It is very important to understand that relapse, just like recovery, is a process not an event. In fact what we discussed the relapse process, it actually ends when a person picks up a drink or drug. At that point you are entering a using episode. Everything that happens before picking up is actually the relapse process.

When exactly somebody enters in to the relapse mode is very difficult to define and can point. What happens is that very subtle changes occur in a person’s attitudes, beliefs, and emotions, all leading to the point were returned to chemical use makes sense. It is a subtle change in attitudes and thought processes that move a person from “I know I can’t use >>>>>>>>> I can use once more and control it.”

Let’s take all look a four stage model of relapse:

4 Stages of Relapse

First stage – I am on aware. I don’t see it, and have no idea I am in trouble. (people around us may notice subtle changes in attitude and behavior).

Second Stage – We become restless, incurable and discontent. Our focus chefs from internal to external, we stop focusing on ourselves and start focusing on other people around us. We start blaming, acting the victim, fear and anger start to become evident.

Third stage - Unresolved feelings occur and they are not dealt with in a healthy manner. We go into the emotional and physical withdrawal, the start to isolate. Negative attitudes start to predominate such as compulsive behavior is, we start discounting recovery, we engage in May it magical thinking.

Fourth stage - A crisis in our life causes provides the excuse for us to start using it again, or we create a crisis that rationalizes are returned to use. In other words, we have made the decision to use, and are ready to light the fuse.

As we move through the stages of relapse, a few different things are occurring. Firstly, the need to regain our ‘right’ to re-engage in our addiction seems to make sense. We talk ourselves into the false belief that this time we can control it.

There’s a gradual and progressive destabilization of our lifestyle. Lastly, Stress and Stressors will accelerate this process. The stress factors we’re talking about here can best be pointed out by observing the warning signs of relapse.

Sober Recovery Forums | Addiction Recovery Forums

I was revisiting my favorite sober recovery forums and addiction recovery forums recently to see what people are talking about and where.

A few years ago I did a quick post on sobriety forums (See Sober Recovery Forums) and thought an update might be nice. Perhaps the most traveled SoberRecovery.com has undergone some big changes. The forums have continued to grow and are extremely well read and traveled.

Theses sober recovery forums have morphed more into a resource site for locating addiction treatment centers and halfway houses. This is a great resource if you are looking for treatment for yourself or a loved one. I have one question:

Sober Recovery Forums | Addiction Recovery Forums – On SoberRecovery.com – Where Did They Go?

Well, the good news is they are still there but you really have to hunt around on the home page to find them. Once you do…holy cow did they grow in the last 3 years. There are about 40 different categories with up to 30,000 threads.

There is an old saying in the 12 step rooms there is nothing in recovery someone else hasn’t felt the pain of and successfully worked through – you are not alone. Well that is certainly true in these sober recovery forums, as in most addiction recovery forums.

Sober recovery message boards and online sober recovery communities can have a place in a well rounded drug addiction recovery program. The double edge sword here is that alcoholism forums and recovery forums are there to express opinions. And, as we all know EVERYONE has an opinion on recovery. Some may be helpful, some may be harmful, you must use care.

There are many sober recovery forums and addiction recovery forums on the net, choose one that is well traveled and suits your interests.

Aside from the negative physical effects of drug use, there are psychological and emotional effects that are equally as devastating.

One of the areas that is almost universally damaged is a person’s view of oneself, their self-esteem. Self-esteem virtually never rises when drug use is induced; it almost always sinks lower and lower. This article will discuss some of the negative effects on self-esteem of drug use.

As a person’s self-esteem decreases through drug use, the negative feelings of worthlessness, hopelessness, shame and guilt increase. This is often due to the fact that a person realizes deep down that drug use is a destructive thing to be doing, yet they do it anyway. This sets up a contradiction between internal values and actual actions taken.

A person can become less capable of making decisions. One thing that drug use does is it “freezes” or immobilized as a person’s decision-making capacity. They become less assertive and have great difficulty expressing opinions or needs. Often a drug user will describe the effect to be “sinking into yourself”. The world around them feeds into meaninglessness.

One of the most destructive things that drug use does is it interferes with a person’s ability to form caring and honest relationships. It also tends to destroy relationships that currently exist. This is essentially due to the nature of drug addiction; a person puts the need to use drugs above everything else including important relationships. Oddly enough, this is not due to lack of caring or wild, is due to a distortion of priorities.

As a person sinks deeper into deeper into drug use, abuse, or addiction, the chances for co-occurring mental health disorder greatly increases. It is more common than not to have a co-occurring condition such as depression, anxiety, or disordered eating coexist with drug use. If the mental health condition previously exists, drug use will only make it much, much worse.

Adding healthy self-esteem is vital to a person’s mental health and psychological well-being the multitudes of ways in which drug use tax self-esteem is one of its greatest hidden dangers. If you, or someone you love is involved with the drug abuse, please explore the possibilities of getting help for them. Drug addiction is a disease that always progresses toward the worse, never toured the better.

This checklist of the warning signs and symptoms of drug addiction is taken from characteristics of the numerous phases of drug addiction. The 1st warning sign of drug abuse might be the easy reality that you’re searching at this listing of signs. There’s an old saying that states in the event you believe there might possibly be an issue, then there most likely is one.

Here is the list of warning signs:

1.    Increase of tolerance. This means you need to take more of the drug to get the effect you’re looking for or, in taking the same amount you are getting less effect.

2.    Temporary loss of memory. These include blackouts, not being able to remember what you have said the night before, and general difficulty with recalling facts.

3.    Preoccupation with drugs. This means you are thinking about the more it more. Even when you are not using, you’re wondering how soon you can be, how much, where you can get them, etc. often spoken of as obsession and compulsion.

4.    Loss of control. This refers the inability to set and maintain boundaries around use. For instance saying you’re just going to have two lines of cocaine and you end up doing an entire eight ball. Another example is saying you only have two drinks insistently cannot stick to that limit.

5.    People are commenting on your drug use. Friends and family start noticing your use and ask you to slow down or quit. It is often evident to the people around the user that there is a problem before it is evident to the user themselves.

6.    Escape, or “geographical cure”. Problems start manifesting themselves in life. The user blames the job, the friends, the city they’re living in. They may move, start a new job, or stop associating with people who care.

7.    Ethical deterioration’s. People using drugs slide very gradually behaviors and beliefs that they normally would not consider. Examples are lying, stealing, fighting, low self-esteem, guilt and shame.

8.    Periodic abstinence. A drug user will often attempt to quit for a day, a week, etc. to “prove” that they do not have a problem. This may or may not be accomplished (see loss of control). But, the very fact that efforts to control use are going on is indication of a problem. People without a drug problem do not have to meet efforts to control their use.

9.  Unmanageability, negative consequences. This simply means that when drug use occurs bad stuff happens. Examples of negative consequences can be arrests, DUIs, fights, divorces, loss of jobs, on and on. The difficulty here is the drug abuser cannot did the negative consequences occurring in his life his injuries a direct result is drug use not simply a matter of bad luck.

10.    Psychological dependence. The easiest and simplest way to understand this to understand the concept that when drug use becomes a “need” instead of a desire, you have crossed a line.

We hope this list of warning signs of drug abuse provided some insight for you, or perhaps someone you love and you are concerned about. Bottom line, get help. Drug and alcohol abuse and addiction is something that does not get better by simply ignoring it. Drug addiction is a progressive disease and always progresses toward the wars never toured the better.

It’s too bad, but in many cases, shame comes along with addiction recovery. The question is, why to recovering addicts feel this shame?

The best place to begin here is that if you are feeling shame then there is generally someone else involved. This may be your family, your friends or even the larger society. Basically, we feel shame because we feel like we have let these people down.

We may even feel shame for failing to live up to the expectations we have of ourselves. What is the source of this self image? Some people who have addictions or emotional problems had childhoods which did not meet their needs for approval or affection. These circumstances can foster a lifelong sense of shame which is difficult to shake; this can also lead to addiction.

Someone who is overcome with shame has near constant feelings of inferiority; they may even come to the belief that their entire existence is some sort of tragic, cruel mistake. This kind of shame isolates people, making them feel as if they are unworthy of being loved by others – but everyone else in the world does deserve happiness. It’s a feeling of helplessness.

Shame is also something which can be enormously painful. To try to lessen this pain, many who are set in a pattern of shame will do their best to improve themselves – to become more attractive to others or more worthy of their love. Now, that other party I mentioned before – this can even be this idealized self, which of course no one could live up to, perpetuating the cycle of shame.

Shame is an emotion that many in addiction recovery have to cope with. It can surface during recovery, such as when reflecting on the behavior we engaged in when using.

A growing trend in addiction recovery is to accept that shame is a natural ting to feel during recovery. The important thing is to deal with it and not to leave it unresolved. The way to rid yourself of shame is to come to accept yourself for the fallible human being that you are. We all make mistakes; it’s the ability to forgive ourselves these mistakes that helps us shake off shame and continue on the road to recovery.

There are two ingredients that when combined form a high likelihood for drug use or abuse. They are a teenager, and former isolation. A teenager with a lot of time on their hands, or one who is simply “hanging out” is at very high risk for experimentation or drug use itself.

A national adolescent health study indicated a set of related risk factors that produce a likelihood of up teenager using drugs 3 to 8 times more likely than the average teenager. These risk factors included time hanging out, in failure in school.

On the flipside this study showed that teenagers who reported a high level of connection to their parents were the least likely group to engage in risky behaviors such as drug use and abuse. A positive and supportive of dull, parent or family relationship is the greatest deterrent for drug use.

How, exactly do you maintain a connection with the teenager? The answer is amazingly simple and frustratingly complex. Talk to them and listen to them. Here are some pointers that can help you out:

· One of the rules of communication is that when someone talks, you listen. When you talk, they listen. No interruptions.

· Have realistic and open discussion about the dangers of drug use. Drug use is not a problem that will go away is simply ignored. If necessary, educate yourself.

· Ask for your teenager’s points of view and opinions and listen to them.

· Give your child lots of encouragement and positive reinforcement.

· Be very consistent in setting and maintaining rules, boundaries, and limitations.

· Be interested in their world and their activities, know who they are hanging out with. Discourage a lot of “down time”.

Aside from maintaining open communication lines, talking and listening to your children, there is one more critical thing you can do is apparent all pay off big time. That is, spend time with your children. Sometimes it is easy to get caught up in a hostile and bustle of the modern-day world but in reality isn’t the most important thing your family? Isn’t the best investment you can make spending time with your children?

Remember, the biggest risk factor for a teenager in drug use is a board on interested child in the biggest preventative measure for teenage drug use is a connected relationship with an parents, family or an adult figure.

If a person is in a drug and alcohol treatment program, it is easy to lose focus and become distracted. Sometimes people get into mindsets of thinking very negatively. They are balancing the difficulties of continuing treatment versus the ease of going back to drug or alcohol use. It’s kind of like loading the scale to favor a decision to stop treatment that is already made.

Here are five negative thought patterns or ideas to focus on to help justify stopping drug or alcohol treat:

1. Concentrate on your completion date. Start focusing on “when this is all over”. You can even get a calendar and mark off the days until graduation day. If you work really hard at it, you might be able to convince people that you’ve done so well you can leave the program early.

2. Start holding grudges against your counselor in staff. Start telling people that you’re being discriminated against, nobody understands you, and everyone is picking on you. This should start enough ruckus that you won’t have to focus on the real problem on, your addiction. Point out all the personal problems of staff and counselors, which should get them defensive.

3. Complain about the program content, rules and restrictions. It should be made obvious to anybody who will listen, family, and other people in the program that the rules are way over the top should not apply to you. Argue with all the content being presented, take contrary positions, and most importantly, let them know that none of this applies to you.

4. Use the phone to call home every day. Complain about this staff, program, it needs not being met, how sick you are, and anything else that comes to your mind. If you can find the weak link someone will come and pick you up right away. It is also very important to keep the world running while you are in treatment. After all everyone relies on you and you have to keep tabs and maintain control of everything going on in the outside world. At all costs, do not stay focused on yourself, in the present moment.

5.Whatever you do, do not admit you have a problem. When in doubt, deny, deny, deny. This will make sure nobody has anything to work on. Keep all your secrets to yourself insisted it was bad luck he got caught, that everybody else has problems and is just picking on. You are a citizen and have rights do whatever you want your body. Somebody should listen sooner or later.

If you are in treating yourself, and find yourself slipping into these thought patterns you may be trying to justify or make inexcusably treat. If you have family or a loved one in treatment start hearing things like this it should raise a red flag warning. Addiction is a progressive disease and always progresses toward the words. Treatment works. That being said, the trick is to stay engaged in treatment until it does work. Don’t leave before the miracle occurs.

First of all, if you are at the point of looking for a teen drug rehab, you are doing the right thing. It is difficult for many parents to face the fact that they are teenager needs help with her drug abuse or addiction problem. However, it is imperative to address the problem as early as possible as drug use always gets worse, never better.

Is it possible to make an informed decision about a drug treatment center, find one that works, and is affordable? Absolutely. Searching for a teen drug rehab can be a difficult and confusing process. Here are a few key points that should help guide you.

1. Is the facility appropriate for your teen’s problem?

If your team has a drug use problem nature that you are sending them to a substance abuse treatment center, not a military school or dude ranch. Better yet, focus on a treatment center that specializes in adolescents.

2. Is the drug rehab accredited?In looking for proper accreditation from a drug rehab you are ensuring they meet certain quality standards. The primary accreditation to look for is by the joint Commission On Accreditation Of Healthcare Organizations known as JCAHO. This is government accreditation. You should also ask if the facility is licensed by the state in which it operates.

3. What is involved in the process of admission and what is the cost?

In the course of admission or consideration for admission several things are going on at once. Firstly, the screening is conducted to make sure that your teen is appropriate for the program. If they are appropriate for the program, the next determinations will be what level of care is needed and if the facility provides that level of care.

Obviously, cost is a big factor. It is important to check your insurance coverage thoroughly and I would suggest talking to a representative at your insurance company to get the specifics. Unfortunately, insurance companies often have very limited coverage for substance abuse problems. Ask the treatment facility if there is a payment plan or a sliding fee scale. Sometimes there is scholarship help available.

4. What is their philosophy of treatment?

Some questions to ask might be if they use the 12 step model, if the teen program is separate from the general population, if it is gender specific, or if it is behaviorally based. You must use some judgment in whether the philosophy and type of treatment offered will be something that is remotely acceptable to your teenager.

5. What is the length of treatment, and is there after care referrals made?

A standard rule of thumb for drug addiction treatment is that the longer the treatment is the better for the patient. Studies have shown that the longer a person is involved in the treatment process the better their chances of eventual recovery. This does not necessarily mean that all the treatment has to be at the highest level possible, for instance, inpatient treatment. There can be a step down effect going from the highest level of care to the least intensive level of care. But the important point is to stretch it out over as much time as possible. The length of treatment is key to recovery success. Ask if the treatment facility will make local referrals or if they have an extended plan at a lower level of care.

As a society, we share a complicated history with alcohol. During the later part of the 19th century, politicians, women’s groups, and churches banded together to convince lawmakers to outlaw alcohol. In 1919, the U.S. Congress passed the 18th Amendment, making the sale and distribution of alcohol illegal. Alcohol consumption declined but did not prevent illegal use and distribution. In 1933, Prohibition ended and as a result, millions of Americans have made alcohol an important part of their social activity. In the 1960s, researcher E.M. Jellinek reported that excessive and abusive use of alcohol was a disease. Within 10 years, a public effort was launched in the United States to educate people that alcoholism was an illness.

In 1980, the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 3rd refined the definition of alcoholism by differentiating between alcohol abuse and dependence. However, people continue to use the term "alcoholism" when they discuss all forms of "problem drinking," when in fact alcoholism and abuse have specific clinical definitions. Alcoholism, also known as alcohol dependence, is a chronic, progressive, and potentially a fatal disease. The symptoms are: drinking excessive amounts frequently, inability to control drinking despite medical, psychological, or social complications, increased tolerance for alcohol, and serious withdrawal symptoms when the person stop drinking.

On the other hand, alcohol abuse is a chronic disease in which the individual refuses to give up drinking even though it causes the person to neglect important family and work obligations. However, abuse, left untreated, can become dependence. The symptoms are: drinking when it is dangerous (drinking and driving), frequent excessive drinking, interpersonal difficulties with family, friends, and coworkers caused by alcohol, and legal problems related to alcohol use.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) estimates that in 1998, alcoholism cost society $184.6 billion in lost productivity, medical care, legal services, and cost from traffic accidents. However, these statistics does not address the cost, to society, or the problem of alcohol dependence among the elderly the "hidden population."

It seems that alcohol abuse among older adults is something few wish to talk about, and a problem for which even fewer seek treatment on their own. Too often, family members are ashamed of the problem and choose not to confront it head on. Health care providers tend not to ask older patients about alcohol use if it wasn’t a problem in their lives in earlier years. This may explain why so many of the alcohol-related admissions to treatment among older adults are for first-time treatment.

Recent studies indicated that between 1.1 and 2.3 million elderly citizens use alcohol to alleviate grief and loneliness. What has been called the "invisible population" is now being discovered and measured. Most individuals tend to restrict their alcohol intake as they advance in age, mainly because of poor health or reduced social activities. However, society has begun to recognize that the incidence of alcoholism among older individuals is on the rise. Despite the numerous studies being done on this subject it is difficult to find reliable statistics on today’s elderly alcoholics. However, some research suggested that as much as 10% to 15% of health problems in this population may be connected to alcohol and substance abuse.

One fact is clear: alcohol-related problems among the elderly are much greater than perceived even a decade ago. It is also clear that the common individual’s response remains devoted to treating their symptoms briefly and directly, rather than getting to the core of the drinking behavior and treating the alcoholism. The general practitioner is without doubt the person with the most opportunity to identify alcoholism in an elderly patient, whose social and family isolation is relatively common. However, the practitioner is often confronted with denial of the problem, by the patient and especially by the family. One reason may be because the effects of alcoholism may mimic those of aging. Making diagnosis of alcoholism difficult because many symptoms, including aches and pains, insomnia, loss of sex drive, depression, anxiety, loss of memory and other mental problems are often confused with normal signs of aging or the side effects of medications.

Another concern is that, too often, when families or professionals try to get help for their love one, identification of a drinking problem may be difficult. For example, many of the criteria necessary to make the proper diagnosis of alcoholism are more appropriate for younger abusers. These traditional criteria may not be appropriate for elderly individuals who may be more isolated or solitary, is less likely to drive and most likely to be retired. In fact, some researchers suggests that the diagnosis of alcoholism, for the elderly, be focused on biomedical, psychological or social consequences.

Although the prevalence of alcohol consumption and alcohol abuse decreases with age, alcoholism in elderly people remains a significant public health problem. It is an increasingly important concern because the elderly is the fastest growing population today, and is expected to continue this trend well into the next decade. There are two forms of alcoholism that can be distinguished in the elderly: alcoholism beginning before the age of 65 years and continuing, and alcoholism beginning after the age of 65 years. As stated before, alcoholism in the elderly is often difficult to diagnose, especially since health problems due to alcohol may be attributed to old age. Also, in the case of alcoholism, elderly patients, taking multiple medications, present an increased risk of medication/alcohol interactions, especially with tranquillisers and sedatives.

At the beginning of this article I suggested that Americans have a complicated relationship with alcohol. Well, to a certain extent, the same can be said about society’s relationship with its elderly citizens. In America we often don’t value our elderly individuals, we sends a double message, some may call it a love hate relationship with our elder population. As a result, some people tend to ignore or shun older people with drinking problems. For example, to ease our own internal conflicts, we say things like "after all they are not hurting anyone. Let them enjoy the time they have left…Who cares?" Often, therapist may be reluctant to work with older alcoholics due to unconscious counter-transference issues. For example, the elderly client triggers the therapist’s own fears about aging. Older clients are often accused of being rigid and unwilling or unable to change. In which case therapists may feel that they are wasting their time working with these individuals. However, researchers who study the science of aging understand that these myths, assumptions and stereotypes are unproven and often harmful to the elderly individuals who can benefit from proper treatment or intervention.

One’s later years does not have to be a time of loneliness, depression, or a life of alcoholism. Many individuals find happiness and even adventure in their advanced years. Those who age successfully tend to have a strong sense of life achievement, high self-esteem and positive attitude. Older individuals who achieve a sense of ego integrity are able to view their past history with a sense of satisfaction. While older individuals who look back with regret and believe that it is too late to make significant changes may experience a sense of despair and depression.

Those who age successfully is able to adjust to the loss of a spouse and other significant relationships, adjust to retirement and reduced income, accept and deal appropriately with declining health and get involved establishing a satisfactory living arrangements.

Unfortunately, not everyone ages successfully. Some individuals cannot accept the physical changes that come with advanced age. Others can’t handle the loss of a spouse or friends, or they find it difficult adjusting to retirement. And, too often, many of these individuals turn to alcohol.

Many of these individuals never had a drinking problem prior to this time in their lives. This is called late onset alcoholism. The bad news is that this type of alcoholism may go unrecognized. The good news is that individuals with late onset alcoholism have a much greater chance of recovery. This is due primarily because these individuals have a history of handling problem successfully.

On the other hand, early onset alcoholics are those individual drinkers who have been drinking excessively for many years. As a result, they may have more difficulty in recovery because of health complications from years of excessive alcohol abuse.

Finally, elderly alcoholics have a wide range of treatment options. After detoxification, when necessary, the elderly client can receive further treatment from inpatient programs, day treatment, outpatient therapy, or community-based groups. Completion rates appear to be modestly better for elderly-specific alcohol treatment programs compared with mixed-age programs. Some seniors find that Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings offer them strength and support to overcome drinking problems. While other seniors feel these groups are stigmatizing and find it more comfortable to seek support from their age-peers at senior citizen programs. What is important to know is that the most effective programs treat the "whole person," making sure that their health, housing, financial, and social needs are met. This is an important concern because late-onset alcoholism is often associated with stress, isolation, loss, and loneliness. Therefore, effective substance abuse treatment for the elderly should address these underlying issues.

Dr William Smith is a psychotherapist and personal consulttant with over 30 years experience working with individuals and groups. Dr. Smith specializes in working with: Adult Children of Alcoholics, Survivors of Incest and other Childhood Sexual Trauma, Rape Survivors, Depression, Anxiety, Self-Esteem, and Relationship problems, Smoking Cessation. For a FREE initial consultation Dr. Smith can be reached at: psyassociates@insightconsultant.com or visit my website at http://www.insightconsultant.com

Easing inevitable that as the holidays approach so do a multitude of parties. If you are early in your sobriety or recovery sometimes even considering whether to go to a party or not is a daunting task.the following tips designed to help you stay safe and sober.

1. Do some mental preparation. Think carefully about the fact that you will be in a social situation where other people are drinking and possibly driving and having a good time, remember that it is okay for them but not for young matter what.

2. Make sure that you have something to before you go to the party.

3. Stay away from the area where drinks are being prepared hang out elsewhere.

4. If you are offered a drink or drugs simply say “no”. This almost always works, if a person is persistent move away.

5. Make sure you have an exit strategy. Either drive your own car, or attend with a friend will be obliging and leave when you want to. The exit strategy is especially important if the drinking and/or drugging starts making you nervous. Get out of the situation immediately.

6. Keep a soft drink with you and don’t worry about whether other people will think there is alcohol in it or not. You can even bring a soft drink to the party if you’re not sure any will be available.

7. It may be a good strategy to spot other people at the party who are not drinking hangout with them.

8. Watch the sexual attraction factor. Sometimes watching a person get a little “loose” can stir up old thoughts and feelings. Listen to reason, remember the blackouts.

Lastly, the most important tip of all these do not drink or drug no matter what. sometimes holidays can be difficult, but they need not be unsafe. They’re always safe, sober people available. Remember use variety is the most important thing you own and control. Stay safe.

Many people who chew tobacco or dip snuff think it’s safer than smoking. But you don’t have to smoke tobacco for it to be dangerous. Chewing or dipping carries risks like

• Cancer of the mouth
• Decay of exposed tooth roots
• Pulling away of the gums from the teeth
• White patches or red sores in the mouth that can turn to cancer

Recent research shows the dangers of smokeless tobacco may go beyond the mouth. It might also play a role in other cancers, heart disease and stroke.

Smokeless tobacco contains more nicotine than cigarettes. Nicotine is a highly additive drug that makes it hard to stop using tobacco once you start. Having a quit date and a quitting plan can help you stop successfully.

“A growing body of research shows heavy drinking more damaging for women than men.”

By Mary Jo Patterson

Credit: Carole Gomez

“Women are more likely than men to drink in response to frustration or hurt feelings. They are more likely to drink alone and less likely to seek treatment.

Over the years Elizabeth Epstein has been consulted by scores of women wondering if they drank too much. Nearly always the answer was “yes,” says Epstein, a research professor at the Center of Alcohol Studies at Rutgers and licensed psychologist.

Her assessments were partly based on guidelines from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, which warn that women who drink more than three drinks on any day, or seven drinks a week, are risking their health. (A “drink” is one five-ounce glass of wine, a 12-ounce bottle of beer, or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof distilled spirits.)…

For the full story CLICK HERE

Have you been concerned about a loved one’s or your own cocaine use?

Cocaine use could be an very challenging factor to deal with and in the event you have turn out to be involved in its use, it could be a tough factor to know if the line between casual use and addiction is being crossed. No matter what the reason, it’s essential for you to understands the risks and dangers of cocaine addiction.

Addiction is generally defined as the require to often use increased doses of the drug, despite the physical and psychological harm that it does. The compulsion to use the drug is so strong that the addict will commonly give up their personal relationships and their value system to be able to support it.

You will find numerous elements which may influence an individual to turn out to be addicted to cocaine. Initial, cocaine is really a chemical that’s simple to turn out to be addicted to; like any other stimulant, it affects the neurochemistry of the brain. Second, some individuals are much more prone to turn out to be addicted than other people. If 1 or both of your parents was especially susceptible to cocaine, there’s an increased likelihood that you simply are susceptible also. Third, cocaine is really a drug to which the human body can construct up a tolerance. When this tolerance occurs, an increased quantity of the drug is essential to produce a comparable sort of high.

Cocaine is an very addictive drug. As a stimulant, it inhibits the absorption of dopamine into the body’s system, creating a powerful, prolonged high. Simply because numerous users develop a resistance to it fairly rapidly, they never obtain the exact same that they got from it originally, resulting in them taking larger and larger dosages to attempt to obtain the exact same effect. 1 of the symptoms of cocaine addiction is really a constant improve within the quantity ingested.

Addiction is also likely when withdrawal symptoms are seen when the drug is taken away or reduced. Being physically sick or depressed are both signs that the individual may have turn out to be addicted. In terms of physical effects, nausea, a runny nose and constant twitching are signs of withdrawal, and in terms of psychological effects, depression, anxiety and agitation could be indication of a withdrawal in full progress.

Cocaine can result in cardiovascular disruptions and respiratory problems. Neurological issues like strokes, seizures, and migraines may also result from cocaine use. The problems that result from cocaine use alone are severe, but with addiction, can turn out to be even worse. Even the technique of taking can turn out to be dangerous. Ingesting it orally can result in bowel gangrene and injection can lead to many different blood-borne diseases and complications.

In the event you suspect that you simply or somebody you love may be in danger of cocaine addiction, comprehend that you simply aren’t alone. Thousands of individuals come to this realization each year, and begin the journey to recovery.

I want to take a moment to thank all you people who are making the world a better place by being in recovery.

Holidays can be a difficult time for some, and an uplifting time for others. If you are suffering a bit from the holiday blues, go back to basics. Make yourself a gratitude list. This is one of the most basic recovery exercises.

Their three simple steps involved:

1. Make your list.

2. Read it. Read it again out loud.

3. Keep it with you and read it twice a day, don’t be afraid to add things

Keep the list handy, and any time you feel a dark mood coming over you, take that list out and read it. One of my friends told me she used to keep it in an envelope and write “open in case of emergency” on the envelope. She told me she’d gone through a lotof envelopes but it never ceased to work for her.

Happy Thanksgiving

Bill Urell

There are several ongoing efforts to prove that drug addiction is a brain disease. In fact, some are even saying it’s incurable. This theory is following the path of many other conditions that were not illnesses until someone decided there was a good reason to call them that – the usual reason being money. True to form, some researchers pursuing this field are also looking into preventing and treating this new ‘disease’ with medication.

However, when it comes to drug addiction, there is more than enough evidence that it is not a disease, and is not incurable. People coping with someone who has a drug addiction problem should know the truth.

What are the arguments against the disease theory?

Most experts acknowledge that the brain is fine until someone actually takes the drugs. They take the drugs voluntarily, not because they have a brain disease and are thereby compelled to do so. The brain is then altered by the drugs and, if one gets addicted, it is apparently because they developed a brain disease.

People are buying into this theory despite the fact that the science is thin.

- The drugs don’t affect everyone’s brain the same way.

- The degree of effect varies.

- Of those who are affected, some get addicted and some don’t.

With such variables in play, it would be impossible to develop a diagnosis or treatment protocol that’s anything other than hit and miss – not unlike some of the other ‘diseases’ that have no or weak science behind them. Depression is a good example – two out of three people who take antidepressants still feel depressed – as are ADD and ADHD, and many others.

Sometimes the medications create the desired effects – which at best suppress symptoms – sometimes they don’t. Whatever the result, the medications are always dangerous, many have side effects that require additional drugs to control, and many are addictive.

The ‘incurable’ label is obviously false. Millions of people have successfully overcome addiction – a good addiction treatment center, many of which have been in operation for decades, can get up to 70% of their clients off drugs, and some see hundreds every year.

Despite the holes, the disease theory will continue to be researched, as will medications to treat this disease. Calling it incurable will also be popular: something that can’t be cured will probably have to be treated with medications or other therapies for the rest of the person’s life. It offers a rare opportunity for a continuous source of revenue – something big pharma goes to great lengths to develop.

But it mislabels yet another of life’s conditions and could inhibit people from getting treatment that actually gets down to the bottom of what is going on in the person’s life that drives them to take drugs and helps them change those things so they no longer desire to take the drugs. And it only takes a matter of months.

Real treatment doesn’t simply suppress symptoms, it cures the problem. Beware of drug addiction treatment that does anything less.

Gloria MacTaggart is a freelance writer that contributes articles on health.

info@drugrehabreferral.com

http://www.drugrehabreferral.com