Category: International

Speaking Up and Taking a Stand

Speaking Up and Taking a Stand

Articles, Australia, Education, International, LGBTQ, Malaysia, Treatment, Understanding Addiction, United Kingdom, United States

There are times in life when we must all speak up for what is needed or desired. Some things may be for the betterment of others, but it is more likely that we need our own desires met. How you speak up in these times can determine how seriously people take you, especially when emotions are running high. This means you need to learn to speak up and share your point without emotion. This can be a challenge as taking a stand can be a highly emotional experience. You may be standing up to someone for the first time, taking an unpopular stance, or simply standing up for something you would have allowed prior to this moment. People may think you are kidding or refuse to listen to your beliefs unless you approach things in the correct way.

This is important during recovery because adding stress to an already stressful situation can cause a relapse. So if you need to speak up and take a stand than try the following suggestions.

First, try to stay calm, yet forceful. This means you are not trying to force people to see your point of view, but to simply see what you are thinking and feeling. You need to be a revolutionary, not a warrior. If you start to try to force people to see your point of view then strong emotions will come out on both sides and an argument is likely to erupt.  Being a revolutionary means trying to show people your vision through valid reasoning and a clearly laid out plan.

Compose your statements well. Use ‘I’ statements. This means that you are speaking for yourself, your opinions, and your thoughts. A statement such as ‘I no longer want to party every weekend’ is more effective than partying is stupid. A better statement is ‘I do not want to party every weekend because I am trying to change my life, but we can have fun in healthier ways.’ This way you are giving the other person a way to still hang out while validating your own choices. You are also not attacking the other person’s choices, but also not allowing them in your life.

To further your thoughts and feelings you should summarize your backstory as a way to show reasoning. Perhaps you are an addict and your life has been falling apart due to drug use. Share a few specific examples to demonstrate you have thought through your position. This is a way to explain what led you to this specific moment. Additionally, paint a picture of the desired outcome for others to see. If you can paint a picture it may allow others to come to your way of thinking. With this you should also declare your expectations to show that you have thought this through. Share any concerns, pitfalls, and steps you plan to take along the way.

As with any plan you are likely to need to compromise in some way. Know what you are willing to compromise on before sharing your needs. In recovery this may mean not being around certain people or staying away from certain places, but remaining friends with people if they are not using around you.

Most of all, when speaking up for yourself, stay calm and stay on track. Do not get distracted by the people that want to argue, just ignore them. If you are prepared ahead of time, even if you need to practice what you are going to say, then you are more likely to earn a positive outcome overall. If not then you may need to move away from the situation permanently.

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Personal Conflict in Recovery

Personal Conflict in Recovery

Articles, Australia, Education, International, LGBTQ, Malaysia, Treatment, Understanding Addiction, United Kingdom, United States

Personal Conflict in Recovery – Personal conflict is a part of life, whether we want to face it or not. When in recovery the times personal conflict occurs can create a great deal of stress for the individual. There are two types of people that appear when something uncomfortable happens, those who fight the uncomfortable and those who face it. Both people believe what they are doing is right, but the reactions are very different. Those who fight it are always hating, hiding, and blaming. These individuals can make themselves miserable when changes occur. No matter the change you must deal with it and it is best to face it with a positive attitude. Those who face the uncomfortable learn to get comfortable with it. These individuals learn to handle any situation by trying to make the best of it. So how do you become the person that handles the uncomfortable more comfortable?

Learn to be patient, even when it is uncomfortable. Life is painfully uncomfortable, that is an unfortunate fact of life, but there are things you can do. The universal root of uncomfortable is the universal truth of rejection. Some people will like you, some will not. You must be willing to face the truth head on through all those people, places, and things no matter the feelings. When you feel out of control or uncomfortable turn to the people that are in your corner. There are always people in your corner whether you have to ask, volunteer, or pay someone like a counselor. Having these people and a place in which you really feel supported and loved is important to learning how to be comfortable with the uncomfortable.

When you do find yourself in an uncomfortable position, talk about the things that make you uncomfortable. Just start with one person and let it grow to others. This will help you stay more comfortable or get more comfortable with what is bothering you. This can also lead you to find others who may feel the same way or who have overcome such feelings. So now the question becomes who are your people? Where are your places? And are you patient enough to get there?

Whether you are the type of person who dreads the uncomfortable or the type that embraces it you can determine how you handle any given situation. You are in control of yourself and how you react to all that happens. Recovery offers you a chance to start life over. How do you want to start your new life, ready to take on the world or afraid of what may happen? The choice really is yours.

You have made the decision to enter into recovery or at the most you are trying to figure out if you want to enter that part of your life. Once you make the decision then you can also make the necessary changes as needed. What is the first thing you would choose to change if you could change anything about your future tomorrow? Whatever your answer, hold tight to it and get ready to make that change. Set your goals and move forward in your recovery as soon as you can.

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Changing Your Mindset as Part of Recovery

Changing Your Mindset as Part of Recovery

Articles, Australia, Education, International, LGBTQ, Malaysia, Understanding Addiction, United Kingdom, United States

Recovery is all about change. The one thing you truly need to remember is that how you think is how you behave. This means if you behave like you have an addiction it may come out and cause a relapse, but changing your life so that you do not hang around with the same people and change your routine means you can overcome and move out of your addiction. There is only one way to start on this journey, one step at a time. You must look forward to the future and this is done with some pretty simple steps. While the steps are simplistic they can be overwhelming to undertake with all the other changes in recovery.

First you must set goals. These goals should be both measurable and attainable. This means that though the goals should be short term they should be something you need to put work into to achieve. This not only helps you work toward a goal, but to feel the accomplishment when that goal is met will propel you forward to meet other goals. Remember that we have full control of the choices we make and even if we have setbacks we need to choose to keep working toward our set goals. In fact, the biggest obstacle we face in life is our own minds. This leads to the second step.

The next step is to take control of your mind. Even if you are struggling and are facing obstacles, you need to work on finding a positive mindset. Taking a positive viewpoint can change how you achieve. As the old saying goes how you believe is how you achieve. Achievements are for those who never quit. You have goals and if you do not you can create goals that are worth achieving. Those who can overcome their mind can achieve anything.

So you now have some decisions to make.  What are your goals and dreams? What can you dare to dream about? Which goals will you allow yourself to set? In relation to recovery you must believe you have the power to stay clean and sober. One way to do this is to have self-efficacy. To build self-efficacy find someone who has achieved what you hope to achieve and model their behavior. Self-efficacy is simply believing that you can do what you set out to do in life. This is through small achievable goals. Additionally, find those who encourage you. This can be a support group, family, or any other form of supportive group you can find and maintain. Share your goals with them and share your achievements and set backs. Having these people on your side will help keep you moving forward, even when a setback occurs. You are able to achieve if you want to do so.

So now you must simply make up your mind and get started. If you are in recovery than you have already made one step. If you are considering recovery than you are on the verge of changing your life. Will you make the leap that is needed? You are in control.

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Designer and Synthetic Drugs

Designer and Synthetic Drugs

Articles, Australia, Education, International, LGBTQ, Malaysia, Understanding Addiction, United Kingdom, United States

Designer and Synthetic Drugs. As if the long list of dangerous and illegal substances was not enough. There is now a whole host of synthetic chemicals which have flooded the Australia in recent years. Many of these substances have already established a foothold in the United States and Europe. Frequently lumped together under the name of “bath salts”. These synthetic and so-called designer drugs go by names like kronic, K2, spice and flakka, to name just a few.

These chemicals are synthetic compounds manufactured in China and Pakistan. They are designed to mimic the effects of more popular but illegal substances. Since the chemicals have not come under regulatory scrutiny, they are technically legal.

Collectively, the designer and synthetic drugs are meant to induce similar effects as cocaine, methamphetamine, and LSD. Since they are not tested or regulated in any way, their effects have turned out to be disastrous in many instances. There are numerous cases of young people committing suicide while under the influence of some of these drugs. The overall health effects are largely unknown. What is certain is that all of these synthetic drugs have proven to be dangerous to users and to the public.

The United Nations office of Drugs and Crime has taken notice of these synthetic drugs. The UNODC reported that there has been a “multitude of new psychoactive substances” that have emerged across the world in the last five years. They also stated that these drugs have spread rapidly as they find increasing markets worldwide. This same report stated that over 3000 new chemical substances has emerged to compete with illegal drugs which are difficult to obtain and are expensive. These synthetic designer drugs are also specifically engineered to circumvent existing drug laws and regulations.

Control of these substances is difficult. As one chemical becomes known and comes under regulatory scrutiny in any given nation, the manufacturers are able to alter a small part of the chemical makeup of these chemicals and render them undetectable again. This makes any kind of reasonable understanding of the chemicals impossible for the time being.

The nightmarish scenarios associated with these drugs are numerous. Cases of suicide and bizarre acts of violence have been attributed to the use of these drugs. The overall effect of most of the designer drugs is a combination of aggression, hyper-stimulation and hallucination and this is potentially deadly. Since these chemicals are not regulated, they are easy for young people to obtain. For this reason, younger people have been the victims of these drugs.

Education seems to be the most effective way of combatting the use of these chemicals. An untested and chemical is simply dangerous. No matter the how “legal” the drug may be, it is an unknown and unregulated mind-altering chemical and should be avoided.

The simple conclusion regarding designer and synthetic drugs is avoid them. There is no such thing as a safe drug. Even aspirin has side effects and to imagine that a chemical designed to induce intense stimulation and hallucinations is safe is just not reasonable.

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Cocaine Addiction

New Information on Cocaine Addiction

Articles, Australia, Celebrity Rehab, Education, International, LGBTQ, Malaysia, Understanding Addiction, United Kingdom, United States

It is widely known and understood that cocaine is dangerously addictive. Cocaine addiction can be fatal. Prolonged abuse of cocaine causes heart attacks, among other catastrophic consequences. The long term health problems associated with cocaine use are devastating. Once thought to be the “harmless” recreational drug, cocaine emerged after the 1980s as especially deadly and addictive. New research suggests that cocaine is even more addictive the people once thought.

Even now, there are those who believe they can use cocaine more or less recreational. That casual use of cocaine is not necessarily addiction to cocaine. A recent study at McGill University in Montreal, Canada has shown that signs of addiction to cocaine arise as early as the first use.

Researchers demonstrated even after using cocaine one time, subjects of the study responded to visual cues of cocaine use with the same responses as those who were fully addicted. When casual cocaine users were shown visual signs of cocaine, the presence of the drug for instance, their bodies released dopamine in the areas to the brain responsible for driving cravings.

Dopamines are the pleasure-inducing chemicals which drugs generally stimulate in our brains and nervous systems. For people who are addicted to certain types of drugs such as cocaine, the release of dopamine in the brain plays a massive part in the cycle of craving and increased drug use. Thus the cycle of addiction is a circuit of release and craving stimulated by dopamine. That casual users of cocaine exhibited this response is reason for concern.

It is generally accepted that cocaine users, those who have not become fully over-run by the cycle of addiction, are safe with respect to sign of addiction. That a cocaine user can stop using the drug until they have consciously decided to use again generally indicates that this person is not addicted. This study by McGill University forces us to question this assumption.

 At this stage, this study does not suggest that casual users of cocaine are necessarily dependent on the drug. What the study does show is that the patterns of addiction are in place long before people begin to show more obvious signs of addiction. The real benefit to this study is to facilitate a more heightened awareness of just how addictive cocaine can be.

Those who feel they may have a trouble managing the so-called recreational aspect of cocaine may wish to consider that dependence may be taking hold more quickly than they once thought. Certainly those who provide treatment for cocaine addiction would need to consider this study as they evaluate how far advanced a patient’s addiction may be. It seems likely that, where we once may have assumed a short out-patient treatment would have been sufficient, a more long-term and comprehensive in-patient treatment could be warranted in more cases than previously thought.

The simple conclusion to all of this is that cocaine is far more addictive than anyone realized. Far from the “safe” drug of the 1970s, cocaine is insidious in the way it manipulates brain chemistry, and it creates addictive patterns much easier than anyone imagined.

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