Let’s face it, looking at the other guy and thinking he really has a drug problem is a whole lot easier than squaring up to the realization that it’s actually you that may be in trouble because of drug abuse, dependence, or addiction. Not only that, but when someone’s in the grip of drugs, it is so much simpler just to deny anything at all is wrong.

Is it any wonder then that it’s often so difficult for the person who really needs help to know when drug rehab makes sense? For the purposes of discussion, let’s say this person is you – although the same suggestions apply if you are looking for ways to help a loved one or friend get more information on whether drug rehab is the right choice now.

Life Spiraling Out of Control

There are many aspects of drug use that could be examined in order to get at the specifics of how bad it has to be before someone needs professional help. That is beyond the scope of this article. Suffice to say that when the drug user’s life is spiraling out of control, that’s when treatment is necessary – and fast.

But what, exactly, constitutes a life spiraling out of control? Here’s what it isn’t. It isn’t when you just seem to have a bad day, aren’t making enough money to suit you, or are vaguely dissatisfied with life in general.

Likewise, if your drug use is limited to occasionally taking a prescription medication for pain or anxiety or depression – and you take it as directed by your doctor, that’s not an indication that your life is out of control. You may be in a little more discomfort than you had in the past, but injury, aging, or accidents could be the reason for that. And, the body is pretty miraculous in how well it can heal, given enough time.

Here’s a clearer picture of life spiraling out of control:

• You are constantly thinking about where, how, and when to get drugs.
• You become anxious and agitated the closer it gets to the time when you normally use.
• Thoughts about using – anticipating the rush, how good you feel after you use – consume your every waking moment.
• You lose interest in anything not connected with your drug use.
• You stop associating with former friends and your only companions now are those connected with drug use. These may be the pals you use with, your dealer, or other drug-related acquaintances.
• You stop taking care of yourself physical needs. You don’t eat properly, sleep is fitful and plagued with nightmares. You have medical conditions that you don’t seek treatment for.
• Your physical appearance suffers: skin is pale, or sallow, maybe hangs from your frame like a drape or you are so emaciated that your bones are visible.
• You completely disregard personal hygiene, refusing to take regular baths, shampoo and comb your hair, brush your teeth. Your gums may bleed and your teeth may be rotting – especially if you are addicted to crystal meth.
• Your family has disowned you, kicked you out of the house, or the relationship is so strained that your homelife is like a powderkeg.
• You lose your job or get demoted as a result of your drug use.
• You squander all the household income in order to finance your drug use – as well as alcohol use and/or other addictions, such as compulsive gambling, compulsive spending, and so on.
• Your home goes into foreclosure.
• You have to file bankruptcy.
• You get arrested on drug charges.
• Legal bills mount, along with court costs, fees and fines.
• You go to jail.
• You start thinking that suicide may be the answer.

Do any of these sound like things you are experiencing in your life right now? If so, drug rehab could very well make sense for you.

Getting Past Denial

Of course, no one wants to admit that they have a drug problem. The person with the drug problem is usually the last one to recognize that their life has spiraled out of control. Everyone else around him or her can see it, but not the one who’s constantly using.

No, the person – maybe you – thinks, “I can take care of myself. My drug use is under control. I don’t need any help.” There are many different variations of what you tell yourself, but the synopsis is always the same: don’t have a problem, don’t need help, don’t want help.

That is a huge mistake.

Until you can wake up to the truth and admit that you do have a problem with drugs, you’re only going to perpetuate the misery you’re currently in. In fact, your downhill slide is more than likely going to happen quicker.

What will it take for you to be able to see how unhappy your drug use is making you? What about the looks on the faces of your loved ones, your spouse, your children? They only want the best for you, even if life with you has become intolerable, frightening, even dangerous.

If you live with a spouse or others who also abuse drugs or alcohol or engage in other addictive behavior, self-recognition of your problem becomes even tougher. That’s why couples who both use have such a hard time staying clean and sober following treatment unless both are committed to long-term sobriety.

Facing the reality that your life is now as a result of drug use takes courage. It’s certainly not pleasant to look at the mess you’ve made of your life, how much sorrow you’ve caused those who care about you.

But you can do it. First, you have to squash that inner voice that tries to insist that you’re okay. You’re not okay, and deep down inside you actually know it.

Can’t You Just Quit on Your Own?

While you might be an extraordinarily strong person, trying to quit drugs on your own is like trying to fly. You might have a brief success, but you’ll ultimately crash. Why is that? When you become dependent upon or addicted to drugs, your brain becomes habituated to the presence of the drugs. It changes in dramatic ways so that the messages sent to the brain’s pleasure center only react to the next intake of drugs. Your body demands the drugs, that’s why you have such intense drug cravings. The only thing that qualms the cravings is to use.

Sure, you may have all the best intentions. You toss the drugs or flush them down the drain, or use up the last of your stash and vow not to buy any more.

Guess how long that promise lasts?

Only until you start feeling the first symptoms of withdrawal.

Funny how it works. Even a brawny, six-foot-plus male who prides himself in self-discipline (except for his drug use) is reduced to a crazed search for drugs once withdrawal kicks in big-time. Going cold-turkey on drugs is just as foolhardy, in most instances, as trying to kick drinking when you’re a stone alcoholic. It could be more than just mild withdrawal symptoms you’ll have to deal with. Depending on your drug of choice, how long you’ve used, how often you use, and how much you use, whether you abuse alcohol as well as drugs – along with other factors such as your general health and pre-existing medical conditions – withdrawal can be severe or even life-threatening.

So, quitting on your own is just not a good idea. You need to undergo withdrawal under 24-hour medical supervision. This can be done at a detoxification center, either a hospital or detox center, or residential drug rehab that also has a detox facility on-site.

Besides, detoxing – or getting all the toxic substances (drugs) out of your system – is just the prerequisite or first step to getting better. Without treatment, usually consisting of counseling and perhaps medications to help control or reduce urges, you’ll only relapse and be right back where you started.

That’s when drug rehab makes sense. When you want to quit and know that trying to do so on your own is likely to fail, going into treatment for substance abuse is a very good option. In fact, it may be your only opportunity to get clean and sober – and have any hope of a meaningful recovery.

Rehab Close to Home or Away

Maybe you have your reasons for not wanting to go into rehab. One of these may be that you need a complete change of venue in order to make a complete break from your past addictive ways. That’s perfectly understandable. There are many drug rehab facilities that are in other parts of your state or in other states that may be within your reach.

On the other hand, maybe you are worried that you can’t possibly go into drug rehab because you need to be close to your family. You’re afraid that if you’re away from them, something bad will happen.

Actually, going into drug rehab is the best thing you can do – for for yourself and for your family. What do you think will happen to you and to them if you continue your current drug usage? Your problems, whatever they are right now, will only get worse. You may resort to petty crime to finance your drug use, become aggressive and violent with your loved ones, close friends, even strangers.

This is not a situation you want to contemplate, but you need to look at how drug abuse changes individuals. The sorry picture you have of certain incidents that happened in your past due to drug use is nothing compared to the world of hurt you might be in store for if you don’t get help now to overcome your addiction.

Can’t Afford the Time

Here’s another excuse – yes, let’s call it what it is – that many people offer up as a valid reason for not going into drug rehab. Even when they know they need help, that they will continue to go downhill without professional help, they complain that they just can’t afford the time.

What about eternity? That’s time without end – and that’s what you’ll be looking at sooner than you think if you keep on abusing drugs. What’s a 30- or 60- or even 90-day treatment program in the vast scheme of things? If you come out of treatment better equipped to deal with life’s stresses, challenges, and opportunities without resorting to drugs, isn’t that a good use of your time?

You know the answer to that one. Of course, drug rehab makes sense – especially when your life right now doesn’t make much sense at all.

Afraid of What Others Think

If you’re deep into drug use, you may think that you’re so far past caring about what others think, but you’d be surprised. Studies have shown that even chronic alcoholics and drug addicts have a sense of what their community members (those who also abuse alcohol and drugs) think. Dr. Gabor Maté, physician and author of In The Realm Of Hungry Ghosts, who works in a clinic for addicts in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, notes how the men and women there – all addicts – care for one another, despite how far down on the rung of humanity they’ve slipped.

These addicts, many of whom support their habit by prostitution, petty crime, handouts, know what they are. Yet they still cling to hope, even the faintest shred of it. Due to the non-judgmental attitude of Dr. Maté and others at the clinic, the addicts receive treatment for their medical condition, prescriptions to help them with sobriety, allay anxiety, combat depression, even help with living conditions. If they want counseling, that is provided for them as well.

Different world? Perhaps. Vancouver’s system is rather unique. But that isn’t the point. What is the point is that addicts the world over are human beings. And as human beings, we each have value. We each have an innate worth, even if we’ve buried it so far beneath years of drug use that we can’t even recognize it.

Why should you care what others think? If anything, they’re thinking that they wish you well and hope that you get the treatment you need to overcome your addiction.

You should care about you, and what you think about your life right now and how much better it can be in the future. This is when drug rehab makes sense.

Where to Find Treatment

Looking for a drug rehab center that will work for you is not that difficult.  You can call 877-378-6407 to find out about drug treatment options in your area.  Or you can go to the Treatment Facility Locator (http://findtreatment.samhsa.gov/) maintained by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). This is an online searchable database that includes drug and alcohol treatment facilities across the United States. You can also call their toll-free treatment referral helpline at 1-800-662-HELP and speak with a representative who can assist you by directing you to local treatment facilities, state agencies for treatment assistance, answer questions or send you informational material.

Another source for finding treatment is to talk with your doctor, local health agency, your health care provider, even a friend who has gone through drug rehab with good success.

The point is that if you can admit that you have a drug problem and want to get help for it, drug rehab makes sense. And if drug rehab makes sense, take the next step and make plans to go in for treatment. The sooner you get treatment, the quicker you’ll be on the road to recovery.

Imagine a future where you’re no longer a slave to your drug habit, where you’ll have the opportunity to live your life to its fullest, setting goals and achieving your dreams. You can have this. It is attainable. Now, do your part and get started with drug rehab. It really does make sense.

When Drug Rehab Makes Sense is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment

The Ranch is a drug addiction treatment program located on a working ranch just south of Nashville. Their unique treatment program offers equine therapy as part of their treatment, a highly effective treatment tool that is particularly effective for anyone who has struggled with addiction, relapse, and has underlying issues such as depression, anxiety, and trauma.

Equine-assisted psychotherapy, often called simply equine therapy, has turned out to be a highly effective way to help people with drug addiction, particularly if there is any underlying issue that makes talk therapy challenging.

So why exactly are horses such an amazing tool in drug addiction treatment?

Drug addiction presents many challenges to the therapist. Years of hiding the addiction means many with addiction develop ways of manipulating others, often by lying or hiding important facts. Over time, the addicted person becomes so comfortable with half-truths that it can be difficult to tease out the whole story. Sometimes this leads to resistance in therapy. The addicted person can become frustrated, because they themselves honestly cannot access their true feelings. Drugs have undermined their ability to understand what they are feeling and why.

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Enter the horse. These gentle, majestic creatures allow such clients to relax and surrender to a phenomenal process. Their interactions with the horses become metaphors for issues and frustrations in their lives. Deeply buried emotions can come to the surface but in an environment that feels comforting and healing.

The therapist is integral to the process – they observe and note the interactions between the client and the horse. They often discover those unfulfilled needs, hopes, and dreams of the addicted person. Sometimes these needs, hopes, and dreams have been so buried by the addiction that even the person expressing them is surprised to discover them.

The relationship between the addicted person and the horse seems to allow people to be more vulnerable and open. They can work through feelings about past rejection, confusion about who they are and where they are going, and their need for support and nurturing and unconditional love, yet still feel protected and safe.

Equine therapy offers a unique opportunity to test new possibilities in many areas of life by taking initial risks in the context of relationship with another living being, before taking the bigger risks in the context of human interaction.

The Ranch has an equine-assisted psychotherapy team with horsemanship experience and over 20 years of professional counseling experience. They guide clients in learning through the therapy about effective communication, self-worth, integrity, trust and respect in relationships, the difference between assertive and aggressive, and the importance of respect, teamwork and community.

Learn more about drug addiction treatment and the equine therapy program at the Ranch by calling 877-378-6407.

Drug Addiction Treatment at The Ranch is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment

Sometimes being the take-charge individual who has to do everything on his or her own is not the way to go. This is particularly true when it comes to trying to overcome addiction on your own. Chances are you’ll face an uphill battle. But it’s actually more than just a tough road to go: it may be impossible. Here are some things to think about, possible consequences of not getting treatment for addiction.

You Aren’t Your Best Counsel

First of all, let’s be upfront about one thing. If you have an addiction – whether your substance is alcohol, illicit drugs, or prescription drugs used nonmedically, or a compulsive behavior such as gambling, shopping, work, sex, or an eating disorder – you aren’t the one that’s best equipped to give yourself advice. You simply don’t have enough information, aren’t trained in how to overcome the challenges and hurdles, aren’t certified and licensed to treat addiction, and so on.

And, even if you are an addiction professional, if the patient is you, all the more reason why you shouldn’t try to take matters into your own hands.

Again, you aren’t your best counsel. It’s too hard to be able to follow the necessary steps, adhere to appropriate schedules, analyze your own thoughts and motivations, or teach yourself how to cope. That’s why people who really want to get clean and sober and change their lives go into treatment. Why put yourself through unnecessary – and pointless – frustration by trying to do it on your own? Go into treatment. It’s the best chance you will ever have to put your life back in order.

Access to the Facts

Let’s say that you are a strong-willed person who is used to doing research, making educated decisions, following things through to a conclusion. These are terrific skills, but it still doesn’t mean that you should avoid going into treatment. You can access a wealth of information through various means, the Internet being the most readily available, and still have nothing but a lot of facts – without context. It takes a licensed and certified professional – actually, a staff of professionals – to do the necessary interviewing and assessment, create a personalized treatment plan, and get you into detoxification, if required, and progress to active treatment. There’s also relapse prevention training and preparation of a recovery plan – none of which you should do on your own.

What you can do, in preparation of getting treatment, is to research addiction treatment facilities in your area. Find out the specifics, including whether they specialize in treating your particular addiction, multiple addictions (such as drug and alcohol abuse), or co-occurring disorder (such as substance abuse and a mental health disorder). Make a list of the treatment facilities (residential and outpatient) within easy access and go to their websites to learn more about their treatment philosophy, staff, licensing and credentials of personnel, go through the Q&A, find out about costs, how much insurance pays for, whether or not the facility offers sliding-scale or ability-to-pay arrangements or other financial assistance, including scholarships or grants.
Where should you start to find an addiction treatment facility? The best place is the Treatment Facility Locator (http://dasis3.samhsa.gov/) maintained through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). You can also call their toll-free treatment facility referral helpline at 1-800-662-HELP. There is no charge for this service, and all calls are confidential. When you are serious about getting treatment for your addiction, streamline the process by doing this important fact-finding step first. That is very much something that you can do on your own. Then, you need to put yourself into the capable hands of the professionals.

Tomorrow Is Not Always Another Day

We are such an incredible species. We are intelligent, resourceful, curious, stubborn, independent – and prone to self-deception, procrastination, denial, finger-pointing and a few other negative traits along the way. While every person is unique in both their addiction, there is one thing each has in common: addiction is something we really don’t want to deal with. We tell ourselves that we’re not addicted, that we have it under control, that it really isn’t that big of a problem, that we’re not hurting anyone, and a dozen other excuses. And that’s really what they all are. There’s no truth to any of it. Telling ourselves these distortions of the truth, half-truths, and outright lies is just another way to put off doing what we need to do – and that is, to get into treatment.

When it comes to facing reality, most addicts, and those dependent on a particular substance or compulsive behavior, find many other pressing duties or activities that demand their time and attention. Taking care of themselves, getting sufficient momentum going to actually do something positive to overcome addiction, just isn’t in the cards. Maybe tomorrow, we tell ourselves, only half believing the words.

Here’s what happens the longer we avoid facing the reality: We get worse. Statistics show that, without treatment, addiction is a progressive and debilitating disease that may result in death. If you think that’s out of the realm of possibility, think again. Whether the addiction is alcoholism (where you can die from cirrhosis of the liver, heart disease, or other physical complications and conditions), or prescription drugs used nonmedically (where you overdose or suffer drug interactions), or gambling (where you may become so distraught and filled with self-loathing, remorse, and despair that you commit suicide), or any other addiction, death – or serious and debilitating complications – are a very real potential outcome.

Others Will Undoubtedly Suffer

Addiction treatment professionals say that addiction is a family disease. What does this mean? It doesn’t mean that everyone in the family is an addict – although in many instances, there are numerous addictions within the same family. It does mean that when one family member has an addiction, everyone else in the family suffers as well.

Let’s take a look at how this works. Perhaps the wife and mother is an alcoholic, or pops pills to be able to get through the day. Originally, she may have needed prescription medication as the result of an accident or injury, or to combat depression or anxiety. She may have found that a cocktail helps ease the stress and tension of work and taking care of the family. Maybe she combines alcohol and medication without thinking.

Over time, the combination of alcohol and medication, or too much of alcohol or medication, isn’t enough to dull the pain, take away the anxiety, smooth out the stress. She takes it more often, and increases the amount. Pretty soon – sooner than you think – she’s so dependent on the alcohol or pills (or both), she can’t function without them. After more time passes, she’s completely addicted. She may want to, or try to, wean herself off them, but can’t take the withdrawal (nausea, pain, headaches, jitteriness, anxiety, depression – the list goes on). She goes right back to her drug(s) of choice.

What do you think happens in the family when all this is going on? The husband and children gradually notice that something’s not right. Things aren’t being taken care of like they should be: meals aren’t on time, or are haphazard, the house isn’t clean and orderly any longer, the wife/mother’s appearance begins to suffer, and emotional outbursts may become common, and so on. When questioned, the wife may lie to her husband about drinking or taking pills. She probably hides the booze and medicine all over the house and will become hysterical if it is discovered and destroyed.

The children no longer want to have their friends over, fearing their mother will embarrass them or create a spectacle. They may no longer trust their own mother, since she begins to act in more bizarre ways, can’t be relied upon, and shouts and screams at them. The husband probably notices a distancing on the part of his wife. She’s no longer loving and receptive sexually. She may exhibit coldness or an aloofness, or suspicion and jealousy. Money may start disappearing. Bills are no longer paid on time. The family may suffer financial collapse, especially if another addiction that’s been added to the wife/mother’s list is gambling.
It’s easy to see that one person’s addiction, in this example, has an adverse effect on all the members of the family. Again, it doesn’t matter who has the addiction – husband/father, wife/mother, child, sibling, grandparent, aunt or uncle – if the person who’s addicted resides in the household, everyone suffers. It also doesn’t matter what the addition is. Addiction is a family disease: everyone in the family suffers. Without treatment, they will not only continue to suffer, but the suffering will get worse as addition progresses.

Time Is Not On Your Side

Another negative consequence of not getting treatment for addiction is that time is not on your side. Without treatment, you more than likely can’t overcome your addiction on your own. That’s not to say it’s totally impossible – some people can and do overcome addiction without going into formal treatment. They may make do with self-help books, going to 12-step meetings, and sheer strength of will. But it very rarely happens.

Do you want take that chance? After all the heartache and self-doubt and anxious nights and tortuous cravings and urges, do you really want to go through this alone? Worse yet, are you willing to allow your life – and that of your family – do continue to spiral downward as a result of your addiction?

Sure, it takes time to go through treatment. Depending on your type of addiction, how long you’ve been addicted, how frequently and how much you use, your physical and mental health, family history, environmental, genetic, and other factors, it may take 90 days to six months to a year before you are in recovery. Actual treatment times vary greatly. Since a treatment plan is tailored to each patient, there is no one-size-fits-all type of program. This is true whether the treatment takes place at a residential addiction treatment center, an inpatient hospital setting, or an outpatient facility.

Some types of addiction can be effectively treated on an outpatient basis. Those patients who require detoxification should have that done only under close medical supervision at a licensed detoxification facility. Many residential treatment centers have detox facilities on-site. You can’t go into the active treatment phase until you are clean of the addictive substance (alcohol or drugs). In some cases, medication may be prescribed to help ease the withdrawal symptoms you may experience during detoxification. This is another reason why you need close medical supervision and why you should never attempt detox on your own. You can’t prescribe yourself medication and you likely won’t go through detox by yourself if you have to suffer the withdrawal symptoms – which can range from mild to moderate to severe (and life-threatening, in the case of alcoholism).
Can you afford the time away from your job, family, and friends? Naturally, this would be high on your list of reasons why you can’t go into treatment at this time. But it’s not a good enough reason. If not now, when will be the right time? In fact, when you look at it that way, you’ll never find the time is appropriate to go into treatment. Frankly, you need to get over yourself and your own obsession over controlling what happens. You obviously aren’t in control of your addiction right now. It’s controlling you, and it will only get more demanding as time goes on.

You don’t have time on your side. The sooner you make the decision to go into treatment – and go through with it – the sooner you can resume your life on a clean and sober basis. You need to go through a little pain and discomfort, learn how to cope with cravings and urges, make healthier behavior choices, and plan for and embark upon a new life. You can do all this. But you need to take the all-important first step. You need to admit you have a problem and accept treatment.

You Lose Everything

No one wants to be alone. The thought of losing our family, our friends, and our way of life scares the living daylights out of all of us. When we are the instrument of our own demise, it’s all the worse. The rest of our lives will be spent in self-hatred, self-recrimination, anger, self-destruction, and downward spiral.

Who in their right mind would wish such a future upon themselves? No one would, of course. But it happens all the time when someone pretends their addiction isn’t that bad, that they have it all under control, and that they’ll just gradually cut down or taper off or… fill in the blanks.

The truth is that the longer addiction has a hold on you, the less likely you’re able to think and act clearly. You will find yourself saying and doing things that you’d consider reprehensible if you witnessed it in anyone else. But watching someone else self-destruct and doing it yourself are two different things. When it happens to you, you often never see it coming until it’s too late.

You don’t want to lose everything, do you? Stop what you’re doing and get busy figuring out how to get the help you need.

Next Steps

Once you make the determination that you want to overcome your addiction, you need to take action. Start by doing your research on where to find treatment that may be appropriate for you. Get your finances in order. Talk with your family – your significant other, your parents, siblings – whomever you need to and who will be your immediate support network. Tell them that you have a problem and you want to get help for it. Ask for their encouragement and support as you go through the treatment process and into recovery. The fact is that you can’t make it without support – and a loving family is the best support network you can have.

If there’s a time delay or waiting period before you can get into treatment, don’t let that stop you. Buy books or take them out through the library on overcoming your particular addiction. Learn all you can about the disease. Look up 12-step groups in your area and attend meetings. Start with their websites. Every addiction has a 12-step group, everything from Alcoholics Anonymous to Narcotics Anonymous to Marijuana Anonymous to Gamblers Anonymous, Overeaters Anonymous, Sexaholics Anonymous, and so on. These people are committed to one thing: recovery – yours and theirs. They know what it feels like to be engulfed in compulsive behavior or locked in an endless drug-seeking way of life. They can offer encouragement and support that’s nonjudgmental and asks nothing in return – except for the same type of encouragement, support, and understanding when they may need it. It’s at least a good way to get started on your own personal journey to recovery.

Will you ever be normal again? This is a question many people ask, usually when they’re new to recovery (after they’ve completed treatment to overcome their addiction). It’s perfectly understandable to be anxious and wonder if your life will ever get back to normal. The first few months of recovery can be pretty scary, since this is the time when you’re putting into practice all the things you learned during treatment on how to avoid the people, places, and things that caused you to use, how to cope with cravings and urges, how to establish better communication with family and friends, and how to live a healthier life.

The good news is that you will get better. The longer you are in recovery, the stronger you will get. There will be good days and bad days at first. Over time, you will gain more self-confidence in your abilities, more trust in your decision-making, more pride in your accomplishments. You will look forward to your future, a future that will be of your making according to the plans you’ve put into place.

Will you ever be normal again? For many in recovery, this is the time when they first started to feel normal. For others, it’s the best time in their lives. Why not make this your plan for your future?

Remember the saying from Confucius: “The longest journey begins with the first step.” While it’s appropriate for many things, it’s really apropos with respect to getting treatment for addiction. Begin your recovery journey today by taking that first step. Make the decision to get treatment. Your future awaits you.

Possible Consequences of Not Getting Treatment for Addiction is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment

The interesting thing about drug addiction is that it does not play favorites. We may think we can identify the drug user or addict by a specific stereotype, but such an approach will often return erroneous results. Instead, it is better to look for specific signs.

In the case of elderly individuals who are on a number of medications, they could be at a heightened risk for addiction. Let’s examine 20 different signs of addiction that can help loved ones identify a problem that may just be at its start or one dangerously controlling a life.

1. Control in Quantity

A true sign of addiction is when an individual needs more of a substance to achieve a desired effect. The alcoholic will fill a glass more frequently and the drug addicted individual will run through a prescription faster. In the latter example, the increased speed is generally blamed on a physician or pharmacist error or some other excuse rather than an increase in dosage.

2. Hidden Substances

The individual who is using medication prescribed by a physician has nothing to hide. The individual who is drinking when they should not be or consume more of a drug than prescribed will take to hiding medications or bottles of alcohol in odd places. It is important to check in obscure places, but be prepared for tempers if the loved one feels their privacy has been invaded.

3. Things Disappear

It isn’t unusual for things around the house to disappear when there is an addict living within the home. This is especially true for items that hold any type of value and can be sold for cash to acquire more medication. The need for money will appear desperate without obvious cause.

4. Drinking Ahead of Time

It isn’t unusual for the alcohol addicted individual to drink ahead of time before festivities get going. This is often done to make it appear as though they are dinking the same amount as everyone else, when in fact they have consumed far more over the course of the evening.

5. Throwing You Off the Track

Manipulations are not uncommon for those individuals who want to throw people off their scent. Alcoholics will drink alone to show they are not drinking more than others and teen drug users are known to admit to lesser drugs – like marijuana – when bigger drugs are the true issue. What appears to be honesty is really just an attempt to divert attention away from the true problem.

6. Spending Patterns

Both drugs and alcohol are expensive substances and most individuals do not have the disposable income to support a full blown habit. It is important to look for unusual money behaviors, especially frequent trips to payday loan establishments and spending sprees.

7. The Vodka Trick

Vodka is a powerful drink and not always pleasant upon first intake. It remains one of choice, however, as it looks like water. It is also easily added to soft drinks and juice without changing the color or smell of the liquid.

8. Irregular Attendance

The maintenance of addiction takes considerable time, which usually leaves little for socializing or a busy lifestyle. A person who misses an important event or is unreliable and secretive about their activities generally has a problem bigger than an inability to keep appointments.

9. A Narrow Focus

Those dealing with an addiction will have a very narrow focus on life and tend to block out other interests and activities that once held significant pleasure and fulfillment. A subtle change may happen at first, which makes it harder to detect over time.

10. The Magic Bottle

It is not uncommon for the individual living with an alcoholic to check the liquor cabinet to monitor bottle levels. If there is a “Magic Bottle” that appears to never be empty or one that has a level that goes both up and down, it is likely the individual is trying to hide his or her liquor intake.

11. The Diet Promise

The body image is one area that can be especially dangerous. Certain “uppers” like crystal meth and cocaine stimulate energy and people find they rarely need to eat. This results in rapid weight loss, which is erroneously viewed as a positive thing.

12. Cleanliness

While the saying makes us believe cleanliness is next to godliness, an overuse of certain hygiene products is a sign that someone is trying to hide something. Is the person constantly spraying a perfume or using gum or breath mints? Eye drops come in handy to hide reddened eyes and going through bottles quickly should be a sign something is wrong.

13. Check the Bathroom

Prescription medications generally belong in the bathroom. If the bathroom cabinets have no supplies, users are generally quick to check other people’s bathrooms. The sound of extended water running is a hint the person is trying to hide their activities.

14. Managing the Mood

The stark contrast between ups and downs should be a sign that something is aloof. Loved ones should also look for moods that go from numb and calm to extremely aggressive in as little as a few minutes.

15. Dead Asleep

The individual that is sleeping so hard they won’t wake up is a sign something is wrong. Alcoholics and addicts consuming “downers” will sleep very heavily and will also fall asleep at inappropriate times; giving a signal something is wrong.

16. Never Ending Pain

Back pain is a common complaint– people use to get prescription painkillers. Back pain is hard to diagnose and even harder to treat, making it easy to pull the wool over the doctor’s eyes in attempting to get a prescription. This pain also never tends to wane and needs more and more medication to treat.

17. Unfounded Sickness

Vague illnesses are common with addicts as they are seeking an excuse to duck out of work or simply to be left alone to abuse their substance of choice. These individuals also tend to appear sick, without any real diagnosis or cause.

18. Panic

Pot, drugs and alcohol can cause attacks of paranoia. At times, the symptoms are temporary, but over time can completely change the personality of the individual. When the substance is cocaine, it alters the brain and can cause psychological symptoms that greatly impair the individual.

19. A Good Story

The user and abuser know they have a problem, but they don’t want anyone else to know it. They will use a variety of stories that seem to be very believable to throw attention away from them. Keeping close track of these stories is likely to reveal a pattern of deception.

20. Laying the Blame

Alcoholics and addicts are known for pointing the finger at someone else, not wanting to take ownership of their problem or its causes. This tendency increases the conflict level and will take a formally peaceful person to a war zone participant.

20 Signs You May Be Living With an Addict is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment

Prescription drugs and pain seem to go together like baseball and hot dogs, but unlike the latter, the former is anything but healthy – when used indiscriminately or for too long. The fact is that overuse of prescription drugs can put you into a self-defeating loop.

Here’s what can happen. You have pain, so you take prescription drugs to relieve it. This works for a while, but you figure, what the heck, I’ll just continue to take the meds so I don’t feel the pain. Over time, however (and how much time is different for everyone), the drugs don’t seem to work as well as they once did. You begin taking them more frequently, maybe even doubling up the dose.

Now you’re in a routine: take the meds, the effect wears off and you feel pain again, take more meds, pain comes back quicker, take more meds…until you can’t get the pain relief any longer. You may search out new medications or combine what you have with other drugs, legal and illegal. What you don’t take into consideration is the cumulative effect of too much medication, too frequently. Another danger is side effects. Taking prescription drugs in combination with alcohol is a really dangerous mix. Talk about adding fuel to the fire. Not only have you put yourself into a bad situation by taking pain medications pretty much non-stop, but you may become addicted to them as well.

What Happens When You Try to Cut Down or Quit

Once you’ve become accustomed to using the prescription drugs to wipe out your pain, you’ve settled into a routine that’s one definitely not recommended by your doctor. You’ve likely found that out when you tried to renew your pain medication prescription and your doctor says it’s only supposed to be used for a limited amount of time. What do you do? You find another doctor, one who knows nothing about your past use of the drugs – and you give him your tale of woe about pain and how you can’t stand it. And viola, your new doctor writes you a script for painkillers.

What have you really accomplished? You already know that continuing to take the pain pills is proving counter-productive. And you may even tell yourself that you’re going to cut down the amount or quit entirely – after this prescription is filled.
Little glimmers of what you feel when you don’t get your dose when you feel you need it is enough to send shivers up your spine just thinking about quitting cold turkey. How will you be able to stand the pain? You never stop to think that you’ve singled out painkillers as a crutch that’s easy for you to use. It doesn’t take any effort on your part to manage your pain in healthier ways. You just pop a pill and go about your business.

Except that it doesn’t work that way any longer. Now you are dependent upon the pain pills just to get through the day. Repeated use of the prescription drugs causes the body to adapt. This may result in the body developing a tolerance to the drug. That means that the individual using the drug requires more of it more often in order to achieve the desired effect (the effect achieved when the person first started taking the drugs).

Repeated exposure can also result in withdrawal symptoms when you abruptly stop taking the drug. Withdrawal symptoms can be mild, moderate, or severe and include:

• Restlessness
• Muscle and bone pain
• Insomnia
• Diarrhea
• Cold flashes with goose bumps (commonly called “cold turkey”)
• Involuntary leg movements

While the decision to stop taking prescription drugs for pain is well-intentioned, it shouldn’t be attempted without medical supervision. You should never just stop taking your meds – whether you’ve been going from doctor to doctor to get them or not. It’s just too dangerous. Going through withdrawal for opioid dependence and addiction may be so uncomfortable that you give up the effort and immediately go back to using the drugs. But taking too much at once of opioids, for example, which already produces drowsiness, causes constipation, and can depress breathing, may result in severe respiratory depression or death. So this is definitely not something you want to tackle on your own.

Still, you need to wean yourself off the prescription drugs for pain. How should you do so in a safe manner? The solution is to go for treatment.

First Step: See the Doctor

Let’s take the example of an elderly person with severe arthritis pain who’s been taking opioids to relieve it. Along with the arthritis, the individual has other age-related conditions or medical problems that require daily doses of other medications. Unable to sleep through the night, the person may take sedatives. Early-onset Alzheimer’s disease may also be present, causing the individual to forget when he or she took certain meds or mixing them up, doubling the dose, or taking them all at once.

Family members notice the change in their loved one. Grandpa or Mom seems to be out of it all the time. They have trouble with motor functions and they seem to have trouble with their cognitive skills. Upon examination of all the prescription bottles on the counter, in the medicine cabinet, or around the house, the family members try talking with the loved one to find out what’s being taken for what condition. If Grandpa of Mom is in a diminished capacity, the family members may – with good reason – urge a visit to the doctor.

This is a wise course of action. The doctor needs to know exactly what the patient has been taking. The family member should accompany Grandpa or Mom to the doctor and bring along a complete list of all medications – or, better yet, bring all the containers.

Some drugs may no longer be needed, or the doctor could determine that certain drugs are working at cross-purposes with others. He or she could prescribe some that won’t produce negative interactions. If the doctor determines that Grandpa or Mom are dependent upon or addicted to prescription drugs for pain, a referral to a treatment facility may be in order.

Be prepared for the reaction from Grandpa or Mom when and if the doctor recommends treatment to wean them off drugs. Insist that the doctor tell your loved one in no uncertain terms what can happen if he or she continues to take these prescription drugs in a manner not prescribed. Call it scare tactics or just common sense, but someone needs to set your loved one straight.

If you are the person who is dependent or addicted, that’s all the more reason why you need the cold, hard facts about the self-defeating loop of taking prescription drugs for pain.

Look at the Big Picture

No one wants to live in a fog. No one wants interminable, unbearable pain either. Getting past the immediate circumstance takes action and outside professional assistance. It’s not an easy decision to make for many. There are many considerations often cited why a person can’t or won’t go in for treatment.

• It’s too expensive
• Insurance doesn’t cover it or there’s no insurance
• Can’t take off from work
• Don’t need treatment – I’m not addicted
• Embarrassment or shame
• Stigma associated (or perceived as such) with drug dependence or addiction
• I can do it on my own
• No one tells me how to run my life
• I’m not going to a place with a bunch of drug addicts
• I don’t want to give up drugs

Countering these objections may take some time. While you can’t force someone into treatment – unless it’s court-ordered or the family delivers an ultimatum (which may or may not be agreed to) – it may feel like you’re forcing it on your loved one. You actually are, and for his or her best interest.

Anyone entering treatment to overcome dependence, abuse, or addiction to prescription drugs for pain should take the long view. Look at the big picture. Life the way it currently is will only deteriorate further. The downward spiral of constant misuse of or addiction to prescription drugs will rob the user of vitality, physical and mental health, quality of life – even life itself. You or your loved one who’s been relying on these meds for pain need to look at what your life can be like without being dependent on drugs. First, you need to get them out of your system. Then you need to learn how to manage your life without the meds. Learning healthier ways to manage pain is part of the treatment process.

It’s certainly worth considering. And, in the long run, it’s a lot less expensive. Complicating conditions caused by drug interactions or overdose can easily run up hospital and doctor bills and further speed up the downward spiral.
Who wants that? Taking the big picture into consideration, a little time spent now in treatment doesn’t seem like too much to go through to come out on the other side in a healthier state, does it?

Figuring Out the Basics

How you go about getting yourself or your loved one into treatment is not particularly difficult. Ask your doctor for a referral or involve your family members in your search. A good place to start your research, if you want to check it out on your own, is the Treatment Facility Locator (http://dasis3.samhsa.gov/) website maintained by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). You can search by state or do a more advanced search to find drug and alcohol treatment programs at facilities across the United States. You can also call their toll-free treatment referral helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.

If money is tight, use the Detailed Search or List Search options on the treatment facility locator and check the boxes for “sliding fee scale” and “payment assistance.” Then call the facilities to inquire about their programs for more detail.
The locator also has listings for state substance abuse agencies (http://findtreatment.samhsa.gov/ufds/abusedirectors) that include name and address, phone and fax numbers, email and links to websites (if applicable).

You – or your family members – can research facilities and check with your doctor to see if he or she recommends one over the other or has referred patient there in the past, or research ones that the doctor has already recommended.
Once you find a particular treatment facility or facilities that appear to meet your needs, get more information directly from the facility either online, by telephone, or requesting that it be mailed to you. Definitely ask all the questions you need answers to. There’s no sense committing to a treatment program if it’s not going to fit your requirements. It’s also a good idea to visit the facility to see it firsthand – before you decide to go there for treatment.

Look for a treatment facility that’s certified and whose practitioners carry the appropriate licenses and credentials. Other things to pay attention to include:

• Types of treatment offered
• Drug detox services (whether available on-site or off-site)
• Cost of treatment
• Insurance coverage or payment plans accepted
• Facility’s treatment success rate
• Availability of aftercare or continuing care
• Special groups treated (including age, gender, other demographics)
• Typical length of stay

Looking Forward to Recovery

After completing treatment for abuse, dependence, or addiction to prescription drugs for pain, what can you expect? While you will have learned a great deal about how to manage your life without abusing drugs, you will still need the support and encouragement of others as you begin your early days, weeks, and months of recovery. As part of your recovery plan, the one you created with your therapist during treatment, you will likely be attending 12-step group meetings on a regular basis. These groups can provide a lifeline for newcomers to recovery, especially when situations occur that may otherwise precipitate a return to using.

You will also more than likely have some follow-up care as part of your treatment program. This may include ongoing counseling or referrals to other agencies or sources for help. Be sure to take advantage of all such services made available to you.

Family is another critical factor in your recovery. They want you to be healthy and happy and drug-free. They, along with your 12-step sponsor and fellow group members, will serve as your support network.

No one recovers alone. A successful recovery requires a caring and continuous support network. The ability to develop resilience, to learn how to bounce back from daily stresses and challenges, is necessary for long-term effective recovery. Having others to talk with who’ve been through the same types of challenges after overcoming a problem with prescription drugs for pain can help you as well. What strategies and techniques worked for them in times of crisis or stress may also work for you, or you could perhaps adapt them to fit your situation and circumstances.

If you’re thinking about doing something to overcome your dependence on prescription drugs for pain, now is the best time to get started. The journey to recovery begins with the first step. Take that step now. Make the decision to get help. Learn how to manage your pain in ways that don’t involve overuse or misuse of prescription drugs. This will involve a change in lifestyle that may be much more pleasant than you imagine. Meditation, yoga, learning new hobbies, acupuncture, and therapeutic massage are just a few of the things that others have found helps them better manage their pain.

Help is available. Are you ready to accept it?

Prescription Drugs and Pain: the Self-Defeating Loop is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment

The research team worked with two groups of baby laboratory rats. The first group was removed from their mothers for 15-minute intervals throughout the day. When they returned, the mothers showed nurturing behaviors, such as grooming and cleaning their pups. The control group of baby rats was never separated from their mothers. Then both groups were exposed to morphine at two-month intervals, and then placed in two-room cages. One room had morphine and the other did not. The ones that had received the extra nurturing from their mothers or what the researchers called "high touch, mothering" did not prefer the room containing morphine, although the other group did.

The scientists also found that the brains of the rats who had experienced extra nurturing had four times the amounts of a certain chemical called interleukin-10 than the rats who had not had extra mothering. The higher amounts of the chemical protected them from drug cravings. Interleukin-10 or IL-10 is a molecule in the brain’s immune system.

"Morphine activates the glial cells of the brain to produce inflammatory molecules which signal a reward center of the brain, contributing to addiction," said Dr. Mark Hutchinson, a lead author of the study. "But IL-10 works against that inflammation and reward. It completely knocks out the drug-seeking behavior. The more IL-10 produced in the brain, the less likely morphine causes an increase in craving or relapse weeks after initially being exposed to the drug."

The chemical reduces cravings for the drug, but does not reduce its effect on the brain.

"Genetic modification created by the mothering did not change the initial rewarding effect of morphine," said another co-author, Dr. Staci Bilbo of Duke University. "It altered the craving for the reward, much later on."

This research team was also able to prove the effect of IL-10 after they administer an artificial version to a group of control rats. The rats who got artificial IL-10 also had reduce cravings for the drug.

Dr. Bilbo said that the team wanted to do further research on the long-term effects of maternal stress on the brain’s immune system.

Dr. Hutchinson called the results of the new study "exciting."

"We have shown that a drug that targets brain immune cells is also able to protect against drug cravings, providing a new way to treat drug addiction," he said.

This study appears in the Journal of Neuroscience.

“High-Touch” Mothering Protects Lab Animals from Drug Abuse is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment

The paper is entitled: Seeking Drug Abuse Treatment: Know What to Ask, and anyone can access it online or request a paper copy through NIDA’s DrugPubs services. The important thing is to know which parts of treatment are backed up by solid research. In other words, there are some components to rehab which have sufficient data proving their effectiveness and you want to be sure that any facility you may choose adheres to at least these core principles. Looking for evidence-based treatment is uncharted territory for most of us, so this document gives you what you need in order to make an informed decision.

The five questions suggested in the document are:

1. Is the treatment program an evidence based program?
2. Do they individualize treatment or is there a single approach applied to everyone regardless of issues?
3. Is the program able to adapt as the patient’s needs change during treatment?
4. What is the estimated time frame for treatment?
5. How does the program incorporate 12-Step or similar recovery principles?

The best and most trustworthy treatment centers will be able to answer all five questions with no hesitation. The document adds one other important note: relapse is not equal to failure. Addiction is a chronic condition and relapse is a natural outgrowth of the disease. Even after treatment, your loved one will need continuing support. Be sure to stay away from any treatment program which promises you that your loved one can walk out the door cured.

Help For Evaluating Addiction Treatment Programs is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment

Another characteristic that may require special attention in substance abuse treatment is a condition called alexithymia. The term refers to a person’s inability to process understand or describe their emotions.

There is a high rate of alexithymia among those with substance use disorders, with patients at a level of 67 percent for this condition. Despite this high rate, there has been little research exploring the outcomes of patients in substance abuse treatment who also have alexithymia.

In previous research, cognitive behavioral therapy was found to be somewhat successful in treating substance abuse patients who struggled with alexithymia. However, while the dropout rate was low among these patients, follow-up information indicated that relapse was increased.

For the current study, published in the Journal of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, researchers wanted to determine whether there might be support for using a screening to identify patients who may be inhibited in their treatment by alexithymia. To measure this, the researchers examined whether alexithymia was a predictor for relapse, expecting to find evidence that alexithymia was negatively linked with recovery outcomes.

The research team examined 187 inpatients for substance use disorder using the European ASI (EuropASI) and the Dutch edition of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). The EuropASI was used again at a three month follow-up from the initial cognitive behavioral therapy sessions (CBT) or a combined CBT with shared decision making intervention (CBT-SDMI) group.

All of the patients met criteria for at least one substance abuse disorder. In addition 36.9 percent were identified as being highly alexithymic, and an additional 33.2 percent met criteria for a low level of alexithymia. A higher level of alexithymia was associated with lower academic achievement and more frequent unemployment.

Those with a higher level of alexithymia also scored higher relating to problems at work, with income and education. However, low and high level alexithymia patients had similar rates of completion for the treatment programs. In addition, 54 percent of high-scoring alexithymia patients and 45.7 percent of low-scoring alexithymia patients were absent at the follow-up session.

The authors of the study acknowledge that the study’s results may be limited by some factors, including the use of self-report to determine abstinence in the participants.

The results indicated that patients with a high level of alexithymia are not necessarily at an increased risk for relapse. The authors report that patients with alexithymia can benefit from CBT.

Substance Use Treatment for Those Who Struggle to Express Emotions is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment

Some patients are successful at recovering from cocaine addiction using traditional methods like group and individual therapy sessions to address the behaviors associated with cocaine use. For some, however, these methods are ineffective and the patient may require additional help.

With information about the specific areas of the brain involved with cocaine addiction, there may be an opportunity to develop medications that target responses in the brain. A new study from researchers at the University of Texas provides a key step to development of more effective treatment.

The study’s findings appear in the journal Neuron and provide information about a brain function that reduces the reward response when cocaine is used. The research involved analysis of a protective function of the brain that represses genes that promote addiction-related patterns of behavior.

The authors of the study explain that any type of drug addiction is highlighted by a change of patterns in the brain related to reward response. It has been believed that some genes are responsible for determining whether addiction takes hold when a drug is introduced to the system.

In recent studies, researchers have discovered that there may be a connection between histone deacetylases (HDACs), which modulate the expression of genes, and the regulation of the response to cocaine. The team that conducted the study discussed here sought to understand the ways that cocaine impacts HDACs and whether the regulation of HDACs might change behaviors related to addiction.

Led by Dr. Christopher W. Cowan from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, the team used an animal model to observe how cocaine initiated a unique signaling pathway that affected relocation to the cell nucleus by the HDACs. The cell nucleus is the location of gene expression, and the researchers discovered that the process was required for the cocaine reward-associated pattern to occur.

Dr. Cowan likened the process to putting a brake on genes associated with drug stimulation, which would usually sustain behavioral changes associated with drug use. The discoveries in this study may be useful in understanding the destructive behaviors associated with addiction and may also help explain why some individuals are likely to become addicted to a drug and others are not.

Research Identifies Brain Mechanism Involved in Cocaine Addiction is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment

Recently, a new risk was discovered to be associated with the use of bath salts. Russell R. Russo, MD, discovered that necrotizing fasciitis, a life-threatening condition, can be caused by the injection of bath salts into the muscle. Dr. Russo is an Orthopedic Surgeon in his third year of residency at the LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Medicine.

The study’s findings appear in the January issue of the journal Orthopedics and can also be viewed online. The research documents the first discovered case of necrotizing fasciitis resulting from an injection of bath salts.

Necrotizing fasciitis is an orthopedic disease requiring immediate diagnosis and treatment to prevent a patient from the loss of a limb or even death. Complicating diagnosis, however, is the common mistake of identifying the disease as a much less critical ailment, such as an abscess or cellulitis. Meanwhile, the disease causes significant damage beneath the skin.

Dr. Russo notes in the study the importance of medical centers understanding the various problems resulting from bath salts as they increase in popularity as a street drug. Not only do doctors need to be aware of the risks involved with these drugs but how to recognize the addiction risk they pose.

In the case documented by Dr. Russo a 34-year-old woman was treated for pain in her arm after attending a party. Additional symptoms were not reported by the patient, but the healthcare staff noted that there was a small puncture on her arm. Treated with antibiotics, the patient experienced an improvement in symptoms. When the pain continued, however, an ultrasound was ordered and the case of necrotizing fasciitis was discovered after the patient admitted to the use of bath salts.

The patient was immediately taken to surgery, where surgeons struggled to contain the infection, watching her healthy tissue die as they operated. Challenged to develop a healthy margin of tissue, the surgeons eventually removed the arm, collarbone and shoulder of the patient, in addition to a radical mastectomy.

Fortunately the patient survived and her treatment included skin grafting as well as rehabilitation.

The disease observed in this patient is one usually resulting from farm injury or a crush trauma, but the doctors involved with this case warn that healthcare providers should be prepared to investigate further when examining a celluitis patient who reports needle use.

New Danger Associated with Bath Salts is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment