Drug Court Resources – They’re Just Not Good Enough!

February 12, 2018

Countless people across America have been helped by Drug Court, but many more have fallen victim to the harsh sentences and nearly impossible rules set by the judges. Rather than take a “pro” or “con” position, perhaps it would be beneficial for the decision makers to host and have a discussion about how best to address drug use and how best to apply (and improve) the various drug court-based programs that go by the “drug court” moniker.

Disadvantages of Drug Court Related Programs

It’s critical to understand that drug courts, though they often connect people with addiction treatment services, are not a public health approach to drug use. They exist within a criminal justice system that demands punishment of individuals for a health issue.

Incarcerating people for a relapse, regrettably is a predictable and normal part of drug treatment and flies in the face of public health principles. Denying opioid dependent individuals access …

When a family member is addicted to prescription drugs

January 17, 2018

Category:Addiction & Recovery General / Addiction Treatment Center / Addiction Treatment Centers / Best Treatment Centers Nationwide / Call to Action / Detox Centers / Disease of Addiction / drug addiction / drug prevention / Drug Rehab / Family & Friends of Heroin Addicts / Heroin Addiction / heroin detox / Heroin Treatment Options / Klonopin / Opioid Addiction / Percocet / Protecting Our Children / Recommendation / Relapse Prevention / Substance Use Disorder / Support / Understanding Addiction / What to Expect / Xanax

Did you know that two million Americans are dependent on or abusing prescription drugs and painkillers? That being said, we need to redefine what an addict looks like today. It could be that businesswoman who appears confident and ambitious or that man who owns the local real estate agency. Did you know that according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that painkiller overdoses now account for more than twice the deaths as cocaine and five times as many as heroin overdoses? A 2009 National Survey of Drug Use and Health by Columbia University found that the proportions of Americans addicted to opioids – oxycontin, vicodin, and Demerol tripled from 1991 to 2001. This article is about how to help a family member or loved one if they are addicted to prescription drugs.

Even as the faces of addiction change, so must our understanding of how best to help treat …

Things to Do When a Loved one Relapses on Drugs

January 15, 2018

Category:Addiction & Recovery General / Addiction Treatment Center / Addiction Treatment Centers / Best Treatment Centers Nationwide / Call to Action / drug addiction / Drug Rehab / Family & Friends of Heroin Addicts / Heroin Addiction / Heroin Epidemic / Heroin Treatment Options / Protecting Our Children / Relapse Prevention / Support / Understanding Addiction

Supporting an addict who’s relapsed can help save their life. Seeing a loved one return to drugs or alcohol after addiction treatment can be devastating to family and friends. It may make you feel as though everything you and the addict have done to address the addiction has been in vain. Naturally, you want to help the family member or friend with the dug addiction so they can regain their health and get back to life as it once was. You may feel like you would do anything — including sacrificing your own needs and wants to help your loved one. But experts say that’s not what’s best for those suffering from the disease of addiction. Below are some important dos and don’ts to keep in mind when a loved one relapses on heroin or other drugs.

6 Things to Do When a Loved One Drug Relapses

1. Do remember that …

7 Tips for Surviving Christmas When New to Addiction Treatment and Recovery

December 19, 2017

Category:Addiction & Recovery General / Addiction Treatment Centers / Best Treatment Centers Nationwide / Call to Action / Christmas / drug prevention / Events / God / holidays / Recommendation / Relapse Prevention / Thanksgiving / Understanding Addiction

The holidays, such as Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and others earlier in the year are difficult times for people in addiction treatment or recovery. Simply put, emotions pour out from the heart and emotions are what brought individuals to drugs and alcohol in the first place. Perhaps it was the loss of a child, sibling, parent, etc. Perhaps it was a relational death such as a romantic break-up or a separation between best friends. Thus, we thought this article would be a guide to help people in this position get through Christmas and the holidays without using drugs and alcohol. Here are a few simple thoughts that can make the holiday experience a little more tolerable.

For most people, the weeks between Thanksgiving and the New Year are a special time of joy and celebration. Yet, it can be an extremely difficult and stressful time for those who are just beginning to …

Why AA Members Believe the 12 Step Program is the Only Way

September 17, 2017

Category:12 Step Program / Addiction & Recovery General / Addiction Treatment Centers / Alcohol / Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) / Best Treatment Centers Nationwide / Call to Action / Disease of Addiction / Heroin Addiction / Heroin Treatment Options / Medicine Assisted Treatment (MAT) / Methadone / Naltrexone / Narcotics Anonymous (NA) / Recommendation / Relapse Prevention / ReVia / Suboxone / Vivitrol

For members of Alcoholics Anonymous and even Narcotics Anonymous, the dogma that “AA is the only way” is far from offensive. In fact, the 12 step program has become a significant meaning of life for each individual regularly attending AA and NA meetings. However, for individuals seeking addiction treatment elsewhere, such as through medical means often referred to as medicine assisted treatment (MAT), hearing this can be overwhelming and even downright destructive for their individual mindset and addiction recovery. Many members of Alcoholics Anonymous believe that medicine assisted treatment and other modalities are simply not effective. What’s more, those who use Suboxone, methadone and even naltrexone (Vivitrol and ReVia) aren’t considered part of recovery. So why do 12 step program members feel this way?

Being Authentic at AA meetings

While the 12 step program has a long history of being effective for some men and women suffering from …

Tough love is Nonsense and Only Worsens Drug Addiction

July 28, 2017

Category:Addiction & Recovery General / Addiction Treatment Centers / Best Treatment Centers Nationwide / Call to Action / Family & Friends of Heroin Addicts / Heroin Epidemic / Myths About Addiction / Opioid Addiction / Protecting Our Children / Recommendation / Relapse Prevention / scams / tough love / Triggers / Understanding Addiction

Whether you’re a parent, partner or friend, you might be told that a drug or alcohol addicted person you care for needs tough love. Don’t believe it. Love has always been understood as the gentlest of emotions. You might have to be tough in war, politics, business or some other place, but love is the wrong place. Love is a place where you can drop your guard, care unconditionally, and show your softer side. Isn’t that right?

Yet today we hear time and again that love ought to be tough. Of course, this “wisdom” is typically directed at the most vulnerable members of society: a seventy-year-old wino, a drug addicted working girl, a street kid or a welfare single mother. Funny how our culture is much less inclined to get tough with those who could handle a hit: the CEO, the pro athlete, or even the one advocating tough love.

Why Tough …

“Just One More Time” – Drug Addiction

July 7, 2017

Category:Addiction & Recovery General / Addiction Treatment Center / Addiction Treatment Centers / Addiction Vs. Dependency / Best Treatment Centers Nationwide / Call to Action / codependency / Disease of Addiction / Drug Rehab / Family & Friends of Heroin Addicts / Heroin Addiction / Heroin Epidemic / New Age Recovery / Protecting Our Children / Recommendation / Relapse Prevention / Understanding Addiction / Xanax

There’s no way you suffer from drug addiction, at least that’s what you tell yourself. “Just one more time” you will say in attempt to convince yourself and others that you’ve got this under control. And you honestly believe you do, but after a while it becomes evident that “just one more time” has become an excuse to continue using masqueraded by the belief that you are not addicted to heroin, cocaine, benzodiazepines like Xanax and Klonopin, etc. But it’s time for a reality check, if you are continuing to tell yourself and others that you will use this one more last time, you are very likely addicted to drugs.

How did you become a drug addict?

A lot of people think declaring addiction a disease gives drug addicts an excuse to engage in illegal activity without personal responsibility or accountability. But if people understood the depths of the disease and …

Do Relapse and Drug Dreams Come True?

June 8, 2017

Category:Addiction & Recovery General / Addiction Treatment Center / Addiction Treatment Centers / Best Treatment Centers Nationwide / Call to Action / Disease of Addiction / drug dreams / Drug Rehab / Family & Friends of Heroin Addicts / Heroin Addiction / Heroin Treatment Options / NAATC / Recommendation / Relapse / Relapse Prevention / Understanding Addiction

A relapse or drug dream is often a very terrifying nightmare experienced by those in recovery from addiction and substance use disorder. Typically, an individual will dream of using drugs that they fought fervently to recover from. These dreams can be so terrifying and vivid even to the extent that the individual wakes up believing they truly relapsed and/or that they’re still lost in the darkness of addiction. Instantaneously upon waking, feelings of distress, regret, and shame come into play. For some, it may take a significant amount of time to recoup from such a dream. In some cases, it takes hours or even days. These dreams may even become triggers for a recovering addict, facilitating the urge to use. So do these drug dreams come true?

What is the Meaning of a Relapse Dream?

Let’s start with the meaning of the word “dream”. Have you ever tried researching it to find …

We Don’t Always Get a Second Chance – A Poem About Drug Overdose by Chanda Lynn

February 23, 2017

Category:Addiction & Recovery General / Addiction Treatment Center / Addiction Treatment Centers / Best Treatment Centers Nationwide / Call to Action / Drug Rehab / Family & Friends of Heroin Addicts / Heroin Addiction / Heroin Epidemic / Heroin Treatment Options / Memorials / Overdose / Poetry / Protecting Our Children / Recommendation / Relapse Prevention / Understanding Addiction

Poetry has a way of penetrating deep within, stirring emotion and cultivating change like no other form of writing. It’s through imagery and words that poetry reaches and reminds us of deep rooted unfulfilled longings. Poetry helps individuals understand the topic it touches and relate to individuals on a much more personal level. Below, Chanda Lynn our newest recovery advocate, editor and writer allocates an alluring masterpiece that touches on the very serious subject of drug and heroin overdose.

Many members, followers, visitors and readers may be desensitized to the words “heroin overdose” because it’s seen and discussed frequently. But the seriousness of the subject can’t be emphasized enough. We are talking about a loss of life, the death of someone’s son or daughter, husband or wife, mother or father. The thought of a drug overdose may not scare you if the heroin and addiction epidemic has not yet reached your family. …

Does Taking Xanax or Klonopin for Anxiety Make you an Active Drug Addict?

February 8, 2017

Category:Addiction & Recovery General / Addiction Treatment Center / Addiction Treatment Centers / Addiction Vs. Dependency / Avoiding Triggers / Best Treatment Centers Nationwide / Depression / Depression / Disease of Addiction / Drug Rehab / Heroin Addiction / Heroin Treatment Options / Klonopin / Recommendation / Relapse Prevention / Triggers / Understanding Addiction / Xanax

Statistically speaking many men and women who suffer from the disease of addiction have some other type of mental health condition or disorder. Similarly, addiction may be the resulting disease of ongoing drug use that started as a result of wanting to escape some of the feelings associated with other mental health conditions, such as anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, etc. Much like the controversy surrounding the effectiveness and safety of medicine assisted treatment options Methadone and Suboxone, there are some who believe that taking controlled substances, even if prescribed and regulated properly by a mental health professional for certain mental health conditions are keeping individuals enslaved to drug addiction. But does treating a mental illness with medication make those who take it an addict? What about medications like Xanax and Klonopin?

Two Schools of Thought: Does Taking Psychiatric Medication Make you a Drug Addict?

Some believe that taking prescribed medication as directed by a physician …

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