When families are dealing with a loved one who is locked into addiction they naturally want to know how long the insanity is going to last before the person decides to get help. The truth is, some alcoholics and addicts never do seek help, but for those who do, years can go by before they […]
Thougts, Urges or Desires
Most people experience strong desires, urges or thoughts about drinking alcohol when they start to cut down or quit. It helps to recognize that these urges, desires and thoughts are natural. We all have different ways to cope with desires, urges or thoughts about drinking. The following are some of the most common ways used by […]
Alcohol Consumption in Women
Beata Klimek is remarkable: a woman willing to tell her story with unflinching candour, name included. A mother of two, comfortable sharing the details of her serious alcohol abuse, her recovery, and her life in the aftermath. Read her story in the first of an important series on why women are driving a growth in […]
Signs and Symptoms of Addiction
Some people are able to use recreational or prescription drugs without ever experiencing negative consequences or addiction. For many others, substance use can cause problems at work, home, school, and in relationships, leaving you feeling isolated, helpless, or ashamed. If you’re worried about your own or a friend or family member’s drug use, it’s important […]
Quitting Drinking for Good
Overcoming an addiction to alcohol can be a long and bumpy road. At times, it may even feel impossible. But it’s not. If you’re ready to stop drinking and willing to get the support you need, you can recover from alcoholism and alcohol abuse—no matter how bad the addiction or how powerless you feel. Recovery […]
How to Help?
Worried about someone? If you decide to approach the person you’re concerned about, there are a few things you may want to consider before you do: Keep informed Find out as much as you can about the drug being used and its effects; There are desired and undesired effects of drugs, and understanding both will help you facilitate a […]
Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment
Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment More than three decades of scientific research show that treatment can help drug-addicted individuals stop drug use, avoid relapse and successfully recover their lives. Based on this research, 13 fundamental principles that characterize effective drug abuse treatment have been developed. These principles are detailed in National Institute on Drug Abuse; […]
Levels of Care and Treatment Options
TREATMENT SETTINGS & OPTIONS Brief Intervention Screening & Assessment DetoxificationOutpatient Treatment Day/Evening Treatment Residential Treatment 12 step facilitation Minnesota model therapeutic community Continuing Care Sober Living i.e. Oxford houses Self-help Groups TREATMENT STAGESDevelopmental Models of Recovery (Recovery is a complex process that emerges in stages over time. Each developmental stage of recovery […]
Emotions that Keep us Stuck
Many times people have questions about Enabling. It is important to understand that enabling doesn’t actually come from the person who is doing the enabling. In actuality it is a learned behavior that is being taught or trained by a substance abuser using specific emotions to manipulate. It is not necessarily specific behaviors, but emotions that […]
Alcohol’s Damaging Effects on the Brain
Understanding Alcohols Damaging Effects on the Brain While alcohol has a wide range of pharmacological effects on the body, the brain is a primary target. However, the molecular mechanisms by which alcohol alters neuronal activity in the brain are poorly understood. Participants in a symposium at the June 2010 annual meeting of the Research Society on […]
Addiction
Short Definition: Addiction is a primary, chronic disease of brain reward, motivation, memory and related circuitry. Dysfunction in these circuits leads to characteristic biological, psychological, social and spiritual manifestations. This is reflected in an individual pathologically pursuing reward and/or relief by substance use and other behaviors.Addiction is characterized by inability to consistently abstain, impairment in […]
Bad Communication
Communication Skills When dealing with addiction it is hard not to focus on the other person’s behavior. We view their behavior as a problem view them as a source of the problem, and as a result communicate with them in ways that are unproductive and unhealthy. Lets discuss some of the characteristics of BAD communication […]
Motivation to Change
What About Motivation? You cannot motivate anyone else. Attempting to do so only annoys them, frustrates you, and wastes your time. There is no one on this planet who has not, at some point in their life, wanted someone else to do something—or even many things. You and I want the other person to do […]
Exercise and Mental Health
Why bother with exercise? To work properly, your body needs regular exercise - and most of us feel good when we are active. Until the last 100 years or so, you had to be quite active to just live your everyday life. Now, in modern Western societies, so much of what we used to do […]
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)? It is a way of talking about: how you think about yourself, the world and other people how what you do affects your thoughts and feelings. CBT can help you to change how you think (‘Cognitive’) and what you do (‘Behaviour’). These changes can help you to feel better. […]
Your Interactions With a Drinker
Suggestions for Your Interactions With a Drinker: Be patient, change is a process Ask questions, and try to avoid statements Highlight inconsistencies in the statements made; share them as your observations, not an attack on a person “Roll with resistance”, expect the person will resist change and protect the ‘status quo’ [ad#Adsense 160×600 Skyscraper Orange] […]
Vaccines to Treat Addictions ?
Researchers from The Scripps Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medical College, and Cornell University have produced a long-lasting anti-cocaine immunity in mice by giving them a unique vaccine that combines bits of the common cold virus with a particle that mimics cocaine. In their study, published January 4, 2011, in the advanced online edition of Molecular […]
Addiction: Nobody Changes a Habit in Just 30 Days
Addiction Affects Millions of Americans Many people suffer from severe addictions that can ruin lives and are extremely difficult to control. Nearly 2 million enter roughly 12,000 addiction treatment programs each year (…). Adi Jaffe is completing his Ph.D. in psychology at UCLA, where he specializes in addiction issues. A former drug addict who spent […]