addiction

How to Strive to Prevent Drug & Alcohol Addiction

Angela Manning Health , , ,
How to Strive to Prevent Drug & Alcohol Addiction

Millions of adult’s struggles with addiction. Some are successful and some, sadly, are not. Experts in the field of mental health say the best way to address the general societal problem of addiction is to focus on prevention. That’s not to say we should in any way neglect those who already suffer from alcohol and drug problems and attend regular sessions at an addiction rehab center.

But, generally speaking, the best way to minimize the long-term spiral of increasing addiction in modern society is to emphasize smart strategies for avoiding falling into the addiction trap in the first place. What are some of the strategy’s doctors recommend for making sure you never have to deal with a drug or alcohol problem? Of course, the younger you are, the more effective the advice is, but here are the suggestions you’ll most often hear from addiction specialists:

Look to Counseling

Perhaps the main trap of substance abuse is the immediate, but never long-lasting, relief it gives for problems like depression and anxiety. Many teens turn to drugs in order to handle the incredible stress that goes along with growing up. The drawback of using drugs and alcohol this way is that users are only dealing with symptoms, not causes. For long-lasting relief from anxiety, depression and other psychological problems, counseling is the answer. An experienced mental health professional can help patients of any age learn to deal with a wide range of problems.

Learn Effective Ways to Handle Stress

Studies have shown that people who regularly meditate and engage in exercise have fewer problems with addictions of all kinds. It appears that when we learn healthful ways to deal with ordinary stress, we are less likely to turn to the quick-fix of drugs and alcohol. It’s telling that the vast majority of drug and alcohol problems begin between the ages of 16 and 30.

Those are the times in a person’s life when they are faced with the greatest amount of pressure. Graduating from high school or college, getting a job, finding a mate and similar milestones of a typical life can be overwhelming for many people. Self-medicating with drugs and alcohol can be an attractive solution for those who don’t have social support networks or lack a supportive friend to point them in the right direction. That’s why maintaining a network of friends and supportive family members can be one of the most effective deterrents to drug and alcohol problems.

Know Your Family’s History

Doctors say that everyone should be aware of any history of substance abuse among parents, uncles, aunts and grandparents. There’s strong evidence that a tendency to develop addiction to certain chemicals, alcohol for instance, can be passed down from one generation to the next. This, of course, does not mean that you will fall victim to substance abuse if there’s a history of the illness in your family. But it does mean, according to experts, that you might be more susceptible to developing an addiction if you begin a pattern of drug or alcohol abuse.

Finding and Choosing Between Rehab Options

Angela Manning Health , , , , ,
Finding and Choosing Between Rehab Options

If you struggle with addiction, getting sober will help you become your best self. Read on to learn how to find and choose between the rehab options available.

Did you know that in 2015 alone, substance abuse caused over 47,000 deaths in America? This is three times the number of fatalities in 1999?

Drug addiction is the most neglected problem in America, according to medical professionals and researchers.

The issue isn’t a lack of rehab options, as there are more than 14,500 drug treatment centers all over the US.

Lack of information is one of the primary contributing factors.

From the less-than-useful information provided by rehab websites to the countless rehab options available, choosing a treatment program is challenging.

That’s why we’ve created this practical guide to help you understand your options.

With the tips here you can choose the right rehab facility for your specific circumstances.

Determine Your Goals and Needs

Rehabs vary by specialty. Even those facilities with a similar specialty will gauge success differently and use different methods to reach there.

It’s important to pick a rehab facility that’ll assist you to reach your treatment goals, but you’ve got to know your goals before doing that.

The first thing to do to determine your treatment goals is to decide which drugs and/or behaviors you wish to recover from.

Next, you should determine whether there any underlying issues, including medical conditions, you want treated at the same time.

Then you’ve got to figure out your definition of success.

Is your initial aim to undergo detox and stay sober for the first month? Would 6 to 12 months of sobriety mean success to you?

Only you and/or your nearest and dearest can determine your goals.

Consult a Treatment Professional

Consulting a treatment professional is the best way to figure out your treatment options and find a rehab that best suits your treatment goals. The countless rehab options available make it difficult to avoid poor fits.

Also, treatment professionals have extensive knowledge about many things associated with rehab centers that you probably don’t know, or never would have imagined. They also know many rehabs quite well and can give invaluable information.

Investigate Different Rehab Options

Whether your own research generated various rehab options or a treatment professional gave them to you, it’s vital to investigate them.

You’ll find some information from websites and other sources, but you should ask for more information from the rehabs themselves.

The best rehabs want to ensure you will succeed with their program and have nothing to hide. They’ll happily answer all your questions too.

To find out what rehab facilities to avoid, learn more here.

Factors to Consider

Many factors affect which rehab facility is right for your situation, and some are more crucial than others. The following are some of the most important factors to many addicts.

Licensing and Accreditation

Carry out some research and ensure that the rehab you’re considering has official state accreditation. This is vital as it’ll ensure that you receive safe and evidence-based treatment.

You should also ensure that the medical professionals operating in that rehab are all licensed.

Success Rates

Can the rehab you’re considering walk the talk? After all, you do not want to be anybody’s guinea pig.

Research the success previous individuals have enjoyed at the facility and verify the success story claims published on the rehab’s website.

Treatment Options

According to the New York Times, there’s no one treatment works for everyone. Therefore, a crucial part of getting the best treatment program for you or your loved one’s needs is considering the various rehab options available.

Consider the treatments provided before you decide.

You want to pick a program that provides various options, including one-on-one counseling, cognitive behavior therapy, and suitable medical therapies for any underlying issues that may exist.

Never settle for a program that doesn’t provide a range of options for a customized treatment approach.

Personalized Treatment

Since substance addiction is a complex issue, a personalized treatment program is vital for recovery. Here are some reasons why personalized treatments are quite effective:

  • They target individual needs
  • They identify issues that lead to substance abuse
  • They treat causes of addiction
  • They help you avoid treatments that won’t work well for you

Personalized treatment plans are designed for you or your loved one’s needs.

Type and Length of Aftercare

Aftercare is fundamental to the success of a rehab facility. Help Guide recommends that you think about the aftercare program before making your decision.

Addiction recovery is a long-term endeavor, so a comprehensive aftercare program that’ll continue to help you or your family member throughout the move back to personal responsibilities is a crucial consideration.

Treatment Types

Alcohol and substance addiction are conditions that develop through predictable phases.

Whether it’s an inpatient or outpatient program, it takes a trained health professional specializing in drug addictions to accurately diagnose and prescribe the right treatment.

A drug rehab center should provide a range of treatment plans that meet individual needs.

Treatment programs may include outpatient, inpatient, residential, and/or short-stay options.

Some offer hospitalization and others provide counseling onsite. You’ll also find rehab facilities that focus on group therapy while others offer intervention services.

Each rehab facility is different. Do your legwork and make sure to choose a facility that best suits your individual needs.

Cost

For many addicts, the cost is the one biggest factor that determines their choice of rehab.

The fact is that cost widely varies between rehab options depending on the center, length of stay, and the programs the patient enrolls in.

Fortunately, there are various options out there to help you pay for treatment, meaning that you’ll have access to different options no matter your budget.

It’s also crucial to bear in mind that the financial burden of long-term substance abuse is far bigger than rehab.

Some common options for paying for rehab include:

  • Loans
  • Self-funding
  • Private Health Insurance
  • Medicaid and Medicare
  • Obamacare (The Affordable Healthcare Act)

Amenities

The amenities available is one of the most obvious things that set apart rehab options.

Some rehabs offer a lifestyle that matches or surpasses that of 5-star hotels, and others provide very basic but adequate facilities that help patients to recover.

The variety of amenities available in rehab centers is really wide, so you’re likely to find a center that offers whatever you’re looking for.

Length of Program

Most treatment programs take 30-90 days, but many other options exist too.

Many experts strongly encourage 60-90-day programs as they consider 30 days to be too short to successfully work through drug abuse problems.

However, there are plenty of 30-day plans with an excellent history of success.

Additionally, longer stays may be impractical for many patients due to family, professional, or financial commitments.

Location

There are multiple viewpoints regarding the issue of whether or not it’s right to pick a rehab center located near the home of the addict.

Of course, nearby rehab options offer more convenience and may be ideal for patients with commitments near home they can’t leave for a long time.

But it’s also very useful to travel as far as you can for rehab. This more completely shatters the connection between you and your former life, especially harmful routines and relationships that encourage drug abuse.

Family Involvement

Alcoholism and drug abuse not only affects the alcoholic/addict, but also the entire family.

Family members often don’t realize how seriously they’ve been affected by drug dependency.

Getting your family involved is a crucial component of recovery. Rehab facilities vary by the quality and degree of family participation opportunities they offer.

Some offer family therapy while others provide a couple of lectures. Ask if there’s group therapy or if there’s any time allocated to family programs.

Rehab’s Core Principles

Some rehabs focus on a single religion, while others employ a 12-step program. Consider the kind of program you or your family member would most likely welcome.

Compare Rehab Facilities

Once you have all the relevant info about the different rehab options you’re looking at, it’s time to compare them. Choosing the right facility means you’ll have to weigh all factors carefully.

Before making a decision, you must determine what characteristics matter the most to you and select the rehab that best suits what you’re looking for.

It may not be possible to find a rehab that suits all your preferences and needs. However, you’ll be able to locate an excellent facility that’ll help you start your journey to recovery.

Sign Up

Once you’ve settled on the right rehab center, it’s time to sign up.

Every rehab facility has its own procedures and policies for registration, but they’ll have no qualms giving you that information.

Many rehabs will even let you enroll over the telephone.

Be sure to carefully go through and follow all registration and admission procedures to ensure your enrollment is successful.

Choose the Best Rehab Today

With so many rehab options out there, it may be difficult to pick the right facility, but it definitely doesn’t have to be.

So many rehab professionals out there are waiting to assist you or your loved one overcome an alcohol or drug addiction.

Contact us today and start the process of picking the right rehab facility right away.

Strength Through Sobriety: A Guide to Living the Good Life

Angela Manning Health , , , ,
Strength Through Sobriety: A Guide to Living the Good Life

Living a sober life can be a challenge, particularly in social situations. But we’ll show you how staying sober can make you a stronger person.

In the United States alone, nearly 14 million adults abuse alcohol or have an alcohol problem. If you are sober, congratulations! You are one of the few who made it.

Living a sober life isn’t always easy. In fact, many people who get sober struggle with the idea of “going back out,” or picking up drinking again.

If you are getting sober, you have so much to look forward to. And if you’ve been sober for a while, there are so many aspects of your life you can improve upon.

Getting sober isn’t just about saving your liver and avoiding blackouts; sobriety actually improves a ton of areas in your life.

Let’s talk about that.

Sobriety and You

Making the decision to get sober is a bigger life change than a lot of people may think. Once you get sober, you realize how much alcohol is ingrained in our social lives.

At brunch, people have mimosas. Coworkers go out for drinks after work. Everything seems to revolve around booze.

The good news is, once you’ve gotten sober, your life doesn’t have to be like that anymore.

The first thing many people realize when they get sober is how many times they have tried to problem-solve by using alcohol and nothing else.

Alcohol is a break-up’s best friend, a late night thinktank fuel. We use it in lieu of actual solutions.

Now that you are sober, you can start to look at the world through a clear lens. You no longer have to use an escape mechanism to function.

Notice that I said “have to use,” instead of “get to use.” Getting sober isn’t about punishing yourself for being bad at drinking; au contraire, it is a gift to your future self.

Instead of falling into an inescapable pattern of running away from problems, you are working on creating an environment where you can face them head-on. You are building a set of skills that are sadly rare nowadays. Skills to become a self-actualizing being.

Too many people spend their sad times drowning themselves in the drink instead of learning from them. People use alcohol as a replacement for self-improvement.

Living a sober life gives you a chance to pause. In the midst of stopping a habit that facilitates a brain fog, you have actually taken the first step toward discovering yourself.

A Sober Life Is a Healthy Life

This world is full of advertisements and spam about how to live a healthy lifestyle. Can anyone say that they know what that looks like? We’re drowning in fad diets and articles about how cellphones are bad for you. We have no concept of personal wellness.

A sober life is all about rediscovering yourself. When you live a sober life, you are constantly changing and growing.

It’s like once you stop pushing all your problems deep down inside, they start to get confronted with a healthy desire for change. How weird is that?

All jokes aside, being sober is a journey that leads you to personal wellness. What that means is that all of a sudden you start to see how your personal health might look different from other people’s.

Some people can drink with no problems. If that is not your case, you actually have an advantage, not a curse. You have the power of insight.

Too many people walk around life blindly, trying to find the next “in” thing. Getting sober puts you on a different life track- you are now in the sober life school, and here we learn about introspecting.

Sound boring? Not even a little bit. Learning about who you are is an incredible journey.

You know those people who are constantly reminiscing about how high school was the best time of their lives? Yeah, that means they peaked there. You, however, have bigger and better places to go.

Living a sober life leads to seeking out those who also live a sober life. These people tend to be people who are all about learning how to be the best versions of them they can be.

Surrounding yourself with positive people means you now have a supportive network that is on the same path as you. These people made a life change to pursue growth and happiness, not the next trend.

How many people can say they have that?

Rediscovering You

Living a sober life brings up many things, including retrospect. But the best part about being sober is that all of a sudden you realize that you can become any kind of person you want to be.

Once the brain fog lifts and your sober life takes full effect, you have much better control of your mental faculties than you used to. You sleep better, which means you are more aware during the day. Your weight stabilizes. Your skin gets clearer.

Yes, these are all surface benefits, but they are benefits nonetheless.

All of these things can help you look at yourself in a new light. If you have mental health issues (which, let’s face it, who doesn’t), you can finally have the clarity to address them.

Your self-esteem improves. Sobriety has a way of making you feel better about yourself physically, mentally, and emotionally. You no longer have to live with regrets from nights prior because you were too drunk to function. You can look the world in the eye.

Do you remember the last time you had a hobby that didn’t involve drinking? Well, now you can explore all the world has to offer. Try everything that looks interesting. You can develop a whole new side of you that you didn’t know existed.

There are so many new facets of yourself to explore, and living a sober life you can explore it all.

The Other Good Stuff

Obviously, living a sober life isn’t all about meditating on a mountain to find your inner self. Unless you want it to be, of course.

Once you get sober, you also save lots of money. Did you even realize how expensive going out drinking was? Either way, now you can save it or spend it however you please instead of just getting plastered.

You also have more fun. Fun that you can remember the next day. I mean sure, getting drunk can be a good time, but now you can be present. Go out dancing and really hear the music. Your senses become clearer in a sober life.

Your memory also improves, which is great considering how much you’ve probably forgotten before. Your relationship building skills get stronger. You develop boundaries and healthy ways of communicating with people.

You’ll find that getting sober makes you a better friend, partner, and person in general.

In addition, you also have so much more free time than before. You can spend your mornings learning new pancake recipes instead of being so hungover that you can’t leave your bed. You also develop more motivation.

You will rediscover a will to live fully, even more fully than before.

Struggling in Sobriety

Remember that bit about dealing with problems better once you’re sober? Well, you’re going to need those skills. Life doesn’t stop just because you got sober. And learning how to deal with life on life’s terms is a process.

It can be difficult to transition from stuffing your problems down to facing them and solving them as they come up. But it is doable, provided you stay sober during the process.

If you feel like you want to start drinking again, don’t give up hope. There are so many resources for people struggling with alcohol problems nowadays. This website alone has dozens of resources and references to help you get through the tough times.

Working through the tough stuff is never fun, but now that you are living a sober life, you can start to see it as a growth process, rather than a pain.

No matter what happens in your life, you never have to drink again. There are so many options for help in the world that you can go through anything and come out the other side sober and successful.

Going Out in The World

The world is full of people who don’t understand the sober life. Hopefully, you have already found people who understand, and if you haven’t, I promise they are out there. You just have to keep focusing on being the best you that you can be.

There are more people out there living a sober life than you think.

For more information, explore the health section on our blog.