Tag: Drug Addiction

Addiction

Overcome Addiction in California

Disorders of substance abuse (SUDs) are characterized by structural and functional abnormalities in the brain that lead to a strong desire to use drugs or alcohol regularly. Despite the fact that it is a chronic mental health condition, it is feasible to attain and maintain sobriety with the appropriate addiction counseling and support. Recognize that there is an issue and take appropriate action: It is the most challenging part of the treatment process to admit that you have a problem with alcohol or drugs. In the case of drug addiction problems, the brain is obliged to search for reasons and excuses for continuing to use. It indicates the strength of character to acknowledge you have a problem and that you are prepared to tackle your dependency and its root causes. It is possible to obtain assistance from a variety of sources; nonetheless, having a strong support system is essential in whichever therapeutic strategy you choose to choose. For those who are hesitant to seek assistance from loved ones, a therapist, doctor, or rehabilitation facility may be of assistance to you. Learn more on this link https://www.forbes.com/. Take a look at your substance abuse problem: To begin, take a moment to consider what is essential to you, how addiction has harmed you, and how your life will be improved as a consequence of your sobriety or treatment. In order to reflect effectively, keeping a daily journal is the fastest and most efficient technique available. A notebook can aid you in building plans to address addiction by spotting patterns, triggers, objectives as well as motivators that you may not have otherwise seen. Make a change in your immediate environment: Remove from your house and place of employment any objects that serve as visual reminders of your reliance on others. Identify and avoid any individuals who may encourage you to remain involved with the object of your addiction, such as family members or coworkers (drug, alcohol, or behavior). If you're trying to quit drinking, get rid of any bottle openers, booze, wine glasses, as well as corkscrews that you might have around the house or in your car. In order to stop gambling, you should remove all of your gambling materials from your possession. This includes playing cards, scratch tickets, and poker chips. As a last resort, do not allow anyone else to use or bring indications of the addiction-related drug or activity into your home. This is especially important if you have children. Take your attention away from potential triggers: Consider alternatives to using, such as taking a walk or calling a friend or family member to chat, that will keep you entertained until the need to use has passed. You should prepare yourself to deal with events that may arouse your cravings, such as being in an environment where others are misusing drugs or alcohol. Examine your prior attempts to quit smoking. Are they successful? Reflect on the aspects of your past attempts that went well and those that did not. Take a look at the circumstances that may have contributed to the relapse and make any necessary adjustments. Find out more information on this page. Create a support system of individuals to whom you may turn for help: Make sure to tell your relatives and friends about your goals and solicit their support and encouragement. You should notify them of your decision to step down. If they use your object of addiction in front of you, tell them that they should not continue to do so. If you are purchasing drugs from a drug dealer, you should consider alerting him or her that you are stopping and requesting him or her not to call you or sell you narcotics if you are quitting. Try to avoid them as much as possible. Additionally, you may want to consider speaking with your healthcare provider about the best method for quitting that is appropriate for you and your circumstances. Depending on your situation, there may be drugs available to you that will make the process simpler for you and increase your chances of success. Constructing a meaningful drug-free living: It is possible to preserve your addiction-free status by engaging in activities that you like and that are important to you. Achieving objectives and having something to look forward to are both essential components of living a fulfilling life. Maintain touch with people who are recovering from addiction and who are happy and enthusiastic about their situation. Participating in difficult activities such as volunteering or participating in a sport may also be good. Exercise, sleep, and nutritious food may all help you feel better both physically and psychologically if you follow a regular schedule. Also, another option is to roll into a rehab facility that will get you clean and help you fight addiction. Be sure to check out Monarch Shores, to learn all there is to know about these facilities. It is imperative that you avoid those who enable addiction at all costs: The fact that you are spending plenty of time around drug users will not help you reach your objective of quitting drugs. If you want to attain your objectives, you should surround yourself with people who are worried about their health and engage in good habits such as jogging, vacationing, eating healthy meals, writing, and striving to fulfill their goals. Given that you are in path to recovery from addiction, it is quite likely that your closest friends are also in recovery from addiction. Friends who know you well may be puzzled as to why you are not spending as much time with them as you used to when you are initially starting on your recovery road. Nonetheless, it is critical to maintaining a safe space between you and the other person. Compulsive behavior can manifest itself in a variety of ways, including sex, food, gambling, and any other sort of addiction. In both your finest and worst moments, your closest friends serve as a reflection of your personality. Read Also: Why It’s So Hard to Quit Drugs Cold Turkey? Famous Alcoholics and the Symptoms of Their Addiction Is Outpatient Treatment for Drug and Alcohol Addiction Effective? Spot It Early: 9 Common Signs of Addiction You Need to Look out For

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Quit Drugs Cold Turkey

Why It’s So Hard to Quit Drugs Cold Turkey?

The endurings of life in modern society have made it common for people to develop addictions to drugs and alcohol. It all starts with one drink, one puff, or one sniff to get over a bad mood or event. Before you know it, several months down the line you’ve lost everything. Fortunately, a lot of people get to a point where they feel they’ve simply had enough of drug or alcohol abuse and are ready to make the changes needed for them to get over the addiction. Some people choose to go cold turkey because they feel it will be easier to stop using their substance of choice rather than to get off it gradually. While ambition and dedication to recovering are powerful on their own, they are simply not enough to overcome withdrawal symptoms. Quitting substance abuse cold turkey is very difficult and can impose significant risks if your body developed a certain level of dependence on the drug. In this article, we look into the cold turkey approach of quitting, what it means, why it’s so hard, and the risks it poses to the addict. If you want to find a rehab center to help you quit using drugs, you can learn more here. What does It mean to Quit Cold Turkey? The term ‘cold turkey’ comes from one of the withdrawal symptoms of quitting substance use. Sometimes, a person may get goosebumps that look like the skin of a plucked turkey after they cut themselves off their drug of choice. As such, quitting drugs ‘cold turkey’ means putting an abrupt stop to drugs and alcohol use. Most approaches are done at home without medical assistance or intervention. People who use this technique do so in the belief that it will be easier to stop using the substance immediately. Some believe that if they disassociate themselves with the drug entirely, they will feel less compelled to start using again. For others, detoxing at home is the most convenient method because they don’t have medical insurance and are unable to afford treatment services. As painful and uncomfortable the experience might be, they believe they can do it on their own without the need for specialized drug addiction treatment. Another reason for going cold turkey is because the addict prefers to do it in a familiar environment where they can feel safer and supported by friends and family. However, quitting cold turkey should not be mistaken for detoxification. Detox is a slow process of clearing drugs from the body in a safe and controlled setting. Detoxing allows the body enough time to purge physical cravings and the freedom to go through several uncomfortable feelings and changes brought about by the body breaking free of the drug. Why Quitting Cold Turkey Is So Hard? If you’re trying to quit drugs, cold turkey may seem like a fast and easy option at first. You get to go through the process privately at home without subjecting yourself to judgment or scrutiny from people. However, the technique is very difficult to do. Factors that make it hard include: Withdrawal symptoms. Intense cravings. The drug of choice. The level of addiction. Co-occurring mental health conditions. If you’re addicted to alcohol or a particular drug, your body has likely developed an undesirable mental and physical dependency on the substance. At this point, both your brain and body need those chemicals to sustain a level of equilibrium. Once you go cold turkey, your body begins to try and go back to its non-addicted state by purging itself of the drug or alcohol substances. This purging process produces intense withdrawal symptoms and physical cravings that can affect you emotionally, physically, and psychologically. Examples of highly common physical and mental withdrawal symptoms include anxiety, nausea, depression, seizures, hallucinations, vomiting, mood imbalances, agitation, mental fog, insomnia, irregular heart rate, and changes in blood pressure. The type of drug involved also makes it hard for the addict to recover from their addiction through the technique. The drug your body is dependent on will determine the withdrawal symptoms you experience and the degree of severity. Drugs such as heroin and benzos are highly addictive and experts recommend that addicts of these drugs refrain from using the approach since they can lead to highly dangerous withdrawal symptoms. The co-occurring mental health condition of the addict can also complicate drug withdrawal and can lead to a highly unpredictable behavioral response from the addict. The severity of the addiction also makes it difficult for addicts to achieve success from the method. The degree of dependence on a drug as well as the amount of time you use the drug will determine how your body and brain will respond to being cut off. Simply put, the more severe the addiction, the more intense the withdrawal symptoms will be. Is It Safe to Quit Cold Turkey? Quitting cold turkey may not be the safest or most effective approach to staying sober, especially for people who have developed a dependency on a particular substance. Quitting too soon can cause uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms and a strong urge to resume substance abuse. In certain cases, the withdrawal symptoms can be so severe that they cause life-threatening medical conditions such as seizures and heart problems as explained earlier in this article. Even substances that pose a low risk of addiction such as nicotine can cause highly unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. This is not to say that quitting cold turkey cannot be successful. The technique can be highly effective with the right support system and the rate at which the addict can overcome the withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawal symptoms last for varying lengths and some people can get past the withdrawal period faster than those who decide to quit gradually. But if a person is addicted to potentially harmful drugs such as meth or heroin, cold turkey may not be the best idea. Drug Addiction Treatment: Recovering from a drug or alcohol addiction is not an easy thing to do. But this doesn’t deter people from going cold turkey without any external help or medical intervention. While it may seem like a fast and easy solution, a medically managed drug addiction treatment approach is highly recommended. Drug addiction treatment centers are equipped with professionally trained staff who are committed to helping addicts recover and live a life of sobriety. If you or someone you care about needs help with their addiction, get in touch with a professional drug addiction treatment facility to help you achieve a successful recovery altogether. Read Also: Are You Sick and Tired of Drugs? 4 Tips to Find an Effective Drug Therapy Going to Rehab: What You Can Expect When You’re Getting Clean What You Need To Know About Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility

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Cannabis

Cannabis can Help in the Fight Against Drug Addiction

The substances contained in cannabis can help those who are addicted to hard drugs to quit their addiction. The first signals about the effects of cannabis on addiction to one form of cocaine appeared relatively early, more than 30 years ago. Dealers smoked it along with cannabis to avoid addiction. Although cannabis is also can be addictive, addiction to rapid-acting crack is much faster and much more serious in effect. Just a dozen or so minutes after firing one dose there is an irresistible desire for another... and another... and the next one... pushing the smoker crack to behave dangerously for himself and others, Risky sexual behavior, the tendency to violence and breaking the law are typical. Tolerance is developing rapidly: crack cocaine addiction requires more and more doses. In addition to acute symptoms such as high blood pressure, heart rate and temperature, nausea, seizures, hallucinations, panic and paranoia, the body can also be destroyed over time, cognitive decline, persistent psychotic conditions, depression, destruction of teeth, lips and mucous membranes of the oral cavity, myocardial infarction or stroke. Research indicates that of the 122 identified cocaine users who want to throw cocaine in this form, they started to take cannabis. In an average of 30 months, these people had 89% more chance to reduce their crack intake compared to the time they did not take cannabis. It also seemed that cannabis made it easier for them to stop using this form of cocaine altogether or to maintain this decision. Without cannabis, only 11% of people managed to stop without cocaine. However, when they used it, crack was not needed by 28%. Although the experiment did not meet the conditions for a clinical trial, its results were considered by specialists to be very intriguing. Animal studies suggest that Cannabidiol (CBD) that’s in the cannabis flowers in various concentrations is the most promising. You can buy it even in countries where Cannabis is still completely illegal, like Poland. It’s sold in form of oils, liquids, chewing gums etc. It has a lot of medical potentials, it can help in depression and many other medical conditions. But most importantly, It is likely to have an impact on the reward system in the brain, reducing the pleasant sensations associated with certain drugs. In rats, this has been proven to be possible. Animal tests show that THC also reduces opiate dependence. THC, the psychoactive component of marijuana, injected into the blood of heroin and morphine-dependent rats, restores the chemical balance in their brains. As a result, rats treated with THC when they were young were deprived of the consequences of using much stronger and more harmful drugs in adulthood. Young rats, taken away from their mothers just after birth, were given powerful doses of THC. Deprived of maternal care, they have undeveloped brains. Neural nets are less developed and rats become more addicted. The effectiveness of THC injections has been proven in such animals. Although in theory, they should become more addicted, the "treatment" with THC resulted in the fact that although they were given morphine and heroin, the addiction did not occur. Scientists hope that this unusual discovery will help create an alternative drug addiction treatment for drug addicts. It is difficult to predict whether, in the future, the social priorities so far regarded as priorities, or whether medical considerations will prevail, and cannabis-based preparations will go to pharmacies. This discovery can be extremely helpful with the recent opioid epidemic in the United States, where doctors prescribed opiates (powerful and very addictive painkillers) to almost everyone, and as a result, Donald Trump had to call it a state of a national emergency. Read Also: Why Cannabis Is Good For Health? Is Outpatient Treatment For Drug And Alcohol Addiction Effective?

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