Drug rehab and alcohol treatment are not quick fixes. One of the first questions to go through a drug addict’s mind when they think of treatment is, “How could I ever afford that?” Let’s take a look at the financial problems drug addict often face and how they can be overcome.

Financial Challenges With Drug Rehab

Financial Barriers Make Sobriety Difficult For Some

Maybe a young depressed single mom can’t afford a babysitter so she can go to therapy for her depression. Perhaps there are no AA meetings within walking distance of someone who is struggling with their sobriety. In this difficult economy, it might be easier to keep turning tricks for drugs and money instead of getting sober and finding a decent job.

Yes, these might seem like excuses. But money trouble in drug addiction tends to go together. The addiction can bring in financial burdens such as legal expenses, unpaid days home from work, medical bills, job loss, late fees for unpaid bills, and more. As these expenses mount. The addict may feel all the more reason to drink or use drugs.

Sliding Fee Scale And Scholarships Can Help Some Get To Drug Rehab

For those who qualify, many community mental health centers offer a sliding fee scale for their drug and alcohol services. Some drug rehab centers have scholarships to help those who don’t think they can afford treatment. However, that may not be enough to help an addict in a very deep financial hole. The addict has to get motivated enough and creative enough to get around these problems.

Perhaps it is not entirely bad that some barriers exist. People tend to have less motivation to accomplish their goals when everything appears to be easy. Not that it’s a good thing people have money problems, but it may force the addict to get out of their comfort zone. Maybe the prospect of homelessness seals more awful than asking for some help.

Current Economy Challenging To People Needing Drug Rehab

It is difficult to know how our current economy will impact the mental health agencies that provide sliding fee scales. They often depend on grants and government support for they can offer such low fees for people who need them. It may be time for all types of drug treatment and addiction support groups to work together on this problem. Maybe their collaboration can help addicts with serious financial problems and still get the treatment and support they need.

Financial problems are a reality for many drug addicts and alcoholics. Even if these problems interfere with sobriety and drug treatment, many drug addicts continue to find ways around them. There is always hope for a new start every day.

It only takes a few drinks before alcohol starts messing with your memory. Doesn’t sound like much, does it? Step into a bar anywhere and you will likely find many people who end up having two or more drinks. Having a little “fuzz” around your memories would be common with a few drinks, and not necessarily a sign of alcohol addiction. But if you have chunks of memory gone when you drink, you may need alcohol treatment to keep a clear head.

Your Brain Gets Hit Hard With Alcohol To Create A Blackout

Alcohol blackouts are often confused with passing out. In a blackout, a person behaves normally but never manages to capture the memory of the experience. A person who passes out loses consciousness from the depressant effect of the alcohol. This is so common at binge drinking parties. It is quite serious, but it is
downplayed a lot. It seems as innocent as just falling asleep. Obviously, a person who has passed out would have memory problems and possibly blackouts.

Your brain takes a real hit when larger quantities of alcohol are consumed. Everything seems slower, like you are looking through a fishbowl. Your perceptual experience is distorted and your physical abilities suffer. The more a person drinks at one sitting, the better the chance of memory distortion and loss. And for a person to have the tolerance to drink enough to have a blackout, they are most likely addicted and drinking massive quantities.

Binge Drinking and Blackouts Create High Risk

Having blackouts is somewhat like having amnesia. You know time passed and things happened, but you have absolutely no idea what they were. You literally “lost time” for a while. This can be a huge risk for many reasons. Chances are, if you are in the midst of a blackout your judgment and reaction time is fairly poor. This makes you vulnerable to drunk driving, sexual assault, daredevil behavior, overspending, suicide, and becoming assaultive to others.

Alcohol Treatment Restores Memory and Life

Alcohol treatment is needed to stop a person from taking so much risk with their life. Blackouts are just a consequence of the high tolerance an alcoholic has built up. If they have built up a high tolerance, they are drinking on purpose to deal with something. Loneliness, emptiness, low self worth, lack of identity, emotional pain from abuse – any of those thing could be at the bottom of a person’s alcoholism. Alcohol treatment can help a person stop drinking so they can have full recollection of their life.

Sometimes, the blackouts can seem like merciful absence of pain. If the alcoholic can’t remember, then it’s like it didn’t happen. It’s a way to drown their life without quite killing it yet. Unfortunately, a person who’s having blackout is also drinking high enough amounts to die from alcohol poisoning. So going to alcohol treatment will do more than just keep memories, it can keep them from being on the brink of death.

Addiction is often more than just a physical problem. The psychological component to addiction can be so compelling that it can lead to a relapse. Urges for alcohol can now be treated with Naltrexone. Recently, research has revealed that it can help with gambling urges as well. Read on to find out more about this useful medication.

Naltrexone Helps Curb Urges to Drink

Naltrexone is a drug that helps with alcohol addiction, mainly helping with psychological alcohol cravings. It’s been approved and marketed since the mid 1990′s for use with alcoholics. It has also been used in various other ways such as rapid detox for opiates, opiate drug addiction, and even some occasional use with medical problems not related to drug addiction.

Of course, just curbing cravings is not enough to manage alcoholism. An alcoholic must find healthier social activities that don’t involve alcohol, a good support system, a healthy diet, develop a relapse prevention plan, and more. However, something that helps with the psychological cravings can certainly help a person as they make positive changes in their daily life.

Research Shows Naltrexone Can Help Compulsive Gamblers

According to the May, 2008 issue of The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, Naltrexone has been shown as helpful with gambling urges. Success at curbing alcoholism urges have apparently translated to another type of addiction. Certainly more follow-up studies will need to be done to verify and confirm the reliability of these results. However, this kind of break through could really help people struggling with a gambling addiction.

Gambling addiction has many similarities to alcoholism. Of course, there is nothing to be chemically dependent on. However, the psychological addiction is very powerful. There are urges to bet again and again, creating a high when things go well and devistation when things go badly. When an gambler develops an addiction, their urge to bet becomes irresistible, resembling a heroin or meth addict that chases that ever-elusive high.

Psychological addiction is not to be underestimated. Alcoholics are very attached to their alcohol, often associating it with comfort and relief. Think of a small child having their security blanket taken away from them abruptly. Even though it may provide only a small amount of extra warmth and no other practical use, a young child can become very attached. They become visibly upset and emotional distraught at the loss.

Even if they have loving parents and a safe home, a child’s security blanket can provide an extra level of comfort at their convenience. Though this is normal and expected for young children, strong attachment to an activity like gambling or a substance like alcohol is unhealthy and harmful.

Medication Can Support Alcohol Rehab and Gambling Treatment

The uses of Naltrexone are still being explored and verified. It’s possible that it won’t work for everyone or be reliable for every kind of addiction. However, it does provide some hope for alcoholics and gamblers. It’s certainly no substitute for alcohol rehab or long-term outpatient alcohol treatment programs. It’s also not meant to take the place of gambling treatment or other drug treatments. But just like medication taken for mental illness, Naltrexone can provide support for those overcoming addiction problems. Let’s hope that the medical community continues to uncover other useful medications for people needing drug rehab.

Last week, a post reviewed scenarios of three people in very different life circumstances. In each scenario, the person was depicted showing conflict between risky behaviors caused by drinking and life goals that depended on good judgment. We’ll take a deeper look now into how alcohol and risk taking are connected.

Alcoholism and Risky Choices Affects Three Lives

In scenario one, the father (lawyer) is the primary bread winner with a family to provide for. His drunk driving and drunk boating activities could leave his wife and children with serious financial problems. He could also leave his children fatherless and make his wife a widow. When he is drinking, he minimizes the risk and thinks mostly of his own fun and being part of his friend group.

In scenario two, the young mother drinks to make up for lost “fun” time in her teen years. The young child only has one adult to depend on, his mother. Her illegal drinking and recent brushes with the police could land her in jail, draw a heavy fine, or give cause for removing her son from the home. When she is drinking, she puts her own emotional needs first. The possible consequences from a few hours of “fun” could turn her young child’s life upside down in a flash.

In scenario three, the young professional’s unsafe driving and sexual behaviors could do some serious damage to themselves and others. Their choices could put their health at risk, could hurt or kill another person, and could cause serious financial and legal problems. When they drink, they try to forget their past and ther problems. They also try to ignore the potential consequences of their choices in the present moment.

Alcoholism and Risky Behaviors

A person with a drug or alcohol addiction often overlooks risk. They tend to minimize and separate realistic risk from how much drinking meets some other need – covering up feelings, keeping up social connections, dealing with emotional pain, releasing stress, etc.

Even though the drinking could temporarily meet each person’s needs, it could at any time take them directly off the positive path they may want to be on. Serious injury, financial problems, death, loss of parental custody, jail, and other problems are part of the risk when a person drinks irresponsibly.

Untreated Mental Illness Increases Risky Behavior

Sometimes, a person drinks to cope with a mental illness such as severe anxiety or depression. In this case, heavy drinking makes the underlying mental illness even worse. Depression deepens, anxiety increases, and despair grows. An untreated mental illness is one of the most alienated and painful things a person can live through. Drinking to cope with it only makes things worse.

Normal inhibitions keep a person from being dangerously impulsive. You tend to pull back and think twice about doing something that could injure you, embarrass you, insult someone, etc. Alcohol lowers these inhibitions, making impulses easier to follow. This becomes especially dangerous when a person is depressed. They may be more likely to hurt themselves or someone else when they feel desperate or trapped.

Alcohol Rehab Can Reduce Risky Behaviors

Alcohol rehab can help a person stop drinking and greatly reduce the risk in their life. If a person is drinking out of control, it is likely they will need some form of alcohol treatment to help them change their mindset and behavioral patterns. Do you find yourself or someone you care for in the above scenarios? If you do, please consider learning about alcohol rehab before the worst case scenario comes true.

For you, going to a party is a way to blow of steam, let go, and forget your troubles. But does your partying put your health and life goals at risk? It may be hard to admit, but using drugs and alcohol to cope can actually bring on more and bigger problems. Alcohol rehab may be needed to get your life back on track.

The Lawyer Who Drinks And Drives

You are a successful lawyer, working your way up to being a junior partner in your firm. You only drink about once a week, but it is always to get drunk. And when you get together with some old friends once a month, you almost always do dangerous activities while drinking such as driving carelessly on country roads and running motor boats at night.

You see all this as a very normal way to let loose from your stressful job, but your wife is constantly worried that you will be injured, get arrested, or die from these activities. She is a stay-at-home mom with your two small children.

The Single Underage Mom Who Parties

You are a twenty year old single mom with an two year old child. You just went through a messy divorce – the relationship was bad from the start and the divorce was painful. You know this was the right thing to do, but your partying has increased now. You have been through so much and you feel like you need to make up for lost fun time.

Because of the friends you have been spending time with, you’ve been noticed by the police a few times and now the neighbor has threatened to call Child Welfare Services because they know a child lives with you during all this. You are worried but still want to be able to go to parties when you want some fun.

The Young Professional Who Drinks The Pain Away

You have just turned thirty, with a college degree, and a good job. Your parents have had continuous marital problems and they keep dragging you into them. You have had a lot of emotional pain to deal with through your life because of this. You feel like you’ve spend a lot of your younger years being like an adult (and a referee), like you are really in your 40′s now instead of young with your own life stiil ahead of you.

You frequently drink with your friends at bars and at their homes. You’ve driven many times while drunk, parked your car and slept off the alcohol, even had a cop tail you for a while – but nothing bad has happened yet. The economy is bad now and you can’t afford big fines or a big car repair bill. You also have sexual relations with when you are drunk (usually from people you meet at the bar), often times with no protection.

Alcohol Rehab Can Help Reduce Risky Behaviors

It’s not hard to see how these situations could become trouble in a hurry. We’ll take a closer look at how a person with alcoholism could continue to take such risks. Sometimes mental illness gets into the mix, creating a problem with co-occurring disorders. Alcohol rehab helps to balance a person’s perspective on their life, helping them curb their urge to ignore red flags. Alcohol rehab may be the only way to help a person who seems bent on living a dangerous life with alcohol. Sadly, it sometimes takes an unfortunate accident or dramatic problem to get an alcoholic person to alcohol rehab.

Check in next week for part 2 of this series on alcohol addiction and taking risks.

You probably know someone in your life (now or in the past) that really needs to go to alcohol treatment. They probably deny they have a problem, say they could quit drinking any time they want to, and maybe portray themselves as someone who “goes with flow.” However, these could be signs of a person needing alcohol rehab. Loss of control with drinking is a big sign of a problem. Alcoholics become good at distracting others from their behaviors with nice promises and smooth explanations. Look past these comments if you have concern – believe your eyes, not your ears.

Multiple Failed Attempts To Quit or Cut Back Drug and Alcohol Use

An alcoholic may say they can quit anytime and that they don’t have a problem. However, a clear sign of alcoholism is the inability to actually quit. In fact when they say they’ve quit several times before (as proof that they can), it really show shows that they can’t maintain sobriety.

This also holds true for just cutting back to a more healthy social amount. If they have already gotten out of control with their habits, this is kind of like trying to get the cat back into the bag after it’s been used to being out. Very difficult to do alone. Alcoholics drink as a coping mechanism, so really, they don’t have much motivation to quit or reduce their drinking until they understand the full scope of their problem. In the short term, less drinking means they aren’t able to get as numb as they are used to.

It’s About Impulse Control

Someone says, “Hey, let’s go to the bars,” or “Have another one,” and the alcoholic has little ability to stop themselves. The impulse wins nearly every time because their skill at delaying gratification or using good judgment about drinking has been disabled.

It’s partly because one strong effect of alcohol in the body is a loss of impulse control. A person who normally only has one or two can have this effect for a short time without completely losing their ability to make good choices. Of course, anyone having even one drink needs to be smart about choosing to drive each and every time. But if their pattern is controlled social drinking, it is likely to stay that way over time.

Poor Judgement On When To Say When

An earlier post described how alcoholics have great difficulty tracking the amount they drink. They may say they’ve only had “a few” but they may have actually had several times that amount. Their tolerance is probably higher, so they may not report as much impairment as a true social drinker. However, that does not mean they are actually less impaired.

A person drinking socially and safely generally has a good sense about their physical sensations, knowing they should keep track, and understanding how their drinking fits into the bigger picture of their activities for the day. In other words, they most likely know if they are drinking socially before they get on the road, they will only be able to have a certain amount within a certain amount of time so they can drive safely. An alcoholic has no ability to do this.

Alcohol Rehab Can Get Life Back In Control

Of course, nobody is ever completely in control of their life. That’s pretty unrealistic. However, everyone has a great deal of control about their behaviors and choices. Losing control of the ability to manage alcohol use is destructive and sometimes deadly. Alcohol rehab can restore a person’s ability to monitor themselves and make good choices.

“I don’t know if there’ll be snow, but have a cup of cheer” – and so goes a popular holiday song. Drinking and holidays are pretty common partners around the world. It sure makes it easy to blend in your out-of-control drinking when everyone else is doing it too. This holiday season could be your wake-up call to go to alcohol rehab.

photo credit: Steve & Jemma CopleyHave

Family Conflict Made Worse By Heavy Drinking

Nearly everyone has one obnoxious relative, someone who speaks their opinion loudly and doesn’t care what others think. Well, are you that relative in your family? Drinking even small amounts of alcohol can lower a person’s inhibitions. Ordinarily, they might keep their opinions more closely guarded. Have a few drinks and a family feud might be rekindled.

Do you find family gatherings to be stressful? Do you feel like you often end your holiday time with someone complaining about you, fighting with you, trying to “get in your business”? Ask yourself how often you’ve been drunk when that’s happened. You might discover that your drinking gives you the fuel to provoke others and be overly sensitive to criticism. And if you’re not the only one getting drunk during the conflict, there’s no way a sensible calm discussion is going to suddenly break out.

Everyone Else Is Drinking So Who Cares

Your denial can run wild when other people are also drinking at holiday gatherings. It’s all just innocent normal party drinking like everyone else. You and your family might even have a “tradition” of getting pretty drunk watching football games, drinking after dinner, or even going out to the bars.

One thing to consider – your drinking may not seem abnormal because so many people around you also drink to excess. You may not even think twice about spending most of the holidays drunk. Perhaps you aren’t the only one in the group that has a problem. Has anyone in your family already spent time in an alcohol treatment center? Or should they? And just because lemmings follow each other off cliffs doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.

Drinking and Driving

I’ll never forget last year when I heard about a family in Ohio coming back from the Christmas holiday in a mini-van. They were struck by a drunk driver (almost three times the legal BAC limit) in a head-on collision on the interstate. Half the family was killed instantly including one of the parents, a newborn baby, and three other young children. It’s an unbelievable tragedy that many people have kept in their hearts this past year. Even the most basic description of the accident stirs disturbing images in your mind.

Anyone who sees someone intoxicated at their family gatherings needs to be sure they don’t drive away in that condition. If you know your drinking gets out of control at the holidays, tell a family member you trust to keep you off the road at all costs. This man got sentenced to 43 years in prison and a lifetime burden. I sincerely hope that he also has some form of alcohol treatment while serving his time.

Consider Alcohol Rehab For Heavy Drinking Problems

The holidays are supposed to be a time of joyous reunion with loved ones. Unfortunately, these times often expose personal problems and family rifts. If you find that your holidays are affected by your heavy drinking, strongly consider giving the best gift possible to yourself and your family – time at an alcohol rehab center.

You’ve been clean and sober for a handful of years now, having some ups and downs but staying sober. Then boom – you ahve a death in the family, and you once again turn to alcohol to soothe your anxiety. This is why relapse is common. Even when you are doing well, something intense can shake you to the core. Take a look at what can happen when you think you’re immune to relapse.

Relapse Triggers Are All Around

Infectious germs loiter all around us every day. When our immune systems are strong and responsive, they fight off nearly every germ that tries to invade the body. Germs find ways inside, like through cuts, eyes, and mouths. Being overworked and stressed, not enough sleep, close contact with an infected person, all of these are opportunities for survival. Germs seize these opportunities and wreck havoc. That’s why we drink orange juice, exercise, and sleep soundly – to keep our immune system battle-ready at all times.

For a person in addiction recovery, relapse likes to sneak up and hide around the corner. Relapse triggers lie in wait every day until an opportunity presents itself. Many times, the person can fend them off with positive thinking, exercise, keeping emotional balance, talking to friends, and so on. But what happens when they don’t take care of the day-to-day healthy habits? What happens when the relapse prevention plan becomes erratic, ignored, or forgotten? Relapse, that’s what.

Relapse Starts With Innocent Sounding Lies

Your mind starts to open the door for relapse the minute it lies to you. “This drink is just to help me calm down.” “I’m not going back to the old days, just trying to get to sleep.” “Once I can relax, I’ll be fine. I can stop anytime anyway.” These seemingly innocent comments are really dangerous lures. They draw you into the trap of active addiction. You might even feel that you deserve to blow off some steam. You’ve been so stressed out by your anxiety, but it will just be this one time.

Some part of you might be saying, “Hey, what the heck am I doing here? I don’t have to get drunk to make things better.” You know the way you were when you were drinking all the time – the DUIs, the fist fights, the money problems, the legal issues, the messy relationships. Addiction is a dark place you don’t want to go, but you feel yourself sliding in that direction more and more.

Relapse Means You Need Alcohol Treatment

Relapse does not mean the end of the road, the end of your progress, or proof that you are some kind of failure. Relapse is a learning opportunity, so tell someone you need to stop drinking and that you need help. Yes, you may feel some shame in telling someone, but what about the shame that you are knowingly hurting yourself? The shame can get much better when you open up your dark little place and let the light of truth inside. If you keep it all to yourself, shame and relapse can get so scary and isolating. Tell someone you need help.

If you are not already in alcohol treatment, make a phone call and find an alcohol rehab center in your community. And yes, even if you have been to alcohol treatment before, you may need to swallow your pride and consider this the moment you need to go again. If you truly know yourself as an alcoholic, pretending your alcoholism is gone is just plain dangerous.

Alcoholism is a serious problem for anyone who succumbs to it. Many people understand the basics about how being drunk all the time would make life hard. But what about the body? How much of a hit does the human body take when it’s assaulted by massive amounts of toxin every day? If nothing else, this list hopefully makes anyone with alcoholism seriously consider alcohol treatment.

The Big List of Health Problems From Alcoholism

Liver cancer, hepatitis, and cirrhosis are all diseases that can come on as a direct result of heavy drinking. The liver is on the front line of absorbing toxins from the blood. It can become damaged almost beyond repair from working overtime all the time.

Common heart problems resulting from alcoholism can include cardiomyopathy (weakened heart muscles leading to heart failure), high blood pressure, increased risk of stroke, irregular heart rhythms called arythmias. Anemia and other blood disorders can also arise from lack of proper nutrient absorption. Blood vessels near the surface of the skin become constantly dialated, giving the chronic drinker the look of flush skin all the time.

Tissue inflammation of all sorts is a side effect of heavy drinking. This can lead to pancreatitis, usually seen in people who’ve been drinking heavily for at least 5-7 years. It’s usually chronic by the time they get medical attention. Other digestive problems include peptic ulcers from long-term irritation of the stomach lining.

Heavy drinkers are at risk for weight gain from excess calories in each drink. This puts them at a greater risk for all the health issues overweight people face including diabetes. On a related note, heavy drinking for several days without enough food can cause a person to become hypoglycemic, which means they are suddenly short of necessary sugars in the body. This can bring on strange behaviors, disorientation, and even convulsions or a coma (when severe). If the person is already diabetic, their risk of hypoglycemia is greater.

Heavy drinkers may begin losing feeling in their extremities from long-term neurological damage. Alcoholics can also have a lasting impact on the development and growth of connections throughout the brain and chemical balances.

It should be noted that women are at risk to develop these problems sooner than men. Women require less alcohol over a shorter period of time to develop alcoholism. Also, any woman who drinks while she is pregnant puts her unborn baby in a great amount of danger. Many thousands of babies are born each year with fetal alcohol effects. Also, heavy alcohol use while pregnant can increase the risk of a miscarriage.

The Final Word Alcoholism and Health

In short, heavy chronic drinking raises the risk for nearly every disease in the book. That’s the bottom line. As much as heavy drinking impairs a person in the moment, it also does a lifetime of damage along the way. Alcohol rehab can turn someone’s life around. If an alcoholic doesn’t get alcohol treatment in time, it could really be too late to save their body. For lasting good health, alcohol rehab is a smart choice.

A sure sign that someone has a serious drinking problem is when they lose control of their drinking behaviors. They frequently say one thing then do another, leaving the concerned friend or relative really wondering. If you are watching out for someone who seems to lose control of their drinking on a regular basis, you may very well need to talk with them about getting alcohol treatment. But first, take a look at the following examples to see if you need to take action.

Alcohol Use More Than Intended

Your roommate says he’s just going to have one or two beers over at a friend’s place. You drop by about an hour later and find that he’s finished a six pack and is heading into a new one. A woman tells her husband she’s going to have a drink after supper. Two hours later, her husband has noticed her refilling at least four times.

Maybe it’s part of the denial, but the two people described above both said one thing and did another. They each indicated they were having a fairly small amount to drink, but in reality they had at least three times as much. Did they really think they were only having one or two? Or did they just say that outloud to someone else to make it seem OK? It could certainly be both.

Use Drugs For Longer Period Than Planned

A husband tells his wife he’s just going to watch the game and drink a few beers at a friend’s house, then he’ll come home and they’ll go out for dinner. However, he doesn’t come home in time for dinner, and his wife can’t reach him. He and his friends had gotten drunk during the game and went down to the bars for a few hours.

Once a person with alcoholism gets rolling, it can be hard to stop. Drinking almost always takes longer than they say because they have little ability to control the amount they have. They can become oblivious to the passage of time or other obligations. The goal of their drinking is not to have a mild buzz once in a while. It is to get intoxicated, even when they don’t say so.

Not Being Able to Keep Track of Alcohol Amounts

If you ask an alcoholic how much they had, you will invariably get some strange answers. Some will swear they only had four or five, when a blood alcohol count from a DUI will show almost twice the legal limit. Or, they may simply say, “I don’t know,” which is probably the most accurate.

Alcoholics almost always underestimate their amount. They aren’t keeping track in the first place because again, their drinking is not done in a socially responsible manner. They are drinking in an out of control manner because they are using the alcohol as a coping mechanism. Getting drunk is what they have done for so long they may not know or remember how to monitor themselves accurately.

Stop Out of Control Drinking With Alcohol Rehab

Check back here for another post describing more ways alcoholics lose control of their drinking. Unfortunately, there’s just too much to put in one post. Alcohol treatment is the best way to truly stop drinking that has gone out of control. Sometimes a short stay at a residential alcohol treatment center is the best thing. A person taken out of their environment can get a real fresh start, especially when the problem has been chronic and serious.