Author Archive

Susan G.

Monday, November 28th, 2011

Mother of Drug Intervention Participant

“Everything was centered around trying to save the addict. I kept saying, what else do you have on your calendar except doom and destruction and prison. Families don’t know what they’re doing. Having a professionally designed intervention is a completely different experience. It gave me this loving courage that I hadn’t be able to find to say ‘We’re standing up against your disease‘” (more…)

Tags: drug addiction intervention
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New Drug Initiative Unveiled Featuring Emphasis on Prevention and Treatment

Wednesday, May 26th, 2010

The newest initiative in tackling the US’s drug problem offers a more educated perspective on the issue which has been at the forefront of American politics since the 1960s, even becoming a motto-worthy cause in the 1980s and has still never really fought with success.

Hoping to take a step back from what Harold Pollack’s article from the NPR website says are “operations against drug suppliers which have little demonstrated value,” this new approach will consider the more underfunded yet key areas of prevention and treatment, rather than focusing all efforts on dealers, border control and crop eradication.  A step in the right direction, to lessen the demand and therefore lessening the supply.

The new health care bill has begun to address the serious issue of drug addiction by increasing and improving diagnosis of addiction, and in 2014 will help the at-risk communities find the help they need both with the addictions they already may have and the long-term health effects that come with addictions to drugs and alcohol.

Things like psychiatric care and access to treatment for not only addictions, but mental health issues will also help these communities better deal with the problems already afflicting them. Hopefully access to continuing care programs like AiR’s RAP will also be included in Medicaid coverage, helping those who receive assistance in their recoveries stay clean, sober and healthy for a lifetime, rather than just trying, failing and resuming the destructive behavior without hope.

Unfortunately, as the article points out, if the prevention and direct improvements to treatment are still underfunded the initiative will be crippled before it even really begins, a better outlook may lead the way, but without the punch in funding and vocal support from those in power like VP Biden, the approach might fail just like all the other past attempts.

Tags: drug abuse, drug addiction, drug treatment expansion
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Interventions Initiate Recovery; It Takes Diligence To Complete It

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

Sometimes interventions don’t go the way we initially envision. What with all the visual aids on TV regarding how they’re done, how they look and the reactions they incite, our minds are generally inhabited by a vision of the event before it happens. So, naturally, when the time, place and reactions are a bit different than expected, we feel it’s ‘gone wrong’ and didn’t work.

The most important thing to remember about interventions is to not expect immediacy. Chances are the intervention will not suddenly make the intervened see the light, become sober and turn back into the person you once knew and loved.  Interventions are done to establish boundaries rather than incite immediate actions. The person will likely have to acclimate to the new rules and ways by which he or she has chosen to live without treatment, continuing in the self-destruction completely on one’s own.

Most times this proves impossible and he or she accepts help, beginning the real process. A prime example of this kind of outcome for an intervention had a family come together hoping to finally help Susie – a daughter, sister and friend – recover from her now crippling addiction to crack cocaine.

As the family assembled the interventionist reiterated how the event would go – the family members had each prepared something to say explaining how they care for her, how the drug addiction was affecting both her and the family around her and the means by which they would free themselves of helping her sustain this disease. After the ground plans were understood everyone headed over to Susie’s apartment.

Refusing to come out from behind her chained door the family managed to coax her out onto her balcony – an intervention under circumstances unforeseen. After relaying their good memories of the girl lost behind the crack-induced facade, how her addiction had consumed their lives with fear, concern, sadness and debt, and telling her calmly they would no longer support her in any way other than assisting her in receipt of recovery, Susie walked back inside her apartment, leaving a stunned and hopeless family behind.

While it may have seemed to the family a completely wasted attempt, failed and fruitless, this intervention was a complete success. Results are rarely immediately observed, and by putting forth their new plan to regain their own lives they’d already won half the battle.

Addiction truly is a family disease, by helping those affected receive the counseling they need and regain their own life directions half the disease can be conquered. Additionally, without assistance from others rarely addicts manage to survive on their own and do eventually ask for the help offered, if only for a comfortable place to sleep, good food and a warm home.

In this case, Susie did call her family a week later, apologetic for her reaction at the intervention and requesting the help and support offered. Susie’s now been in recovery for nearly five years, went back to school and found the strength in both herself and her family to lead a healthy lifestyle.

The full, detailed story is laid out in more elaborate and eloquent terms in the AiR book It’s Not Okay to be a Cannibal: How to Keep Addiction from Eating Your Family Alive, written by AiR founder Andrew Wainwright and friend, Hazelden’s Robert Poznanovich.

Tags: drug abuse, drug addiction, drug intervention, drug treatment, drugs
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Unlikely Creatures Provide Insight Into Alcoholism Treatment

Monday, May 24th, 2010

Who knew the brain of worms was similar to those of humans – similar enough to scientifically test the effects of alcohol on the human brain?

In a new study researchers initially pondered the “cure” for a hangover, but discovered more about how the brain adapts to different levels of intoxication while watching worms go through alcohol withdrawal.

The study unearthed a brain molecule that actually leads to hangovers and researchers believe it causes withdrawal symptoms from alcohol as the brain readjusts from intoxication.

The lead researcher on the study, Lindy Holden-Dye from University of Southampton’s School of Biological Sciences, explains the significance of this research lies in that the words show the “effects of the withdrawal of alcohol and enables us to define how alcohol affects signaling in nerve circuits which leads to changes in behavior,” prompting investigation into how to best tackle withdrawal.

The reporting article from Yahoo! News explains, “This study identifies where and also how alcohol consumption affect the nervous system and the brain in a way that hasn’t been revealed until now,” going on to quote professor Holden-Dye as saying “This is leading to new ideas for the treatment of alcoholism. Our study provides a very effective experimental system to tackle this problem.”

This study could help make initial treatment for alcoholism more effective, making those critical first days and weeks more easily managed by both the individual and those caring for him or her. Also of importance, the observation of the brain’s adaptation to alcohol levels gives even more credo to the much needed mass understanding that addiction is a brain disease rather than a matter of personal strength – a misunderstanding still hindering the recovery of millions of people.

Let’s hope more studies like this come out and become embraced by the public to help recovery experts better understand how to effectively treat withdrawal symptoms of an addict.

Read more about the study here!

Tags: alcohol withdrawal, alcohol-related consequences, alcoholism
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Jonathan Rhys Meyers Returns To Rehab, But How Can He Make Recovery Count?

Saturday, May 22nd, 2010

After an initial recovery attempt at a London treatment facility for alcoholism in 2007, The Tudors star Jonathan Rhys Meyers returns to treatment in hopes this time recovery will continue, leading to a healthier, sober lifestyle.

People.com reports Rhys Meyers’ drunken behavior landed him in both Irish and French prison in 2007 and 2009 for his drunken conduct toward airport staff – uttering racist slurs and making a spectacle, but after his stint in rehab it seems the tools provided there couldn’t quite stick.

For an actor who clearly wants to get better, as evidenced by a low profile and his second sincere attempt, how can recovery this time really count? How to make sobriety last when temptation is everywhere?

His celebrity status makes it all the more difficult to stick to his recovery plan, but with adequate support and confidence, he can come out of this experience a more composed individual, sober and excited to see where the new lifestyle takes him. Continuing care is the best way to go in this respect, it offers a point of contact for weekly updates and coaching, catches slip-ups in the recovery process, and if he does succumb to the pressures his position places him in, the program can get him back on track for lasting sobriety.

Usually those trying to recover need a complete change of scenery and crowd of people, but given the nature of his image, it might be impossible to do so; this makes an adequate aftercare program especially important. He’ll need all the extra support from trained professions he can get if he really wants to overcome this disease.

Tags: alcohol, alcohol addiction treatment, alcoholism, celebrity addiction, celebrity drug addiction
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Drugs and Alcohol are Not the Only Addictions Looming Over US College Students' Heads

Friday, May 21st, 2010

In the States Internet addiction is being investigated among college students. The “24 Hours: Unplugged” experiment among many US college students reveals withdrawal symptoms among participants who have removed themselves from the grasps of technology. Cut off from the Internet, social media, cell phones and devices like iPods and TVs. Students experienced agitation, aggression, slight depression and a sudden overabundance of time.

Having participated in this study myself while in college, I was surprised to find just how dependent on technology I really am. It’s become more than a helpful tool, transforming into the center of daily life and acting as an itch at the back of the mind whenever I tried to do something else, something productive. From our test group of 150 students, it also becomes apparent that college kids suffer from a loss of maintained concentration and may retain less information while attempting to focus on things like studying than previous generations.

With online social networking becoming a necessity of daily life, and with young people beginning to actually rely on checking things like Facebook and Twitter every five minutes, it seems like we’re fostering a youth culture devoted to their online lives rather than their unplugged ones. When forced to actually go see someone to ask a question, it seems like an insurmountable burden. We’re slowly losing the ability to communicate face to face, and in one of the more frightening unveilings of this study, researchers found that young people are less able to “read” people than older adults, leading to undue misunderstanding and unjust emotional responses.

This dependence has changed into a full-blown cultural addiction, one with little recourse to cure or compromise. Internet addiction has already become recognized as a legitimate condition, but what kind of treatment can we offer? In a society relying upon technology for every facet of life, there’s no abstinence treatment, as there is for alcoholism or drug abuse, so what’s left?

While definitive answers may be out of reach, the options do present themselves to offer students the support needed to cope and maintain a healthy level of wireless consciousness. Preventative measures, like those used in drug and alcohol prevention among youths could be the best options. By preparing those at risk we may be able to cut down the overwhelming dependency to get back to an interpersonal/in-person communication society.

Tags: college addiction, gaming addiction, internet addiction, teen addiction
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Signs and Symptoms of Drug Abuse and Addiction

Tuesday, May 11th, 2010

How do you know when your loved-one has surpassed the point of casual drug use and ventured into the dark territory of abuse and addiction?

Determining whether someone you care about has become addicted to drugs is difficult for many, not simply because the signs aren’t obvious, but because many times it’s difficult to admit someone so close can have gone so far.

Because of its difficulty, many times those standing by continue to not only allow the addiction and abuse to continue, but in their attempts to either help the situation themselves or pretend it doesn’t exist, they “enable” the user – inadvertently help them continue this lifestyle. Enabling endangers everyone affected, and drains the love and happiness from families.

Those addicted to or abusing drugs may exhibit different physical signs, as different drugs have different effects, but the symptoms of addiction remain generally the same, regardless of the substance.

When diagnosing issues of addiction, we look at whether someone is abusing substances or has moved into dependence.  Some of the symptoms of abuse are:

• Regularly neglecting your responsibilities at school, work, or home (e.g. flunking classes, being chronically late for work, neglecting your children) because of use.
• Taking risks while using, such as driving while on drugs, using dirty needles, or having unprotected sex.
• The use is causing legal trouble, such as arrests for driving under the influence, drunk and disorderly conduct or stealing or dealing to support a drug habit.
• The use in general is causing problems in relationships, partner or employer.

Common signs and symptoms of drug or alcohol dependence include:

• Tolerance. This is the need to use or drink more to get any effect.
• Withdrawal symptoms.  Experiences symptoms such as nausea, restlessness, insomnia, depression, sweating, shaking, and anxiety from a lack of use.  People with this problem often times can’t go 3-4 days without using something to feel better.
• Loss of Control. When someone can no longer make choices about how, when or how much they use, even though they told themselves they wouldn’t.
• The addict spends a lot of time using and thinking about drugs or alcohol, figuring out how and when they can get their substance, and recovering from it’s effects.
• When someone is abusing substances, we are concerned that they are neglecting their roles and responsibilities.  In dependence, people are more likely to abandon activities they used to enjoy, such as hobbies, sports, and socializing.
• Continued use despite knowing it’s causing major problems in one’s life—blackouts, infections, mood swings, depression, paranoia—but they continue to use anyway.

The more drugs and alcohol begin to affect your decisions and judgment the more they control your life.  While people may go through a stage where they are abusing and can walk away, once addiction takes control it can be hard to break away without some form of help. Unfortunately, when you’re in the middle of it, the denial that you or your loved one may be experiencing can cloud one’s ability to look at the problem subjectively.  That is why many people are “forced” into treatment by family, employers or the legal system.

The earlier someone recognizes the symptoms of addiction, the more likely they are to avoid some of the major consequences that often go hand in hand with addiction.

Post written by Jim Stoltz, Clinical Director for Assistance in Recovery and Licensed Independent Clinical Social worker who has spent almost 20 years working with addicts and alcoholics to achieve long-term recovery.

Tags: addiction recovery, assistance in recovery, drug abuse, drug addiction, prescription drug abuse, prescription drug overdose, recovery assistance, Recovery Assistance Program
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Shopping Addict Duff Comes Clean

Friday, April 23rd, 2010

It may be no biggie when the rich and famous call themselves “shopping addicts,” as Hilary Duff “jokingly” claims in this month’s issue of the shopping magazine Lucky (reported by MTV),

but what happens when the silliness of Duff’s apparently controlled addiction turns into something much more detrimental, something like Michael Jackson’s? He never learned to address his shopping habits (and apparent addiction), leaving him indefinitely in debt and struggling. Or worse, what happens when you’re not a celebrity at all, and that itching to spend a little burns more than just a mere hole in your pocket?

Addictions aren’t just for substances. Since it is a brain disease, someone prone to addiction can latch onto plenty of different venues of compulsion. As such, problems like compulsive shopping can be overlooked, seen as any number of less problematic things than what it truly is.

We don’t hear a whole lot about shopping addiction. The media primarily focuses on the biggies of drugs and alcohol, occasionally venturing deeper into things like gambling or sex addiction according to whichever celeb has openly become afflicted. I recall a couple years back to one of MTV’s “True Life” specials (click here to watch) that did highlight the problems of shopping addiction (very well, I might add) and I think programs like that could really do a lot to open up this problem to a wider audience. Shows like this help people unknowingly slipping down that path receive help, initiate intervention and begin regaining control over both finances and life.

Tags: addiction, addiction intervention, brain disease, hilary duff, shopping addiction
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April Marks Alcohol Awareness Month

Wednesday, April 21st, 2010

Thought we’d let this one slip by? Not a chance. With all the allocated months out there for racial and cultural understanding, eco-samaritans and diseases without cures, it’s easy to miss April’s significance in the fight against alcohol addiction.

Though this month’s marker hasn’t been particularly publicized, it’s a step forward in not only awareness, but in prevention. We’re all for getting people to look around, look at themselves and look at potentially hazardous habits that can spiral into something much more, and recognize Alcoholism as a disease.

In the United States, an estimated 15.1 million people suffer with Alcoholism; of these, an estimated 4.6 are women. Annually, an average of 100,000 people die from alcohol-related fatalities, be they from deteriorated health or alcohol-induced action or vulnerabilities. Lastly, but of special importance, the US annually spends $185 billion dollars on alcoholism-related problems.

This disease is 100 percent curable, but the general populace hasn’t yet realized what it takes to make it happen. Alcoholism itself is not something to be ashamed of; continuing to needlessly suffer without treatment is.

April should seek to promote better treatment, and, like we have done through AIDS Awareness, Alcohol Awareness should seek to end the stigma attached to this disease and accentuate the need for better treatment and continuing care.

If you think your loved one may be an alcoholic, aid him or her in receiving help through intervention. During this process you and the rest of those who care will understand the disease, how to overcome its effects on your lives and how to help your loved one heal and grow. This process continues into the individual’s treatment, which we can help you select, and even after he or she completes the program.

If you yourself have a problem with alcohol and are unsure of where to turn, our trained clinicians can listen to your story, point you in the right direction, lead you to the correct treatment facility, work with you, your family and your budget and keep you on the right path with continuing care for a brighter, healthier future.

Whichever case you fall into, it’s never too early to seek help or advice regarding alcohol or any kind of substance abuse. The sooner you identify the problem, the sooner you can implement the solution and regain control over your life, your family and your health.

Tags: addiction intervention, addiction intervention resources, alcohol awareness month, alcohol-related consequences, alcoholism, alcoholism and holidays, intervention, women alcoholics
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Corey Haim Issued Hundreds of Pills Days Before His Death

Thursday, April 8th, 2010

I don’t imagine there are a whole lot of shocked gasps out there from people hearing Corey Haim’s death has been officially attributed to prescription drug abuse, but the situation should be causing outrage and action as a response to its newest addition to high-profile addicts losing the battle to stay afloat.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the California attorney general announced Tuesday that Haim had managed to get prescription drugs from seven different doctors and multiple pharmacies. The number of pills stashed, an incredible 553 doses of Xanax, Valium, Soma and Vicodin.

As we’ve been commenting, the problem isn’t just for celebrities, but the publicity for this high profile death should be urging some real action in California, where attorney general Jerry Brown seems to be taking exception to the problem, saying though Haim “is the poster child for the problem, there are a lot of doctor-shoppers and most of them aren’t celebrities.”

Clearly this case isn’t one of accidental addiction; Haim’s drug problems have ranged the spectrum of mood altering and body destructive, so the idea that he, a well-known drug abuser, could so easily be issued so many drugs raises more than a few red flags for the industry.

The state has been cracking down on illegal prescription drug rings in California for months now, and the incident caused the attorney general to urge CA doctors to “check with” the California prescription drug-monitoring database so as to avoid “getting duped” by other would-be abusers, as Haim’s doctors claimed to have done.

But where’s the accountability here? “Checking with” a database doesn’t do a whole lot for those doctors who don’t take much ownership of the problems associated with these prescriptions in the first place.

While other states are pushing ahead in mandatory reporting for painkiller prescriptions, it appears California is lagging behind on the legislation needed to truly tackle its growing drug abuse problem at the source. I understand the state’s funding problems may outweigh its other priorities, but the message they send to those looking for drugs without strings, both from within and without the state, is one of neglect and consequent free indulgence.

Tags: celebrity addiction, celebrity drug addiction, Corey Haim, prescription drug abuse, prescription pill addiction
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