Posts tagged with ‘Addiction Treatment’
Addiction treatment often begins with detox then can be in the form of hospitalization, outpatient treatment, residential treatment such as private drug rehab. The goal of addiction treatment is to comfortably detox the person from the drug or compulsive behavior, treat any underlying issues that might be contributing to the addiction, and give them a structure and set of tools to continue in recovery upon leaving addiction treatment.
Overcoming Codependency: Practicing Powerlessness
Addicts and alcoholics are taught that they are powerless over their drug of choice and any substitutes. Until they admit and accept that powerlessness, there is little to no hope for recovery.
Reaching Bottom: The Process of Addiction
The beginning of addiction often seems innocent: a couple of drinks after work to decompress, an extra pain pill to take the edge off, trying a narcotic just once to see how it feels. Once you have hit rock bottom, you may ask yourself how on earth you got there. If you are the loved one watching someone get to the bottom of the downward spiral of addiction, clarity may also be elusive. Denial is not restricted to the addict. It can be difficult for onlookers to see the process of addiction occurring as well. To help you better understand the disease in yourself or someone else, take a look at how addiction begins, progresses, and reaches the bottom. Full Story
Study Explores Potential of Modafinil for Treatment of Alcohol Dependence
As humans, our ability to fight addiction is tied to our ability to control impulses. When this control is in place, we also control the consumption of those substances that generate rewards, including alcohol, food and drugs. Full Story
What is Denial?
Addicts are often out of touch with the unforeseen costs of their behavior. They routinely ignore warning signs that seem obvious to their friends and family – trouble in school, job loss, car wrecks, ruined relationships, financial problems, illness, arrest, etc. They either ignore these issues or they place the blame on others, continuing their problematic behaviors without a second thought. This is their denial. It is almost as if they are unable to see (or they refuse to see) the destructive effects that their drinking, drug use, and other addictive behaviors have not only on themselves, but on those who love them. Full Story
A Parent’s Addiction Affects Everyone in the Family
With the joys of parenting also comes responsibility. Parents are expected to be role models and offer the strength that guides their family. Sometimes parents need strength and guidance or their children’s lives are completely altered. Parents who suffer from drug or alcohol addiction need to find treatment that will help them recover and be the supporting and responsible parent they would like to be for their child. Full Story
The Cycle of Chronic Relapse
Chronic relapse is a repeated cycle wherein a person seeks help to overcome addiction, gets clean, and then later falls prey to substance abuse again. The chronic condition can see multiple repetitions of this cycle, frustrating everyone involved – the addict, their family and their doctors. A number of high-profile celebrity examples testify to the difficulty in avoiding chronic relapse. Full Story
Gender Differences Affecting Alcohol Dependence
Alcohol dependence is caused by a number of factors, including genetics, environment and personal experience. Scientists know that men and women struggle with alcohol dependence at different rates, but understanding the cause of the difference has been difficult – that is, until the results of a recent study provided new clues about the way men and women differ in genetic responses to alcohol. Full Story
Vigabatrin Tested as Cocaine Addiction Treatment
Cocaine addiction has been a rock against which many a wave has broken without creating any movement or diminishment. Researchers and those who treat cocaine addicts directly are forever in search of new ideas and methods which might prove successful. Full Story
Bipolar Disorder and Substance Abuse
Bipolar disorder is a mental health illness that causes a patient to cycle between periods of joyfulness (mania) and sadness (depression). How often, and how severely, a patient will cycle between the emotions varies from patient to patient. In some cases of bipolar disorder the symptoms will be so severe as to cause the patient to be unable to function in day-to-day life. It is one of the most debilitating mental health illnesses and has no known cure. Although medications can ease symptoms and reduce the severity of mood swings, bipolar patients are always at risk of relapse. Full Story
Study Explores Why People Respond Differently to Environmental Drug Cues
A new study has found that differences in people’s responses to environmental cues can change chemical responses in the brain. This finding could help researchers develop new treatments for substance abuse, compulsive gambling, sexual addiction, and other compulsive behaviors.
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The Addiction Primer: Everything You Need to Know to Get Help for a Loved One
A very inexpensive yet indispensable guide for anyone struggling with a loved one's addiction. Chapters on intervention, what to expect from rehab, and information on how addiction impacts the family.
