Posts Tagged drug addiction recovery

Recovery Month: Beating Addiction Means Freedom

Posted by Drug Free in Drug Abuse Treatment, Drug Rehabilitation on September 19th, 2011

September is National Recovery Month, and across America, those who have gone through addiction – and beat it – look back at their experiences, and have renewed appreciation for having that part of their life behind them.

The 1st Fine Art and Written Word Extravaganza was presented by the Kane County Drug Rehabilitation Court.

drug abuse recoveryThe art show showcased various mediums of expressions – poems, essays, drawings, paintings, and collages, all of which illustrated the suffering and waste associated with addiction to alcohol or drugs. A statement on one of the entries rang true: “Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but everyone can start today and make a new ending.”

Judge Patricia Piper Golden, presiding judge at Kane County drug court, shared that the event provided recovering addicts with the opportunity to share their creativity. Judge Golden shared: “What we try to do in drug court is to replace using behavior with positive behavior, and to do that, they go through treatment… An important part is to get to know each other without using.”

One of the drug court poems was from Eric D., who wrote: “Recovery, for me, has truly changed my life… Each day is brighter than the next … . Now I work an honest job, pay taxes and bills … . It’s nice to live a ‘normal’ life. This was all impossible while still using.”

Ed W., on the other hand, shared: “I would do whatever I needed/To get a fix/And I must admit it’s not worth/All of this… Not any more/That life is not for me/I have found life is so much/Easier drug free.”

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Overcoming an Addiction: Difficult but Necessary Struggle

Posted by Drug Free in Drug Abuse Treatment, Drug Rehabilitation on May 30th, 2011

An addiction can be like an illness or a disease that needs treatment. Treatment for drug addictions may be far more complicated than treating ordinary illnesses, and it often include long periods of time before an addict truly overcomes his addictions. There are certain steps that affected individuals can take to help them in their battle.

drug abuse treatmentThe first and most important thing that an addict must do is to admit he has problems and will himself to seek treatment. This may not be easy as the brain is immensely affected when under drugs or alcohol influence, making it difficult for those under the addiction to decide to go to treatment. The thought of having to take medications and undergo counseling would not be very appealing to them.

When a person finally decides to go ahead with treatment, it is crucial to find the best treatment facility that will cater to one’s specific needs. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration can provide a list of recognized institutions in every area.

Remember that recovery isn’t an overnight thing. In many cases, the longer the treatment term is, the greater chances for full recovery. Having a history of drugs and alcohol addiction is one of the biggest factors why some can have “relapses.” This is why professionals dealing with addictions say that once you become a victim, treatment can be for a lifetime.

Finally, it’s good to find some other activity that will take an addict’s mind off drugs and alcohol. Avoiding places and scenarios that can make one vulnerable to drugs or alcohol is an effective way to get someone away from temptation. Some behavioral therapy can teach patients on how to cope with the stress and triggers of their past addictions.

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Factors That Complicate Drug Addiction Recovery

Posted by DrugFreeHomes in Drug Abuse Prevention, Drug Abuse Treatment, Drug Addiction, Drug Facts, Drug Rehabilitation, Drug Testing, Prescription Drug Abuse, Steroid Abuse on December 10th, 2009

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Recovering from drug addiction is never an easy task. The process of preventing relapse becomes even more difficult due to the presence of certain factors which complicate the recovery process. Awareness regarding the presence of such factors will help the service providers to understand the difficulties and adopt measures to avoid the associated problems.

Chemical dependency is often accompanied by certain psychiatric disturbances the most common ones being major depression, paranoid disorders, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia and psychopathic personality disorders. This co-occurrence of drug abuse with psychiatric problems is referred to as dual disorder and the situation demands an integrated treatment approach. Both the problems should be treated simultaneously failing which the untreated disorder will increase the chances of relapsing to the other disorder. Apart from continued counseling and group therapy, such clients should be given medicines as prescribed by the psychiatrist.

Certain problems are more common within dual diagnosed clients compared to those with single disorder. Such people may suffer due to psycho-social chaos which may be caused by certain inter-related factors such as loss of job, legal problems, family conflict, homelessness, indebtedness, and others. It is beneficial to prioritize the treatment goals in such situations. Involving the family members and strengthening the support and networking with other agencies to mobilize resources are extremely essential.

Many substances like Methamphetamines, when abused overtime, may lead to brain damage which in many cases could be irreversible. This damage may limit the addict’s ability to understand issues, comprehend, remember and apply them in his journey of recovery. The counselor should be extremely patient in dealing such cases. The messages should be given in clear and simple language using concrete examples.

Traumatic past experiences of the recovering addict also complicate his recovery. Specialized help may be sought to deal with Post Traumatic Stress Disorders.

Lack of family support also cause complications and delay the recovery process.

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Why People are Unwilling to Undergo Drug Addiction Treatment

Posted by Drug Free in Drug Abuse Treatment, Drug Rehabilitation on November 13th, 2009

While treatment for drug addiction is readily available in most areas today, there are still those who refuse to undergo treatment. It then becomes critical to understand the reasons why they refuse to be treated, since as of 2007, only 16.8 percent of those needing treatment actually went through with it. So once again a question comes to mind — why are they unwilling to do it?

drug addictionOne of the greatest reasons of refusal is the perceived stigma that would-be patients receive, especially if the drug use was done secretly. In this case, admitting the problem and agreeing to being treated can potentially further damage the individual’s personal relationships, and alienation and isolation can happen. In lieu of being treated by professionals, some try to kick the habit on their own, with minimal chances of success, while some give up and resign themselves to their fate thinking that they can’t beat it anyway.

The second reason is perhaps a more surprising one — some of them don’t know that treatment of this kind is available. Individual awareness is an important thing to also consider in this case. The best time to recommend treatment is before the patient develops serious drug problems, and appropriate referrals must be made in order to curb it. More often than not, however, these potential patients are left uninformed and go on with their addiction.

These two reasons are quite common when you think about it, which makes it all the more important to reduce the stigma associated with drug addiction treatment, and inform patients about the existence of rehabilitation sessions and treatments. While drug addiction is hard to beat, it’s best to consider every possible option. The understanding of their refusal to undergo treatment is a huge step, and hopefully this can be the beginning of successful and fruitful recoveries.

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Crisis Intervention – An Important Aspect of Drug Recovery

Posted by DrugFreeHomes in Drug Abuse Treatment, Drug Addiction, Drug Facts, Drug Rehabilitation, Drug Testing, Prescription Drug Abuse on October 24th, 2009

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The risk of relapse remains for most drug abusers throughout their life. Several factors might trigger relapse, crisis being one of them. Crisis is a painful event or situation that can disturb the normal functioning and emotional state of the individual. A crisis in an abstinent person’s life can push him back into the nasty cycle of drug addiction. But, every problem is not a crisis. The individual, in his course of recovery, learns to solve several problems on his own. But there are situations that cannot be solved with just his usual problem solving resources. It is during such situations that a professional help is required to deal with the situation and help the person continue with his recovery.

For a recovering drug user crisis may emerge from any of the following situations –

Family situations like lack of family support, separation, physical illness in the family, death of a close family member can give rise to crises for the abstinent user.

Interpersonal problems arising from difficulties in relationships within and outside the family can lead to crises. Positive emotions like a promotion, marriage, birth of a child could also act as crisis situations.

Personal and social situations involving problems resulting from the person’s previous drug use like legal action for some criminal action done before, ostracism from the community due to previous behavior are also potential causes of crisis.

Economic situations like losing a job, failure to repay debt, failure to find a job could also spark off a crisis.

Following a crisis, the person feels anxious, hurt, upset or angry. He might try to deal with the problem on his own or with the family members. But if he fails then the emotional problems might worsen and he might run the risk of relapse. This possibility usually lasts for 4 to 6 weeks and it is a critical period when he needs help to stay on his path of recovery.

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