Category: Celebrity Rehab

Three Common Myths About Recovery

Three Common Myths About Recovery

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False Beliefs Can Steer People Away From Recovery

Many people who are addicted to drugs, alcohol, and unhealthy behaviors have certain preconceived notions about getting into recovery. They believe the many myths out there about what will happen if they stop abusing substances or give up gambling, shopping, or sex. These beliefs keep them stuck in the addictive cycle, continually repeating the same mistakes over and over again.

When it comes to addiction, the brain works in mysterious ways. It will tell you every lie you can think of so that you will continue to engage in your addictive behavior. It will justify and rationalize the addiction. This is because part of your brain doesn’t want you to get into recovery. It knows that if you do, you will stop getting drunk, watching pornography, or doing whatever it is that gives you the feeling of being high. The brain likes the way it feels when you engage in these activities and it wants more.

In order to find the freedom that recovery has to offer, you have to change the way you think about recovery. You have to stop believing the justifications that your brain has to offer you about continuing in your addiction. We want to help you do that. In this article, we will dispel three myths you might believe about recovery.

Debunking Three Common Myths About Recovery

MYTH # 1: Recovery is boring. Once I give up my addiction, I will never have fun again.  

TRUTH: Recovery is exciting. Not only does recovery offer you an opportunity to explore yourself through a beautiful process of self-discovery, you also get to experience life again. There is so much adventure to be had in recovery as you find new activities that bring you fulfillment and a sense of purpose. You will learn how to have REAL fun that doesn’t leave you full of regret, remorse, and guilt.

MYTH # 2: I won’t have any friends if I get into recovery.

TRUTH: You might have people you get drunk or high with or go gambling with, but chances are these people aren’t true friends. You can’t count on them to be there for you when you really need them and they probably don’t care about your well-being. Most relationships that are centered around addiction are not healthy and quite toxic. There are many authentic people in the world who have a lot to offer you and they aren’t addicted. When you get into recovery, you will forge healthy, fulfilling relationships with people who genuinely care about your highest good.

MYTH # 3: I can’t face the things I have done in my addiction. I can’t live with the guilt.

TRUTH: Many people continue to stay loaded or go forward with their addictive behavior because they are afraid if they stop, their shame and guilt will overpower them. It is true that you will have to take responsibility for the harm you may have caused in your addiction. However; this will ultimately give you freedom from your guilt and allow you to make peace with the past. As long as you engage in your addiction, you will cause more harm and the cycle will continue.

Don’t Let Your False Beliefs Keep You From Recovery

Recovery has so many amazing things to offer you, but you have to experience these things for yourself. The only way to do that is to make the brave decision that you are going to get into recovery and stop the addictive cycle. Addiction promises only devastation and destruction. Don’t let your fears and false beliefs keeping you from getting your life back. Give recovery a try. You have everything to gain and nothing to lose.     

CLICK HERE to get a Free Confidential Addiction Rehabilitation Assessment.

Meth Addiction Continues To Take Over The World

Meth Addiction Continues To Take Over The World

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

Meth Addiction Is A Worldwide Phenomenon

Meth addiction is causing destruction to individuals and their families across the globe. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that the worldwide production of amphetamine stimulants, including crystal meth, is an astonishing 500 metric tons a year. Furthermore, there are about 24.7 million addicts internationally. This means that crystal meth is now the most popular hard drug on the planet. 

Methamphetamines have taken over beautiful places like Australia, New Zealand, The United States, and Russia. The drug has devastated entire communities; leaving behind many hopeless addicts and their families. Meth addiction causes increased crime and higher numbers of incarceration because of drug possession. It also results in a loss of productivity, homelessness, mental health issues, and the spread of deadly diseases like HIV.

Law Enforcement Agencies Continue To Fight The Spread of Meth Addiction

Some countries have very strict laws when it comes to the possession and distribution of methamphetamines. Dubai, for example, threatens its citizens with a minimum two-year sentence for anyone who is caught with even the smallest amount of meth.

Other locales are more sympathetic to the problem of addiction. Australia, for instance, is rather lenient when it comes to punishing meth addicts. They prefer to offer addiction treatment to those with a substance abuse problem so they can get the help they need, although the drug is still illegal.

The United States stands somewhere in the middle. The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world. The U.S. offers stiff penalties for those who are caught buying, selling, or possessing methamphetamines. However; the U.S. is continually moving toward options that will offer addiction treatment for those who are struggling with an addiction to meth.

Nevertheless, it is important to recognize that methamphetamines are illegal worldwide. Because of the devastating effects of crystal meth, governments across the globe have done what they can to rid their communities of the drug. They have done this by arresting addicts and putting them in jail to punish them for being addicted.  

We Treat Meth Addiction At DARA Thailand

At DARA Thailand, we don’t believe in punishing addicts. We believe people who are addicted to crystal meth deserve compassionate care.

People come to DARA Thailand from all over the world to benefit from our quality addiction treatment services. We are not a 12-Step rehabilitation facility. Instead, we implement evidence-based therapeutic models that teach addicted people the coping skills they need to sustain long-term recovery.

DARA Thailand is proud of our average completion rate of 92 percent, ranking us among the best rehabilitation centers in the world. The average rehabilitation completion rate is under 50 percent.

We are an affordable luxury treatment center situated in a resort-style facility that offers five-star amenities to our clients. If you have an addiction to crystal meth, we can help. Contact us today so that we can perform a free, confidential assessment over the phone. We can tell you what your treatment options are and explain the process involved in coming for a stay at a facility.   

Cocaine Addiction

New Information on Cocaine Addiction

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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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Prescription Drugs and Addiction

Prescription Drugs and Addiction

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Prescription Drugs and Addiction – By now, most of us have learned about the rampant addiction problem associated with heroin and methamphetamine. The problem in general, the overdoses, and the heartbreaking stories of young people whose lives have been destroyed by these drugs are all over the evening news in most parts of the world. We tend to hear less about the dangers of prescription drugs.

It is common practice for people to be prescribed powerful pain medications for everything from sports injuries to post-operative pain. The people who take these drugs are following doctor’s orders and following prescription guidelines. The problem lies in the fact that many of these drugs are highly addictive. Once an individual tries to stop using the drugs, they begin to experience withdrawal symptoms without knowing that this is what is happening to them. The take more of the medication, and the addiction cycle is in full bloom.

For some, this perfectly innocent and accidental addiction becomes a path to heroin. Prescription opioids are difficult to obtain without a prescription and they are expensive. The logical leap to a cheap and readily available street drug in the form of heroin is a small step to feed a growing addiction.

Recent studies in Australia revealed that there were more than 1800 overdose deaths from prescription drugs in 2016. This is more than the number of heroin overdoses at the height of Australia’s heroin problem in 1999. A recent report stated that more people are dying from prescription drugs in Australia than from illegal drugs.

Experts are particularly worried about the elderly since they often find themselves isolated. They are therefore more prone to fall into addiction and to suffer with addiction without any recourse. They are unaware of what is happening to them, and there is often no one around to intervene in the problem.

Another complication in this is that for some people, the addiction can go on for years without them being fully aware of it. People report taking prescribed oxycodone for as long as eight years and even admit that they cannot function without it. Yet they remain unaware of the fact that this inability to function without the drug is in fact an addiction. This is intrinsic problem with prescription medications.

We all have that element of trust and faith in the judgment of a doctor. We simply trust that we are being treated correctly and safely. If prescribed a drug, especially if we are living with chronic pain in which relief may be all we can think about, we simply take the drug. We expect that if we take the drug as prescribed, we will be fine. The problem is that so many of these drugs are dangerously addictive.

Oxycodone, for example, operates on the central nervous system in exactly the same way as heroin and morphine. It attaches to neurotransmitters and helps to block pain, and basically all feeling, in order to perform the prescribed task. As we use the drug, our bodies begin to require the drug in the same way as heroin. 

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heroin withdrawal

Heroin Withdrawal

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The fact that prescription painkillers are becoming harder to obtain may sound like a positive and for the most part but what it means for some is that heroin has become a cheaper alternative to achieve the same relief from real or imagined pain. The problem with heroin withdrawal is it begins almost immediately as the drug starts to leave the system. The good news is that it only lasts about a week for most people. However, the problems associated with heroin use may last for years to come if the body has been damaged or related issues have occurred. The symptoms of withdrawal are shared below as are some of the possible long term effects someone should watch out for after entering recovery.

Heroin withdrawal symptoms include nausea, abdominal pain, sweating, shaking, and nervousness. Think of the worst stomach virus you have ever experienced, only worse. Additionally, agitation, depression, muscle spasms, and cravings may occur. The cravings are typically very strong, especially with prolonged use and can lead to immediate relapse even days into withdrawal. If withdrawal occurs in a medical detox program some medications and therapy can be provided to help alleviate symptoms. These may boost the chance of fully detoxing and entering recovery.

Unfortunately heroin use has more than doubled in recent years with the number of fatalities being nearly four times as high. As heroin is highly addictive and has powerful withdrawal symptoms, medical detox is typically the best route to use when trying to kick the habit. Withdrawal symptoms will depend on the duration and amount the drug was used. Also in the method in which it was taken. Additionally, someone with a mental illness or addiction previous to heroin use is more likely to become dependent on the drug faster. Heroin can change the chemistry of the brain, making withdrawal and dependence even stronger.

While mild withdrawal symptoms have been shared above. Moderate symptoms of heroin withdrawal may also include vomiting, diarrhea, trouble concentrating, goose bumps, and tremors. Those who get severe withdrawal symptoms may have insomnia, hypertension, racing heart, impaired breathing, difficulty feeling pleasure, and stronger cravings. Though the actual withdrawal is not typically life threatening. Some of the medical symptoms or even psychological issues that arise can be.

Those in severe withdrawal may even become depressed or suicidal and cause self-harm. Heroin withdrawal symptoms will begin within 6 to 12 hours of the last dose. These will peak in 2 to 3 days and can last 5 to 10 days total. This is for the worst of the symptoms, but depression, anxiety, and even cravings can last longer. Many who are heroin addicts work through a Suboxone to make withdrawal a little easier. This will require a clinic and counseling as part of the program.  

If you or someone you know is trying to get off of heroin or is going through withdrawal and need help then it is available. Find a rehab that will help with both medical and psychological issues for the best long term results. Don’t give up. You are stronger than your addiction and can get into long term recovery if you are willing to do the hard work involved. Your life will be better for it.

CLICK HERE to get a Free Confidential Heroin Addiction Rehabilitation Assessment.