Addiction
Addiction: Desperate Maladies Require Desperate Remedies
An addiction is an uncontrollable strong craving for something, or to be abnormally dependent on something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming. There are many types of addiction, the most common are alcohol addiction, narcotic addiction, and drug addiction; also known as substance dependence.
Drug addiction is the compulsive use of drugs, to the extreme point where the user has no other choice but to continue to use them. A drug addict might address his beloved drug in De Quincey’s words, “thou hast the keys of Paradise, oh, just, subtle, and mighty opium!” An addict’s paradise is an inferno in disguise.
The demon of drug abuse has engulfed the entire world. It has clutched the youth of society in its deadly jaws.
Drugs have dragged the addicts to the deep dungeons of oblivion. The whole international community that is direly worried about the problem of drug abuse, has given a loud and clear call to medical institutes and organizations to liberate the victims of drug addiction.
Psychological experts and researchers are always raking their minds to know why people fall prey to drugs. Their studies have divulged that drugs and intoxicants are used to forget or negate the frustrations of life, failures in life, dejected love affairs, depression, or sometimes for fun or adventure.
Standard drug addiction treatment may include behavioral therapy, medications, or a combination of both. Medication therapy includes medical treatment to beat drug addiction. Behavioral therapy consists of counseling, cognitive therapy, or psychotherapy. The third method, the combination of both, is proving to be the most effective treatment for addiction recovery.
In medication therapy, for instance, addiction treatment like methadone, LAAM, and naltrexone are helpful for opium addicted people. Nicotine replacement therapy, nicotine patches, gum, nasal spray and bupropion are quite effective for people addicted to nicotine. Antidepressants, mood stabilizers, or neuroleptics, are helpful for treatment of mental disorders such as depression, anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, or psychosis.
As drug addiction is a chronic disorder, there’s no effective short-term treatment for it. It requires a long-term treatment to beat drug addiction.
Finally, strong will power plays a key role in addiction treatment and addiction recovery. Psychotherapists can play an important role in building up the patients’ will to beat drug addiction.
Drug Addiction Facts
The facts about drug addiction can be scary. They can be intimidating, and they can be all too real for those who are dealing with a drug addiction. Drug addiction is actually quite a complex disease that affects a person both physically and psychologically.
Drug addiction is characterized by an uncontrollable craving for a drug and the inability to keep from using that drug. Whether your drug of choice is marijuana, nicotine, alcohol, or something stronger like heroin or cocaine, it takes control of your life making it impossible for you to live without it.
The fact is that you have a physical dependence on the drug and when it is taken away from you – meaning if you don’t use it – the physical implications become too much to bear. Addicts are beset with uncontrollable shaking, hallucinations, sleeping problems, and even heart arrhythmia when they don’t use drugs.
Drugs affect the way our brain works. It takes hold of portions of the central nervous system and the effects of the drugs you use are shown in the way you act and think. They also affect the chemicals in your brain and how they work to regulate your brain activity. This is why drug use and addiction has such a strong hold on the user.
Drug addiction is also characterized by compulsive behaviors such as promiscuity, stealing, and acting in ways you wouldn’t normally without the drug. In fact, most drug addicts will do whatever they have to do to get their drugs, even if it means acting in ways that are less than desirable.
Another fact of drug addiction is that there are certain people who are more prone to becoming an addict. These include people who are children of drug abusers or users, people with low self-esteem, and people who feel they have no control over their lives. Unfortunately, once individuals with these pre-existing factors begin using drugs, those drugs become part of who they are and they are almost powerless to stop.
Social circumstances also play a huge part in addiction. Casual drug use often begins in social situations like clubs or parties. Then it spills over into private life and the user will find themselves using when they’re not in these situations. Eventually, they find they are addicted and cannot live without that drug.
Drug addiction knows no boundaries and doesn’t pick and choose its victims. All walks of life are affected from the rich to the poor and everyone in between. Well-known celebrities and everyday Joes can fall prey to its stronghold that drugs can put on their lives. That’s why it’s so important to learn as much as you can about drug use and addiction and stop the problem before it starts.
The facts about drug addiction are vast and widespread. But the cold hard fact is that it is an epidemic that is spreading and growing. Drug addiction is a blight on society, and it needs to be conquered. If we want to win the “war” on drugs and minimize its impact on our lives, we first need to get the facts – the facts about drug addiction.
When a family is dealing with drug addiction, everyone is affected. Having an addict in the family can put stress and strain on all relationships as well as the family dynamics. The addiction causes pain, frustration, and anger in all members involved. Because it does affect everyone, the need for family therapy is so important.
There are many emotions involved in a family when dealing with drug addiction. You may find yourself feeling angry toward the addict. This is normal. You wonder how this happened, why it happened, and what you could have done to stop it.
You may feel depressed and helpless, even responsible for your loved one’s addiction. This too is a normal reaction. Often when someone we love is in pain, such as the pain associated with drug addiction, we tend to look for excuses for their behavior. We take the pain on for them and don’t make them take responsibility for their actions.
To begin with, realize that this is a huge mistake. The person with the drug addiction was the one who brought it into your family in the first place, and he or she needs to take responsibility for that. It’s not easy and will be painful for all involved, but once the addict realizes that their actions have consequences, they can take charge of their recovery fully.
Family therapy is a great way to help with drug addiction. Family therapy consists of all members of the family getting together with the assistance of a trained professional and talking about the issues that all are having when it comes to the addict and the addiction itself. Family therapy can be intense but amazingly therapeutic as well. It’s the perfect time to air your feelings in a safe setting with the help of a moderator to keep things on track. Click edit button to change this text. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
Drug Addiction and the Family
Family and friends can play critical roles in motivating loved ones with an addiction to enter and stay in treatment. Family therapy is important – especially with teen addicts. Having the involvement of family members in a person’s treatment program can strengthen and extend the benefits of the addict’s treatment program.
Drug addiction and family is a volatile situation, but one that can be faced and addressed with love, caring, and compassion. If your family is affected by drug addiction, be supportive and listen with an open heart. It will help you, those around you, and most important the family member with the addiction.
For many years, experts have noted that most drug addicts also suffer from mental health problems, such as social anxiety disorder, depression, and schizophrenia. Recent studies have shown that if the brain is suffering from a psychological disorder, it makes the body more vulnerable to addiction.
Drug addiction, despite being seen by many as some sort of failing of the mind, is not listed as a mental health disorder. Substance abuse has escaped that category despite the fact that comparatively less troublesome ailments or sicknesses like social anxiety disorder and (in some circles) insomnia are listed as possible or acknowledged mental health conditions. The facts known about drug addiction show that it is a biological and physiological condition, with the body craving the effects that these narcotics have on the brain. The divide between mental disorder and drug addiction is a very thin, blurry line, but there is a line. However, recent research is starting to reveal information that is making this line seem even thinner and more blurred than it already is. It would appear that drug addiction and mental conditions, such as social anxiety disorder and depression, are not as distinct form one another as initially thought.
In layman’s terms, when one person shows signs of being a drug addict, there’s usually some sort of mental health condition riding the coattails, though not everyone who’s crazy is a junkie, and not every drug addict is insane. The psychological problems tend to vary from patient to patient, though things like social anxiety disorder are common in teenage addicts, along with depression, performance anxiety, and a few behavioral disorders. Schizophrenia, bipolar and unipolar depression, and other personality disorders are also commonly observed to tag along with addictions, though not always with narcotics and other illegal drugs. Nicotine and alcohol addicts also tend to have a host of mental health problems riding in their wake as well.
Drug Addiction Riding Behind Mental Illness?
Some recent studies are showing that damage to certain regions of the brain may be responsible for making people more likely to develop addictions, with the amygdala taking center stage in the study’s findings. This does not take away anything from the natural addictive abilities of substances such as alcohol, opioids, and nicotine, but it does serve to explain why some people appear more likely to become addicts than others on a psychological level. The studies also discovered that addictions for people with damaged amygdala are not only more prone to addiction, they are also less likely to discern from one substance to another in their abuse. Findings showed that it didn’t seem to matter what the substance was or what the effects it had on the mind and body were, so long as they had the potential to be habit-forming and the subjects were exposed to it regularly.
Obviously, since mental health problems such as social anxiety disorder and dissociative identity disorder can make someone more likely to become an addict, there are things that need consideration. A number of drug addicts can and do claim that external factors forced them into their substance abuse, with several of these reasons being highly similar to things that trigger mental illness. With psychological conditions now leading to substance abuse, is there now reason to believe that those who are genetically predisposed towards mental illness are, logically, also more likely to become addicts?
Many people struggling with drug addiction think that recovery is nearly impossible for them. They’ve heard the horror stories of painful withdrawal symptoms, they can’t imagine life without drugs, and they can’t fathom actually being able to get through a recovery effort. But people do recover from drug addiction – every day in fact. But they don’t usually do it alone. They have lots of help.
Help with drug addiction recovery can come from many different places in the form of loving family and friends, drug treatment programs, and drug rehab facilities. Recovery is a long process that requires a commitment from a lot of people, but when you get help with your drug addiction, recovery is a very real possibility.
Drug addiction recovery entails more than just getting over the physical withdrawal from drugs, it also involves a healing of the mind and the mindset that started you towards drug addiction in the first place. Recovery is a spiritual process that needs to take place in the mind, heart, and soul.
Recovery comes about after a long period of time. The initial phase is abstinence or not using the drug. Abstinence eventually moves into recovery as the addict begins to change and grow in positive ways. Abstinence requires a decision, recovery requires effort.
Once you have gone through the abstinence phase with withdrawal from the drug, you can then move on to mental recovery. This type of recovery has to do with issues like brain function and brain chemistry. It involves changing your attitudes, belief systems, and rational thoughts so that you don’t start using drugs again.
Emotional recovery from drugs is a very complex part of the healing process as well. This part of recovery has more to do with your feelings than anything else. Emotional recovery involves learning to deal with feelings openly, honestly, and responsibly. It includes learning to express and resolve feelings in appropriate and effective ways. For most people in recovery, emotional recovery can take years.
Drug Addiction Recovery
Finally, you’ll need to recover from drug addiction spiritually. Even if you are not a religious person, spiritual recovery has more to do with your attitude toward life and how you want to live that life. When you begin to recover spiritually, the way you look at the world changes: fear is replaced by faith, self-pity turns to gratitude, resentment becomes acceptance, and dishonesty turns to honesty.
You can choose to undertake your drug addiction recovery at a rehab facility or through a 12-step program, but you truly do need to seek out the help of others if you want to have a full recovery. Very few people are able to recover from drug addiction on their own. Don’t be afraid to ask for help because you can have a successful recovery from drug addiction once you do!
Drug addiction has many faces. Recognizing the signs of drug addiction is the first part of getting on the road to recovery. How do you know what to look for in trying to recognize drug addiction? The signs can be pretty obvious when you are looking for them.
A person with a drug addiction generally acts in an erratic manner and does things they normally wouldn’t do. Their moods can be quite unpredictable alternating between bouts of exhilaration or agitation and then exhaustion and lethargy. They may have trouble sleeping or will “crash” and sleep for long periods of time.
Drug addiction is often accompanied by depression, so look for a loss of interest in activities they used to find enjoyable and an abrupt drop in weight. They may hesitate to participate in gatherings or family events and begin distancing themselves from people they used to be close to.
Eyes that are bloodshot or that have a dazed or expressionless look can be a sign of drug use and addiction. They may appear to be daydreaming and may have to be spoken to several times before they answer you.
Drug addiction can also have some outward physical signs such as excessive sweating, flushed skin, or an unexplained rash. Inflamed nostrils or an excessively runny nose can indicate an addiction to an opiate such as cocaine.
Recognizing drug addiction in yourself is a much harder process. Because most people don’t want to admit that they have a problem, it’s much more difficult to come to terms with an addiction problem.
You may find that you have an intense, uncontrollable craving for a drug and feel like you can’t function without it. You always make sure that you have an ample supply of your drug of choice and become frantic when your supply starts running low. You might find yourself doing things you wouldn’t normally do when using the drug such as stealing or being promiscuous.
Your drug addiction begins to take hold of your life and you see it spinning out of control with no way to stop. You try to stop using the drug but repeatedly fail causing you to use even more to combat the feelings of hopelessness.
Recognizing drug addiction is important in so many ways. When addiction is present in your or someone you love’s life, it can affect your relationship sometimes so badly it can never be recovered. That’s why it’s essential that the healing start once you begin to recognize how the addiction has taken hold. Once you see the signs, you can get help and become drug free!
Drug addiction knows no boundaries and doesn’t pick or choose who it will affect. Celebrity drug addiction is commonplace today in the business, and it is just spotlighted more because of the high profiles of today’s celebrities. It’s not uncommon to hear about another celebrity entering rehab for drug addiction. The list can read like a Who’s Who of Hollywood.
Big names like Whitney Houston, Keith Urban, Charlie Sheen, Robert Downey, Jr., and Drew Barrymore, to name just a few, have all been through drug rehabilitation for their addictions, and the list is much longer than that! Why do so many celebrities fall prey to the perils of drug addiction?
Just like people who are not in the limelight, celebrities deal with different stresses in their lives. The difference is that their stresses are much larger in general than everyday people. They have to deal with paparazzi, managers, critics, the media, and every word they say is noted and commented on.
There is a lot of insecurity in the world of fame and fortune. When celebrities feel that insecurity so strongly, they look for a way out, an escape from their problem – that escape is often drugs. That’s not even taking into consideration the price that comes with sudden fame.
When celebrities go from being everyday people to being thrust into the spotlight, they often have trouble adjusting. Leading a private life doesn’t become an option as their every move is followed and their rises and falls are noted sometimes with scorn from fans.
There’s something that goes along with celebrity in that many stars feel as if they’re almost immune to the possibility of becoming addicted to drugs. It’s a matter of having so much money, they figure, “Why not, I won’t get addicted”. Being a celebrity is a hugely stressful profession and actually, they are more prone to drug addiction because of that stress.
Celebrity Drug Addiction Celebrity
Celebrity drug addiction is really no different from non-celebrity drug addiction. It is just as serious and just as difficult to quit. That is why so many celebrities are seeking out rehab facilities in an attempt to kick their habit for good. Places like Promises and The Betty Ford Clinic are brimming with celebrity patients seeking to overcome their drug addiction.
The good news is that with celebrity drug addiction becoming so well-known, more people are less afraid to seek out treatment for their own addictions. They realize that if the people they look up to – celebrities – can fall victim to drug addiction, so can they. And if those same people are strong enough to be treated for that drug addiction, they can be strong as well.
Drug Addiction Disease
Drug addiction is a disease. There’s no doubt about that. In fact experts say that drug addiction is more of a brain disease than anything else. Scientific advances have offered amazing insights into how the brain works and what drugs do to the way the brain functions. Luckily, however, this disease is treatable and curable. Although drug use initially is voluntary once an addiction develops, that control is markedly changed. Imaging studies have shown specific abnormalities in the brains of some, but not all, addicted individuals. While scientific advancements in the understanding of addiction have occurred at unprecedented speed in recent years, unanswered questions remain that highlight the need for further research to better define the neurobiological processes involved in addiction. Recent studies have increased our knowledge of how drugs affect gene expression and brain circuitry, and how these factors affect human behavior. They have shed new light on the relationship between drug abuse and mental illness, and the roles played by heredity, age, and other factors in increased vulnerability to addiction. New knowledge from future research will guide new strategies and change the way clinicians approach the prevention and treatment of addiction. When we approach drug addiction as a disease instead of as a choice, the treatment options are greatly increased. We can research what areas of the brain are affected and find the best methods to address that affliction specifically. Doctors treat cancer, diabetes, and other disease like this, drug addiction should be no different. Viewing drug addiction as a disease can also help researchers delve further into genetic propensity to drug use and addiction. That means we will know whether or not drug and alcohol use is linked to our family history and will be able to tackle the problem before it actually becomes a problem. There are medications available to treat withdrawal symptoms when a person stops using drugs, but when drug addiction is researched as a disease, scientists will be able to come up with new medications that could actually prevent drug use from becoming an addiction. Similar to medications that make alcoholics sick when they drink. There are all sorts of diseases in the world. There’s no doubt about it that drug addiction is one of them. We need to start looking at it in that way and then taking the appropriate steps to treat drug addiction just as we would another disease like cancer or Alzheimer’s.
Effects of Drug Addiction
The effects of drug addiction are far reaching and go way beyond just affecting the life of the addict. Drug addiction has an effect on families, companies, schools, and friendships. It also has an effect on the body of the addict and could possibly affect the health of those around the addict. People who use drugs experience a wide array of physical effects other than those expected. The excitement of a cocaine high, for instance, is followed by a “crash”: a period of anxiety, fatigue, depression, and an acute desire for more cocaine to alleviate the feelings of the crash. Marijuana and alcohol interfere with motor control and are factors in many automobile accidents. Users of marijuana and hallucinogenic drugs may experience flashbacks, unwanted recurrences of the drug’s effects weeks or months after use. Sharing hypodermic needles leads to an increased risk of HIV and some forms of hepatitis. That, along with increased sexual activity among drug addicts can greatly increase the incidence of people becoming infected with AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases. There are over 10,000 deaths directly attributable to drug use in the United States every year; the substances most frequently involved are cocaine, heroin, and morphine, often combined with alcohol or other drugs. Many drug users engage in criminal activity, such as burglary and prostitution, to raise the money to buy drugs, and some drugs, especially alcohol, are associated with violent behavior. The user’s preoccupation with the substance, plus its effects on mood and performance, can lead to marital problems and poor work performance or dismissal. Drug use can disrupt family life and create destructive patterns of codependency, that is, the spouse or whole family, out of love or fear of consequences, inadvertently enables the user to continue using drugs by covering up, supplying money, or denying there is a problem. Pregnant drug users, because of the drugs themselves or poor self-care in general, bear a much higher rate of low birth-weight babies than the average. Many drugs (e.g., crack and heroin) cross the placental barrier, resulting in addicted babies who go through withdrawal soon after birth, and fetal alcohol syndrome can affect children of mothers who consume alcohol during pregnancy. Pregnant women who acquire the AIDS virus through intravenous drug use pass the virus to their infant. Drug abuse affects society in many ways. In the workplace it is costly in terms of lost work time and inefficiency. Drug users are more likely than nonusers to have occupational accidents, endangering themselves and those around them. Over half of the highway deaths in the United States involve alcohol. Drug-related crime can disrupt neighborhoods due to violence among drug dealers, threats to residents, and the crimes of the addicts themselves. In some neighborhoods, younger children are recruited as lookouts and helpers because of the lighter sentences given to juvenile offenders, and guns have become commonplace among children and adolescents. The great majority of homeless people have either a drug or alcohol problem or a mental illness-many have all three. Drug addiction has an effect on all parts of life for the drug user, the family, and society as a whole. The time to get help for an addiction is NOW before its effects become so far-reaching, they cannot be recovered.
Prescription Drug Addiction
Prescription drug addiction is an ever-growing problem. People receive prescription drugs most often to combat pain. When they become accustomed to taking a pill to relieve that pain, they often become addicted before they even realize what’s happening. A doctor will write a prescription for drugs to help the patient feel better and be better able to cope with the debilitating symptoms of either an accident or a disease. Because a doctor prescribes this medication, patients often think that taking it is safe. But when they start relying on the drug to get through a day or cope with life, that’s when the prescription drug becomes an addiction. It is estimated that over 20 million Americans have an addiction to prescription drugs. And we’re not just talking about everyday people. Celebrities, CEO’s, and millionaires alike can become addicted to prescription drugs. It’s the newest problem to afflict famous people and regular, everyday people as well. If you think you might be struggling with an addiction to prescription drugs, it’s important to first talk to your doctor. He (or she) was the one who prescribed them in the first place, and if you find yourself needing more and more of the drug, you need to cut off your source to begin your recovery process. When a loved one is suffering from prescription drug addiction, it might be difficult to watch them travel down this road. Chances are good that the reason they were written the prescription in the first place involved a trauma of some sort. You may be more apt to deny their addiction way before they do. This is a huge mistake. If you are especially close to someone who is taking Vicodin or Oxycontin for pain, keep an eye on how many pills they are taking. You can monitor their usage and take note when you feel they are taking more pills than are necessary. Many people with a prescription drug addiction are afraid to stop taking their drugs. They are afraid that if they don’t have the drug in their system, the pain will come back. When this addiction has taken hold, the truth is that the pain WILL come back, but in the form of withdrawal symptoms. They don’t need the drug for the original reason anymore, but they need it because their body has become used to having the drug in their system. Prescription drug addiction is nothing to mess around with. It can take hold quicker than a blink of an eye and never let go. It’s essential for you or your loved one to seek help as soon as possible before the addiction becomes a normal way of life. Recovery from prescription drug addiction is possible, but it starts with an admittance of a problem. Don’t let another day go by – get help now!