Year: 2011
Combating Depression After the Holidays
Depression affects millions of Americans every year, but none more so than in the immediacy following the holiday season. Feeling depressed and let down after the holidays come to an end is so common in our society that it has it’s own nickname, the post-holiday blues. A substantial number of people experience these post-holiday blues and can shake them off after a brief period of time by focusing on other things. Things aren’t quite so simple for the recovering addict. The depression that can sink into the brain of the former user as a result of “the big let down”…
Over the Counter Medication Abuse On the Rise With Teens
Over the counter medication abuse is one of the fastest growing categories of drugs abused by teenagers in theUnited Statestoday. There are a variety of explanations as to why this abuse is so common and continues to grow, but of course no one can be certain of what is the predominant cause. For starters, these drugs are about as readily available as they come. As their name indicates, they can be purchased over the counter, which means without a prescription. In addition, in comparison to street drugs, this class of medication is relatively inexpensive as you can purchase a large…
37% of Teens Abused Alcohol or Drugs Last Year
Effective substance abuse treatment is back on the forefront of parent’s, law enforcement and addiction specialist’s minds as an alarming 37 percent of American teens were revealed to have abused drugs or alcohol in the previous 12 months. What makes this study considerably scarier is that one out of twelve teens was reported to experience symptoms that fall in line with chemical dependence or addiction with regard to the substance that they were abusing. Of all of the ethnic groups studied, Caucasians, Hispanics and Native Americans had the highest propensity toward substance abuse and addiction among teenagers with African Americans…
Text Messaging As An Alcoholism Treatment Tool
Alcohol abuse treatment facilities have been known to have great success with helping those with alcoholism recover from their disease. There is one giant caveat of this success though, and that’s getting them to admit that they have a problem and to enter treatment. How are you supposed to help someone change their detrimental and dangerous ways when they’re not actively looking for help? Text Messaging as an Alcoholism Treatment Tool? A new study designed at the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh is looking into how text messaging can be used as an alcohol abuse treatment…
Family Therapy De-Standardized
Family therapy is a part of just about every drug and alcohol rehab’s treatment plan in the country. Some are effective, some are less effective, but everyone’s intentions are justified and honorable when incorporating family into treatment. Traditionally, most rehab centers focus the majority of their treatment around the individual. That is the standard medical model. Clinicians will deal with the substance abuse, the depression or anxiety and then later on delve into the secondary issues affecting the person like their family, job, finances, friends etc. After residential treatment they’ll leave and go to a sober living facility and the…
Rohypnol: Club Drug or Date Rape Drug?
Rohypnol, or better known to popular culture by its nickname “roofies,” is illegal in the United States, and yet still manages to make quite the splash in our society. While you’d have to have been living under a rock not to hear stories about the incredibly scary and dangerous date rape drug Rohypnol, you probably haven’t heard a fraction the amount of stories about its more common use, a recreational party drug belonging to the family of club drugs. In fact, Rohypnol is regularly used by high school and college aged kids, ravers, clubbers, as well as heroin and cocaine…
What to Give at the Holidays When Money is an Obstacle
Florida women’s drug rehab Destination Hope fully understands the stresses the holidays can bring about for a recovering addict. A huge stress factor is that of gift giving. Let’s face it, the holidays have been completely commercialized and we are now made to feel like it is bad form to not purchase gifts for our loved ones this time of year. Recovering addicts unfortunately often take their guilt one step further and think it’s their responsibility to lavish their family members with presents in an attempt to make up for all the damage that their drug or alcohol addiction has…
The Physical and Psychological Effects of Meth Addiction
Meth addiction is one of the uglier chemical dependencies you’ll run into on the street in terms of the physical toll it takes on the body. We’ve all seen the billboards of the effects of meth addiction. Methamphetamine is highly addictive and it can happen very quickly. Users report feeling an incredibly intense high and rush of euphoria when ingesting the drug. Additional reported side effects are increased energy, focus, confidence, sexual prowess and feelings of desirability. Just like many other illicit substances, more and more of the drug is required to achieve that same high that was experienced in…
Alcoholism and HIV
Alcoholism and alcohol abuse have always been thought to be linked to practices of unsafe sex, but a new study conducted at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health in Ontario, Canada has now confirmed it. Unsafe sex is the number one cause for new HIV infections in North America. While alcoholism and HIV are connected through various cases and patients, a cause and effect relationship has previously never been able to be established. The question the researchers were looking to answer was whether or not unsafe sex that was the effect of alcohol use or alcoholism actually led to…
Stress Management and Substance Abuse
Substance abuse and stress management have always had a very complicated and intertwined relationship. Most addiction experts agree that a recovering addict’s risk for relapse is related directly to the individual’s ability to process and manage stress. Stress and anxiety have always been and remain two of the biggest triggers for substance abuse. By that logic, when you can effectively manage your stress, you increase your likelihood for maintaining your sobriety exponentially. While we are often able to identify certain triggers that increase our anxiety, coming up with an effective stress management plan is another issue altogether. For example, spending…
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