Category: Articles

Addiction Cycle – Like most things in life, addiction goes in cycles. Here’s how it starts, increases and how it can be stopped.

Brain changes:

What begins as experimentation with drugs can turn into regular use. Continued and increasing use brings dependence and with it changes in the user’s brain that are physiologically and chemically different from a non-addicted person.

These changes result in the user continually seeking and needing their substance of choice. Until treatment is received this cycle of addiction will continue.

The addiction cycle:

Addiction professionals see 7 distinct steps in the cycle of addiction and while these may differ in length and intensity. Each step is something that addicts need to understand.

• Frustration and/or pain: Addicts seek to use substances as a means of relief
• Constant thoughts: Extremely strong thoughts that often reach fantasy level relate to use and desire about their substance of choice
• Obsessing: This relates to the above point. Addicts often have uncontrollable thoughts about expected feelings once their substance of choice has been taken
• Using: This act relieves the mounting frustration and pain mentioned above
• No control: Once the user has had an initial ‘hit’ they are unable to control the frequency of use or how much they take
• Feelings of regret: As they are coming down addicts will feel remorse, guilt and even shame about their levels of substance use
• Determination to quit: There will be many instances where an addict promises to themselves that they will quit. Unfortunately, these promises do not last because the cycle begins all over again.

Achieving abstinence:

It is extremely unlikely that an addict will break the addiction cycle without professional assistance. The need for such help must come from the addict in the first instance. They need to be shown and understand the lifestyle changes required to change dysfunctional and self-destructive thoughts into healthier more rewarding ones.

The process an addict goes through to reach the stage where they are ready for treatment begins with themselves.

• Pre-contemplation: While the addict has not yet considered giving up their drug use, thoughts of doing so begin to surface on an increasingly frequent basis
• Contemplation: Thoughts of quitting become far more commonplace and the addict starts to believe it is time to quit
• Preparation: The addicts thought process turns to determination and they begin to prepare themselves mentally for treatment
• Action: This is a major step. The addict seeks professional assistance and begins treatment which includes counselling. At this stage the addict has stopped using
• After-care: Ongoing maintenance of treatment is absolutely vital and after-care is seen as the ideal way to achieve this.

A relapse is NOT failure:

During any stage of the addiction cycle it needs to be understood that relapse is possible at any time and in many cases quite likely.

While relapse is a setback it should not and cannot be seen as a failure. The recovering addict must hold their hands up to this slip and explain in detail the reasons behind it to their counselor. From here it will be possible to look at ways in which future relapses can be avoided while continuing with positive treatment that will lead to long-term sobriety.

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Alcohol Rehabilitation USA.

Alcohol is the most commonly abused substance in the United States. Government figures state that 1 in 12 of all adults have problems with the amount of alcohol they are consuming. This makes the topic of Alcohol Rehabilitation USA a very real and valid one.
Here is an indication of what is available in terms of rehabilitation facilities. We will also consider some of the main treatment solutions available for those looking to free themselves from a dependence that has both physical and psychological effects as well as causing those closest to them angst and concern.

Treatment facilities:

Alcohol abuse treatment is provided in a variety of different settings. Some opt for treatment via their local practitioner’s surgery, others in approved ‘drop-in centers’ that provide assistance. The majority of men and women in need of treatment will either attend an inpatient or outpatient rehabilitation establishment.

These are both government and privately-run treatment centres with an estimated number of 14,500 specialised substance abuse treatment facilities available across the country. These establishments cater for all types of addiction with alcohol being the most common substance for which assistance is required.

Services provided by rehabilitation facilities:

The services offered by both inpatient and outpatient rehab establishments varies dependent upon the facility concerned but will include such things as:

• Detoxification facilities
• Counselling – One-to-one and group sessions
• Case management
• Treatment – A wide variety of different treatment methods are employed dependent upon the establishments policy
• Administration of medication
• Aftercare programmes

Outpatient or Inpatient treatment?

It must be stated that any type of treatment for those struggling with alcohol has to be seen as a positive. Outpatient treatment offers a flexible method of addressing problems and is on an agreed appointment basis. This type of treatment will certainly help, but it is also subject to the challenges of temptation. Those seeking this form of treatment remain in the same environment that helped fuel their addiction in the first place. They are fully aware of watering holes and outlets where alcohol can be purchased around-the-clock. It is this type of temptation that needs to be resisted for those looking at long-term sobriety.

Inpatient alcohol rehabilitation offers a far more focused initial treatment plan. By submitting to a stay at an inpatient facility the alcoholic will spend their initial period of recovery in a setting where alcohol (or any other illegal substance) is forbidden. The establishment is completely focused on rehabilitation and those attending are treated as individuals. As such, individual problems are met with in-depth counselling and treatment based on a personal need basis. This type of treatment is seen as being far more successful in terms of helping recovering alcoholics remain on the path of long-term sobriety.

Aftercare:

Alcohol rehabilitation USA would not be complete without comprehensive aftercare options available. This ongoing treatment is overlooked far too often by those who have taken to initial treatment positively. It must be remembered that rehabilitation establishments and the treatment offered are simply the start of a healing process that must be maintained. Aftercare is the perfect vehicle with which to maintain long-term sobriety.

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Drug Cocktail – Dabbling with one type of drug on a regular basis is moving a person towards dependence. What begins as occasional use can very quickly move up a gear to twice or three times a week and before a user knows it they are finding any excuse to use daily.

Doubling dependence – Doubling the risks:

It is very common for users to mix substances in their search for a higher “high”, but entering the world of drug cocktails is a very dangerous thing to do. Drugs are loners by nature. They do what they are supposed to do on an individual basis and are not made to mix with others.

Those amateur mixologists who search for heady formulas and tinker with any illegal substance at hand really need to understand what a mixture of substances taken together can do to a person.

Commonly mixed substances:

The imagination of those mixing drugs is enhanced by the range of substances, chemicals and additives available, but there are some mainstays that many drug users see as a normal part of the social scene.

These include Marijuana, Amphetamines, Ecstasy, Cocaine and Heroin, and to make matters worse, many taking drug combinations wash them down with alcohol. This really is asking for trouble. If you are determined to use drugs, or to have a night out where excess alcohol will be consumed please don’t combine the two.

A legendary drug cocktail:

We will mention one drug cocktail that many see as the ultimate high. While this may be the case for some it also spells the end of the line for others as their final destination is the morgue!

Speedball:

There are a number of variations and ways to administer this long-established cocktail, but the most powerful and potentially lethal combination is the mixing of cocaine and heroin taken by injection. Although it is true that some users still stick by the original ‘recipe’ which is cocaine and morphine delivered in the same way.

Most speedballers will mix the 2 drugs together, a drug cocktail in one syringe for shooting up, but the more extreme user will fill one syringe with heroin, the other with cocaine and then empty both syringes into the arm simultaneously.

What makes this combo so effective?

The effects of this combination are so telling because the individual drugs come from opposite ends of the spectrum. Cocaine is a stimulant, Heroin a depressant. The dual result is an extremely intense, ultra-charged euphoria that takes the user into their own world, but it must be clearly understood that the dangers of overdosing on such a combination raise the stakes when it comes to a user being taken out of this world permanently.

Addiction at the double:

The other thing that must be realised in terms of cocaine and heroin is that on their own they are highly addictive substances. Once regular use of either becomes commonplace the person concerned is heading towards addiction. To use the two together really is doubling that date with addiction and the very real possibility of suffering a fatal overdose.

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