Crystal Meth Addiction Treatment

For the first time ever, science has teamed up with several government agencies to track the occurrence of illegal manufacturing of methamphetamine. The outcome: statistical data on high-risk areas that are more likely to house laboratories and their number-one customers… addicts.

Normally a science reserved for monitoring the outbreak and spread of disease, epidemiology has proven to be a very effective tool for studying the black-market avenues by which meth labs thrive.

New Experiment Identifies Locations of Deadly Meth Labs

Dr. Daniel Sudakin, epidemiologist, medical toxicologist, associate professor at Oregon State University, and author of the study, assimilated over 2500 incidents on record at the state’s poison control center, medical examiner’s office, narcotics enforcement division and hazardous substances surveillance system.

Data related to methamphetamine deaths, manufacturing labs, toxic fumes, accidental ingestion of the chemical ingredients, by-product waste dumps, and drug overdoses spanning the past nine years were entered into a special computer program to look for clusters of locations and/or time frames of activity.

The Importance of Consolidated Investigations

“This OSU study incorporates information about when and where these incidents occurred, giving us a bigger picture of what’s going on across the state,” Sudakin explains. “It also includes rural areas, which tend not to be studied as much as urban areas in terms of meth use and production.”

Using the technology, counties with the most incidents of meth-related activity were quickly identified as local hot-spots – primarily rural, sparsely-populated, agricultural areas of the state. By studying the patterns from an epidemiologist’s perspective, researchers, law enforcement officials, and health care specialists can gain a better understanding of how and where to focus their resources.

So along with the 2005 law that requires prescriptions for cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine, Oregon health officials will now be better able to provide drug prevention and addiction treatment information to individuals in rural towns. Knowing the dangers that the dealer’s won’t tell you about is the next step, and having access to affordable rehab when the dangers have been ignored is the second.

Tell Us: Do you think technology like this could be effective for combating other types of drug addictions?

Do you know what your addiction relapse moment will be? This question isn’t meant to stir up fear and panic inside you. It’s meant to make you think honestly about yourself. What are the personal areas of your life that are most vulnerable, making you seek the comfort of hiding in alcohol and/or drugs?

Drug Addiction Has Dark Days

If you’ve struggled with drug addiction, you have certainly known some dark times in your life. Even if you’ve been to drug treatment before, you know you are never done with the recovery journey. Much of what goes on in the daily life of a drug addict has to do with emotions. When a person has a mental illness or a drug addiction (or both), feelings are put in charge. Good sense and rational thinking make rare appearances, and don’t have a lot of say.

With that much raw emotion dangling out in the air, your vulnerabilities hang right out there, too. Oh, you might disagree with me on that one. You’ve done a pretty solid job of hiding your deepest shame, your conflicting beliefs, your guilt. Ironically, the more strongly you protect these weak spots (without honesty), the more you expose your less appealing personal qualities.

Anxiety and Feeling Weak Can Be Relapse Triggers

For example, let’s just say that you have some significant anxiety. You thought you were in control of many things, but you are now facing reality. If your confidence was built on this perception of control, you are suddenly feeling pretty weak.

To protect these feelings of weakness and strong anxiety, you may take bigger risks at work to impress others. You might do more finger pointing about other people’s failures that “make you look bad.” You are scared and you believe others will know you are/were a fraud. But you’d much rather go down in flames than have anyone realize how anxious and ashamed you feel.

This is what it’s like having your emotions run the show. To make matters worse, you might begin to use alcohol or drugs to help you calm your disturbing feelings. It’s a lot of work to hold down your anxiety and deflect “attacks” – maybe a drink or a hit will help you forget. Of course, you would probably define this as just chilling out, having fun, or de-stressing. You are actually giving your fragile emotions more weapons to use against yourself.

Anxiety over losing control is just one example of an addiction relapse hot button. Yours might be shame over being abused as a child, and anything that triggers those memories. Or, you might struggle with bipolar, and the appeal of the manic cycle may overshadow your good sense to seek treatment at that time. It doesn’t matter so much what your relapse hot buttons might be, just that you know honestly what they are.

Drug Rehab Is Not A Cure For Drug Addiction

One problem with relapse is that some people hold a fantasy about drug rehab, that it ends their addiction for good – they will never experience the woes of drug addiction ever again. While some people certainly do hold on to their sobriety for years, the fantasy of drug rehab as some kind of “fix” is just that – a fantasy.
Does this mean that you should be discouraged about going to drug rehab? Absolutely not.

Be cautious about all-or-nothing thinking. Drug treatment isn’t a cure for addiction, but it most definitely provides the best chance for a person to gain long-standing sobriety. The key? Know your relapse hot buttons and keep on them every day.

Trying to Fix the Problem of Alcoholism

The World Health Organization is extending an open invitation for all interested parties and persons to voice their ideas for combating the negative effects of alcohol abuse.

Suggestions are being taken throughout the month of October, 2008 and will become a part of the official documentation presented to health officials, industry representatives, non-governmental organizations, and member states during round table discussions in November.

The Need for Open Communication about Solutions to Alcohol Abuse

“The harmful use of alcohol is a leading risk factor for premature death and disability in the world. Every year at least 2.3 million people die from alcohol-related causes,” says Assistant Director-General of the WHO’s Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health Cluster, Dr. Ala Alwan. “This web-based public hearing is broad and inclusive and will provide an opportunity for everyone, including the public, to present their views on effective strategies to reduce the burden resulting from the harmful use of alcohol.”

The Importance of Participating in Government Decision-Making

Friends and loved ones who have witnessed firsthand the harmful effects of alcohol abuse and addiction are far better qualified to propose grassroots strategies for combating this deadly disease than most wealthy politicians who might be far removed from its influence. Hearing what the people have to say about the situation also makes decision making much fairer to those who will be affected by the decisions in the long run.

“We are particularly interested in getting views on integrated approaches that can protect at risk populations, young people and those affected by harmful drinking by others,” says Dr Benedetto Saraceno, Director of the WHO’s Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse.

How to Get Your Voice and Suggestions Heard

If you’ve ever thought to yourself, “If only there weren’t so many liquor stores on this block, the men around here might come home at night to see their children and wake up in the morning to go to work,” then you would be the perfect candidate to suggest a limit to the number of alcoholic retailers in a given location.

Once you’ve pinpointed a problem – in your neighborhood, your family unit, your town or county – and reframed it into a viable, workable solution, the next step is to log on to the WHO’s website and follow the instructions on how to log your suggestion.

Submissions can be composed in any of the UN’s six official languages (English, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, French, and Russian) and should be no longer than 2000 words. Participants can also utilize up to 500 words to outline their viewpoint on alcohol and the related health crisis.

Tell Us: What ideas, viewpoints, and suggestions can you contribute to the discussion?

Just Say No To Drugs was the mantra in the late 1980′s. Nancy Reagan championed this phrase give teens a simple response to drug and alcohol peer pressure. Many parents simply tell their kids that drugs are bad and they should stay away from them. But why is this approach just not enough? Talking with kids about drugs and alcohol is a challenge, but it doesn’t have to leave you tongue-tied.

Be Honest About Why Drugs May Seem Fun

It’s tempting for parents to simply demonize drugs and alcohol, attempting to scare their children away from even the idea of trying it. While this approach is understandable and pretty common, it probably leaves some good learning opportunities out of the picture. It’s strong on power but weak on understanding the nature of teenage temptation.

A more effective approach would include being pretty honest about the reasons people think taking drugs and drinking is fun. Honestly describing the attractive effects of drugs doesn’t necessarily make taking them more likely. Being honest keeps the mystery down and keeps the talk straight.

For example, you can say that some people really enjoy how alcohol relaxes them. It makes them feel kind of silly and loose, like they are having fun and forgetting their troubles. It’s also why friends might try to convince someone else to try it (like your kid). Then say how friends are more likely to tell you the “good” things about drinking and taking drugs, or make it seem cool or funny to get in trouble and buck against the adults.

Be Just As Honest About The Dangers of Drugs

Tell them just as honestly how alcohol and drugs affect their feelings in bad ways, too. Sadness gets sadder when they are drinking, anger gets stronger, crazy mood swings are exhausting. They are more likely to do things they would regret while drinking or taking drugs. They have a better chance of hurting themselves accidentally or intentionally, a better chance at having dangerous, abusive, or unprotected sex.

Talk about kids and adults who have had big enough problems that they needed to go to drug rehab or an alcohol treatment center. Even if it hasn’t happened in your community, the internet makes it convenient to look up good examples of kids who went far off the track with drugs and alcohol.

You know your kid better than most other people, what they value, what they wouldn’t want to get off track, what they need from you as a parent. If they have big concerns about friend rejection, they may take drugs to feel like they fit in and have friends. If they have anxiety from academic and success pressure, their weak spot might be tension relief.

Kids Will Listen To What Their Parents Say About Drugs

Kids still listen to their parents as teenagers, and they certainly don’t need their parents less at this age. But peers do become very important to teens and preteens. If you can appreciate this and help your kid see the bigger picture, you will remain a valuable source of support and honesty for them.

You probably won’t be there when those big moments of temptations happen. But locking your kids in the closet isn’t going to teach them much about making good choices either. If you discover that your child already has a problem with drugs and alcohol, you may need to consider drug rehab or alcohol treatment. When you keep the communication open and honest, there’s always a chance for a good outcome.

Family Culture Affects Drug Use Choices

You’ve had all the talks, you’ve stressed the importance of staying away from drugs and alcohol each and every time he leaves to go hang out with his friends, you’ve made yourself available to talk about pressures from school or troubles with relationships, and he knows every speech before the first words even leave your mouth. Clearly, he’s listening. So why do you still feel troubled?

“How acceptable children thought it was for adolescents to drink alcohol was explained by their own self-views, not by their mothers’ beliefs about them. And that’s not surprising given that what you think about yourself is going to be strongly tied to what you think is acceptable behavior,” says Stephanie Madon, associate professor of psychology at Iowa State University.

In other words, “the more acceptable teens believed adolescent alcohol use was, the more alcohol they tended to drink themselves.”

Clear Communication has Positive Effects for Children’s Alcohol Use

Science is just now catching on to what women for centuries have referred to as maternal instinct. Moms have their own beliefs about drugs and alcohol use that were likely influenced heavily by their mothers and grandmothers before them. The challenge, then, is to instill those beliefs – those moral values – into our children so that they become second nature before the itch to leave home and experience life on their own starts kicking in.

Madon advises mothers to communicate in every way possible the message that alcohol use during adolescence is out of the question. When kids begin to internalize this message and repeat it over and over again for themselves, claiming it as their own belief, what tends to form is an equally unacceptable view of underage drinking, both for themselves and for their friends.

Delivering the Message about Teenagers and Alcohol

There are many ways to get the point across that teenagers are not yet ready to use alcohol. But just telling them not to do something is the surest way to actually get them to do it. There must be a reason you’re telling them not to, and if you’re not offering any explanation to reinforce the directive, kids will have to find out what you’re talking about the hard way.

The most important thing you can do to instill a firmly-rooted belief is to start early. We don’t wait until our children are ready to host a fancy dinner party then give them a crash course in table manners. From the time they are small children sitting in a high-chair and learning to feed themselves, basic rules come into play (keep your plate on the table, don’t throw your food or put your fork in your eye) to keep order and avoid disaster.

The skills we learn at a very young age develop into some of our greatest strengths as we begin to mature. So give your kids videos about how to say no to drugs, attend community presentations about drug safety, ask questions to the firefighters and police officers who volunteer at the events, point out the repercussions of dependence and addiction to alcohol by using friends and neighbors as examples.

Whenever you see evidence of drugs and alcohol being used, ask your child what he would do if faced with the same situation and you weren’t there. Teaching our kids how to avoid the dangers in life is not the same thing as telling them. Get them thinking about alternative solutions and you’ll be giving them the tools they need to successfully navigate in the real world.

Tell Us: Do you think drugs or alcohol would be such a struggle for you now if your parents had explained more about them before you had a chance to experiment?

Lindsey Lohan’s had one, so has Paris Hilton, Heather Locklear, and even Joba Chamberlain this weekend. They’ve all been arrested for or charged with a DUI recently. If you’ve had a DUI, you know it can be a costly, embarrassing, and soul-searching ordeal. A DUI can even prompt a trip to an alcohol treatment center or outpatient alcohol rehab. Now matter how difficult the experience, it can become one of the best things to ever happen to you.

DUI Breaks The Facade That You Have Everything Under Control

Just because you can’t see the brick wall doesn’t mean you aren’t headed straight for it. A DUI can really wake you up and turn your routines upside down. Suddenly you have to bum rides from friends, your social life is likely very different, and your financial obligations are steeper.

You thought you knew what you are doing, maybe that you even “drove better” than other people you knew who drove drunk. But once your problems were exposed, you realized just how awful your life really was at the time. You had no significant other, you felt like you were in a rut at work, one of your parents had just died, and everyone you knew was getting married and having a happier life than you. After some alcohol rehab, you were able to understand your problems better and start to untangle them. You started exercising, made a couple new friends, and made better choices. By the time you got your license you were still in the process, but you had some true hope for a better quality life. Strangely, you felt thankful your lies were stopped in their tracks.

DUI Costs Money Embarassment Legal Problems And More

A DUI can hit you in so many ways – your wallet, your public and social image, your transportation options, and your legal record. Amazingly, some people have multiple DUI’s before they get serious drug or alcohol rehab. Sometimes, just one DUI is all it takes to turn your life around. For a person with untreated mental illness, a deeply set addiction, or multiple addictions, it may take more to get the message through.

A person of limited income will feel the hit to the pocket book a lot harder than a celebrity, but the celebrity can have immense damage to their reputation from just one offense. You often don’t realize the freedom of being able to drive wherever you want until that privilege is taken from you. You may think you understand being self conscious until you hear how many people have read your name in the paper. You may take your auto insurance for granted until you discover you have a higher rate for a few years. No matter your income or social status, a DUI is intended to be taken seriously.

DUI And Alcohol Rehab Force Reality Upon You

If you can stand it, a DUI is a huge opportunity for you. It forcibly stuns you into reality. A cop has your blood alcohol level, has your driving and behavior on videotape, records the alcohol smell. Tough to deny. Reality may be something you are actively trying to avoid. Get drunk and you don’t notice too much around you. Convince yourself you have only had “a few” and can drive OK.

Reality may bite, but it doesn’t lie. Once you really know you have a drinking problem, it’s time to begin accepting the fact. You can hide from it, but it doesn’t make it disappear. If you are ready to face the truth and keep your head out of the sand, alcohol rehab is a great place to start. Reality is the real blessing of a DUI and alcohol rehab.

More than likely, you didn’t start out life with aspirations of having a drug addiction. Taking addictive drugs is sort of a “something is better than nothing” approach when managing an untreated mental illness. Unfortunately, moments of your life slip by forever as you wander in the wilderness of drug addiction and emotional pain. The price for temporary relief from drugs may be more than you realize.

Mental Illness and Drug Addiction Living Hell

A person with untreated mental illness will tell you how awful daily living really is. Minutes of misery feel like hours. Hours get sucked away just trying to isolate from others, rationalize with irrational emotional beasts inside, and cope with the basic responsibilities.

Most people in this situation would give anything to be free of the burden, even if just for a short time. But what most people in this spot don’t (and can’t ) rationally consider is the fallout of choosing drugs to deal with mental illness.

When you are plagued with depression, anxiety, or unpredictable mood swings, your judgment and critical thinking skills are messed up. A logical thinking process takes a bit of time to develop. This is nearly impossible with a constant stream of interruptive thoughts spelling doom and gloom, changing the subject, and expanding reasonable concerns into do-or-die catastrophies. Amazingly, you might scoff at the idea of drug treatment. It may not even cross your mind.

Beaten Down By Thoughts Drug Addiction Takes Hold

So instead of swimming upstream against the strong current of out-of-control thoughts and feelings, a person taking drugs to soothe mental illness minimizes the problems. This is a one time thing. It won’t really be that bad for me. I can stop any time. I won’t ever get hooked, it’s just for when things are really bad. It’s only (marijuana, beer, one hit of cocaine, etc).

Guess what else happens in the meantime? While your mental illness still goes untreated and you are now dabbling in a drug addiction, you miss moments of your life each day. Valuable moments of learning about your community, self awareness, interacting with your family, getting better at something, discovering new ideas, having pure fun – all of these take a back seat while you drown in your misery.

Managing mental illness with drugs and alcohol is like wrestling in a tar pit. Every move you make to take down your opponent actually drags you further down into the tar pit. Even some ill-advised moves you make to get out of the pit eventually pull you back in.

Drug Treatment Pulls You Out of the Drug Addiction Pit

But please – don’t go away from this post thinking mental illness and drug addiction are a one-way ticket to doomsday. A well-designed drug treatment center is the answer. You may think that drug rehab is too expensive, too scary, too long, too hard, or just too “something” for you. Even with your seriously imparied judgment, take a minute to see what your life would be if you did nothing to stop your current life direction.

Can you afford not to go to drug rehab – even if it scares the bejeebies out of you? What about losing those moments every day? Drug treatment for dual diagnosis can finally put you on a life path out of mental illness and away from drug addiction. Take a step forward and don’t miss another moment.