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Purple Drink Promethazine and Codeine containing cough syrup abuse has become popular in certain circles, especially in Houston and the South. Mixed with soft drinks and soda, it is drank and taken in high doses creating a euphoric effect that can "slow" people down. This relatively new phenomenon of abuse is different from over-the-counter cough syrups such as Robitussin DM which contains dextromethorphan. The promethazine and codeine cough syrups are available only by prescription, but as with many drugs, people are finding legal and illegal ways to find it. A Potent Combination

Where is the line between support and enabling? Support means you’re doing something because someone can’t do for themselves -- caring for a two-year-old, or preparing meals for your elderly grandmother, for instance. Enabling is giving assistance that makes it easier for someone to continue on the wrong track -- like paying credit-card bills for a shopaholic, making excuses for work absences caused by drunkenness, or supporting a person who uses drugs.

Depression, in its various forms, affects nearly 19 millio Americans each year according to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). With prolonged major depression, shortages or imbalances of mood-influencing chemicals in the brain usually play a role. Studies show that depressive ...

Codes of ethics and standards of practice are set forth by professional associations such as the American Counseling Association (ACA) and the National Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors (NAADAC). Such codes define principles of ethical behavior required by the profession. Additionally, treatment centers such as the Hazelden Foundation defines requirements for employees designed to ensure consistent ethical behavior across the organization (Hazelden.org).

Whenever I have used the word cure in speaking about alcoholics or addicts in the presence of people who work in substance abuse treatment, they’ve cut me off in mid-sentence, as if I had uttered an obscenity. “There’s no such thing! Alcoholism and addiction are forever!” I was told again and again.nnSome therapists actually feel threatened when they hear me speak of a cure, and they become quite aggressive. They constantly hold up that basic precept of Alcoholics Ano

Understanding the Role of Values Values are intended to help you lay a solid foundation for permanent change. This three part series is focused on the single most important aspect of your recovery: your values. Specifically, your ability to recognize, develop and use your values in practical ways. Values: What Are They?

Over the past few years, I have examined the effectiveness of Alcoholics Anonymous and a lively discussion has followed these posts. AA is a group that many have very strong feelings about - both positive and negative. For some, AA has been a life-saver and allowed them to manage their addictions, while for others, the experience has not been as positive, and, in fact, has been quite horrible.

Why is it so important to enter into an inpatient drug rehab rather than an outpatient? For one, the alcoholic or drug addict will be committed to staying for the duration of the rehab program and not be able to use drugs or alcohol. Also there is no outside environmental condition like drug dealers, drug friends, or relationship problems that will enter into the person who is receiving treatment. These issues are generally why outpatient is not effective. Not to mention duri

Often when I teach alcohol awareness classes clients query me , "Is drinking really that bad for me?" This article will talk about some of the main physical benefits of abstaining from alcohol, and then will discuss the mental and psychological advantages of quitting boozing.

Computers are a very important part of our life. One can say that, playing computer games, surfing the internet, chatting with friends, social networking etc. are regular activities a person may perform every time he or she logins. Sometimes the above mentioned activities can become an obsession that gives us an unhealthy emotional attachment. Computer addiction can occur before we know it. Valuable hours spend surfing and playing games can affect our daily lifestyle as a per

One of the most successful advertising campaigns is Nike's "Just do it." It works for selling sneakers. It doesn't work for overcoming sex addiction. Anything – reading, eating, exercising, working, talking - can be used addictively. About 20 years ago I helped a woman who went to sleep whenever she felt stressed out. She'd spend days in bed, then wake up suffering a sleep addiction hangover. She couldn't overcome her addiction by "just doing it." In the world of addiction,

If you knew the real figures, you would be astonishedhedat how many of the men and women in your life secretly have a pornography addiction. Some of the fresh surveys indicate that as many as 70% of men and 25% of women struggle with this topic. And unfortunately, they have to keep it a secret. Ask people at the local supermarket, or in your church, and you would think this was no more than a conundrum in some other city. But ask the people who see the truth- the local divorc

Anxiety attacks aren't always composed of sudden, debilitating bouts of depression, melancholia, and worry like some people would have us think. As a matter of fact, anxiety and stress is at it's most troubling when it creeps up on us slowly, in the course of our daily lives. Instead of being a ...

The "dance" of codependency requires two people: the pleaser/fixer and the taker/controller. This inherently dysfunctional dance can only happen with one partner who is a codependent and another partner who is a narcissist (abuser or addict). Codependents do not know how to emotionally disconnect or avoid significant relationships with individuals who are selfish, controlling, and harmful to them. They find partners who are experienced with their dance style: a dance that begins as thrilling and exciting, but ends up rife with drama, conflict, and feelings of being trapped.

I recently received an e-mail from a woman who believes her husband is a functioning alcoholic. Joan (alias) recently took the Alcoholism Test and then emailed me. Although a few details are changed or left out for privacy reasons, Joan began with: "I was researching functional alcoholism and came across your site. I took the Alcoholism Test to determine if my husband would be considered a functioning alcoholic. I have not yet spoken with anyone about this, but just researched Al-Anon and plan on attending a meeting . . . " Joan went on to make the following points:r

If you’re looking for advice on how to stop drinking and taking drugs, hopefully I can help. But before I do that, let me give you the bad news first ... If you’re looking for a genuine solution to alcoholism or drug addiction and really want to stop drinking and using, ultimately ...

Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.rn- Kahlil Gibran The intention of this article is to encourage the healing of the traumatized child. Carl Jung said: “ In every adult there lurks a child – an ete al child, something that is always becoming, is never completed and calls for unceasing care, attention and education. That is the part of the human personality which wants to develop and become whole.” Healing from trauma is a complex and courageous journey back to the ete al child…returning to the inherent longing for wholeness.

Alcoholism, drug abuse and eating disorders are often misunderstood. These diseases include a soul-sickness. The people in the grips of these afflictions are spiritually ill, too. The illness can even spread to family members and friends. The recovery process has produced countless untold ...

Boy do we hate change. Before recovery I had few tools or healthy ways of dealing with change. If something ended in my life, it often felt like the end of my life. Once I entered the hallway, it was dark indeed. As I worked through recovery, I learned many valuable life lessons. The first was ...

Despite a rather exhaustive search of the literature and Internet, there is a scarcity of information comparing Cranial Electrotherapy Stimulator (CES) devices to one another in terms of mechanism of action or efficacy. While Cranial Electrotherapy devices may have markedly different waveforms, they all seem to have similar benefits for as of yet scientifically unclear reasons.

Ok, so what do I do about it? Here we go and lets get right down to it! Mental Chatter versus Emotions Victim Behavior is associated with many emotions, Shame is probably the most prevalent. Feeling overwhelmed is another. Feeling shame and being overwhelmed isn't particularly useful-nso let's divide and conquer by breaking this down into 5 bite-size steps: Summary Step one- Identify your dysfunctional characteristics -- habitual (recurring), problematic behaviors. Step tw

All people to some extent have a narcissistic personality, in that they are self-interested and want to secure well being, love and success for themselves. These are the defining factors of a person who has a healthy self-esteem and wants to progress in life. There are however, great differences between ‘normal’ narcissistic tendencies and the ‘pathological’ narcissistic tendencies which define an individual with narcissistic personality disorder. Another way to descr

It is widely understood in the treatment field that addiction is a chronic brain disease, but it takes time for the associated stereotypes and stigma to fade. A common misconception is that all addicts are tragically flawed individuals who can’t hold down a job or support their families.

It goes without saying that choosing to enter treatment or a Twelve Step program presents a unique set of challenges. One that many people do not anticipate is the experience of entering a culture in which people communicate. For men especially, this can be an unfamiliar and uncomfortable experience. But this is also the beginning of the most rewarding journey they will ever take: a man’s journey through the Twelve Steps.

A frequently asked questio I hear is "What is the difference between neurofeedback and biofeedback?" The term biofeedback is a general term used to describe feedback training for the body. However, most people refer to peripheral biofeedback or EMG biofeedback as simply biofeedback. EMG biofeedback is the process of ...

I have seen first-hand how prescription drugs can improve the lives of people with mental illness. I have also seen how their use can backfire. In fact, sometimes drugs do the opposite of the intended effect. Even when prescribed correctly anti-depressants may intensify the symptoms of depression and increase suicide risk.

Cortisol and DHEA - The thing that makes you smokennPart of my research is going to be into the short term mental issues of smoking. For instance when we talk to kids about smoking we always tell them about the long term effects that may or may not take place forty or fifty years after starting smoking. As with any young person that is a lifetime away and the here and now is all they are concerned with. But what if there were evidence that after only a short period of smoking

Like any disease, there are signs or symptoms of alcoholism. Some of them is very easy to recognize whilst others are less obvious. Most of us can go out maybe once a week or just on special occasions and have a few drinks and it is no big deal. Anyone can be an alcoholic including teenagers. Alcoholism affects over 17 million Americans everyday. There is a difference between drinking or abusing alcohol and alcoholism. It is not how much a person drinks but how they let the d

*This article is excerpted from "Overcoming Prescription Drug Addiction". For more information, go to www.prescriptiondrugaddiction.comnnAccording to the Drug Abuse Warning Network, prescription drugs are among the most abused substances in the United States; these drugs are abused more than heroin and cocaine combined. Only marijuana use is more common than prescription drug abuse. nnAt the top of the list of prescription drugs being abused are benzodiazepines and painkiller

How much of my time have I spent worrying about what other people think of me? Too much is the short answer. Before recovery in Al-Anon, I had no boundaries, no sense of self, and how I felt about myself and my life was largely determined by whether or not you approved. With no internal ...

Hypno massage is a new type of massage that combines massage with hypnosis.r

*This article is excerpted from "Overcoming Prescription Drug Addiction". For more information, go to www.prescriptiondrugaddiction.com nnSedatives are drugs that depress the central nervous system and are frequently used to treat anxiety, panic disorder, or insomnia; some are also used for seizure disorders. As these drugs interact with chemicals in the brain, they cause a reduction in brain activity, and bring about the sedative effect. nnBenzodiazepines, among the most com

Dr. Jasquith says that tyranny is sometimes expression of the mate al instinct. If that's a mother's love, I want no part of it. -- Bette Davis as Charlotte Vale in "Now Voyager" The experience of having lived (or living) in trauma is probably the number one reason that brings people to psychotherapy. It is the shame we feel at who we are, how we feel and what has happened to us and why it has happened that truly brings us to seek help. We may not immediately identify our problem as the result of trauma or neglect, that label may come later with more analysis and objectivity.

Many people are deciding, for various reasons, that they should give up drinking alcohol. Tea is becoming increasingly popular as a substitute due to the natural health benefits that it provides. Like the fact that all wines come from grapes, all teas come from the Camellia Sinensis plant or a genus of this plant. There are however six different types in total- white, yellow, green, oolong, black and pu-er. These are all made from the same bush but depending on where it in th

I look back on my own life through breakups, low-self esteem and depression and can clearly say that I used alcohol as a crutch. I understand now that I learned this concept of sadness equaling alcohol from movie, tv and our culture in general. I now have accepted that stress, trauma, and depression will always be there and it's okay to have bad days as these are natural parts of life. I had trained my brain to think drinking alcohol would make me feel happy again.

Home Our Team About Usrn Services Staff Sites Addiction Services Articles Networking Trainings Location Contact The Emergence of Female Sex Addiction: Understanding Gender Differencesr Ross Rosenberg, M.Ed., LCPC, CADC Clinical Care Consultantsr Arlington Heights, IL 60004 www.ClinicalCareConsultants.comr

There is no doubt that the world is a hard place to live in today. With the job market down, real estate prices in the gutter, global warming, the war in the Middle East, and oh yeah…an economic recession looming over our heads, it’s no wonder that the majority of us are merely passing through life overworked, overstressed, and struggling just to make it through the day. Phew! When put like that it’s a miracle that we’re not all walking around like zom

Many believe that people just use drugs to get high. It turns out that there are several reasons why people start to use drugs. The first reason obviously is to experience intense pleasure: people want to feel that rush so they start to experiment with drugs to experience it. But there are other reasons as well. Many people start to use drugs because they want to feel better; they want to get rid of negative feelings – what we call negative affect – things like depression, anxiety, agitation, and anger. They use drugs to ameliorate those feelings.

Smuggling drugs in body cavities is the stuff of movies and urban legends. Countless movies, television shows, films and books have been created about this subject, and in many cases the subject matter is either glorified or made to appear comical. But while some audiences may find humor in the comical situations inserting and extracting a kilo of cocaine from a rectum, stomach cavity or vagina may entail, the fact of the matter is that the people who place these drugs in the

Oh, how the ego rebels against the thought of humility. "If I'm humble, I'll be a nothing. I'll vanish! I must be distinguished, different, better than! Only by standing out will I have an identity," it screams. We in recovery have felt the stinging reprisals from our fellows when we listened to ...

There are many ways people with addictions avoid accountability. Here is the first of several articles discussing these tactics. These tactics are what addicts and alcoholics use to to take the focus off them and continue doing what their addiction wants them to do. These tactics are used by our addiction to keep us trapped and a slave to substances and behaviors that are ruining our lives. We must learn about them and how to stop using them. If you recognize something in yourself in these tactics then you can learn how to stop using them to avoid accountability.

In the last article we discussed the need to detach from the alcoholic. In this article we will discuss how to detach, what it means and how to achieve it successfully.

Often when people come to one of my alcohol awareness classes, they know that they need to stop drinking alcohol. But they don’t know exactly how they should stop. Here are some tips that you might find useful: 1. Don’t hang around people who are drinkers or who might tempt you to drink. 2. Don't go to places where you might be tempted to drink. Don't go to the tave s where you used to drink and don't hang out with people who might pressure you to drink.

Fred had a very stressful day at work. Now he's home feeling tired, tense and edgy. He wants to relax. He tries watching TV; he gets bored. He goes out for a walk; he feels lonely. He listens to music; he can't concentrate. Nothing seems to be able to relieve his stress except his old standby he's been relying on just about forever: sex. It might be masturbation with or without pornography. It might be sex with his partner or a stranger. He does it. He feels relaxed. But he

Many parents do not know until it is too late…common household products are being used by teenagers as inhalants to get a short intense euphoric high. These inhalants are as inconspicuous and inexpensive as furniture polish or nail polish remover. Parents rarely question their child if they ...

There are many people who suffer from addictions, and in some cases their loved ones actually enable the addiction because they want to help. Sure, you want to help the one you love to overcome addiction, but you definitely to not want to enable the addiction any further. Take a minute to think ...

n n A twelve-step program is a set of guiding principles for recovery from addictive, compulsive, or other behavioral problems, originally developed by the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) for recovery from alcoholism. The Twelve Steps were initially published in the first edition of Alcoholics Anonymous ("The Big Book") in 1939; since then more than 25 million copies have been printed in many languages. This method has been adapted as the foundation of other twelve-st

Oh how quick I am to judge and find fault in others. Before the program I was quite self righteous - I could see and tell you what you and others were doing wrong, but I was largely blind to my own faults. It was so easy to point my finger, but in the program I learned that when I do, there are ...

Yeah, when he hits bottom he'll be ready. A user has to hit bottom before he will change. Sooner or later she will hit bottom. Then she'll be ready to get some help. Raise the Bottom. This whole idea of "hitting bottom" is out of date. Some people will wait years-even decades-for their friend to reach this mythical point in their alcohol and drug use. But why wait for them to "hit bottom"? Why not help them by raising their bottom? There are ways to encourage someone to reach for help much earlier.

Many if not most of the individuals who are addicted to drugs and alcohol are not happy with their lives and experience emotional disorders such as depression. Furthermore, many of those who suffer from drug and alcohol dependency say that they are not doing what they really want to do with their life. Learning and applying effective goal setting strategies from the field of Neuro Linguistic Programming can help to reduce drug and alcohol dependency and improve recovery rates