Drug and Alcohol Addiction and Rehabilitation

by: Jerry Goldfarb

Just what is addiction, you asked? Addiction is a physiological dependence on something, and is both physical and psychological in nature. When a person is addicted they literally need to feed that addiction constantly. Addiction is a traitor it sneaks up on you. People who are addicted often do not recognize that they have a problem, they think that the problem is with everyone. Addiction is different from abuse, a person can abuse drugs and not be addicted. The two most vital factors in determining addiction are tolerance and physical dependency. Addiction is very destructive, and most of the time people who are suffering from it end up hurting themselves and their love ones. It is hard to overcome but once the person began to see addiction as a problem in their life they can immediately seek alcoholism treatment or addiction treatment.

Teens partying late at night and imbibing drugs and alcohol for added fun, often dominated the silver screen. Quite a pretty picture isn't it? Oftentimes teens see it as an epitome. Although Hollywood does its part to show a different side of alcohol and drug addiction with movies like "Trainspotting" and "Girl Interrupted", the character still ended up being glamorous and ideal in nature and often overshadows the dark side of addiction. It is important to look at this depiction with a cynic eye. Movies are after all for entertainment purposes only, and there is nothing remotely entertaining about the reality of alcohol abuse and drug addiction. Addiction can be hell on earth and life in an Alcohol rehab and Drug Rehab can be a nightmare.

Illegal drugs and alcohol are addicting. Records show that the younger you are when you experiment with illegal drugs or alcohol you are more prone to become an addict in the future. Addiction often runs in families; you do not choose addiction, addiction chooses you. Experimenting with drugs and alcohol is a gamble, and the stake is your life, your personality, and your future.

Individuals often hide their drinking or deny that the fact that they have a problem. Signs of a possible alcoholism include having friends or relatives express concern, being irritated when people comment on their drinking, feeling guilty about their excessive alcohol consumption and thinking that they should moderate it but finds themselves unable to do so, or needs a morning drink to steady their nerves or relieve a hangover.

On the other hand, drug dependence often begins with the misuse of legal drugs like prescription drugs and inhalants. Inhalants are legal substances that becomes illegal when use in a manner that causes a person to get high. These also include aerosol cleaners, gasoline, cleaning fluids, butane, and acetone. These things are legal to sell or buy however, they are not controlled substances and they are relatively cheap when compared with drugs.

People with addiction work hard to resolve them, and with the support of family members and friends they are able to recover on their own. However in most cases, people they usually cannot stop drinking or using drugs by willpower alone. A lot of them require outside help, mostly from Alcohol Rehab or Drug Rehab. Alcoholism treatment and addiction treatment may need medically supervised detoxification to avoid possible life-threatening withdrawal symptoms such as seizures and convulsion. Once they are stabilized, they need help resolving psychological issues associated with their problem drinking.

About The Author

Jerry Goldfarb

For a free professional consultation to get help for yourself or a loved one call 800-559-9503 anytime day or night or visit:
http://www.helpaddicts.com
http://www.drugrehabcenter.com
http://www.dual-diagnosis.net
http://www.detox-center.com

Drug Addiction Treatment Centers: A Fresh Start

by: David Westbrook
Half a decade ago, I started working on a hotline to help addicts and their families find drug addiction treatment centers. Thousands of calls later, I still remember the first time I picked up the line. I could hardly make out what the woman on the other end was saying to me. Shelly (not her real name) was sobbing. She had just arrived at her father’s apartment and had found him passed out cold on the couch with a needle still sticking out of his arm. Why she called our line instead of 9-1-1 was a mystery. I called for an ambulance and waited on the phone with her until they arrived. She told me how her father had been a construction worker, though his dream was to play guitar in a band. Shelly said her parents split up when she was thirteen because of her dad’s drinking. He moved away to live in another state for a couple of years and they began to lose touch. He would send the occasional card or make a call on her birthday the first couple of years, but that eventually ended. After college, Shelly decided to find her dad. It turned out that he had moved back and was living just a couple of miles from where she grew up. Somewhere along the way, he had picked up a heroin habit. Shelly tried to talk him into going to treatment, but he always had an excuse for why he couldn’t. Shelly said she visited him weekly, helped him keep his apartment up, bought his groceries and kept after him to quit. She said she they had just talked the night before and that he had, for the first time, agreed to try treatment. On my end, I could hear the ambulance approaching and then a knock on the door. Shelly hung up and I never heard from her again.

Today in America, there are 13 million people in need of alcohol or drug addiction treatment. Fortunately, according the government, there are just over 13,000 drug addiction treatment centers waiting to help these individuals. It may have been too late for Shelly’s dad, I don’t know, but I do know that it is not too late for anyone who is looking for a drug addiction treatment center today.

Each year millions of people across America, enter treatment centers. For many, this marks a fresh start, a rebirth. It is an opportunity to rebuild broken relationships and broken lives. Those who successfully complete rehab join a recovery community that is already millions strong. This article, intended to be one in a three part series, is dedicated to addicts and family members of addicts who are searching for answers. Its goal the series is to help those suffering from drug abuse and/or their loved ones to make informed choices when entering drug addiction treatment.

I invite you to join me over the next couple of weeks as these articles explore the different types of treatment settings and then how to find the right treatment center for you or a loved one. In the end, I am confident that combined with careful research of what makes good treatment and by following your own intuition; you or a loved one can begin a new life.

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You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the resource box is included, and you do not take credit as the author. You must send a courtesy copy of your publication or a website link to, recoveryresources@gmail.com.

About The Author

David Westbrook is a freelance writer. He has spent several years talking to thousands of addicts and their families who are in search of drug addiction treatment centers. He invites you to visit his websites www.addictionsresources.com and www.alcoholismresources.com.

recoveryresources@gmail.com