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Not All Serious Addictions End In Heartbreak – Just Look At John

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010

The first time I spoke with John he was leaving treatment. He said his life was much better on heroin, and he had no interest going to meetings or working with a sponsor. John was adamant about not seeing a therapist because it never worked in the past, and his main goal was to finish his time in the sober house he felt forced to live in and get a job to move in with his girlfriend, who was supposedly sober at the time.

While he stayed in a sober house his family had enrolled him in the Recovery Assistance Program (RAP), hoping he might come around with a little push and the creation of some boundaries. Though this was the hope, it took a while for reality to catch up.

I was his caseworker, responsible for helping him in his recovery, providing support and acting as liaison for his concerned family. Every check-in for a few months John wanted nothing to do with recovery, and two months after leaving treatment he was kicked out of his sober house for denying a drug test – he admitted he would test positive for heroin and marijuana.

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A week later John went to jail for shooting up heroin in a bus stop. He was released and had to spend the night in a shelter. Afterward he went to stay with a friend. I worked with his family, urging them to stick to the recovery plan, not pick him up and let him experience the streets he will call home if he continues his drug use – “raising the bottom” so to speak, while being there for and leading the family we created accountability and allowed him to experience the real world he chose by refusing help

A couple weeks later John overdosed on heroin twice and ended up in the hospital. The family and I worked with the court system to make sure they made him go to treatment. The day he appeared in court for shooting up heroin in the bus stop was the day his life began to turn around.

He was ordered by the judge to retry treatment. John went to an in-patient rehabilitation center for 90 days and came out a completely different person, committed to recovery and finding himself as the caring, bright guy he had once been and discovered he could be again.

John has been sober for over a year now. He has a sponsor and sponsors four other recovering young men. He attends meetings every day and remains very involved in the sober community, even bringing meetings to treatment centers. He took care of all his court appearances, probation and consequential volunteer work from previous arrests. John’s life has turned around; he now has a full time job and still shows up for aftercare at the treatment center a year later.

Tags: addiction recovery, drug abuse, drug addiction, drug overdose, heroin addiction, heroine addiction, recovery support
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New Breakthrough in Addiction Treatment Focuses on Disease's Effect on Brain

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010

Who would have guessed some of the newest options for treating the brain in one’s addiction would be medications already in use for things like narcolepsy or antidepressants? An article published by the Associated Press explains how drugs already in use might affect the brain’s addiction to certain substances, from cocaine to methamphetamines.

Through the use of drugs already in use for things like depression, alcoholism (did you know there’s already a shot out there that eases the difficulty in overcoming this addiction?) can block the effects of other drugs on the brain, effectively cutting out the need to use. Although these are trial tests to see if it really works, this step forward offers hope for millions struggling with addictions, the families caught in the crossfire and the economy stuck helping those whose use takes a toll on their health.

The article made an interesting analogy for the new discovery and addiction, saying “Think of it as if the brain were an orchestra, its circuits the violins and the piano and the brass section, all smoothly starting and stopping their parts on cue.”

The director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse Dr. Nora Volkow went on to explain: “That orchestration is disrupted in psychiatric illness,”. “There’s not a psychiatric disease that owns one particular circuit.” This is one of the most promising breakthroughs in the search for what has been thought of as a mythical goal: a cure for addiction.

This being said, most will have to wait for these drugs to be prescribed in addiction treatment. Until this clinical trial becomes active in the public, the best we can do is to work the steps, use the help available and seek aftercare to help in the motivation and direction of managing recovery on one’s own.

Tags: addiction, addiction recovery, addiction treatment, cocaine addiction, methamphetamine
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Gaming Addiction “Like Cocaine” According to New Article

Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010

Due to the overwhelming amount of studies recently released alerting society of gaming addictions and most view it as an epidemic sweeping young people. Today gaming addictions include not only the young, but also their parents and grandparents. With influences like the high rate of unemployment, the high stress situations people find themselves in every day and the boredom that comes with retirement, games offer an escape and provide an outlet for pent-up energy, aggression and disillusionment.

What’s more, the amount of gaming isn’t necessarily the problem; instead, the cultivation of need in regard to gaming creates an addiction, one Steve Pope, a Lancashire, UK therapist calls “equivalent to taking a line of cocaine in the high it produces” in an article on MCV gaming magazine’s website.

Obviously, kids are particularly at risk, as Pope explains, “It is the fastest growing addiction in the country and this is affecting young people mentally, as well as leading to physical problems such as obesity. It gives parents peace and quiet, but it becomes a concern when it is all the child wants to do.”

Preventative measures need to be utilized in combating this completely preventable addiction. Even if parents are unable or unwilling to stave the onset of gaming addiction, schools might be able to lend a hand, utilizing addiction consulting provided by outside companies specializing in addiction prevention, treatment and aftercare. To combat a national epidemic everyone must band together with preventative education and the connections available to help those already falling into the trap gaming creates.

Tags: addiction consulting, addiction education, addiction prevention, adolescent addiction, child addiction, cocaine, gaming addiction, school addiction consulting, video game addiction
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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

C. elegans worms exhibit alcohol withdrawal like humans

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.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers Returns To Rehab, But How Can He Make Recovery Count?

Saturday, May 22nd, 2010

Rhys Meyers seeking treatment again.

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

Students fall prey to technological addictions without recourse to recovery

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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AiR and PCH Welcome Friends at Luncheon Before AIS Conference

Monday, May 10th, 2010

Mixing and Mingling on Cinco de Mayo

AiR and PCH welcomed 150 guests at the Rose Cafe in Venice Beach, California in the name of support and recovery in the battle against behavioral health disorders.

Held on Cinco de Mayo, this jointly sponsored three-hour event marked not only the annual AIS Conference, a three day event with leaders in the addiction industry, but also the grand opening of AiR’s new Southern California office, located in Santa Barbara.

“It was a great turnout,” AiR CEO Andrew Wainwright said, “It was wonderful to see friends old and new and share in the joint hope for the future of this industry.”

AiR team members Andrew Wainwright, COO Jim Geckler, clinician Dr. Tom Savage, case manager Justin Deihl and Kate Livingood, Chief Clinician at the new Southern California office all attended.

While the event included food and mingling, speakers from AiR, Andrew Wainwright and Kate Livingood, as well as PCH’s Jeff Bull, marked the occasion, with Kurt Garbe acting as MC for the event.

Check out our pictures of the event and the rest of the AiR team’s California trip on our Facebook page!

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