The Canyon

Some drug addicts probably scoff at being in a treatment or support group. They don’t want to share their feelings or talk about anything. It’s embarassing, and what would it do anyway? Support groups can be very helpful for a person in drug addiction recovery, especially after finishing drug treatment. Here are three reasons to think again about the value of addiction support groups.

Keeps You Honest And Accountable

Anyone can lie to themselves, and who else would know the difference? Only you, which is why keeping things bottled inside can be a real problem with addiciton. A person’s mind can be overcome by addiction thinking, keeping reality and personal responsibility at bay.

When someone makes statements aloud, they allow for others to help keep them honest. Not every detail of a person’s life is appropriate for sharing in a group. But many excuses and forms of denial can be countered when others hear a recovering addict’s words outloud. People in the group can gently point out when something doesn’t match up or seem right. Also, the addict may gain enough sense of mutual respect that they catch themselves before they minimize or excuse anything.

Gives You Another Perspective On Your Addiction

One of the worst parts of drug addiction is the social isolation. Even if you used drugs with friends or as a part of a group, each person’s drug use experience is their own. And drugs alter a person’s perceptions so much that they naturally isolate and disconnect a person from others. They are using drugs to change their personal perspective on life, which means their inner experience (either dulled or exaggerated) is amplified.

The joy and positivity normally felt from warm relationships is replaced by the chemical reactions of the drugs. When the body learns to react from the drugs instead of the body’s neurotransmitters, the warm fuzzy feelings aren’t created anymore with relationships. Being in a sober group can help a recovering addict recreate those relationships and retrain the body to react positively to them.

Gives You Somewhere To Go And Something To Do

Everyone feels a little better about themselves when they feel they have a purpose in life. Relaxing “bum out” days are nice for a while, like with a vacation. But after some time, most people get an itch to do really do something, have something on the calendar, create a goal for their day.

Addicts often fill their time with drug related activities. When they get sober, they need to develop other more purposeful use of their time. Going to meetings is obviously not going to fill a whole day for most addicts. But it does give a small segment of the day some regularity, boundaries, expectations, and purpose. They have a reason to rise to the occasion for a while.

Support Groups Valuable With Drug Rehab

Support groups aren’t all about spilling your guts to the world. Many people watch and listen for some time before they share anything. It’s OK to feel a little guarded at first, especially if you are trying to determine if a group is a good fit for you. Being in drug treatment first can give you some familiarity with the group process and benefits of participating. Some drug rehab centers even use twelve step processes to make this transition easier. Talk to a drug addiction professional today to get more answers.

photo credit: KaiChanVong

The other day, we started talking about drug trafficking and how your drug addiction and drug use in general in the United States is causing the deaths of thousands each year. We are looking at a specific case, Culiacan in Sinaloa, Mexico, and the violence that occurs daily due to United States drug use and addiction.

How the Government Fights Drug Trafficking… Sort Of

Every Mexican president that has come to power in the last couple of decades has claimed to want to fight drug trafficking and the resulting violence. According to Manual Ortiz at the San Diego New Network, each president has even incarcerated a few drug bosses, but this has only serve to assist the drug bosses remaining on the street and exacerbate the problem. In essence, the Mexican government is in support of drug trafficking, though the specific bosses and cartels backed changes with each new president.

Drug Trafficking and Poverty

The only people making money of drug trafficking is the drug bosses. The government puts its support and money behind the drug cartels and not the people, so education suffers. As a result, an extreme and polarized society occurs with the rich and violent drug cartel on one side and everyone else living in poverty and no hope of escaping it. Locals depressed by the outlook and with regular access to drugs end up becoming drug addicts themselves.

The War on Drug Trafficking

While Reagan declared a War on Drugs in the ‘80s and flooded the public school systems and television air waves with public service announcements about the effects of drugs, President Felipe Calderon, the current president of Mexico, declared a war on drug trafficking in December, 2006.

Since that time, it is being reported that about 16,000 people have been killed due to the ongoing war between cartels and authorities and infighting between the cartels. Every year the violence increases: 2009 was the most violent year yet with 7724 murders.

Calderon has his own media Reagan-style media blitz, but his commercials are focused on his “successes.” According to advertising, the government is winning the war against drug trafficking and the violence and deaths are proof.

Many disagree with the government’s bright view. They say that more focus should be placed on money laundering and that while it’s true that some drug cartels are crumbling, others are allowed to prosper and grow. Culiacan is home to a number of laundering houses where bags are passed through windows and big trucks drive in and out of the town rather openly. It’s no secret.

Edgardo Buscaglia is a United Nations expert on security and organized crime said: “I would like to see Mexico also strike at the Sinaloa Confederation. That has not, up to now, produced the number of arrests and sentences that have been occurred in other criminal organizations, like those of the Beltrán Leyva, La Familia Michoacana, Los Zetas and the Golfo cartel… Let’s hit everyone evenly.”

How You Can Help

While you, in your home, can do little by yourself to effect great change in Mexico and other drug trafficking regions that serve the United States, recognizing that there’s no such thing as harmless drug use is a step. If you continue to actively live with heroin addiction, cocaine addiction and marijuana addiction without getting the treatment you need to walk away from drugs forever, you are helping to keep drug trafficking and violence alive. By choosing heroin addiction treatment, cocaine detox and marijuana rehab, you are, in effect, doing your part to take away the demand for the drugs that keeps drug trafficking alive.

Drug treatment uses a variety of treatment methods to address addiction issues. One very effective method is group therapy. Members meet in a group setting and share their thoughts on a certain topic. We’ll review five different types of treatment groups and how this form of treatment works.

Types of Group Therapy

Group therapy is used in different ways to achieve different goals in drug treatment. Five commonly used group types include the following:

• Psychoeducational groups (learning about addiction and mental health issues)
• Skills development groups (interpersonal and coping skills)
• Cognitive-behavioral groups (problem solving)
• Support groups (emotional support for self and others)
• Interpersonal process groups (relationships with others)

Each type of group depends on several different things. How much facilitating does the leader need to do? Does this group start and stop on a certain date, or is it ongoing and open ended? How long do they need to be to meet the goals? Does the leader need any special skills? How comfortable with the group process does a participant need to be in order to effectively participate? How specific is the agenda?

Why Groups Are Effective For Drug Treatment

Group therapy is effective in drug treatment for several reasons. First, an addict gets a chance to hear and consider other people’s perspectives. An addict often has a poor sense of empathy and seeing another side to the story. Their personal viewpoint is so over-magnified that they tend to discard anything that seems to contradict it.

Second, it allows for others to empathize with them. They get to tell their story and can count on being heard. Not only are they heard, they are given feedback in an honest respectful way. An addict’s behaviors and mannerisms often alienates and irritates others so much that they lose patience. Addicts may not be used to having calm honest exchanges like they do in group therapy. It’s a great opportunity for them to learn about themselves in an emotionally safe environment.

Third, they don’t have to feel singled out. Everyone is there to learn and everyone is in a similar boat. In their drug addicted life, they probably felt isolated and even like a black sheep with some people. They may have felt like they were being picked on or blamed for a lot of things. In a group setting, they can blend in a little and know that others are facing similar difficulties. They aren’t alone in the world.

Benefits of Group Therapy In Drug Rehab

The benefits of group therapy are numerous, especially for drug treatment programs. Recovering drug addicts can get support, improve their social skills, and make valuable emotional connections with others. Group therapy is part of a solid foundation for any quality drug rehab program today.

photo credit: KaiChanVong

The arguments for legalization of currently illegal drugs like heroin, cocaine, marijuana and others is usually based on harm. Who does it hurt if I get high? a legalization advocate might ask. How does it affect anyone else’s life, the choices I make personally in my own home?

The answer may be encapsulated in one small town: Culiacan in Sinaloa, a state in north Mexico. Often called “the cradle of drug trafficking,” the residents of Culiacan live in fear that they will become one of the eight to 11 people murdered each day in relation to the drug trafficking and corruption in the state.

According to Manuel Ortiz of the San Diego News Network, Sinaloa is widely regarded as one of the most dangerous and deadly states in Mexico due to the number of drug bosses that come from here and the trafficking that occurs daily.

How Drug Trafficking Got Started

It started with local drug dealers selling marijuana and heroin back in the ‘70s. By the ‘80s, drug boss Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo moved in and took business to the next level: he organized business, started trafficking cocaine from Columbia all for one purpose: to provide drugs to the United States that were in high demand. The boss known as “El Padrino” and his associates started bringing guns back from the United States after they’d drop their load of cocaine, heroin and marijuana. This increased their power at home through violence and also increased their income, allowing them to expand and bring more drugs to the United States.

In 1989, Gallardo was arrested, but his associates and competition only took the opportunity to expand. One of his associates, “El Chapo”, was arrested as well but escaped in 2001. Forbes magazine reports that El Chapo is now a billionaire and probably that only man in the world for whom the United States government is offering a $5 million reward.

How Drug Trafficking Changed the Very Culture of Sinaloa

It’s clear that from the beginning drug trafficking would not have grown without the demand for drugs in the United States. The violence that came about in these drug trafficking regions is a direct result of the individual in the United States who wonders who it hurts when they make the choice to get high.

As if it isn’t bad enough that drug trafficking is murdering the locals, it is also killing the culture of the area and altering irrevocably the lifestyle and customs of those left behind. Far from hidden, drug culture in Sinaloa is out in the open, supported by the government and celebrated in song, air conditioned tombs for drug traffickers and in churches with saint Jesus Malverde dedicated to serving those in the industry.

There’s a popular phrase in Sinaloa according to journalist and sociologist Javier Valdez: “I’d rather live five years as king than five years as a fool.”

Residents have come to accept drug trafficking and the resulting corpses as a part of daily life. Drug trafficking and the violence that comes with it, according to Valdez is “a way of life, we are consumed.”

If you have dealt with someone who has a drug addiction or alcoholism, you know you can’t deny the power of denial. It can be a nearly impenetrable wall of resistance for any sort of drug rehab or alcohol treatment. It can be mind boggling and frustrating, but it’s part of the deal. Instead of banging against it, take a different approach to make progress.

Feeling Stuck Dealing With Denial

When you are frustrated, you can feel really stuck. You might even wonder if you’ve been going down the wrong path or you are wasting your time. This is a common experience for someone trying to help a drug addict who’s heavily into their denial. The wall is up, ready to protect them against any perceived attack. Even if that “attack” is an outstretched hand ready to help.

First, you need to understand that bashing and clashing against the denial won’t do any good. In fact, an aggressive approach can do a lot to distance the addict from you. That decreases your chance of actually getting through to them. It’s tempting to try to force the addict to see what you want them to see. But denial is designed to skirt around a direct power approach.

Compassionate Approach To Drug Addiction Denial

A better way is through compassion and patience. It’s so tempting to be impatient with a person who really seems to not “get” that they have a problem. It may seem so obvious to you – three DUI’s, a drug possession charge, child custody being taken away, divorce. The addict can come back with a million reasons why none of this is their fault. Your immediate reaction might be to let your blood boil and start getting edgy.

Stop. Understand that this person really can’t see it. They want to be understood and listened to. Eventually, you can keep them talking if you remain patient and calm. When you speak slowly and calmly, you may at some point earn a small amount of acceptance from them. Just keep in mind that you can’t make them change their mind or their viewpoint. You can help present the obvious conflict between what’s really happening and what they believe is happening.

Gently Highlight Conflict Within Drug Addicts Life

So they don’t think they have a problem. But how about their desire to own their own home and have a good job like they used to? How does that match up with continued drug use? Do they see how those two don’t really match? Have they taken a minute to think about that before? They need to know it’s OK to notice that these two things are in conflict. Just being aware of this can sometimes tip the balance towards change. Rather than forcing them to see it, you quietly invite them to see it.

Drug Rehab Helps With Denial

Denial is a very challenging aspect of drug addiction. Drug rehab can help break down denial, and a person may still have some work to do when they are finished with their drug treatment program. Caring therapists and family members can help the drug addict create more cracks in the facade, allowing the truth to be a bigger part of their daily reality.

photo credit: Torley

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) has released their first draft. In this new version of the American Psychiatric Association document used by virtually everyone to diagnose behavioral health problems, the disease categories for substance abuse and dependence will be replaced with a brand new “addictions and related disorders” category.

Why The Categorization of Drug Addiction is Changing

The hope of the American Psychiatric Association has for making this change is that it will create a clearer line between those who are physically dependent upon a prescription drug and those who are addicted to their drug of choice.

In a press release, the APA stated: “Eliminating the category of dependence will better differentiate between the compulsive drug-seeking behavior of addiction and normal responses of tolerance and withdrawal that some patients experience when using prescribed medications that affect the central nervous system.”

Their point is that many people will develop a physical dependence upon a drug during the course of treatment, but that this singular fact does not make them a drug addict. When it is appropriate for their treatment, they can simply cut back on their dose slowly under their doctor’s supervision and stop taking the drug completely and without incident.

Someone suffering from drug addiction will find this simple exit plan from their drug of choice to be impossible. The psychological addiction and cravings are the defining characteristic of drug addiction and it is this distinction that the APA would like to make in the new DSM-V.

How the Categorization of Drug Addiction is Changing in the DSM-V

One of the biggest changes is the new category that will include substance-use disorders. Each drug type will get its own category with its own diagnostic criteria. Not much will change in terms of diagnostic criteria except that “drug craving” will be added and “problems with law enforcement will be dropped.” As the APA points out, “cultural considerations… make the criteria difficult to apply internationally.”

Cannabis withdrawal criteria is also a new addiction to the DSM-V. The APA says it occurs with the “cessation of cannabis use that has been heavy and prolonged,” results in “clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.” Some listed symptoms of marijuana withdrawal include irritability, anxiety, anger, weight loss/ decreased appetite, insomnia, depression, and physical symptoms like sweating, fever, headache, et cetera. At least three of these need be present to diagnose marijuana withdrawal, according to the new DSM-V.

Why The Categorization of Drug Addiction Matters

For many, insurance is the only way to pay for drug and alcohol rehab. If the problem is not categorized as a medical issue that requires medical treatment, then insurance companies may start rejecting claims that request coverage for drug and alcohol detox treatment and medications. As these are both necessary for recovery and typically very expensive, it’s important that their classification be as clear as possible.

Charles O’Brien, M.D., Ph.D., is the chair of the APA’s DSM Substance-Related Disorders Work Group. He says: “The term dependence is misleading, because people confuse it with addiction, when in fact the tolerance and withdrawal patients experience are very normal responses to prescribed medications that affect the central nervous system.

“On the other hand, addiction is compulsive drug- seeking behavior which is quite different. We hope that this new classification will help end this wide-spread misunderstanding.”

You and your friends may joke about all the stuff you did last night while getting drunk that you didn’t remember. But memory problems associated with alcohol use are no laughing matter. It’s a sign of damage within the brain. Look closer at this often minimized symptom of alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction.

Blackouts and Long Term Memory Loss

According to research, it only takes one or two drinks to show evidence of memory deterioration. Blackouts or partial memories can happen with higher levels of alcohol consumption. It appears that according to a number of research articles, blackouts are related to quick rises in BAC. While this is a strong indicator of alcoholism, many social drinkers report having occasional blackouts.

With blackouts, the long term memory storage process appears to be blocked. However, short term memory (several seconds) seems to remain intact enough for a person to do normal looking activities. When asked to recall these activities just a few minutes later, they can’t do it. Nothing seems to get transferred between immediate short term memory and long term memory storage.

Alcohol Dementia Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome

Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome is actually two separate brain disorders happening at the same time. The symptoms are due to thiamine (B12) deficiency. It is sometimes known as alcohol dementia. Heavy drinking disrupts the body’s ability to absorb the B12 vitamin, resulting in some or all of the following symptoms:

• Can’t form new memories
• Significant overall memory loss Confabulation (making things up to fill in memory gaps)
• Hallucinations
• Visual problems
• Muscle coordination problems (unsteady walking)

Some symptoms can improve with B12 treatments and hospitalization to stabilize manage the symptoms. Sobriety can also help some symptoms improve and prevent further damage to the brain and body. But the memory problems will likely stay as they are regardless of treatment.

Other Problems Associated With Alcohol And Memory Loss

Imagine if you spent a night out with friends and woke up with no memory of the evening. Would you be afraid to find out what you did? Would you be ashamed to know you were so out of control? Would the incident have a lasting affect on how you lived your life from then on? These are the important real-life questions a person has to ask themselves if they have an alcohol related blackout.

Possible risks could include unsafe sexual behavior or becoming a victim of sexual assault, spending money foolishly, getting into an accident, becoming lost and left in an unsafe location, driving despite obvious intoxication. If a person with a blackout has no memory of these events, the natural course of guilt and reparation can’t happen. They cannot feel remorseful for something they don’t remember doing, maybe don’t even believe they did. That person becomes a true danger to themselves and others.

Serious Alcohol Related Memory Problems And Alcohol Rehab

If a person has developed serious and persistent memory problems from alcohol use, they are either alcoholic or very close to it. This is a symptom that may be overlooked or diminished in cultures or populations where heavy drinking is normalized. It is a sign of brain damage, a sign that alcohol treatment is necessary. Alcohol rehab may not be able to reverse all levels of memory impairment. However, it can help a person establish a sober life to prevent further problems. If you are suffering from memory impairment and you drink heavily, please seek more information about starting alcohol treatment right away.

photo credit: ViPier

Gladys Lillas, of New Zealand, was notorious for her drinking habit. Often drunk, Lillas would walk and dance in traffic, forcing cars to swerve out of the way to avoid her. Many an accident was narrowly missed due to her antics, and the local courts finally decided recently that enough is enough: they forcing Lillas into rehab.

Typically, a person’s family members have to be the ones to push someone into alcohol and drug rehab if they aren’t choosing it for themselves. In the event that criminal acts are done under the influence, some courts have drug court options in which the offender is offered drug rehab rather than jail time, but still no one is forced into anything. If the offender decides not to opt for treatment, they are well within their rights to choose jail time instead.

In short, it’s highly irregular for a court to force anyone into treatment and though no one can deny that Lillas is an alcoholic and that her behavior under the influence is dangerous, some are a little hesitant about the court’s decision to force her into drug and alcohol addiction treatment.

Said Judge McGuire who presided over her case: “We need to get you help for your alcoholism to quit finally so some poor motorist will not have your death on their conscience when you walk out in front of them drunk.”

To be clear, Lillas is far from a first time offender. She has been picked up numerous times over the years with drunk and disorderly charges. Her favorite pastime seems to be walking in traffic and yelling at the top of her lungs. She even did three months in an alcohol rehab facility but the court was told that she immediately began drinking again upon her release. The police are have been inundated for years with phone calls from concerned citizens who feared for Lillas’ life due to her behavior, and the courts seem to have decided that it was time to step in.

Says Police Prosecutor Aroha Cooper: “It’s sad because she is such a lovely person. Everyone loves Gladys. She has a real sense of humor but on the down side when she has been drinking, all police can do is lock her up and detox her. She needs some help.”

Inspector Greg Sparrow also commented on Lillas’ situation, saying: “We’ve usually been called when she has been wandering out on the road presenting a danger not only to herself but to other road users. We are pleased that danger may be mitigated. It is obviously a concern for us having people wandering about on the roads. The last thing we want to see is Gladys being injured.”

What do you think? Is it fair or constitutional to mandate treatment for those who refuse to help themselves if they continue to be a danger to others? Or should the judicial system only be allowed to levy fines and enforce jail time for offenses no matter what the cause of those choices?

A lot of people self medicate their headaches by taking a few ibuprofen pills. Many self medicate their excessive sleepiness by drinking caffeinated beverages or eating sugary snacks. While these are relatively harmless methods, plenty of people self medicate with addictive drugs and alcohol. This is dangerous because the chemicals are potent and people use them with no professional guidance.

Why Do People Self Medicate

Maybe you grew up with a mother who was depressed much of the time. You absorbed her heavy emotional pain, had to live around it, didn’t get what you needed as a child. Perhaps you were sexually assaulted by someone you trusted. Every relationship you have has been in question ever since. You have had a great job for the last ten years but got laid of when the economy went bad. You can’t support your family and you can’t stand feeling like such a failure.

Difficult circumstances like these can be tough to endure. Facing enormous pain, some people choose to deal with their problems by drinking and using drugs. Even if they know its a bad idea, they may be at the end of their endurance. Drugs and alcohol may provide the only relief they’ve felt in a long time.

What Are The Risks Of Self Medicating With Drugs and Alcohol

When you are feeling depressed, hopeless, anxious, and shameful, you might be willing to do anything to have a break. Once you feel that fuzzy bubble of intoxication come around you, you may not care what price you have to pay. The pursuit of the escape can develop into a compulsion, which is a hallmark of drug and alcohol addiction.

With compulsion comes the risk of overdose. Hard drugs like meth and heroin can easily kill someone with an addiction. An addict’s loss of control makes this a constant risk. Even though alcohol may seem like a more tame drug, alcoholism can kill also. An alcoholic’s judgment is so compromised that they are much more likely to put themselves in dangerous situations. Also, high levels of alcohol can cause alcohol poisoning. Alcohol used with drugs can also be a deadly combination.

Drug Rehab More Effective Than Self Medicating

Drug rehab may seem unappealing to a struggling addict or alcoholic. Too much work, too much inside you can’t trust to anyone, too much too explain. Self medicating may seem like the miserable but familiar option. Unfortunately, it’s a short term solution to a long term problem. It may seem like the problems disappear for a while, but they return with a vengeance. Drug rehab is a far more effective option for dealing with all the underlying problems and the additional issues caused by the addiction. Ultimately, drug rehab helps people manage the issues that lead to an addiction so they can live a healthier life.

photo credit: Paraflyer

The human brain is an amazingly complex and interconnected organ. When alcohol and drugs come into the body, each unique portion of the brain reacts in a different way. These individual effects all add up to making a person appear high or drunk. Take a look at each of these reactions from the brain.

Portions Of The Brain Affected By Drugs And Alcohol

Frontal lobe – Impaired reasoning and judgment, inhibitions lowered, sociability affected
Parietal lobe – fine motor skills impaired, reaction time slowed
Temporal lobe – speech slurred and hearing impaired
Occipital lobe – Vision and judgment of distance impaired
Limbic system – Emotions become exaggerated, various levels of memory loss
Cerebellum – Loss of muscle coordination, impaired balance
Brain stem – Disruption of automatic vital functions like heartbeat, breathing, body temperature regulation

Most of these effects are temporary, ending when the person is no longer intoxicated by drugs or alcohol. But extended drug use can make some of these effects become long-term such as memory problems.

Factors Affecting Potential Brain Damage

Drugs and alcohol used in excess can do serious damage to a person’s brain. But since each person is unique, one person’s brain damage may not be the same as that of another person. The US National Institute of Health has published a chart of the important factors in chemically induced brain damage. Take note of how different these circumstances could be for the millions of people abusing and addicted to chemical
substances.

* The person’s age, level of education, gender, genetic background, and family history of alcoholism
* How much and how often a person drinks
* The age at which he or she first began drinking, and how long he or she has been drinking
* Whether he or she is at risk as a result of prenatal alcohol exposure
* His or her general health status.

As you can imagine, a young woman who has only been drinking for a year would be at a different risk level than a 45 year old man who’s been taking drugs and drinking alcohol off and on for 25 years.

The young woman has a generally higher risk for damage over her lifetime because of her gender. However, at the age of 19 she is at a lower risk than the man because of the length of time she has been drinking. If she abstained or drank moderately from this point on, her risk for brain damage from alcohol could be slim to none.

The older man may already have had years of brain damage because of his longer use and multiple substances. The protective factor of his gender makes no difference with his chronic addiction issues.

Drug Rehab To Prevent Potential Brain Damage

If your drug use has gotten out of control, it is likely that you are at serious risk for brain damage. In fact, you may have already sustained some damage without realizing it. Drug treatment or alcohol rehab may be the only way to prevent further damage. Brain damage might not be reversible, but you can learn to live with it when you establish a sober lifestyle. Drug rehab can help you learn how to live sober and live well.

Don’t risk brain damage because of a drug addiction or alcoholism. Stop the cycle right now and start drug rehab today.

photo credit: BlatantNews.com