Drug and Substance Abuse Articles

There is a generally misguided notion that you have to "hit bottom" to be able to get sober and stay sober. "Hitting bottom" is usually seen as the loss of the things that you value in your life. It is an individually defined event and the concept has probably hindered the recovery efforts of a lot of people or at least served as a rationalization for continued drinking. For some people hitting bottom is embarrassing themselves in public-once. For another, it may be spending so much money on their drug of choice that they can't pay the bills.

If you see yourself in this brief description of sexual addiction, it can be the beginning of achieving recovery and getting your life back. The hope is that there is recovery, that it is possible. "The journey of a thousand miles begins by taking the initial step". The good news is that you ...

The idea of marriage counseling is usually brought up and pursued by one partner, initially. The possibility of marriage counseling is often an ongoing debate or discussion for sometime before couples actually find their way to the counselor's office.

The vice of drug abuse has always impacted negatively on the friends and families of the addicts. These substances transform the victims into different creatures. Subsequently, these drugs interfere with their metabolism thereby; they experience physiological problems. In this regard, substances like marijuana create a ravenous appetite inside their abusers. Consequently, these people ruffle feathers whenever they consume large amounts of food. Conversely, their relations get

The pills- he had to find the pills. Running from his house to his leased car, he yanked open the front door and reached for the fuse box. The stash he kept there was gone. Frantically pusing his hands under the front seat, he poured through the car before ripping off the dashboard. Unable ...

Substance abusers and their families often do not understand the complexity of the issue and what it requires to overcome addiction. As a result, repeated attempts to stop using substances usually ends in frustration on the part of family members, and the downward spiral into deeper distress on the part of the addicted person. On the positive side, the fact that many people overcome addiction is proof that this is an attainable goal. Anyone who wants to overcome substance abu

Most spouses of alcoholics or addicts have been down this road before. Something has happened. Some crisis has gotten the attention of the alcoholic/addict and now he is motivated to get clean and sober. This time he is going to AA/NA and going to counseling. Promises made by the addict to stop ...

Early recovery is a time of self-assessment and problem identification. You have to know what is not working in order to begin to fix it. One of the first tasks, right after learning basic craving management techniques is spending the time and energy to identify the roles that chemicals have played in the life of a newly recovering alcoholic/addict. This is especially important since the chemical has occupied so many crucial roles or functions and that removing it from a person's life leaves big, gaping holes in their behavioral repertoire.

I love the New Year. I feel like I am the threshold of a new year. I am glad that there is a week betwee Christmas and the New Year because it gives me a chance to recover, regroup, and rethink. Of course, I would like to think of a new year as a fresh, blank, Big Chief Tablet to write whatever I like on, but that is not really the case. Our lives are not marked off in 365 day intervals, where everything begins a new on day one. There are many things, situations, circumstances, and processes that transcend years and even decades.

The main task of early recovery is spent in trying to interrupt the momentum of the addiction to achieve sustained abstinence. Most of one's mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual energy is spent on that goal. In ongoing, stable, sustained recovery, the recovering person is no longer struggling to maintain abstinence and is now able to use more of their energy not only cleaning up the debris from their addiction, but being able to consciously move toward being the person that they have wanted to be.

Why, when most people believe in monogamous marriages, and that affairs are "wrong", are so many couples struggling to recover from infidelity? Most people do not intend to have an affair and most couples never would have believed that it would happen to them. Affairs happen in the marriages of all kinds of people. Not bad people. Not people whose marriages are "doomed". The reality is that any marriage could be vulnerable to an affair, given the right conditions. One of the first questions that the partner asks when they learn of the affair is "why?".

Often when a couple comes in for couple’s counseling, one of the partners is stating that s/he has fallen out of love with the other partner. Sometimes they both feel that way, but usually it is just one spouse verbalizing this. When you are feeling this way, it is common to question whether you ever “really” loved your spouse in the first place. Usually when couples present for counseling with one wanting out of the relationship, there other marital issues that are creating problems in the marriage, that the couple may not be talking about or acknowledging.

Infidelity can be a component of sexual addiction or relational event(s). It is generally enshrouded in secrecy and dishonesty, with great amounts of time and effort spent to keep it hidden. Spouses find out about the infidelity or sexual addiction in a wide variety of ways. Several are ...

While many conflicted and combative couples stay together through the holidays to not disappoint the kids or the extended family members, other couples who may have not even been thinking about divorce, begin to feel discouraged, disappointed, and disenchanted after the holidays and decide to divorce. Although there are very good reasons for divorce, personal unhappiness may not be caused by the marriage, and divorce may not be the solution. It is unlikely that your marriage is the source of all of your unhappiness.

This book review is part of a series that covers the topic of Substance Abuse . Substance Abuse is a long-term, pathological use of alcohol or drugs, characterized by daily intoxication, inability to reduce consumption, and impairment in social or occupational functioning. Scott M. Davis is the Official Guide to Substance Abuse . Living Jonathans Life: A Doctors Descent Into Darkness & Addiction , by Scott M. Davis, is a valuable resource for people interested in Substance Ab

People do not easily come to the conclusion that they have an alcohol or other drug problem. The telltale signs have been there quite some time. Addiction carries with it its own camouflage devices. It can look like a lot of other illnesses from the perspective of an outsider looking in. From the perspective of an alcoholic/addict the telltale signs can be chalked up to a million other problems or causes.

Abuse of Street drugs and powerful prescription drugs has been all over headlines, reportedly creating mental and physical repercussions which millions around the world have discovered can be avoided through the principles contained in L. Ron Hubbard’s best-selling self-help book Dianetics. Released 59 years ago Dianetics uncovers the single source of psychosomatic ills, depression, stress, self-doubt and instability which not only leads to the overuse of powerful mind-alte

Sometimes family members have a hard time with the idea that addiction is a disease. When this is the case, it often has to do with the issue of responsibility. Sometimes family members believe that "disease" is equated with a "get out of jail free card" or not being held responsible. This is not the case. An addict has responsibility for choosing recovery over choosing to stay in the illness.

There is nothing sexy about sex addiction. Compulsive sexual behavior is not a pastime or hobby. Sexually addicted people use all kinds of excuses and defense mechanisms to deny the truth to themselves. The naked truth about addiction is that once it is addiction, the addict is spiritually and ...

"God as We Understood Him" An Alleged Compromise That Opened the Door By Dick Bn My Own Experience At my first A.A. meeting, I was delighted. Friendliness, laughter, concern, suggestions. All came pouring toward me at the "Wednesday Night What It’s Like Now" meeting--later to become my Home Group. At my second meeting, I made a speech about needing help with a pending court appearance. And a non-atto ey offered to come with me; he said he had studied law in Brazil. By my thir

Child Protective and Preventive Services are offered to families by the Department of Social Services which is mandated by law to protect children from abuse or neglect within their families, in foster care, or by persons responsible for the child's welfare as defined by statute.

Family members are often stymied about how their alcoholic/addicted family member can continue to drink or use in the face of overwhelming evidence that the chemical is destroying their lives. “Why don’t they just quit?” is a question that could rightfully top the list of “FAQs by Family Members About Addiction”.

Ignoring your mind is simple, but not easy. Why—because as human beings we are programmed to pay attention to and believe our thoughts. A stressful thought pops into our head and faster than the speed of light, the mind lays out reams of proof about why this painful distillation of life is true. Here is the bottom line: If you believe your stressful thoughts, you suffer. If you believe your romantic thoughts about food, you follow them to the refrigerator, and put on weight.r

Recovering from any addiction does not happen overnight. It could take years to get back to your old self. The withdrawal symptoms are difficult to deal with, too. With the right mindset and dedication to overcome, you will kick the nasty habit. Find 6 ways to muster enough courage to overcome an addiction fully. 1. Get Support From Family and Friends Everyone needs someone else to get through difficult times. When you have no one to turn to, you usually turn to family. Frien

You hear a different story from every recovering addict who has been through drug rehabilitation, because there is no one-size-fits-all solution to addition. Every person's path is different. However, there is a structured system for rehab that can provide anyone with valuable guidance. These tried-and-true techniques have helped many people become drug and alcohol free.

Are you angry, depressed, confused, and constantly trying to figure out what your spouse is up to? If you are spinning your wheels, trying to strategize and find solutions for your spouse and your relationship before you have actually identified the problem, keep reading. Family members can suffer from the sexual addiction of spouses, and spend countless hours trying to solve the problem before they really know what they are dealing with. If you are suffering negative consequences of someone else's sexual behavior, you might be in a relationship with a sex addict.

Sexual addiction is a dysfunctional pattern of compulsive sexual behavior that continues even after the addict knows that it is causing major problems in their life. The sex addicts has a compulsion to engage in the problem behavior despite the fact that it has become emotionally dissatisfying ...

There is the "should" that says that you should be able to solve your own problems without help. Here is the rationale: "If your relationship has enough tension and strain that help is needed, the relationship is not going to make it anyway, so why waste time and money with counseling?" The reality is that if you give up on your marriage without first trying to acquire the skills that your need to be happy in it, you lose. Everyone loses.

There is so much "information" on the internet about addiction and recovery and unless you already have some knowledge about addiction and recovery, all resources may appear equal to you. This is not the case. There are advertisements, articles, and blog posts about addiction recovery products and services that are pretty much equal to the latest snake oil products for losing weight without diet and exercise. If it seems too good to be true, it is. There are no magic pills, herbal supplements, or miraculous techniques that cure addiction.

You may be wondering if it is even possible to survive the loss of someone you love. You may be thinking that you are going crazy, or that you will never quit crying. You may think that you will never be the same and will never feel better. Grief is one of the most devastating experiences that human beings have and it is universal. Sooner or later, we all experience grief. When we experience the loss of someone that we love, we often find ourselves at a loss for what to do with ourselves, with our daily lives, and with the grief.

Although most people have some pretty clear-cut notions about what assertiveness is and isn't, assertiveness is often confused with aggression. Assertiveness is not necessarily about having your will prevail over the will of others. That is actually more descriptive of aggression. Especially when there is little regard to the rights or feelings of others. Instead, assertiveness is simply about being able to stand up for your own rights without trampling on the rights of others.

Serving Your Country Most people believe you must be in the military or be voted in to serve a community, state, or country. Such as a Mayor, Congressman, or Judge someone that the people approve to be a servant of the people. We serve our families, neighborhood's, communities on up, in a variety of ways. Keeping your grass cut and maintaining your home or property is serving the neighborhood. Helping with volunteer work for a church, school, daycare center, or picking up tra

I keep hearing the same old myths over and over again. And I can't help but think that others hearing these myths either believe them and give up or use them for excuses to avoid taking action on getting clean and sober. One of the myths that I hear daily is that you can't get sober for someone else, that you have to want it for yourself, or your recovery efforts won't work. This statement is both true and false. The idea that you can't get sober for someone else is completely wrong. People do it every day.

If your family is a "remarried family" or a "step-family" then you're in good company. The experience of building a remarried or stepfamily is a common experience, not only for recovering people, but for the general population as well. There are lots of difficulties involved in putting together a stepfamily. One of the major difficulties is in the perception that a step-family is something less than desirable. Stepfamilies can be healthy.

When an adult child with addiction problems lives with his parents, those parents are faced with hard choices. The addict believes that he is only harming himself, yet the truth is that the addiction is hurting everyone and is typically tearing the family apart. Parents and significant others of alcoholics/addicts in deciding upon a course of action must make decisions based on what they can live with. There is a huge difference between bottom lines and threats.

Keep your parents and your children out of your marriage. Once they are in there, it's hard to get them out. When you are in conflict with your spouse, it is really tempting to use whoever is handy to vent to, regarding your marriage. And often the people available most available to us are our children and parents. They are typically most often in our presence, and if we don't see them throughout the day, they are often the people we speak to on the phone most often.

Parents often find themselves in a quandary trying to figure out how to help the adolescent whose behavior, disposition, and mood has changed for the worst. The exact nature of the problem may be eluding them. They use a trial and error problem solving method where they end up trying anything and everything to solve the problem. They try assertive discipline, enrolling their child in extracurricular activities to improve self-confidence or self-esteem, tutors, antidepressants, etc. without really knowing what they are dealing with. They are often operating under faulty suppositions.

The drug addiction continuous to curse the entire world. It is a problem that is increasing excessively all over today. Drugs can do nothing, but restrain the addicted person to achieve any other thing life. People sometimes think that they can’t become addictive to them but the fact is, drugs can trap anyone. The misfortune is that with all of the strictly taken measures in all most all over the world, drugs consumption was never under the control. With all of their harms

Califo ia's Drug Endangered Child Protection Act includes sections on creating a pilot program, coordinating multiagency response teams, preparing an annual report containing data on the number of children found in and removed from meth labs, and distributing funds.

Marijuana has seen increasing popularity in recent years. In the US alone, 6 out of 10 Americans are reportedly in favor of legalization, according to a Pew Research survey. As of November 2018, 33 American states allow the use of medical marijuana while 9 legalize recreational use. Despite growing acceptance, cannabis use remains controversial. At present, Canada and Uruguay are the only countries that have legalized marijuana on the federal level. Cannabis legislation rem

Prescription drug abuse is extremely common in the Unites States with a large number of younger school children resorting to such medicines to obtain their highs. It is the second most commonly abused category of drugs after marijuana as estimated by the Office of National Drug Control Policy. It is estimated by The National Institutes of Health that about one in every five persons in the US have used drugs that require a prescription for non-medical reasons at some point in

Routine. Boring. Settled in. Comfortable. You love your spouse. You believe that she and the family are the most important people in your life. You have settled into a comfortable routine, accepting that you are loved and appreciated by your family. Your comfortable routine consists of an ongoing cycle of work, dinner, tv, bed. When you talk to this most important person in your life, your wife, you talk about replacing the roof, what the kids did that day, what you need from the store, or maybe something that happened at work that day. The conversation lasts maybe ten minutes.

There are five major steps that a person should do after they have received a DUI. The first step is to take a chemical test. This chemical test is going to aid the police officers to find out a lot of information about the person. But the most vital piece of information that they are going to need to know is the person's blood alcohol level. Consequently, if a person has refused to take any other tests, it is very critical to take this test. The second step is to ensure that

Around 48.7 percent of people in the U.S. use at least one prescription drug in a month, while 21.8 percent use more than three drugs monthly, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Statistics also indicate that, every year, around 2.3 billion drugs are provided or ordered by doctors' offices. Prescription drugs are therefore billion dollar businesses for pharmaceutical companies, as they are imperative to cure medical conditions and save millions of l

Defective drugs can pose a serious threat to your life, putting your health and wellbeing in jeopardy. You may require extensive hospitalization and treatment, resulting in lost days of work and subsequent income. Harmful side-effects of drugs are another danger associated with prescribed medication. Patients suffer when they are prescribed dangerous and defective drugs that are placed by the big pharmaceutical companies onto the marketplace. If you or a loved one has suffere

What are you afraid of? Fear and anxiety are part and parcel of daily life with familial addiction. Fear is a paintbrush that colors almost all aspects of family life. Some fears are easily recognizable in an addicted family: "What if he gets arrested?" "When am I going to get the call in the ...

The Scripps Research Institute in California created a study that proved that stress had a direct correlation to addiction (and therefore substance abuse). Psychology Today captured the study in 2010 under the article title, “Stress Hormone Key to Alcohol Dependence”. It is no secret that stress can both physically and mentally impair an individual, especially if that individual is exposed to prolonged periods of severe stress. Combat veterans can be categorized as such o

Many people who have suffered from addiction or have a loved one who does, will likely, one time or another, question whether drug and alcohol addiction are hereditary. It’s an understandable conce for anyone interested in ending addiction. People want to know if their behavior, or that of their loved ones, suggests that other family members may be at risk of developing an addiction as well. Scientists have done a lot of research on addiction and genetics. Read on to learn about the results they have found. Family History of Drug and Alcohol Addictionr

Drug addiction is a chronic brain disease which causes an individual to be compulsive to seeking and using drugs. Despite the fact that there are harmful consequences of the drug, the addicted individual lacks discipline. Fortunately, there are drug addiction treatments which should be administered. In addition to that, the most significant drug addiction recovery is doing exercises. What are the benefits of activities during the recovery process? The following are nine advan

Whatever Sets A Luxury Rehab Apart? What tends to make a luxury rehab diverse from other facilities and genuinely sets it apart? The remedy you'll obtain, the luxuryand elegance that you simply will get pleasure from, and also the individual solutions that other rehabs don't offer. With many luxury rehab options the difference starts whenever you very first arrive. Pulling as much as a luxury rehab facility could be like arriving at a nice stylish property or mansion, with st