Education Archives - Page 79 of 82

Dec232014Jan272016

Learning to Handle Responsibilities in Recovery

Many addicts can find handling responsibilities in recovery a challenging, if not completely new sort of task to endeavor. Assigning blame has become an easy method for people to avoid the truth about a situation and relinquish any need to resolve it. The responsibilities we hold to ourselves and other people, places and things can become obscured by this negative pattern.

People use blame every day, whether complaining about taxes or an unfair boss, its function is a venting of frustration. When abusing substances, addicts tend to have many justifications that deferred any accountability resulting in a chaotic and unmanageable life. Taking personal responsibility will bring to the surface the underlying issues about the ability to make choices, and become accountable for these choices and consequences.

Many argue that an individual is not responsible for falling into addiction, however they certainly have an independent responsibility to change their situation. No one else can do this, and this first step is essential to learning to manage responsibilities in recovery as well. Recovery teaches addicts to become answerable for their actions, in the past and the present, by outlining a course of action.

By taking sobriety one day at a time, and working with supporting, trustworthy people in a program of recovery, lost bills, broken promises and forgotten appointments can be sorted through, and over time, resolved. Learning to manage responsibilities in recovery is a process of learning to take everyday duties and obligations one at a time, with the next indicated step toward a positive action.

Addiction is a fact that won’t change, but no one is defined by their addiction and the future will provide the opportunity to grow and change. Was your life unmanageable before you entered treatment? How has accepting accountability in recovery helped your life become more manageable?

If you, or someone you care about, needs help for a drug or alcohol addiction,
contact us at 1-888-457-3518 US, 0-808-120-3633 UK or 1-800-990-523 AU.
We’re here to help you take that first important step.

Nov192014Jan272016

Findings of the 2014 Global Drug Survey

Alternative Treatment, Education

The largest and most comprehensive survey of contemporary drug use was conducted in the last two months of 2013. Known as the 2014 Global Drug Survey (GDS2014), it has been published in 8 languages and represents data from over 80,000 respondents. Highlights include the following:

Internet access to drugs is increasing, with over 20% respondents from the UK reporting online drug purchases.
Alcohol (91%), tobacco (57%), and cannabis (48%) continue to be the top three drugs among consumers.
Cocaine and MDMA were voted, respectively, the worst and best value for money.
Alcohol was responsible for the largest amount of emergency room visits.
Hangovers at work are a concern for respondents, with Ireland leading the pack at 50% describing it as problematic.
Heavy consumers of alcohol have skewed perceptions about the frequency and amount they drink in terms of what they believe is normal drinking. Regarding this, the study’s authors suggest that drinkers utilize tools like the drinks meter app, which “provides you with instant feedback on your drinking . . . It compares your drinking against the Drinks Meter community to give unbiased, anonymous feedback.”

The study also produced a “Net Pleasure Index,” which aims to investigate the pros and cons, from a consumer perspective, of different drugs. Respondents were asked to rate each of eleven drugs according to a variety of positive and negative metrics. One of the drugs (GHB/GBL) did not appear in the results, and opiates were conspicuously absent from the list. Heading the list with the highest net-positive effect was MDMA, with LSD a close second.

Users were also polled on the effects of cannabis in terms of various criteria and the contrast between the product they have access to and an idealized cannabis that would only produce desired effects. Restlessness, hangover effects, forgetfulness, anxiety over other people’s judgment, and harm to lungs were the main shortcomings of cannabis products that respondents wished to have mitigated.

Oct222014Jan272016

DARA Announces First Scholarship Fellow

Education

In a major step forward in our five-year agreement with Mahidol University’s ASEAN Institute for Health Development, DARA’s leadership team has named Lubna Altaf Husaain as our first DARA Fellow. As the recipient of this fully funded scholarship, Husaain will work hand-in-hand with DARA professionals as part of her master’s degree program in Addiction Studies at Mahidol. When she completes her Mahidol program, she will be offered a staff position at DARA for at least one year.

Martin Peters, DARA’s Treatment Program Director, said Husaain’s “passion and determination” were key factors in her unanimous selection by the interview panel. Chosen from a wide range of applicants who began a series of interviews in May, Husaain already has completed a Master of Clinical Psychology program and has worked in outpatient rehab programs in the United Arab Emirates.

“We believe that Lubna will be a great role model for future scholarship recipients, as well as a strong representative of DARA,” Peters said.

When presented with the scholarship, Husaain said DARA’s generosity not only is an investment in her, but in the future of addiction treatment.

“I sincerely thank the DARA organization for the generous sponsorship,” Husaain said. “I take the responsibility wholeheartedly and will do everything I can to prove myself.”

Partnership With Mahidol Provides Mutual Benefits

DARA’s five-year partnership with Mahidol University, which began in March 2014, benefits not only Husaain, but all students in the university’s Master of Addiction Studies program. They will have the opportunity for training days with the professional staff at DARA, and they will be able to accompany DARA employees to professional conferences. DARA and Mahidol students will conduct joint research in the field of recovery and cooperate in publishing a scientific journal on addiction. DARA will offer internships to Mahidol students and will provide instructional materials and guest lecturers for Mahidol classes.

Sep242014Jan272016

Loved Ones Need Education to Stop Enabling an Alcoholic

Education

Learning to love alcoholics or drug addicts when struggling with the chaos of their behavior requires awareness and practice. Likewise, it takes some education and training to recognize the difference between showing compassionate understanding of the disease of addiction and enabling an alcoholic or drug addict to continue their addiction. Family members who love alcoholics or addicts need guidance. They need to change their attitudes and roles just as much as the alcoholics and drug addicts do.

Enabling An Alcoholic Does More Harm Than Good

Families of alcoholics and addicts have the best intentions. When parents allow adult children to move back home because alcoholism or drug addiction has resulted in homelessness, they do it because they can’t bear to think of someone they love living on the streets. Family members who bail adult children or siblings out of jail, who give them money when they have lost their jobs, who call their employers and make excuses, think they are doing the right thing. They are hoping beyond hope that if they help in this way, then the addictive behavior will end. The ironic and unfortunate truth is that manner of help does more harm than good. It enables the alcoholic or addict to continue lies and denial and to continue abusing alcohol or drugs. It continues the dysfunctional family cycle, and it allows the disease of addiction to progress.

Compassion Does Not Mean Control

Showing compassion for an alcoholic or drug addict means understanding that addiction is a disease of the body, mind and spirit. Thinking of addictions with the same kind of sympathetic attitude as one would with severe allergies or migraines or even cancer and other potentially fatal illnesses makes all the difference. It helps families live in peace, knowing they did not cause the addiction, they cannot control the addiction, and they cannot cure the addiction. Offering compassion without enabling an alcoholic or drug addict helps everyone involved.

Hope is a major element of preventing relapse because without hope and connection to others, the lure of addiction remains strong.
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Sep172014Jan272016

Tools for Living Offer Hope for Those in Recovery

Education

When alcoholics and drug addicts finally reach the point of seeking help, they usually feel ashamed, guilty and hopeless. They desperately need the tools for living that will give them hope in recovery. The typical pattern of substances abusers includes numerous failed attempts to quit using or drinking on their own. Denial is their No. 1 symptom. They make excuses, tell lies, become increasingly defensive, try desperately to justify their behavior, and believe they can continue to hide their addiction from themselves and others. By the time they make the decision to enter a rehab facility, they need to detox from their substance of choice first and then start to learn a new way of thinking and living.

Maintaining Health and Hope is Important in Sobriety

Achieving and maintaining sobriety is not an easy task, but it is the most worthwhile task an alcoholic or drug addict can undertake. Detox is the first step in regaining health. Depending on many factors, including the length of time someone has been drinking or using, the severity of withdrawal symptoms varies. Close medical supervision is needed. Once physical balance is on the mend, then emotional, mental and spiritual health comes next. Support groups, education in how to relieve stress without the use of drugs or alcohol, and therapy to explore underlying issues are the avenues to hope.

Hope in Recovery Means Developing a New Purpose in Life

Learning to develop a purpose in life gives life new meaning. Expanding one’s thinking beyond the self-absorption of substance abuse brings hope in recovery. The best way to change negative thinking into positive is to build confidence by sharing with others who have conquered their addictions. A support group can provide a guiding hand of hope on the pathway to sobriety. As confidence grows, so does the ability to discover one’s personal attributes and talents. These discoveries may take place within the family unit, with colleagues, with spiritual advisors, and even spending time outdoors communing with nature.

Hope is a major element of preventing relapse because without hope and connection to others, the lure of addiction remains strong.
For more information on recovery, follow us on Facebook.