Center for Addiction Treatment and Recovery

Substance Abuse Center

admin — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 05:21:03 +0000

If you’re considering going to a substance abuse center, the very fact that you’re considering it probably means that you should find one that can help you. Most areas have several you can choose from, especially if you’re paying the fee yourself. If you have insurance that helps to pay, you may have to go to the substance abuse center that they choose.
You shouldn’t let this discourage you. If you’re ready to stop drinking or using drugs, even if you have to go to a facility that you wouldn’t choose if you had the money to pay for one yourself, going to any facility gives you a much better chance of being able to stay off drugs or alcohol in the long run.
A substance abuse center usually has several different programs. There may be one for alcohol, one for illegal drugs, and one for prescription drugs. The drug programs may be separated by types of drugs like opiates and stimulants, or the programs may be separated by specific drugs, like special programs for those addicted to cocaine that are separate from those addicted to pain killers or methamphetamines.
The more specific the programs in a substance abuse center, the more likely they are to help people struggling with addictions. You’d be in group sessions with people who are struggling with the same cravings and feelings you are. While no two addictions are exactly the same, there are a number of things all addicts have in common. And discussing those and sharing them with others in the same situation can be surprisingly helpful.
This is why groups like Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous help so many people. While there’s no medical treatment involved, the talk therapy of listening to the stories of other people who are going through the same things and then sharing your story can give you the feeling that you’re not alone and that others have been where you are and overcome their addictions. Group therapy at a substance abuse center succeeds on those same principles.
The biggest benefit of entering into treatment at a substance abuse center is the ability to get through the detox period successfully. Detox refers to the first few days after you stop using the substance you’re addicted to, whether that’s alcohol or a drug. Often, people are addicted to both, or a combination of different drugs. When you stop using these substances, your body reacts and you can suffer mild to severe symptoms of withdrawal.
These symptoms are what keep most people addicted. Withdrawal can be so upsetting and uncomfortable that even the most determined person may give in and use the substance again just to make the feelings, both mental and physical, stop. But if you’re staying at a substance abuse center during this period, they have medications to help with the physical symptoms and counseling to help with the intense feelings you may experience. People who go through detox at a substance abuse center at least get over the hump of withdrawal and are in a better position to continue with their treatment free of alcohol and drugs.

Drug Addiction

admin — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 05:20:02 +0000

Prescription drug addiction often takes people by surprise. Many people use certain prescription drugs, particularly those prescribed for anxiety or pain, for years without really thinking about the possibility that they could become addicted, or that they are addicted. It seems that many people believe that since the drug has been prescribed by a doctor and isn’t an illegal drug like marijuana or cocaine, that there’s no possibility that they could become addicted.
It’s important to understand that prescription drug addiction is very real and can strike anyone who is taking certain prescription drugs. The longer you take a potentially addictive drug, the higher your risk of becoming addicted is. Many people realize that some classes of drugs might be addictive, like Valium and other mood-altering drugs. But prescription pain killers and others drugs can also become addictive.
It’s also important to realize that prescription drug addiction isn’t all “in your head.” The addiction is a very real, physical manifestation of a body’s dependence on the drug. If you’ve taken a prescription medication for a while—and it can be a short while, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a long period of time—and you feel certain symptoms like irritability, headaches, or feelings of depression or lethargy when you stop using it, you may be addicted to that drug.
Unfortunately, many people with a prescription drug addiction continue to feed the addiction by convincing their doctors that they still need the drug for whatever it was prescribed for. For people who can no longer get the drug from one doctor, they often go to a second doctor or a third to start getting the prescription again, without informing their regular doctor. Some people even resort to purchasing the drugs illegally because they’re addicted to them.
Prescription drug addiction is a real addiction that requires real treatment, just as addiction to illegal drugs and alcohol require treatment. People who are addicted to prescription drugs will go through a similar detox program as people with other addictions do. When they stop using the drug they‘ll feel a variety of physical symptoms known as withdrawal. This period is usually the most difficult part of overcoming a prescription drug addiction, and it’s best to do so as a patient in a drug treatment facility.
You should be enrolled in a special program especially for people who have a prescription drug addiction, because the dynamics can be quite different from those who are addicted to alcohol or illegal drugs. Very often there’s a heavy feeling of victimization, because unlike the illegal drug user, the prescription drug addict wasn’t doing anything wrong that resulted in the addiction.
While all addictions will have similar traits, a prescription drug addiction can be different because the person was trying to help themselves with the prescription medication when they became addicted. It can often be quite a surprise to realize you’ve become dependent on the medication. If you suspect you have a prescription drug addiction, you should first speak to the doctor who has been prescribing the drugs, and then consider an inpatient stay in a drug treatment facility.

Drug Treatment Center

admin — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 05:18:01 +0000

Finding the right drug treatment center can be a challenge when you’re ready to overcome your drug addiction. Very often, cost is a major issue in finding a facility. Many people have health insurance that does pay at least part of the in-patient treatment for drug addiction. But those policies typically limit the facilities you can choose from. There may be only one in a geographical area where its plan holders can go to start drug treatment.
Unfortunately, every drug treatment center may not be right for everyone. Just like each person’s addiction is different, each center approaches that addiction in a unique way. While two centers may follow the same basic plan of treatment, they probably won’t have the same results. A different atmosphere can sometimes make all the difference in an addict’s treatment.
When the drug treatment center that’s covered by your insurance plan just doesn’t feel like a good fit, then it can seem like it might have best not to go into treatment at all. But any drug treatment center is better than none, particularly during the first few days after you stop using drugs. The detox period, as its known, is the period of time when you stop using and your body and mind start experiencing withdrawal symptoms.
It’s this period of time that is the reason most people who try to overcome addictions on their own fail at it and go back to using. The symptoms typically include things like depression, nervousness, tremors, feeling sick, aches and pains and a strong craving for the drug.
But symptoms can be more severe in some cases, with some people experiencing hallucinations, mental confusion, violent outbursts, vomiting, shortness of breath, palpitations, drops or elevations in blood pressure and even seizures. Someone with a long-term, severe addiction may need medical treatment to get through this period safely.
Because detox is so uncomfortable and difficult, many people who try to go it alone without the assistance of the staff at a drug treatment center never get through the symptoms. They give in and use the drug to stop the pain and the feelings they have. In a center, you’re monitored and typically helped with medication and other techniques to limit the amount of discomfort and physical symptoms you feel during withdrawal.
This can help get people through detox who could not have made it on their own. A drug treatment center can make a huge difference in a person’s ability to get drug free and stay that way. Those without insurance may resist going into treatment because of the cost, and some people simply can’t afford it.
For those whose income is below a certain level, most states offer basic insurance that would pay for a short stay in a drug treatment center. For those who make too much for such programs, they should consider the price of their health and somehow try to afford even a short stay in a drug treatment center to help them at least get through withdrawal.

Drug Rehab Center

admin — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 05:13:56 +0000

A drug rehab center is the best place to go when you’re ready to overcome an addiction to drugs. Centers that treat you for drug addiction are different than those that treat you for alcoholism. The same facility might treat both kinds of addiction, but the programs are different because the addictions are a bit different and need to be dealt with individually.
Sometimes people fighting drug and alcohol addictions can be in the same group counseling programs or meetings, but the dynamics of the addictions are different. A drug rehab center is designed to meet the specific needs of people who are trying to break their addiction to drugs.
Some drug rehab centers are broken down into more specific groups, because different drugs pose different sets of problems for people who are addicted. Someone who feels addicted to marijuana for example, is going to have a different set of needs and problems to be addressed than someone who is addicted to heroin or meth.
While addiction itself has similar dynamics among all groups, some drug addictions are easier to overcome than others. A special group just for meth addicts is going to go over some different territory than those addicted to cocaine or marijuana.
A drug rehab center will often have varying lengths of stay. A meth addict is more likely to stay for an extended period of time than another addict because of the great difficulty most people have in overcoming meth addiction. Someone who enters drug rehab to get free of marijuana or cocaine may stay for a much shorter time.
Some drug rehab centers also have outpatient programs, where people simply come each day or on certain days for therapy and treatment and then go back home. While this approach does work for some people, it works less well for others. The more severe and long-term the addiction, the less likely outpatient treatment is to work.
Usually, outpatient treatment is part of the overall plan of the drug rehab center. A person who is addicted comes to the center and is monitored very carefully for the first few days during what’s known as the detox period. Some people actually come to drug rehab already in a detox period because they’ve stopped using and they realize they need to help to stay clean. Others haven’t gone very long with using drugs and begin detox after they arrive.
Detox brings with it withdrawal, which are mental and physical symptoms of withdrawing from the drug use. As a person’s body goes without the drug, a variety of symptoms result, and some of them can be severe. It’s best to go through this period in the safety of a drug rehab center, in case the physical symptoms require medical treatment.
This withdrawal and detox period can last several days, but usually lasts from two to four. After that, treatment begins. And once a person has completed a course of treatment, they leave the drug rehab center but come back regularly for ongoing outpatient treatment to help them stay free of their addiction.

Drug Detox

admin — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 05:10:33 +0000

Drug detox is often the hardest part of getting free of a drug addiction. This is the period where the person stops using drugs, and the body starts to get rid of the drugs. It’s a difficult but necessary step in fighting a drug addiction. While some people may think they can go to classes or groups like Narcotics Anonymous and benefit from them while they’re still using, a person can’t make decisions and see things clearly the same way when they’re being affected by drugs as they can once they’ve gotten them out of their system.
Drug detox is the whole period of time when you’re getting those drugs and poisons out of your system. Many people go through this period on their own by simply choosing to stop using drugs. Detox is a difficult period because of the withdrawal and its symptoms that begin as soon as your body doesn’t get the drugs it’s expecting to have. Those who get through this period successfully are much more likely to be able to continue without using drugs.
It’s much safer and easier to go through drug detox in a treatment facility. That’s because you don’t know how severe your withdrawal symptoms will be. They could be mild, especially if you don’t use large amounts of drugs or haven’t been using them for very long. But even mild withdrawal can make you feel ill enough and uncomfortable enough that it’s very difficult not to give in and use the drugs just for some relief.
If you’ve been using the drug for a long time or you tend to use large amounts of the drug when you do use, the detox period is going to be even more difficult. It may even be necessary for you to be monitored during withdrawal for your own health and safety, because the symptoms can become very serious.
Often, people aren’t just addicted to one drug, but instead they use both the drug and alcohol or a combination of different drugs with or without alcohol. This makes drug detox even more difficult and riskier because different substances tend to show different symptoms during withdrawal. The person in detox may be bombarded with physical symptoms and mental symptoms that are so overwhelming that they could not refrain from using a drug if they weren’t in a treatment facility where it’s impossible to do so.
If you go through drug detox in a treatment facility, it will be much easier than if you do it on your own. That’s because there are therapies and medications available that can help you experience fewer uncomfortable symptoms. You will experience strong cravings for the drugs or the alcohol, but symptoms like pain, tremors, nausea and other physical symptoms can be managed with a variety of medications. Counseling can also help ease the mental distress.
Only once all traces of the drugs are out of the system after drug detox is a person ready to begin serious treatment and start understanding why they felt the need to use to the point of addiction in the first place.

Alcoholism Treatment

admin — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 05:09:25 +0000

Alcoholism treatment is the formal treatment of someone who is addicted to alcohol. This treatment can consist of an in-patient stay at a treatment facility, outpatient treatment or a combination of the two. While groups like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA) can help people who are addicted to alcohol and drugs, these are self-help groups and aren’t considered alcoholism treatment. They may be recommended as an adjunct to formal treatment if it seems they may be of help, especially during outpatient treatment and after a program ends.
Alcoholism treatment begins with alcohol detox. This is why many people don’t do well when they start an outpatient treatment in the beginning or simply choose to go for counseling to try to overcome alcoholism. Because they’re missing the formal detox program that can help them after they stop drinking, many find it difficult to completely abstain from alcohol.
When a person who has been using alcohol regularly stops drinking, they go through a withdrawal period, where they suffer from psychological and physical symptoms caused by the lack of alcohol in their systems. They’ll experience severe cravings for alcohol, which are mainly psychological, but physically they may suffer from aches, pains, nausea, vomiting and even more severe symptoms. Heavy users can have what’s commonly known as DTs, which is a severe tremor sometimes accompanied by hallucinations or confusion.
Someone who has used alcohol heavily for a long time, or an alcoholic who may not be in very good health, should really go through formal alcoholism treatment so that they can go through the detox period and the withdrawals in a formal, medical setting. Some symptoms can be severe and affect things like blood pressure and respiration, which could actually put some people at risk. Going through withdrawal as a patient in an alcoholism treatment facility lets the staff use medication and techniques like counseling to help ease symptoms and make it easier to get the alcohol out of your system.
Once the detox period is finished, the withdrawal symptoms end. The strong cravings for alcohol typically persist for a long time, however. This is where in-patient alcoholism treatment is useful. Though the detox period is the usually the most difficult and intense part of treatment, someone leaving a facility immediately after going through detox is still very vulnerable to alcohol. Without further treatment to help a person understand their addiction and how to fight it, it’s very easy to jump right back into hold habits and be around friends and family who may also be alcoholics. This makes success much less likely.
The most successful use of outpatient programs during alcoholism treatment comes after detox and after a period of time of one on one therapy and group counseling. The alcoholic needs to understand his addiction better, and to understand why he felt the need to drink in the first place, to be able to stay sober over the long haul. Alcoholism treatment works best when people stay for a while after detox, then continue with outpatient treatment as they adapt to their day to day lives again.

Alcohol Rehab Center

admin — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 05:08:23 +0000

An alcohol rehab center is a facility designed to help people overcome their addiction to alcohol. Every alcohol rehab may not just focus on alcohol; some also have programs for drug addiction and other self-destructive behaviors. Some centers require in-patient treatment only during the detox period and then they allow patients to leave and continue with outpatient treatment.
Other centers keep patients after the detox period for a period of days or weeks to help them better understand their addictions. That type of alcohol rehab center will typically have an outpatient program that people who successfully complete the inpatient program can continue with for a while as they go back to their daily lives and face the challenge of having alcohol available to them at any time.
Sometimes an alcohol rehab center will give patients the option of leaving after the detox program or staying for further treatment. If you go through detox and can stay longer, you should. Alcoholics who continue inpatient treatment beyond the detox period have a much better chance of staying sober and avoiding relapse.
That’s because though detox does get you through the worst physical symptoms of alcohol withdrawal, it’s through continued therapy and group counseling that you can better get at the reasons you drink. The more you understand about the disease of alcoholism, the more knowledge you have to fight against it with. You can learn to recognize your triggers—things that send you into the compulsion to drink—and avoid them. At the very least, you’ll be able to recognize a trigger for what it is and be better able to resist giving in and having a drink.
An alcohol rehab center that offers outpatient treatment to those who leave can help you once you complete the inpatient portion. They may recommend that you go to meetings like those given by Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) groups to help you when you’re feeling vulnerable and can’t get formal help from the center.
Many people attend these meetings to help them stay sober, because being surrounded by people who are going through the same thing and seeing others who have overcome what you’re going through can be a huge help. Some people go just when they feel a strong craving for alcohol, which may be only once in a while, while others go to every available meeting, even as often as once or twice a day.
It’s important to get the help you need, no matter how often you may need to go or how often you may need to contact a counselor at your alcohol rehab center. They’re there to help you, and will do everything they can to help you overcome the urge to drink.
If you’re trying to choose an alcohol rehab center, choose one that has a comprehensive outpatient program that you can take advantage of once you leave. While it’s easy to not drink while in the facility because there’s no alcohol available, once you leave the alcohol rehab center, the temptation to drink may be higher simply because it’s so easy to purchase alcohol.

Alcohol Detox

admin — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 05:07:17 +0000

Alcohol detox is the period of time you go through immediately after you stop drinking. It’s a necessary step, and probably the most difficult step, in overcoming alcoholism. While a person who is addicted to alcohol will always need to avoid alcohol and will always be an alcoholic, alcohol detox means the difference between being a using alcoholic and a recovering one.
Alcohol detox lets your body cast of the alcohol and its immediate effects, much like letting a poison dissipate from your system. For alcoholics, alcohol literally is poison that affects both your mind and your body. When you’re in the habit of drinking and you stop, your body and your mind will both react, sometimes violently.
The human body is very adaptable, but it’s also a thing of habit. When you give it alcohol on a regular basis, your system adjusts and gets used to the regular intake of alcohol. When that doesn’t happen, you will experience a variety of physical and mental effects known as withdrawal symptoms.
These symptoms during alcohol detox are both psychological, meaning that you’re mentally dependent on the alcohol, and physiological, meaning that your bodily systems have become dependent as well. Many people make the mistake of thinking that alcoholism is all “in your head,” and that a person could stop drinking if they simply decided to do so.
This is only partly correct. An alcoholic can choose to not purchase a drink and drink it, or not have alcohol in the house so that drinking is difficult and essentially go through alcohol detox on his own. No one forces an alcoholic to keep drinking but himself, or herself. So in that regard, an alcoholic does make the decision to drink.
But if a person who has never struggled with addiction could understand how difficult the compulsion to drink is to overcome, they may better understand why so many people continue to use even though they know it’s physically harming them and causing many problems in their lives.
Alcohol detox causes withdrawal symptoms that make it very difficult to stay strong and not drink, and for many the psychological symptoms can be just as harrowing as the physical ones. If a person has been addicted to alcohol for a long time, however, or they tend to use large amounts of alcohol at a time, the withdrawal symptoms can be almost impossible to deal with on their own. It may not even be healthy or safe to try to handle withdrawal on your own, depending on a number of factors.
If people are in poor overall health and/or of advanced age, it’s really crucial to go through alcohol detox in a medical setting with staff that are qualified to manage their symptoms. Withdrawal symptoms can be physically difficult and even have serious consequences. The age of the people going through withdrawal can also make a difference in the types of treatments used to ease symptoms. Whether in a treatment center or on your own, alcohol detox is the first, necessary step in freeing yourself from alcohol.

Alcohol and Drug Addiction

admin — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 05:01:29 +0000

Addiction is one of the most difficult things a person can deal with. And addiction can strike anyone. Many people somehow think they’re immune to it. Of course, someone who’s not drinking or not using drugs has no risk of becoming addicted to either of those things. But many people who use drugs and drink but feel that they do so casually believe that they simply couldn’t become addicted.
This is the belief that most addicts have before they realize that they do have an addiction. If more people were aware that addiction isn’t simply something in the addict’s head but a real physical addiction that could happen to them, they might alter their behavior and avoid becoming addicted in the first place.
Addiction doesn’t just make people feel dependent on alcohol or drugs, either. People can become addicted to a variety of things, like gambling, pornography, thrill-seeking, spending money, and almost anything that makes people feel good for a short period of time.
Whether spending money can be an addiction with the same physical effects of alcoholism or drug addiction is debatable, but there is some evidence that the patterns that feel-good behavior causes in the brain makes it release substances that make us physically and mentally feel good. That could be where the actual addiction lies, in that rush you feel which is a true, physical sensation, and not just a state of mind.
Addiction, despite the openness with which people can talk about it today, is still highly misunderstood. Some people think that the drug addict or alcoholic chooses to keep using those substances. And there is an element of choice, because the person chooses to give in to the addiction and use or he chooses to fight the addiction and abstain from drinking or using drugs.
But many people who have never dealt with addiction personally or witnessed it in someone close to them don’t really how intense the physical side of addiction can be. When a person is addicted to alcohol or drugs, not using those substances doesn’t just keep them from those feel-good moments they experience while using. It causes a host of side-effects that make the person feel bad.
In some very severe addictions, a person’s life can actually be put at risk by the physical changes that occur once he stops using the substance. The period in which a person stops using is known as the detox period, and most people suffer mental and physical symptoms of withdrawal. This can range from feeling slightly ill to experiencing life threatening changes in brain chemicals, blood pressure, breathing and heart rhythms.
The severity of the withdrawal period usually depends on how long the person has been addicted and how much alcohol or drugs they typically use. A heavy drinker is going to have more severe withdrawals than someone who doesn’t drink nearly as much. Something else that’s misunderstood is what it takes to be an addict. You don’t have to use every day to have an addiction; it only has to negatively affect your life.

How do you know which addiction treatment center is right for you?

admin — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 04:59:48 +0000

How do you know which addiction treatment center is right for you? This can be a difficult choice, especially since the cost of in-patient treatment can be quite high. If you’re seeking an addiction treatment center, you may first want to consider the type of addiction you have. A facility that focuses on your addition, whether it’s to alcohol or a drug or both, may be the best option. They’re in a particular place to help you with your specific needs if they focus solely on what you need help with.
If your addiction is to alcohol, find an addiction treatment center that focuses on alcohol or at least has a separate program for alcohol. That’s not to say that you can’t have success with a general addiction treatment program. Many people do. Very often, the facilities will have a general addiction program but counsel people separately which can help deal with the specifics of their particular addictions. But you may be in group counseling and therapy with people who have different addictions.
If you’re entering for alcohol, you may be in group therapy with someone addicted to methamphetamines or someone addicted to cocaine. The group could contain people addicted to several different substances including some other alcoholics. If that doesn’t make you uncomfortable and you think you may benefit enough from the one on one counseling that focuses on your specific addiction, then you may benefit from such an addiction treatment center.
Some people simply do better when they’re surrounded by other people going through the exact same thing. A person who’s addicted to cocaine or meth has a different experience that an alcoholic or someone addicted to another drug. While addiction itself gives you all a certain amount of common feelings and experiences, each case is very different. This is true even among people who are addicted to the same thing. No two alcoholics or cocaine addicts are going to experience the addiction exactly the same, which is where one on one counseling comes into play.
Still, if you can find an addiction treatment center that solely focuses on your addiction or has a special program just for those with your addiction, you’re probably more likely to succeed. This is because that center will have more experience in helping people with your addiction, and experience does count.
An addiction treatment center that’s new isn’t necessarily one with no experience. Much depends on the doctors and staff that work there. They may have years of experience helping people overcome addictions but in different facilities and programs. You should look into the backgrounds and histories of the people who will be treating you before you decide on which treatment center you want to go to.
Also, while out-patient treatment is less expensive and less life-affecting that in-patient since you won’t be staying at the facility, you should choose a program that keeps you there as a patient at least through the detox period. A good addiction treatment center will help you get through withdrawal as painlessly as possible so you’re less tempted to give up.