The Canyon

Drugs and alcohol are used by many people all over the world.  Sex often goes along with alcohol and drug use.  When these activities are combined, many problems can arise.  Sex is about intimacy, trust, and personal pleasure.  Unfortunately, drug and alcohol use can be about hiding from emotions, dulling pain, and escaping reality.

Exchanging Sex For Drugs

Many hard drug users exchange sex for drugs.  Crack cocaine, heroin, and meth are so addictive and so quickly debilitating.  Many people cannot keep employment once they get hooked, but drug sellers still expect to be compensated.  Users usually have just a few choices - stealing, becoming a drug seller themselves, or exchanging sex.

This practice is not uncommon for women in urban areas addicted to hard drugs.  They give up their dignity and intimacy because it may be all they have left of value.  Despite how personally damaging this is, the woman doesn’t see how she can live without getting her drugs every day.  In the end, this personal sacrifice creates a pit of shame and worthlessness.  Another reason to be sure she has plenty of drugs to use every day.

Drug and Alcohol Use and Unsafe Sex

Unsafe sex is unfortunately too common in our world.  People spread diseases and created unintended pregnancies every single day.  Drug and alcohol use often strongly contributes to this destructive trend.  Drugs and alcohol lower a person’s inhibitions and distort their judgment, making them feel brave and indestructible.

This lowered inhibition may make them much less cautious about being sexually active.  The biggest problem is not using sexual protection.  Sex happens in the moment without much thought about the consequences.  Does that person have a sexually transmittable disease?  Could sex result in pregnancy?  Am I even really ready to have sex right now?  Is this the way I want to be having sex?  This critical questions are not likely to be considered when a person is drunk or high while having sex.

Drug And Alcohol Use and Unwanted Sex

Something even worse than unsafe sex is unwanted sex.  Certainly, some men have experienced unwanted sexual advances and assaults from females and males.  However, most of these situations tend to involve women being assaulted by men.  Remember how drugs and alcohol can reduce a person’s inhibitions and distort their judgment?  An unscrupulous man or teen boy may look for girls who are intoxicated to this point.  They may take the lack of struggle as permission to do what they want.  Or, they may expect some struggle but also hope the woman would be incapacitated enough that she couldn’t fight back well or even remember what he looked like.

Using drugs and alcohol themselves may make advances on women who don’t want to have sex with them.  Instead of backing off when the woman resists or says no, they may feel emboldened in their state of intoxication.  They may choose to be aggressive and dominating, making the woman have sex against her will.  All of these incident qualify as sexual assault and can have long lasting consequences for both parties.

Drug and Alcohol Rehab

Drug and alcohol rehab may be necessary for someone who makes poor decisions about sex while intoxicated.  Very likely, he or she may have significant underlying problems that contribute to their drug and alcohol use.  Drug rehab can help a person see these problems and address them properly.  They can get out of the dangerous loop of drug use and sex.

photo credit: frannie60

Binge drinking is an unfortunately uncommon occurrence among drinkers today.  Getting so drunk that you pass out is seen as a badge of honor, a real social status symbol.  People often brush off the problems with binge drinking.  Today you will find out why those assumptions are dangerously wrong.

Risk Of Alcohol Poisoning

An episode of binge drinking can put you in jeopardy of alcohol poisoning.  Gender is an enormously important factor in this.  Women absorb alcohol at faster rates than men, even for a man and woman of the same weight.  Many people drink so much that they pass out.  It may look like they are just sleeping it off, but they could be at serious risk for death.

Here are some key symptoms of a person with possible alcohol poisoning:

• unconscious or semi-conscious

• slow respiration (eight or less breaths per minute)

• cold clammy skin that look pale

If you know you frequently drink until you pass out, you put your life at risk each and every time.  Even when you stop drinking, any alcohol in your stomach continues to enter your bloodstream. Your BAC (blood alcohol count) could be high enough to cause death and you would be absolutely unable to help yourself.

Rapid Rise In Blood Alcohol Count Increases Risk For Blackouts

A person’s BAC (blood alcohol count) rises as they drink and lowers with the passage of time.  When someone drinks faster than their body can metabolize the alcohol, they can become intoxicated.  Excessive drinking can make a person’s BAC shoot straight up, giving the body little chance to metabolize and flush it out.

An alcohol blackout is when a person has absolutely no memory of events that occurred while they drank.  They may have a “final memory” that they can recall, and then it’s nothing for many hours.  Blackouts can put a person at risk in so many different ways - harming long term memory, at risk for poor judgment like driving while drunk, at risk for unsafe sexual behavior.  Research has found that a rapid rise in BAC is closely connected with blackouts.

Developing A High Alcohol Tolerance

Binge drinking can lead to a person’s body developing higher alcohol tolerance.  The drinker notices that the same amount of drinks doesn’t have the same effect it used to.  They decided to have more drinks than they had before in pursuit of that same drunk sensation.  Over time, they may inevitably put themselves closer and closer to truly dangerous BAC levels.

While all people who binge drink are not alcoholics, many people who are alcoholics also binge drink.  Their tolerance is high and they consume high amounts just to get through each day.  A very high tolerance to alcohol is a strong risk factor for alcoholism.  The body will eventually adapt to these high levels of alcohol, making physical addiction likely.

Alcohol Rehab Can Help

If you are a binge drinker, you may need to take a closer look at your drinking patterns.  If you have experienced alcohol poisoning symptoms, had blackouts and developed a high alcohol tolerance, you may need to start alcohol treatment.  These are signs that alcohol has taken a strong importance in your life, putting you in danger of death, injury, or other serious consequences.  Before you suffer seriously from your drinking, consider alcohol treatment today.

photo credit: Blyzz

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