It’s not an easy discussion to have, but talking to your kids about the medical disorder that is drug addiction is something that you will need to do before you head off to drug rehab. You’ll need to let them know where you’ll be going, how long you’ll be gone, that you need to get treatment help in order to get well and – above all else – that you love them and want to get better so that you can be a better parent for them.

Your Kids Know More About Your Drug Addiction Than You Think

Before you talk, listen. You may be surprised by how much your kids know about your relationship with drugs and alcohol. Though you may feel that you’ve kept everything a closely guarded secret, they may have found your drugs, seen you getting high, recognized the changes in you after drinking, and certainly noticed the mood swings that happen when you are on or off your drug of choice.

Start the conversation by explaining that drug addiction and alcoholism is a medical illness. When you say that you have that illness, immediately let them know that you can go to the doctor to get treatment and get better before they get scared. Tone your conversation to suit the age and understanding of your children, and ask them if they know that you have the illness of drug addiction. If they say ‘yes,’ let them talk about how they know and share what they think about the effects of drugs and alcohol on you.

Explain How Drug Rehab Can Help You Get Better

When you let your children know that you are going to drug rehab, remember to phrase it as the medical treatment that it is. Emphasize that you don’t want to leave them and that you will call and see them as much as possible but also let them know that that may not be for a couple days or weeks, depending upon the requirements of the drug rehab program. As soon as you are doing better though – show younger kids how long you will be gone on a calendar – make it clear that you will be coming straight home to them.

Emotional Reactions are Understandable but Keep Them in Check

Remember to keep your emotions in check as much as possible. It’s hard to say good-bye to your kids, but hysterical crying or an overload of sadness will only make it harder on them. If you feel yourself starting to break down, take a moment and get yourself under control before going on. On the other hand, be sure to let your kids know that it’s okay for them to have feelings about your addiction issues – anger and sadness are both perfectly acceptable – and be willing to listen to them talk through their feelings with you.

Contact us at The Canyon today to find out how we can help your family get on the healing path after your drug addiction and how children and significant others can be involved in your rehab and recovery process.

It’s one of the most common paths for recovering addicts to choose for their lives after they successfully complete drug and alcohol addiction treatment: becoming a drug rehab counselor. Equipped with the firsthand experience of how easy it is to develop an addiction and how hard it is to successfully combat the problem, all the recovering addict is missing is the required education and certification.

But is it a good idea for someone in recovery to become a drug addiction treatment counselor after attending drug rehab? What are the pros and cons?

Pros of Choosing Drug Addiction Treatment Counseling as a Career

You know the ropes of treatment. You know what it’s like to be an addict. You know the ploys and manipulations that are common among patients who are trying to fool themselves into thinking that using or drinking “just once” isn’t that big of a deal – you may have tried a few of those games yourself. You’ve got “street cred” if you’ve spent years with an active addiction and this can be extremely valuable in getting through to people who need help.

Another plus: the education you need to get started working at a rehabilitation facility with minimal responsibility is a certification that often takes just a couple of years to acquire. The classes may also serve to help you remain dedicated and focused on your own recovery, a requirement if you’re going to work in substance abuse treatment.

Cons of Choosing Drug Addiction Treatment Counseling as a Career

It’s not always the best choice for people in early recovery (the first couple of years) to spend so much time around active addicts. In some cases, new counselors with a long drug addiction history may be more likely to be influenced by the patients they are meant to be helping to sobriety than the other way around. Running into old friends with whom they used to use drugs and alcohol can be a trigger as well, and some drug addiction treatment counselors even report stealing the addictive prescription medication of patients when they felt tempted to get high.

Also, those in recovery are not known for always being sensitive to the feelings of others. Part of the process of growing in treatment is learning how to take responsibility for one’s own actions, follow rules even when they seem silly or unreasonable, and treat others with respect even when having a bad day. Often drug addiction treatment counselors bear the brunt of the abuse when patients have a tough time and for those in the first few years of recovery, this can be difficult to take.

Whether or not the job of drug addiction treatment counselor is right for you will depend upon you, your personality, your long-term goals for yourself, and your ability to prioritize your sobriety even when the job gets stressful.

Cocaine addiction reached the height of popularity during the 1970s and 1980s. As new drugs came onto the scene – especially cheaper stimulant drugs like crystal meth –  its popularity dropped off and many stopped viewing the drug as much of a threat. As a result, educational focus on the dangers of cocaine addiction fell off in schools and the numbers of those living with an active cocaine addiction has slowly started to creep up in some areas of the country.

So how do we handle the threat of cocaine addiction? Do we increase education and prevention efforts in the schools? Do we up legal enforcement of the ban on cocaine trafficking? Do we increase availability of cocaine rehab programs for those who need it? What’s the best way to handle a problem that is stealthily growing every day?

Increasing Cocaine Addiction Prevention and Education

Most adults seeking treatment for drug and alcohol addiction report that they first began abusing drugs and alcohol during their teen years. Because prescription drug addiction, marijuana addiction, and alcohol abuse are the top three drugs of choice for teenagers between the ages of 12 and 18, most drug prevention and education is focused on the effects and dangers of these drugs specifically. Perhaps a little bit more attention paid to the effects of cocaine on its users as well as the families that are destroyed and the lives lost during its processing and distribution path may well help to open up the eyes of young users to the risks they are taking when they “experiment.”

Increasing Cocaine Drug Trafficking Laws and Enforcement

There’s been no change to the status of cocaine as an illegal substance despite the decrease in popularity. The US Coast Guard regularly stops boats carrying shipments of hundreds of thousands of pounds of cocaine and confiscating the substance before it can hit the streets. When police find cocaine in large amounts or small among a person’s possessions, charges are pressed. It certainly isn’t taken lightly to even be under the influence of the substance and law enforcement officials are already doing what they can to curb the sales and distribution of the drug.

Increasing Access to Cocaine Rehab

One of the best ways to fight cocaine addiction is to make sure that all who are struggling with dependence have access to the medical and psychological care that they need to effectively heal. Cocaine detox and addiction treatment programs like the ones provided at The Canyon are a great way to begin a new life in recovery. Contact us today to learn more.

Gambling addiction is a medical and psychological issue, just like drug addiction. While half of those seeking treatment for drug addiction are struggling with a co-occurring psychological disorder like depression or anxiety, it is estimated that one in three people in drug rehab also have a gambling problem. It can be complicated to extricate a gambling disorder from a drug addiction disorder during treatment, but because one issue can trigger the other, it becomes important to address both problems at the same time during addiction treatment.

Problem Gambling and Gambling Addiction After Drug Rehab

Many people think that they can continue to gamble even after they go through drug addiction treatment and get clean and sober. Unfortunately, for most, gambling triggers drug addiction temptations. Free drinks at a casino are hard to pass up and the urge to take other stimulant drugs like crystal meth or cocaine in order to stay awake and continue gambling is extremely hard to resist. It’s almost impossible for recovering drug addicts and alcoholics to continue to gamble if they used to gamble during their addiction – it’s akin to hanging out at bars and clubs every night of the week while trying not to drink or get loaded. It just doesn’t work for very long.

Treating Gambling Problems and Addictions During Drug Addiction Treatment

Though many recovering addicts play cards before AA or NA meetings or even to entertain themselves during rehab, if the addict is one of the 33 percent with a co-occurring gambling disorder then this is no longer fun and games. It can trigger the pleasure pathway and adrenaline in much the same way that drugs and alcohol do, and it quickly becomes impossible to stop. With all the same effects on life that drug addiction brings – financial problems, relationship issues, difficulties at work, social problems – it requires the same kind of treatment and this is most effective when it happens in conjunction with drug addiction treatment.

The key is therapy and psychological treatment. What purpose does gambling serve? Escape? Soothing? Why do you feel that you need assistance in these areas? It’s often unresolved trauma and other psychological issues that are dealt with through drugs and gambling. Dealing with those issues during treatment can alleviate the need to get high or gamble.

Additionally, experiential therapy explores the emotions underlying the traumatic events and experiences while personal therapy also provides the guidance necessary to learn better coping mechanisms that don’t include gambling, drugs, alcohol and other dysfunctional and damaging choices.

Contact us today at the Canyon to learn more about our drug rehab programs and how we can help you heal from dual diagnoses like addiction and gambling.

Turns out, actor Cory Monteith couldn’t be more different from his squeaky clean onscreen person on TV Show Glee, Finn Hudson: Monteith recently discussed having a serious teen drug addiction problem that was so severe that he dropped out of high school at age 16.

Says Monteith:  “I burned a lot of bridges. I was out of control.”

Though Monteith reports that he attended drug rehab at the age of 19, he said he didn’t really begin the process of fighting against drug addiction until he had an experience that he calls a “crystallizing event.”

Monteith tells his story: “I stole a significant amount of money from a family member. I knew I was going to get caught, but I was so desperate I didn’t care. It was a cry for help. I was confronted and I said, ‘Yeah, it was me.’ It was the first honorable, truthful thing that had come out of my mouth in years.”

His parents then staged an intervention for him and he agreed to go to drug addiction treatment. Says Monteith: “That’s when I first went to rehab. I did the stint but then went back to doing exactly what I left off doing.”

It was at that time that Monteith moved to a small town in Canada and stopped abusing drugs and alcohol. He returned his focus to school and earned a diploma as well and began to work on his acting career. It paid off: he soon landed a part on the hit TV, Glee, and hasn’t looked back.

Monteith doesn’t necessarily view his story as a success story that should be emulated.

Says Monteith:  “I don’t want kids to think it’s okay to drop out of school and get high, and they’ll be famous actors, too. But for those people who might give up: Get real about what you want and go after it. If I can, anyone can.

“I’m not Finn Hudson. I’m lucky on so many counts—I’m lucky to be alive.”

Hopefully, Monteith’s story will reach the right ears. Thousands of teenagers watch Glee religiously, and it’s likely they’ll hear Monteith’s story. While he doesn’t view his story as a success story, any story that includes drug addiction and ends with a clean and sober person living a healthy and balanced life is definitely a story of accomplishment, and it’s spreading the word that rehabilitation is possible that will encourage those living with addiction to get the help they need.

If you or someone you love is living with an active drug addiction, contact us today for more information about our California drug rehab program here at The Canyon.

One of the most effective ways to address the situation when a loved one is living with crystal meth addiction is to stage an intervention with the goal of getting them crystal meth rehab help immediately. However, no matter how well you prepare or what you do, it doesn’t always in work. In some cases, your loved one will initially refuse crystal meth addiction treatment. What do you do when this happens? Do you give up? Absolutely not. Stand your ground and prepare yourself for the fact that anything can happen.

Either Choose Crystal Meth Rehab or…

Before you stage a crystal meth addiction intervention, you should take some time to come up with something like an ultimatum to give your loved one. Spouses may say, “Either you get crystal meth addiction treatment or I will need a separation.” Bosses may say, “Either you accept the addiction help we’re offering you today or you will need to find another job.” These ultimatums are not designed to control your addicted loved one but to protect you and others who are living with the effects of their addiction. You are offering them help. It is not fair for you to continue to live with all the problems that come with their addiction if they refuse treatment. You are letting them know with this ultimatum that if they say “no,” you will begin prioritizing your own health and wellbeing.

Stand Your Ground if Your Loved One Refuses Crystal Meth Rehab

The provision of consequences can have one of many effects on your loved one: the fear of losing whatever has been put on the table may be enough to spur your addicted family member to choose crystal meth rehab – or it could make them angry and push them instead to say “no” out of spite. In some cases, your loved one may understand your position and need to protect yourself by putting distance between yourself and their continued addiction but still choose not to go to rehab.

If your loved one says “no” to treatment, the most important thing for you to do is follow through on your promise. If you said you’d file for divorce, do it. If you said that your loved one would need to move out, make it so. It won’t be easy for you or for them, but it is absolutely crucial that you stand your ground.

Are you looking for a crystal meth rehab for your loved one? Would you like to be matched with a professional interventionist that can help you help your family member? Contact us at The Canyon today and let us help you get started.

It’s not the first time that a lab or research facility has set out in search of a vaccine that can cure or prevent drug addiction. The latest approach is a little bit different than past attempts, however – rather than a prevention or even a cure, this vaccine would block the addictive substances from reaching and therefore affecting the brain. A patient who has been vaccinated as a part of their drug addiction treatment would experience no high or effect if they were to relapse and take their drug of choice – if it works like it’s supposed to.

So far, the drugs that have been effectively blocked by the vaccine have been nicotine and cocaine.

Do Drug Addiction Vaccines Work?

Does it really work? The jury is still out and long-term studies are ongoing, but so far, the results coming in are positive.

Some patients report that just knowing that they have taken the vaccine has helped them to avoid relapse. Knowing that the vaccine should stop them from getting high if they smoke a cigarette or do a line keeps them from wasting their time and trying.

One patient says: “You still have to mentally say to yourself, ‘I’m not going to do this,’ but it’s so much easier to say it when you know if you light a cigarette, you’re not going to get any pleasure out of it.”

How do Drug Addiction Vaccines Work?

Vaccines don’t work in the brain like other drugs that stop the effect of addictive substances at certain doses (e.g., methadone or Chantix). Instead, vaccines stop illicit drugs while they’re still in the bloodstream, and neither substance should ever reach the brain. The vaccines don’t bind to receptors in the brain or try to change perception in any way; rather, they work by making the body reject the illicit substance before it has a chance to take effect.

This is an important distinction because some of the drugs that provide similar blocking effects against addictive substances are often eschewed because of their side effects. As yet, no significant side effects have been identified among patients using the latest vaccine for drug addiction treatment.

Would You Try a Drug Addiction Vaccine?

If you had access to a drug addiction vaccine, would you take it? Do you need further research studies to prove its efficacy one way or the other? What do you think?