Whether you are facing big life changes or small stresses, excessive anxiety makes everything a big deal. Sometimes people turn to alcohol or drugs to self-medicate their physical and emotional discomfort. Everything just seems to pile on and be too much. Unfortunately this causes an even bigger problem.

Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia Examples
photo credit: Rennett Stowe

Panic disorder is a very discomforting disorder. The main symptoms feel much like a heart attack – heart palpitations, difficulty breathing, pains, tingling nerve endings, sweating, dizziness and unsteadiness. A panic attack causes many people to say they feel like they are dying.

A disorder that often goes with panic disorder is agoraphobia. This is the fear of open spaces, and a person with panic disorder can become fearful of having a panic attack in a public place. A person with agoraphobia gradually removes themselves from social interaction, often restricting themselves to the confines of their home. Can you imagine the stark loneliness, the gripping fear, the embarassment of knowing you’ve
let your life come down to this?

When you have tried what you think would work, when that’s failed to give you relief, when you’re afraid to take medicine or go see your therapist or even tell anyone your anxiety is choking the life out of you – what’s there left to do? That’s precisely when people start using drugs or alcohol to find relief. They can slip away into the fog of drunkenness or get carried away with the rush of a drug high. They aren’t trying to start a problem, they’re trying to survive with their problem.

Drug Treatment Best Option For Addiction and Anxiety

A person with serious anxiety and a drug addiction problem needs drug treatment. A small amount people have had success dealing with drug or alcohol addictions completely on their own, and that’s truly amazing. A dual diagnosis drug treatment center has staff with specialized training to help addicts with mental health disorders.

Having both a mental health and addiction problem is nothing to fool around with. They can get so entangled and serious, a great deal of damage could be done to a person’s life because they thought they were dealing with it just fine on their own. Mental patterns become engrained, physical damage starts to become less reversible, and the consequences can really pile up. So if you or someone you care about is self medicating for their anxiety, help them find a dual diagnosis drug treatment center. You could be saving someone’s life – is it yours?

The Recovery Project, sponsored by A&E television networks, just might be the largest initiative ever to reach out to addicts and families in need of this kind of specialized guidance and support.

The press release on the show highlights findings from the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health to drive home the importance of the project: “More than 22 million Americans struggle with addiction to alcohol and other drugs, yet fewer than ten percent receive the treatment they need because of stigma, lack of awareness or cost.”

So how does one lead an addict from the depths of despair to the shores of hope and recovery?

Build a Bridge toward Recovery

On September 27 last year, thousands of individuals, families, friends, treatment partners, advocates, celebrities, and community leaders linked arms and crossed the Brooklyn Bridge showing solidarity in the fight against the stigma of drug addiction. As a symbolic vow to support those on their quest through recovery, the human bridge progressed towards Lower Manhattan and rallied on the grounds of City Hall Park.

“Inspired by the incredible response from viewers, individuals and families in recovery to the Emmy-nominated documentary series Intervention… The Recovery Project strives to shed light on the scope of the addiction crisis, and its impact on society,” the release said.

Partner With Organizations Committed to Successful Recovery

A&E is joining forces with nation-wide non-profit groups and federal agencies to spread the word about this multi-year campaign through education, personal stories, recovery and treatment options, plus resources to help parents connect with their kids in an effort to prevent drug abuse:

• NCADD – National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc.
• SAMHSA – Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
• PDFA – Partnership for a Drug Free America

Participate in Awareness Rallies or Organize One in Your Hometown

They are doing the rally again this year on September 12, 2009. To become a part of this historic nationwide event, just visit www.therecoveryproject.com to sign up. If you can’t make it to New York, you can rally your own town to join forces against the stigma of addiction by hosting your own march for solidarity. Spread the word through your town’s newspaper and local radio station, then visit Recovery Month to add your event to the history books.

Tell Us: Do you think this is an effective way to raise awareness about the issues that drug and alcohol addicts face?

Yes. It’s not just a salacious headline. There has actually been an incident recently that has managed to combine the phrases ‘heroin addiction’ and ‘cat killing’ in the same story. And even blame the latter on the former.

The ‘Heroin Addictions Kills Cats’ Story

Okay, it wasn’t that the cat was addicted to heroin but that a guy named Luigi Epifania who was a junky got it into his head that he would not only stomp a neighborhood cat to death (incidentally, a cat named Nunu) but also his burn his body and through the remains into an apartment window. The guy’s defense, according to his lawyer, was that he was strung out at the time.

Sentencing for Heroin Induced Cat Killing

He was sentenced to 2 ½ years in prison. With credit for time served, a mind boggling 437 days that he spent locked up awaiting trial. But the thing is, there was something of a media frenzy surrounding the fate of the 25-year-old Epifania. Apparently, five cat fans wrote letters to the presiding judge, Superior Court Judge Charles T. Spurlock, asking that Epifania be sentenced with the maximum for such an offense: five years.

Their argument? Clearly, he’s disturbed and it won’t be long before he turns his malice on a human victim. One person suggests that he’s a burgeoning serial killer. Now, I’ve heard stories about serial killers who, during their childhoods, tortured animals but my understanding is that by the time they hit 25, they were pretty much already in the big leagues.

Says Epifania’s lawyer: “The media is here looking for a monster. He is not a monster.” He also said that he had fed the cat in the past and that the only evidence the cops had on him was a coerced, taped confession.

The fact that he set a fire that caused property damage seemed to be an addendum to the issue of the cat.

The judge said, “Drugs are his problem. He’s got a problem and he’s got to address it. He’s got to stay clean.”

The Really Crazy Thing About This

It seems that cat killing isn’t the only thing that Epifania got busted for. A few days after the cat (it looks like the doom predictors were right), he attacked a man with a knife and a hot frying pan. For this, guess what he got! Probation and mandatory attendance at NA or AA meetings and drug testing. So to recap for those of you still with me: he kills a cat and gets 2 ½ years in prison. He attacks a man with not one but two deadly weapons and gets probation and 12-steps. Yes.

I think that this is just insane. What do you think? Was the sentencing fair? Do you think Epifania is a serial killer in training? Would you want him to move in next door to you when he gets out of prison? Tell me what you think!

Drug rehab centers offer many different ways to deal with drug addiction and sobriety.  Group therapy is a very effective tool widely used in all levels of drug and alcohol treatment.  Not everyone might think they would like saying things out loud to a group of strangers.  But many good things can come from group therapy.  Let’s take a look at some of the advantages of group therapy in drug treatment.

Group Therapy Helps Because People Are Social Beings

Group therapy works well because it we humans are social beings.  Normal productive life usually involves some level of social interaction with others, whether it’s talking to a friend or going to the grocery store.  Social skills learned from regular group interaction can readily transfer to other social settings outside of drug rehab.

Here are some other positives from group therapy.  A person sharing their stories can get support from others in the group.  They can offer their support to others in return.  This establishes some give and take between members of the group.  Group therapy can also become like a surrogate family for someone who has a really unhealthy family situation at home.

Making Healthy Social Bonds and Following Discipline In Drug Treatment

This person can learn how to make healthy bonds between members of a group, maybe even change what they pass on to the next generation.  Not everyone in a group will agree, which can also be healthy.  Since it’s regulated by someone, group members can learn to feel safe expressing their opinions.  Healthy confrontation by other group members can also be useful.  A drug addict might take a message differently from a fellow addict than they do from a book or even from a therapist.

Anyone not following the rules and the positive social norms of the group will have to face the consequences.  Some drug rehab participants may not be used to having standards and boundaries like these.  The discipline and routine keeps the group productive and safe for all members.  And like many things in drug treatment, social skills and discipline learned in group therapy can be transferred to daily life.

Groups in drug treatment can also be specialized so that all the members have at least one general thing in common.  Perhaps they are all women, or all abused the same drug, or they are all parents of small children.  The group members have something in common from the start.  Even if it takes them a while to really share their deeper issues, they can identify somewhat with the struggles pertaining to their one common issue.

Many Benefits With Group Therapy In Drug Treatment

So there you have it, a quick review of the many benefits from group therapy in drug treatment.  Whether you are shy, bold, or just not sure what to expect, you can find something in group therapy to help with your
sobriety journey.

One of the wonderful things about human beings is their ability to to be generous and think of others. Unfortunately, drug addiction weaves its way into a person’s heart and shuts of their sense of generosity. Instead of truly giving to others, it becomes “how could this benefit me in the end?” They become focused on looking on for number one.

Being Self Focused Is Part Of Addiction Thinking

I’ve written many posts on various aspects of addiction thinking on this blog before. Usually, an addict’s thoughts are readily mixed with emotion, meaning that emotion often drives their thought patterns and beliefs. Black and white extreme thinking is also a hallmark of addiction thinking. Being highly self focused is another such characteristic of addiction thinking. It’s all about me.

The addiction thinking makes you focus on getting your drugs or alcohol and allows your emotions to take over. So, your impulses often become targets for your mind. A sober healthy person would be able to resist most of these impulses throughout a day. Their brain might say “I want, I want”, but they keep their actions in check fairly well. They can take care of others, do their job responsibilities, and make decisions on what personal impulses and needs they are going to meet. An addicted person would be compelled to follow up on as many of these “I wants” as they could manage. I want to feel numb, I don’t like talking to my mother, I am so mad at my ex.

Self Focused Person With Addiction Isolates And Avoids Reality

As this type of thinking settles in, they stop caring so much about being polite or considerate. What matters most is their feelings, their problems, and drugs or alcohol, and their business. When a person becomes self-absorbed, everything going on in their mind can become inflated.

A sober person might deal with an inconvenient health issue by talking with others who have the same problem, managing their frustration with exercise or hanging out with friends, and keeping up on the latest scientific news about their condition. A drug addicted person would likely miss parts of their care routine, hang on to resent about having the condition, take drugs to forget about it, and keep all their concerns to themselves unless they were complaining. The difference is that the sober person includes others to help them cope and shares their friendship in return. The drug addicted person might share a little, but it’s all about negativity and trying not to deal with reality.

Drug Rehab Helps A Person Reach Out With Relationships

Drug rehab does more than just help you get sober. It wakes you up to the reality of living in society with other human beings. There are still good reasons to be polite, others can and do care about your problems, and you can care about others without dismissing your own needs. Drug rehab re-teaches people how to develop healthy relationships with others.

Relationships suffer greatly when one person is highly self-focused. Kids miss out on parents doing things for and with them. Spouses feel like their marriage is one-sided. Friends feel like they can’t count on the other person. Ultimately, a high level of self-focus isolates people. And drug addicts and alcoholics really need others to help them get and stay sober.

That’s what drug rehab is for – opening things inside a person and opening that person to other people. This is what brings true healing with drug addiction.

Heroin Prescription for Heroin Addiction Treatment

Heroin Prescriptions for Heroin Addiction Treatment is More Than Just a Swiss Study

It’s a Swiss institution. The voters just gave permanent approval on the legalized heroin program that they’ve been testing since 1994. It has grown to include about 24 centers serving about 1300 addicts who have not succeeded in more traditional therapies and at the same time decreased the amount of using that was happening out in the open at public parks that used to be so common.

How Heroin Prescriptions for Heroin Addiction Treatment Works in Switzerland

Every day, twice a day, the addict can come into the clinic for a strictly measured dose and take it there in the clinic supervised by a nurse. There are social workers and psychiatrists available for consultation, and the cost of all this is covered by the mandatory health insurance required for all Swiss citizens.

Who Else is Doing Heroin Prescriptions for Heroin Addiction Treatment?

The Netherlands followed Switzerland’s example with a similar program that serves about 600 addicts currently. Australia and Canada have implemented studies to see if it will work for them.

Why Isn’t the United States Doing Heroin Prescriptions for Heroin Addiction Treatment?

The United States, not surprisingly, is not interested in this program. They say that it is a step toward drug legalization. They say that it could have the effect of increasing drug abuse rather than decreasing it. Yet no one seems to notice that our own approach—imprisonment—means not only an increase in drug abuse but an increase in other crimes as well since they’re basically sending people to an all expenses paid ‘how to rob people and hustle money through crime’ conference. And then wondering why they keep coming back.

Whether or not you end up in jail or prison, those who are struggling with heroin addiction and likely no longer have a job or any resources to speak of, have few opportunities to get meaningful treatment. And the programs inside are being cut as well.

So if imprisonment isn’t working and heroin prescriptions for heroin addiction treatment isn’t an option, it stands to reason that the best option is still inpatient or outpatient heroin rehab at a drug rehab facility like The Canyon.

Drinking excessively on a regular basis isn’t about partying, having a good time, or relaxing. It’s about escaping. Anyone who drinks that much is trying to get away from something pretty painful. They may not want to admit it, to themselves or anyone else, but it’s true. That’s why alcohol rehab is often necessary for helping a person become sober. Just not drinking anymore doesn’t solve the problem.

What Are You Escaping From With Alcoholism
photo credit: sun dazed

You are trying to escape the pain of a recent death in your life. Your drinking used to be casual and infrequent, but lately it’s become a routine daily activity. You have a drink with lunch and dinner, and usually have a few in between on weekends. Every evening, you feel the loneliness overcome you, and you drink until you fall asleep.

You and your friends have done a lot of drinking during the weekend at college. Most of the time, you drink until you pass out. The craziest stuff happens at these parties sometimes, and you know you don’t always remember all of it. Getting through the school week is tough – the classwork, the expectations, the reality of having to be responsible for yourself when you have so little confidence in yourself. You know you aren’t ready, so when you get the chance to drink and push it all away, you really go for it. Now you’re starting to drink during the week nights, too. It’s not just a partying thing for you anymore.

For as long as you can remember, you haven’t been able to trust your mother. Your mom had bipolar disorder and alcoholism, causing her to lead a chaotic life. She seemed only half interested in being your mother in the first place. Years later now, you are told she is dying of lung cancer. She keeps calling and asking you to help her. You are torn, knowing how much she hurt you for years, wanting to rush to her side when she finally wants you there. You start spending more time with her and your turbulent emotions become too much to handle. Like your mother, you begin to find solace in alcohol. It dulls the pain and lets you disconnect from the real world for a while.

All of the scenarios described here show how that person uses alcohol to escape something troubling. The first was grief over a loved one’s death. The second showed immaturity and growing self doubt (perhaps budding depression or anxiety). The third highlighted a chaotic childhood. The person may not have started out drinking excessively. But as their situation developed, they began to add it to their routine as a source of comfort and relief from their pain. The pain exceeded their ability to cope with it using their current skills. Instead of talking to a friend or seeing a professional, they dulled and escaped from their pain.

Alcohol Rehab Facing Your Pain Not Escaping It

When the person becomes sober through alcohol rehab, they start facing their pain every day. However, they are now becoming better equipped to handle their pain in ways that won’t hurt them more. They join a network of others like them (support groups), learn skills for managing cravings, learn better self care routines, get experience taking more personal responsibility. Alcohol rehab gets you through the pain, not away from it. And when you really know you can get through your pain and still survive it, you have hope for a better life.

No need to escape it anymore.

I’m not sure what boggles the mind more about this story: the fact that poachers got an elephant strung out on dope or that the elephant was subsequently put through a three-year opiate detox so that he could get better.

Um, what.

A Tough Life for an Elephant

According to Weird Asia News, “An Asian elephant that was fed bananas laced with heroin by cruel smugglers to keep him under control has been put through a detox program by Chinese vets in Beijing.”

They’re calling the elephant Big Brother, and in his four-year long life, he’s been illegally captured and given heroin to subdue him and keep him under control. When the poachers who stole were arrested, the police wanted to free Big Brother, but quickly noticed that something wasn’t quite right. That’s right: he was going through heroin detox and having some severe withdrawal symptoms. So the cops sent him to a wild animal protection center and it was there that he received a methadone maintenance treatment that was steadily decreased over time.

What Methadone Maintenance for an Elephant Looks Like

Apparently, it comes in the form of five mega-shots of methadone a day that are each five times the maximum human dose. And it lasts for three years. I’m not sure where the protocol came from on this, if this is a relatively common occurrence or what (it’s been reported that he had three elephant friends with him at elephant drug rehab who are also doing well), but they’ve got it down to a science now. Over time, his methadone dose was reduced gradually and he seems to be doing fine. He’s scheduled to move to a wildlife park in Kunming where he will live out his days unshackled by heroin addiction.

Why Drug Rehab for Junkie Elephants?

Well, drug rehab likely would not have been the destination for almost any other animal or species. But Big Brother is an Asian elephants, which are currently classified as endangered by the IUCN. Had he been a regular old elephant, he might have been sent to the gas chamber instead. Or shot. Or whatever they do to large animals who are severely ill. But then again, if he’d been an ordinary elephant, the poachers might have left him alone and never fed him bananas spiked with dope.

How often do you think this happens? What do you think of what must be an exorbitantly expensive treatment for an animal when people are dying from the same disease all over the world? A justified expense, or no?

Many of the most difficult experiences in life are opportunities for growth – a loved one’s death, job loss, serious illness. The need for drug rehab is also such an opportunity. It may feel like the lowest point in your life, but it might actually be your biggest and best chance for a new life.

Change Is A Challenge Drug Rehab Included

People don’t like change for the most part. It could be something great like buying a new house, or it could be saddening like the death of a family pet. No matter what it is, change is difficult for most people. Giving up comfortable habits and limits is often the hardest part about change.

Going to drug rehab is no different. You may intellectually know that going to drug rehab will probably save your life, help your relationships, and improve your employment situation. But when you go to drug rehab, you know that means you won’t spend your time the same way anymore. You may need to give up some friends and social hangouts.

Giving Up Comfort Is Part Of Accepting Change

You will have to give up escaping from reality and emotional pain. Life as you know it may feel like one big sacrifice after another. Of course, drug rehab also teaches you many new things and helps you gain a lot. You can build valuable friendships and supporting relationships. You can gain knowledge and understanding about yourself that improves your sense of self worth. You can improve your self care habits such as nutritious eating, exercise, relaxation, and having joy in your life. There is so much to gain, but many times people focus just on what they have to give up.

So, if you recently went to some form of drug treatment or a drug rehab center, what did you make of your experience? Were you able to move through the challenge of giving up comfortable habits and embrace the new opportunities? Or were you really bothered by the idea that you didn’t know what was coming? Were you able to set your compass in a different direction or did you leave drug rehab feeling more disoriented?

Open Yourself To Change And Make The Most Of Drug Rehab

There’s no right or wrong answer here. Sometimes, a person ends up going through drug treatment more than once. It might just take a few times to cut through all the addiction thinking and layers of self
protection. If that’s your process, that’s your process. So if you struggled with accepting change, it just may mean that you are going through some common experiences with drug addiction recovery.

This uncertainty doesn’t mean drug rehab was a bad idea. You may not have been as ready as you thought you were. Change doesn’t have to come all at once – baby steps are good too. You can make the most of your drug rehab experience by accepting the idea of giving up some comfort. Each time you do that, you open yourself to more positive opportunities than you can imagine.

Heroin Prescription for Heroin Addiction Treatment

Um… what? Though I’m pretty sure that in England it is actually legal to prescribe heroin in certain cases of pain management, I’m not sure how often that actually happens (do they prescribe clean needles, too? And cookers? What about cottons and clean waters?) And where that seems counterintuitive considering the worldwide problem that is heroin addiction, starting with the nature of the business of heroin production, is apparently under consideration in Canada. It seems our neighbor to the north is considering prescribing heroin to treat heroin addiction.

There Was a Three-Year Study on Heroin Prescription for Heroin Addiction Treatment

Yes, a three-year, government-funded study on the efficacy of prescribing pharmaceutical grade heroin to heroin addicts. The results are being called “remarkable.”

Dr. Martin Schechter was the North American Opiate Medication Initiative, or NAOMI, principal investigator in the study. He says, “Heroin-assisted treatment (HAT) is very safe when done properly. Our results show it to be very effective.”

The Argument Against Heroin Prescription for Heroin Addiction Treatment

Well, can you really predict the outcome of fighting fire with fire? And then there’s the idea that it’s a step toward legalizing the drug, which many are against. Many simply don’t like the idea that their tax dollars would go to maintain a heroin addicts addiction even though far more tax dollars are spent cleaning up the damage caused by heroin addiction. Still others argue against heroin addiction clinics and the like for the same reason that they don’t want methadone clinics in their neighborhood. There’s also the idea that acknowledging the problem somehow condones it.

The Argument For Heroin Prescription for Heroin Addiction Treatment

Why not? For many who have repeatedly tried and failed to kick using the more traditional methods, this could work. And if the goal isn’t necessarily abstinence but harm reduction, it certainly is a lot less expensive to provide this kind of regular upkeep and treatment—ostensibly, maintaining someone’s addiction—rather than pay for the damage due to criminal activity or the medical bills of the uninsured who overdose on non-pharmaceutical grade heroin in the street.

Then there’s the argument of quality of living. When you’re strung out on heroin, your entire focus is on your next dose. When you regulate your addiction and get it under control with methadone or, like this research shows, with three regular doses of heroin each day, then you are free to think about other things. People who never have before were getting and holding down part time jobs while on this study. They were having viable and functioning friendships and relationships with other people that didn’t center around heroin addiction. It seemed to function much like methadone in freeing the person from their mental—if not physical and emotional—attachment to their addiction.

What Do You Think of Heroin for Heroin Addiction Treatment?

Do you think it’s on the same par as methadone? Or do you think that it doesn’t make sense at all?