time. There is no one on this planet who has not, at some point in their life, wanted someone else to do something—or even many things. You and I want the other person to do […]
Vaccines to Treat Addictions ?
Researchers from The Scripps Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medical College, and Cornell University have produced a long-lasting anti-cocaine immunity in mice by giving them a unique vaccine that combines bits of the common cold virus with a particle that mimics cocaine. In their study, published January 4, 2011, in the advanced online edition of Molecular […]
Addiction: Nobody Changes a Habit in Just 30 Days
Addiction Affects Millions of Americans Many people suffer from severe addictions that can ruin lives and are extremely difficult to control. Nearly 2 million enter roughly 12,000 addiction treatment programs each year (…). Adi Jaffe is completing his Ph.D. in psychology at UCLA, where he specializes in addiction issues. A former drug addict who spent […]
Relapse Prevention
A Relapse: Why Falling Off the Wagon Isn’t Fatal ? A great relapse story: The cover of the January issue of O magazine says it all: “How Did I Let This Happen Again?” A photo of Oprah Winfrey at her current weight of 200 lb. is juxtaposed with an image of her formerly slender self. […]
Alcoholism & Health Problems
Alcoholism & Nutritional Deficiency Alcoholics suffer from a treatable, chronic disease in which their bodies are dependent on alcohol. Excessive alcohol intake inflames the lining of the stomach and interferes with vitamin absorption. Vitamin and nutritional deficiency can lead to serious problems and should be supplemented in alcoholics to prevent short-term and long-term complications. Individuals […]
Stages of Recovery & Impact on Parenting
The following article presents four developmental stages of family recovery described by Brown and Lewis, and describes for each stage, the possible impact of the family environment—in particular, parenting practices on child development. These different stages of recovery appear to correspond to unique parenting challenges. The following is based on a compilation of knowledge from […]
Chronic Pain, Drugs & Addiction
Chronic Pain and Drugs Pain is universal and important to all beings—it is a warning that something is wrong and needs attention to prevent further damage to the body. Whereas acute pain protects the body while it heals from trauma or injury, chronic pain is simply ongoing, persisting beyond its usefulness. People commonly react by […]
Screening and Brief Intervention for Alcohol Abuse
On a fairly regular basis doctors fail to identify people with alcohol use disorders. This failure is often due to simply not asking the right questions. The consequences of such failure may be substantial, especially if the person has major surgery or develops a severe illness and then manifests acute alcohol withdrawal. Screening and brief […]
Defenses and Denial
Being in recovery means we don’t need or want to lie to ourselves. Denial is our escape from reality, our fantasy. It’s lying to ourselves. All is fine, and we are in control. Denial keeps us from the truth. A spiritual reality is that when we experience faith, we can change and transform. Many of […]
Healing from Co-dependency
The concept of ‘co-dependency’ (also called ‘co-alcoholism’ when alcoholism is involved) refers to an unhealthy pattern of relating to others that results from being closely involved with an alcoholic or addict, whether they are seeking a drug treatment center or not. Co-dependency is a generic term. It has been defined in various ways, but all […]
Issues of Alcoholic Families
Adult Children of Alcoholics – Alcoholism runs in families and children of alcoholics run a higher risk of developing alcoholism than children in the mainstream of the population. Adult children of alcoholics also tend to marry alcoholics, and although they may not be aware of it at the time, they are continuing a pattern. Families […]
Understanding Addiction
Understanding Addiction Addictions come in all shapes and forms. Difficult to define exactly, it has become popular to think of almost any behavior that has a compulsive quality as an “addiction.” But for those who have an addiction, or for those affected by the addiction of a loved one or close friend, it’s clear what […]
When Planning an Intervention…
A drug intervention should be approached as calmly and respectfully as possible. Anything can influence the effectiveness of intervention, including: tone of voice, words we choose, body language, our emotional state, timing, place, and so on… The goal of the intervention is get the individual to listen and hear what we have to say, and […]
A Drug Intervention
A drug intervention is a process that helps a drug addict recognize the extent of their problem. Individuals who are addicted to drugs or alcohol usually do not know their addiction is out of control. They tend to look at those around them as a measure of how right or wrong their actions are. Those […]
Marijuana-Induced Psychotic Episodes
Mikkel Arendt, Ph.D., a fellow at the Center for Basic Psychiatric Research at the University of Aarhus in Denmark, and coworkers used the Danish Psychiatric Central Register to identify patients treated for a first marijuana-induced psychotic episode between 1994 and 1999. There were 535 such patients. The researchers then followed those patients for at least […]