As 2009 comes to an end, we are looking forward to a new year and a new decade.
Traditionally this is a time of new beginnings, of changes for the better we try to implement into our daily lives.
People will work for a promotion in the new year, quit smoking or lose weight, clean house and start fresh.
Many who live with addiction look to the new year as a time to pour the coals onto living a drug and alcohol free life. Ending addiction and choosing life.
This is a good goal for the new year, very positive and will affect many other lives.
If you are personally addicted or have someone you care about who is, take a look at setting this as a 2010 goal.
It will likely be difficult to do, you will have to deal with issues you don’t really want to take a look at . . .
But take heart - look at the goal, health, family, friendships extending out into the futrue.
It is a good goal.
If you need help you can call us, we will help you find the help you need to succeed.
Call 1 866 731 3729 or email drugrehabreferral@yahoo.com
A New Beginning
December 30th, 2009Prescription Abuse
December 29th, 2009It has become so common. Legal drug addiction. So many people are getting addicted to their pain killers. People who have never had any drug use have an accident, or put their back out, suffer some kind of pain and get prescribed an opiate pain killer and get addicted.
Worse yet, these drugs are easy for teens to get a hold of. Check out the medicine cabinet and there are all the goodies. Oh guess what you can get them on the internet too. Police reports of Pharma Parties are becoming common within the younger and younger crowds.
We need to wake up here. We are talking about opiate drugs - very addictive and lethal.
The International Narcotic Control Board estimates that 11.5 tons of oxycodone was manufactured world wide in 1998 and this grew to 75.2 tons in 2007. The United States has the highest total consumption world wide and the highest per capita consumption followed by Canada, Denmark, Australia and Norway.
A Canadian study released in November 2009 found painkillers causing twice the number of opiate deaths than two decades ago. It also found a dramatic rise in prescriptions to oxycodone found in Oxy Contin and Percocet.
With limited drug rehabilitation facilities available the brakes need to go on the prescribing of such substances.
Green Mental Health
December 9th, 2009Here is a video by a physician/psychiatrist Hyla Cass that gives you an idea of what we mean by holistic.
She is talking about treating the whole person, not symptoms and she is inclined to do so without the use of drugs where the cause can be corrected by other mean.
The Unholy Alliance
December 3rd, 2009The Unholy Alliance Between the DSM (the diagnostic manual written and used by psychiatrists) and the Pharma Industry.
If I had spent millions of dollars producing a brand new drug but I didn’t have anyone to sell it to that would be a bad investment. However if I had spent millions of dollars producing a new drug and could go to a friend and ask them to invent a use for it, and I could also provide a lot of advertising for that application to make it a marketable, desired product to the masses, that would be a good investment.
If my same friend’s job was introducing (at the consumer’s costs for my friend’s introduction) the consumer to my product, then we would have a very workable arrangement. I win because he is selling my product for me, my friend wins because he has a line up of consumers who have been convinced that there is something wrong with them that only my friend has access to the remedy for, and here’s the bone, only he can get it for them.
The consumer pays well for his time (or their insurance pays well on their behalf).
So the only cure, well we can’t really go that far so let’s say relief, is to buy my product and the only place they can buy it is from my friend (exclusive territory in “sales lingo”) then it’s all sewn up.
Brilliant! I only hope that some brighter than average consumer doesn’t start getting nosey about who is authoring the conditions. The “diseases” that never used to exist, and what their relationship is to me. Because gee if that were to happen, it would put both me and my friend out of business. I would have to go back to hawking used cars or something. Gee, now that is a scary thought . . .
Whitney Houston - Still Whacked on Crack?
December 2nd, 2009After a decade of rising to the unquestioned top of her field, and another decade of her falling from grace into crack addiction, marital troubles, her young daughter threatening to kill her mother with a knife and then her daughter’s own suicide attempt, it has been a long, sorrowful downhill slide to watch happen to one so loved and revered the world over. Happily, we have very recently watched Whitney raise herself up and out of her troubling circumstances. She was encouraged to go into rehab by loving family members. And she did. She got things on track, producing another monumental album and the Whitney that the world loves to love was back to her unbelievable performance level, perhaps even enriched by the struggles she had to overcome to get there again. Back on top and the world applauded.
But troubling evidence is mounting that she is not quite out of the woods yet. Several unprofessional and painfully publicized performances after the release of her latest blockbuster album leads to the conclusion that all is not remedied and she is still embroiled in drug use.
So many families have seen this troubling and heartbreaking pattern with crack addiction. It is often seen as one of the hardest addictions to heal from. Thinking a short - 30 day - 12 Step program is going to give the person all the tools needed to destroy one’s demons, especially a demon as malicious and cunning as crack is folly. In seeking a rehab program for a loved one or for yourself consider the benefits of a long term drug rehab program that heals all the various levels of addiction. It takes more than thirty days to heal from this deep a wound,
Prescription Drug Abuse
November 26th, 2009The abuse and addiction to prescription drugs amongst young people is reported to be escalating across the continent. From West Virginia to California and up into Canada young people are using prescription drugs like never before.
They are using various opiates - all the oxy’s, vicodin, percocets, lortabs etc., then there are benzodiazepines xanax, clonazepam or Klonopin and other drugs in this class. Ritalin, Cylert and Adderall are common amphetimines.
The use of these drugs by young people is frequent because of availability. Sometimes they can find them right at home in the medicine cabinet, if they can’t often a friend can. As well there are times when a doctor will prescribe to someone not understanding the full story. Of course they are all available on the street and the dealers know where to find customers.
So parents, lock up our medications, properly dispose of unused medications by returning them to the pharmacy, and talk to your children about risky behaviors in a non-accusative manner, just give them information and find out their opinions.
Can Prescription Drugs Make You Fat?
November 22nd, 2009In this very weight conscious society of ours, one problem gets googled more than any other - “weight loss”. It seems everyone is battling the bulge these days. Now it has come to light that the very medicines you are getting from your doctor may be contributing to the problem.
Statistics have risen on both obesity and use of prescription pills and it could very well be there is a connection.
Drugs like steroids (i.e. prednisone), anti-depressants (Elavil, Paxil, Zoloft) and even anti-psychotics (Zyprexa) are proven to directly cause weight gain, as much as five to ten pounds a month. It is not uncommon for regular users of these drugs to swell up to unnatural obesity, even if the diet has not changed that much, or at all.
Other drugs like Prozak, Wellbutrin, and street drugs like methamphetimines and crack do the opposite which is why you see people taking these substances looking rail thin and even gaunt as the normal body fat gets stripped away. However these drugs have such drastic direct and detrimental effects, that it would be very unwise to use them in a fat loss quest. Your body may become skinny, but you could lose your zest for life. You could lose your life altogether as a matter of record.
Between the two extremes perhaps is where we want to be. The old standby of watching what you eat being short on the sugar and long on the veggies and protein, may be the answer to not only weight problems, but keeping the mood stabilized as well. Using this method is safer, easier on your body, easier on your mind, and contributes to health and longevity rather than destroying the delicate balance of a healthy body.
When you are seeking help with depression or weight loss, it might be wise to consider natural alternative treatments:
1. exercise releases endorphins
2. sunshine on the skin also does that
3. eating a nutrient dense diet and cutting out worthless calories makes energy abundant in the body.
An unhealthy body, whatever the cause, turns into a nightmarish concoction of symptoms. Why not consider reverting back to a simpler, more healthful diet and lifestyle and let the healthy body re-emerge as the natural consequence.
Kids Doing Drugs
November 20th, 2009November 20th is “Universal Children’s Day” in many parts of the World. For anyone who deals with people under 18 years of age there is a simplified version of the Rights of a Child. In this line of thought here are some comments from people who got involved in drugs while under the age of 18 and became actual addicts.
Why did they try drugs?
“Was trying to pick friends, wanted to fit in, I was not popular, everybody was doing it, my friends were doing it, to have fun, it was the cool thing to do, I couldn’t deal with life, I wouldn’t listen to any one, the rebel kids did them, it was a rebellious thing, I just wanted to see what it was like, I was bored, I didn’t know what addiction meant.”
Where did they first get drugs?
“Friends, a friend, older kids, older brother’s friends, older sister, my dad, a buddy.”
What were they told about them?
“It’s a little pick me up, just do it once in a while, it’s not going to hurt you really, you’ll have a fun time, it’ll be easier to talk to girls, you are going to like it, you’ll be really up.”
What do dealers say they said to kids?
“You say whatever you can to get a customer, you lie so they believe you so you can make money, I would tell them it’s fun, it makes you energetic, it makes you someone people want to be around, I would tell them whatever they wanted to hear.”
Parents, teachers, everyone should be aware of the availability of drugs to persons under 18 and know if they do get in over their heads, there is a lot less help for them available until they become adults. Talk to kids with reality about drugs, find out some facts, don’t try to control or scare them. Just like you and me they need data.
Bio Physical Drug Rehab
November 18th, 2009The Bio Physical Drug Rehab is widely known to be the most effective rehab method. It addresses the physical addiction in depth, as well as dealing with the mental and emotional issues the individual faces.
In a bio physical program a person is withdrawn off the drugs and/or alcohol that he is using. Once this is done and he is physically stable he enters the full drug detox step of the program in which his entire system is cleansed of drugs and toxins.
The program base is that when one takes a drug, alcohol or other toxic substance the body immediately starts eliminating it. When there is too much to eliminate the body stashes the excess in areas that have low circulation, such as fatty tissue. Slowly the body will release small amounts so it can take years to get these substances out of the body,
This slow release is a hidden trigger for relapse.
The full drug detox employed by bio physical rehab programs uses good nutrition, with vitamin and mineral supplements, moderate exercise, a regular schedule of good meals and sleep and time spent in a sauna using the body’s largest organ, the skin to sweat toxins out.
When this step is complete you feel very healthy physically and very clear minded - all the cobwebs and fuzziness are gone. You are ready to deal with all the mental and emotional aspects of successful rehab.
If you are looking for lasting results this is the way to go and we can help you find this rehab in Canada, the USA or other parts of the world.
The Mental Health of An Addict
November 15th, 2009This is a controversial topic. Generally speaking mental health is controversial and so is drug addiction.
So with that in mind, here is something to look at.
How concerned about the mental health issues of an addict should you be? Are there really mental health issues? If so what should be done about it?
Often an addict looks crazy or does crazy things when you are just looking at their life style and behavior. The kinds of actions they engage in, the personality changes they go through. Does that mean there is mental illness that should be dealt with?
Or are things like depression, anxiety attacks, manic episodes, paranoia, compulsive actions a part of addiction?
If they are a part of addiction shouldn’t a drug rehab program deal with the addiction in all its’ manifestations.
Well if you speak with ex-addicts who have gotten their lives back, are now functioning in society they will tell you they are part of their addiction. Yes, the drugs create a lot of bad effects some of these are what appears to be mental illness.
So should they get diagnosed with what ever symptoms they are displaying?
Simple answer is no, not while addicted. It results in an unfair diagnosis. If they successfully get off the drugs those symptoms go away - but a label of Bi-Polar, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder does not go away. The real danger is that once diagnosed with a mental illness the treatment is a drug. The drugs prescribed are psychotropic substances with lots of effects and side effects. That is why benzos, anti ADHD medications and others have street value - you can get high and you can get hooked.
Treating symptoms is dangerous. Look for holistic drug rehab programs that know the symptoms of drug/alcohol addiction and get to the source of the many problems and bizarre behaviors it creates.