Drug Abuse to Drug Addiction
Welcome to the topic, “Drug Abuse to Drug Addiction”.
Drug addiction is not only about cocaine, heroin, or other illegal substances. You can get addicted to nicotine, alcohol, anti-anxiety and sleep medicines, and some other legal substances.
You can also get addicted to prescription medicines or opioids or illegally obtained narcotic pain medications. In the United States, this addiction problem is at an epidemic level. In a 2018’s survey, it came to know that only opioids played a 2/3rd part among all overdose deaths.
In the first stages, you would like to choose a drug that makes you feel better. You will think that you can control the doses and frequency of drug use. But as time passes, drugs affect your brain’s functioning. They automatically lose control of drug use and bring damaging changes in their mental and physical state.
Addiction vs. Abuse and Tolerance
When you use illegal or legal substances in a way you should not use them is called drug abuse. You use drugs in more than the prescribed amount or follow prescriptions other than your doctor. You may abuse such drugs to avoid reality, release stress, or feel good. But in this case, you are usually able to change or completely stop your unhealthy habits.
When you can’t stop the use of a substance is called addiction. Even if you it is dangerous for health. Even causes emotional, financial, and other critical problems for you or relatives and friends. The urge to take a drug fills your complete day with its thoughts even if you want to quit it.
Addiction is also quite different from physical tolerance or dependence. In cases of physical dependency, withdrawal symptoms occur when you stop a substance at once. Tolerance occurs when the same amount of dose can’t produce the effect it did before.
How to Avoid Addiction to Prescribed Pain Medicines
Most of the people using prescribed medicines don’t get addicted to them if used according to the prescription. Not even if they use these medicines for a longer time.
But if you have abused a drug or alcohol before or have a family history of drug abuse you will be at higher risk of addiction.
Here are some tips to avoid drug addiction:
- Take medicines in a way prescribed by the doctor.
- Before you start taking a prescribed drug tell your doctor about your or your family’s addiction history; this will help in choosing better medicine for you without the risk of addiction.
Note that it is common for most individuals to use pain medications to develop tolerance and need more level of doses to have the same effect of the medicine. This is not a sign of addiction as it is a common thing among all. In addition, you need higher doses but not for pain relief. But if this effect becomes trouble for you immediately ask your doctor.
Don’t Wait; Get Help Now
If you are facing problems with drug use or can’t control the level of doses, tell your doctor immediately.
It will take time to get well from the impacts caused by addiction. There is no proper cure for addiction, but advanced treatment programs can help you avoid or stop drug abuse completely. Your treatment program may include medicine, counseling, or both. Talk to our healthcare experts to figure out the best suitable plan for you.
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What is Alcoholism and the way teenagers use it?
Welcome to the topic, “What are Alcoholism and the way teenagers use it”?
Alcoholism is the most common form of alcohol abuse and involves the inability to manage drinking habits, resulting in several diseases. Alcoholism affects mental and physical health and can cause work, friends, and family problems.
Warning Signs of Alcoholism
Alcoholism symptoms can encompass health effects, such as bad hangovers and alcohol-induced accidents, as well as social effects, such as doing or saying regrettable things while drunk.
Common signs of alcohol include.
- Being unable to control alcohol consumption
- Behaving differently after drinking
- Drinking alone or in secret
- Felling the need to keep drinking more
- Increased heart rate
- Increased body temperature
- High blood pressure
- Mood swings
- Hand tremors
- Anxiety
Causes and effects of Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a common habit that has numerous effects on people in the United States today. Alcoholics may become argumentative, angry, withdrawn, or depressed. They may also feel more tense, sad, confused, and anxious.
What causes teenagers to drink?
Peer pressure is one of the major causes of why teenagers choose to drink alcohol. Teens are more likely to binge drink and are more vulnerable to developing a problem with alcohol than adults. Alcohol can impair brain development because teenage brains are still developing and some areas of the brain undergo the most dramatic change.
Drinking alcohol can affect brain development in those under 25; young people under 15 years are particularly at risk. Alcohol is a sedative drug that slows down the functioning of the brain. Alcohol is one of the foremost causes of disability and death globally.
What Is Alcohol Use Disorder?
Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is an enduring illness in which you can’t control or stop your drinking even though it’s disturbing your health, your job, or your social life.
How do you know if you’re an alcoholic?
AUD is characterized by loss of control over alcohol, consuming it even when doing so much damage to your health, work, school, or relationships. Alcohol abuse is described by the harmful outcomes of an individual’s drinking.
Test of Alcoholism
Alcohol testing is used to detect the presence of alcohol or its metabolites in a person to determine if they are currently drinking or if they consumed alcohol in the past. Evidential breath alcohol testing instantaneously indicates the existing levels in the person’s breath, and by proxy, their blood.
Treatment
The following are recognized treatment options for alcoholism.
Do it yourself
Some individuals with alcohol abuse manage to abstain or reduce their drinking without any professional help. Drug for cravings Naltrexone may help reduce the urge to have a drink and Acamprosate may help with cravings.
Options for Treatment
There are several treatment options for alcohol abuse but most addicts know the 12-step treatment program or 28 days rehab program. Various treatment programs are effectively working, thanks to important advances in the field over the last few years. A trusted rehab center will be quite effective in the treatment of alcohol abuse.
Learn MoreRelationship Between Exercise and Addiction Recovery
Addiction is a curable health disorder. But about 60% of the addicts who complete a circle of recovery for substance use disorder start addiction again within 1 year. That is why researchers are finding new ways to cure this condition effectively and prevent relapse.
But the good news is that only exercise can be the most effective way to overcome this problem.
Benefits of Exercise
Researchers think regular physical exercise can prove as a healthy stand-in for substance addiction. And why this happens? This happens because both drug addiction and exercise work in the same part of the brain. Both of them activate the reward pathway of your brain and stimulate the release of pleasure chemicals like dopamine and serotonin.
Although we need more research on how physical activity affects the addiction, here are some ways in which physical activity might work for you:
Ease withdrawal
Regular exercise can lessen stress, anxiety, and depression.
Curb cravings
You can face strong cravings for drugs and other substances during recovery. Exercise is the thing that can keep your attention away from the cravings for addictive substances.
Replace your triggers
Trying new exercises can keep you involved in something interesting and increase your healthy social interactions. This might help you to stay away from the places, people, and events related to your previous addiction.
Help you think clearly
Regular physical activity can help one’s mind work better. When your thoughts are more stable and positive it will prevent the odds of relapse.
Improve your sleep
If you have substance use disorder (SUD), it is common to have insomnia while you try to avoid addictive substances. Regular physical activity might help you sleep better and get a full-time rest at night.
Boost your self-control and self-esteem
With exercise, you can feel better and manage stressful stuff around you.
Exercises That Can Help
Previous researches show that aerobic exercise and resistance training can help you in addiction recovery. But now, there are not enough confirmations to say that one kind of physical exercise is better than another. Future studies will help us more regarding the relationship between exercise and addiction recovery.
Aerobic exercises can help you build your cardio health. That includes:
- Running
- Walking
- Swimming
- Boxing
- Light gardening
- Water aerobics
- Dancing
- Hiking
Strength training or resistance exercises work on your muscles. Examples include:
- Some kinds of yoga
- Heavy gardening, such as digging
- Weightlifting
- Squats or lunges
- Push-ups or sit-ups
Set up your exercise in early recovery
If you don’t know where to start, talk to your substance use counselor or doctor about how to start effectively. You can also seek help from the recovery groups in your area. They might have some better exercise techniques and programs for you to join.
How Much Should You Exercise?
Researchers don’t know what “dose” of exercise is the most helpful. Until you know more, you can make a target for the same amount of physical activity as everyone else. That’s at least one hundred and fifty (150) minutes of moderate or seventy-five (75) minutes of intense exercise per week. Also add strength training to your weekly routine, at least twice a week.
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4 Best Ways to Follow after a Relapse to get Back on Track
About 90% of alcohol addicts will relapse within the first four years, as stated by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. While relapse is very common, it can be personally agonizing, and feel like a major hindrance in the way to sobriety. But relapse doesn’t have to twist back into developed addiction.
Here are some steps an addict should follow to avoid relapse:
1-Stop drinking as soon as possible
When people with a history of alcohol use disorder (AUD) move toward relapse, they often don’t stop drinking, thinking that there is no way to stop since they already slipped back. But continuous drinking will make it very hard to stop, leading to a transformed entrenchment of your drinking habit.
One of the best ways you can choose to avoid relapse is to stop drinking as soon as possible. The well-able you are to comprise your relapse in terms of duration and quantity, the more chances there will be to move forward.
2-Seek support
No one can be successful in addiction recovery alone. Take help from your trusted friends and family members to avoid relapse.
Rehabilitation organizations like the sands treatment center can be tremendously helpful, offering a safe space to learn and talk with other individuals’ experiences in recovery. An experienced addiction counselor can aid you to choose the best treatment options, including medications and alcohol rehab for AUD.
3-Find your triggers
What are triggers?
Triggers are the main causes that can bring you toward relapse, they are cravings for alcohol and other drugs. It can be anything around an addict that can lead toward relapse for example people who abuse alcohol, certain foods, stressful situations, or places that bring back remembrances of drinking.
Being aware of the triggers that become hurdles in your recovery can make it quite easy to leave alcohol. When encountering a trigger, you can use coping strategies like reasoning to overcome the inducement. Professional experts who use to handle substance use disorder can help you find out your triggers and develop coping methods to stop them.
4-Make a proper strategy to avoid relapsing again
With the help of a professional counselor, a professional addiction therapist, or a sponsor, try to examine your relapse and make a plan to avoid a similar condition in the future. This usually includes triggers, specific people in your support network, and coping tactics.
Recovery from alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a personal journey, but you can only begin it with professional support.
What is the efficient and fastest way to recover from a relapse?
As with other aspects of the recovery process for AUD, the effective and fastest ways vary from individual to individual.
According to the Alcohol and Drug Foundation, there are specific steps to take at the start of a recovery. These include connection to social supports for the relapsed person and also medical help if needed. This can be significant in addressing a relapse immediately.
Experts also highlight that one of the most essential steps to take is to quit drinking immediately.
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Do Phone Apps Help with Addiction or Make it Worse?
There is a debate within the addiction field as to whether smartphone apps can help people struggling with addiction. Many experts believe that apps are effective in helping people quit smoking, for example, frequently offering gamified rewards for completing levels or tasks. While some apps simply provide access to recovery groups and support programs, others take a more hands-on approach using targeted games and rewards systems. The creators of these apps are mainly coming out of the tech world with great success, but there seems to be an emerging skepticism about their true effectiveness. Here are some phone apps that are designed to help in addiction recovery.
Sober Grid
This app is the first choice of many recovering alcoholics due to the gamified rewards system it provides. It tracks individual challenges with goals and rewards that can be traded for gift cards, merchandise, and even cash. Other features include a chat function, text messaging, and email reminders. The app doesn’t replace the need for a sponsor or even in-patient treatment, but it is used to improve self-awareness and stimulates a support network among recovering addicts.
Pear reSET
Based on the 12-step program, Pear reSET is another widely used app to help people quit addictive substances. The free app allows users to track their “sober days,” connect with others in the same situation and makes it easier to find support groups. It also provides motivational messages and has a chat feature for further encouragement. While not a perfect solution on its own, many recovering addicts still find this app very helpful when combined with other programs such as in-patient treatment or intensive outpatient programs.
Nomo
This rewards app is designed to make the process of quitting smoking to a “whole new level.” It integrates social elements such as texting, gamified challenges, and even rewards, along with other features. Those who need something more in-depth than most of the other apps mentioned can look into this app which helps support groups exchange personal experiences and lessons they’ve learned while quitting. Addiction treatment centers across the country also currently use this app to help their clients stay on track with recovery.
RecoveryBox
This app was developed by behavioral scientists and is based on cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) to help its users. It’s designed to analyze behavior through challenges and rewards that can be tracked online or using a mobile device. It also allows users to cope with stress, stay away from triggers, and promote a positive mindset. The in-depth questionnaire helps the app figure out the best learning style for each user, which can allow it to become an ideal companion in recovery programs.
SoberTool
This app is another gamified app based on CBT techniques. It allows users to track their progress in the form of progress bars, earning points, and hitting milestones. A leaderboard tracks their progress from one day to the next, helping them stay accountable. The app also offers a social network where members can connect with others and share tips and tricks to help them stay sober.
Conclusion
While there is a lot of debate on whether phone apps are helpful in addiction recovery, there are many people who swear by them. They provide an intimate level of support that’s often difficult to come by in traditional treatment programs. The challenge isn’t with the app itself but with the individual making use of it and its potential to become an opposing force in recovery if misused. Therefore, the Sands Treatment Center is dedicated to providing a holistic approach to addiction treatment and helping its clients remain in control.
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