Archive for the ‘Health’ Category

With statistics that show that 30 percent of people on the road today will be involved in an accident that involves a drunk driver, it’s a good idea to get the facts right. The truth is, a drunk driver is putting everyone on the road at risk, it’s never something that only affect them. True, the negative consequences of a DUI feel very personal, but taking everyone else’s safety into one’s hands by getting behind the wheel is also personal. This isn’t based on any kind of sliding scale of morality, but is based on facts that speak for themselves.

It’s estimated that over 40 percent of the fatalities on the road are related to a drunk driver, and there are thousands every year. Drunk driving incidents tend to happen more on the weekends, and the weekend accidents are statistically more severe than the ones during the week. The average blood alcohol content of a drunk driver in a fatal accident is around .16 percent. For an average sized man, this is about 8 drinks. The most common drink of choice for drunk drivers is beer. It’s not difficult to see that casual ideas about drinking are very certainly linked to drunk driving.

Holiday times are also more frequent than any other time of year, with Thanksgiving as the most dangerous holiday, and New Year’s Eve as the second. This suggests that some of the educational programs on drinking and driving have been successful in encouraging drinkers to have a designated driver, or using a form of public transportation, during New Year’s. However, Thanksgiving seems to be the holiday when people feel more at ease about watching their alcohol intake, and also suggests that having a family in the car with you doesn’t make you immune.

In any situation, it’s very important to be aware of one’s intake at all times, and to take the responsibility for one’s state of mind at the wheel very seriously. With public transportation, or a designated driver, the risks are much less, and everybody is safer.

Experimenting with alcohol has long been considered a normal part of becoming an adult. Binge drinking, by association, is also considered to be a part of the late high school and early college experience. There have been a number of recent studies that seem to suggest, however, that this is the worst possible time to experiment, because of the effects it has on a brain that is still developing. There are consequences to binge drinking for anyone, some are physical and some are more behavioral. In late adolescence and early adulthood, they can be more severe in scope than at other ages.

Binge drinking is defined as having four or more drinks for a woman, or five or more for a man, at one sitting. The numbers can be significantly higher, however, increasing the risks of negative consequences. Its affects on the brain have been studied extensively, and it can cause severe strain on the cognitive functions, as well as memory. It also affects judgment, but that will be discussed below. There are also very harmful effects on all the body’s systems, and alcohol can significantly impair the liver, the kidneys, and the pancreas. A hangover itself can be only a temporary annoyance, but when they become severe, the body is starting to become accustomed to alcohol, and the physical signs of alcoholism start to come into play.

In terms of behavior, it’s been discussed widely how alcohol consumption can impair judement. This can lead to promiscuous behavior, unprotected sex, and even date rape. An embarrassing moment when drinking can be common, and often even amusing, but when the binge drinker is in a blackout, there can be hours of bad behavior, where the others won’t even realize that the drinker is in a state of blackout. Aggressive behavior is quite common, and this can lead to accidents and acts of violence. When youthful energy is also in the picture, this can be compounded, and it may explain some of the more horrific stories of college drinking.

The consequences are there at any age, but they do seem much more severe in younger drinkers. The risks are still very high, and it’s important to remember that both health and personal relationships really are at stake.

Addiction therapy is a complex practice, and one that’s still always in process. There are new findings about addiction everyday, and because it’s always dealing with volatile individuals, there are wide ranges of practices and therapies available, and new ones all the time. Generally, a combination of individual and group therapy seems to be the most effective treatment for addicts, with the lowest occurrence of relapse. Because it is a turning point in someone’s life when they have made the decision to get on the road to recovery, it’s good to know ahead of time what to expect. What, then, is individual addiction therapy about?

Most treatment centers will offer a combination of both individual and group therapy. Group therapy is extremely effective, because it gives recovering addicts the chance to talk with others who are in, or have been in, the same situation. The depths of addiction can be a living nightmare, and anyone who’s been there understands that it feels like no one else has ever felt such pain. Group therapy, then, is a way of coming to terms with the fact that no addict is really unique.

Individual therapy in these situations can help the professionals to make determinations about the addict specifically. While the stigma of uniqueness is one that eventually has to go away for any chance of recovery, people need to be acknowledged for their own personal experiences and life journey. Individual therapy will take all of these things into consideration, looking deeply into the addict’s life history, looking at family, environment, relationships, and into their own patterns of drug use. This is helpful for identifying the specific problems, triggers, and behaviors.

It’s also the perfect opportunity for the recovering addict to talk about the things that are really troubling them. It’s often the case that family history and personal triggers won’t matter eventually, that addiction is addiction, and can be controlled, but it’s also necessary to have a space to air out the personal demons. In any kind of effective therapy, the personal demons can become the most helpful guides toward a successful recovery, and individual therapy can help identify the places where real healing can begin.

The American Medical Association did something very important for the recovery community over 40 years ago, when they publicly declared that alcoholism, and by association, drug addiction, were in fact diseases. Of the many stigmas that the addict has to live with, there is the assumption that they are people who make very bad choices over and over again. Admitting addiction into the category of disease does not take away all their responsibility for their actions, but should put the behaviors into a new light, and help us to understand what the options are for treatment, and more about what the stakes actually are. What’s the importance, then, of the disease model, rather that considering it to be a compulsion of the mind?

A compulsion almost always suggests that the root of the problem is one of will-power. The addict has to simply decide to be done with the drug, or the alcoholic with the drink, and then it’s a matter of getting help to get through the detoxification period and go on to live a normal life. There are plenty of studies now, and in the past, that suggest that something very particular happens to the brain chemistry of an addict after they’ve used drugs for a long period of time. It becomes altered in such a way that it is programmed to work with the drug in its system, and to revolt when the chemical is not present.

This does suggest that the addict or alcoholic is really not in control over their own brains. It’s not simply a matter of compulsion, and finding ways to keep the compulsion away. In these cases, the compulsion is actually a physical reaction in the body chemistry, and it seems as though once it has woken up, it never really goes to sleep. This is one of the reasons why it is so difficult for people who are close to addicts, because the capacity for irrational behavior is very high. However, treatment and recovery are ways of putting this chronic disease into submission, so that it can be possible to live a very full and healthy life. Thinking of this disease just as we might high consider high blood pressure, or perhaps even cancer in remission, then it’s possible to conceive of living with an addiction, and to be able to look at addicts, and ourselves, with more compassion. That’s one of the great gifts that came from the AMA’s decision.

Drug addiction, clearly, is a very large problem in the world, and one without simple solutions. It has likely been a problem for as long as people have been experimenting with intoxicants, which is to say, since the very beginning. What’s changed lately, however, is a set of attitudes and treatments for the addiction, and these are also related to definitions. It’s useful, then, to speak of definitions, in order to get some perspective on the options, so we’ll look closely here at what drug addiction actually is.

According to the standards set by the boards in psychiatry and other medical practices, addiction is a very complex phenomenon. It is something that happens to someone who uses drugs, generally for a long period of time. There is a lot of controversy about the notion of a genetic predisposition to addiction, and nothing conclusive has been found, although it seems as though there may be some ways of knowing ahead of time if someone is likely to become an addict. That may not be something we see in our lifetime, however, so it’s safer to assume that anyone can be predisposed to it. Addiction is repeatedly using the substance after there are demonstrable detrimental effects, a physical and/or psychological dependency on the effects, increased usage to obtain the same effect, and compulsion or craving.

Any one of these signs can indicate that there is the possibility for addiction, and this possibility should be enough to warrant an attempt to get help. One method for determining addiction or dependence is to cease using the drug altogether, and if there are withdrawal symptoms, then there is a very high chance of addiction. It has become common, since the 1960s, to place addiction and dependence together, although technically they are not the same thing. However, one usually leads to the other, and the treatment for both are effectively the same. Generally speaking, however, addiction is usually accompanied by an inability to see it as an addiction, and this sets off a chain of behaviors that make it so difficult on friends, family, as well as the addict. Like any chronic illness, it can be treated, and it can be controlled, and asking for help is a step in the right direction.

Regular exercise programs are not only good for one’s physical body, but studies have proven time and again, that regular exercise is essential for the mind and the well being. Exercise helps with insomnia, with stress and anxiety, and provides an outlet for the daily grind of life. So it is no surprise that many people in recovery from drug or alcohol addiction, find help and experience the benefits of embarking on a daily exercise routine.

Exercise is one way to achieve overall optimal wellness and health, and for many years those working with people recovering from addiction, have noticed that when someone is involved with a regular program, the incidence of relapse drops exponentially, and is one of the keys for maintaining sobriety in the long term. A study was performed in Canada at a treatment center for addiction, and the doctor in charge and all of those working in the facility noticed that when people are recovering from alcohol addiction, those who were involved with a program as part of their daily treatment and routine were seventy percent more likely to complete the three month program and remain clean and sober throughout. However, those in the program who chose not to participate in daily exercise, were sixty percent more likely to either drop out of the program, or to relapse.

Aside from the health benefits, many have found there to be a void, once they have stop using drugs or alcohol, there is so much more time in the day, as one remains lucid throughout that day. Walking or running or yoga not only serves to ease the mind, but to fill that void…to fill it with something healthy and good for the body, rather than something filled with poison and that which is life threatening. Many of those with long term sobriety find that their devotion to the new exercise and new way of life helps them to embrace their new, healthier life style. The key is moderation, many times recovering addicts may become compulsive about running or cycling, which is much better for the body than the previous compulsions, but moderation is always the key to a long and happy life free from addiction.

Drug addiction is an enormously complex issue, and it’s important to understand that it’s never something that happens in a vacuum. One does not simply become an addict on their own, and live in their own little world, experiencing a pleasant and individual euphoria. It always affects other people, and usually quite intensely, even those friends who seem to have only a tangential relationship with the addict. There is also a very popular misconception, one that’s shared by users and non-users alike, that the addict is only hurting herself or himself. It’s not only a disease that takes the soul away from the addict, but it also works to destroy the lives of those around at the same time.

One of the more subtle affects, and one that’s easily overlooked, has to do with personal and psychological development. When the addict enters into the addiction, growth stops. This doesn’t mean only the times when the drugs are in the system, but as soon as they enter into that kind of obsessive thinking that begins very quickly. Most addicts will deny this when it starts to happen, because it is an extremely terrifying experience, and it’s one that can go on for years and years. While this is happening, all emotional responses are stunted, and the usual gamut of normal human attachments do not form as they should. More often than not, they are based on fear and various forms of manipulation.

There are other more obvious affects on friends. Strange behavior and deep isolation can take their toll on any relationship. The naked truth of addiction is that it is a ride where no one has control. The addict is most certainly taking their loved ones with them along for the ride. They don’t get to feel the same sense of euphoria, though, but only get to experience the fear, the disappointment, and the loss. There are programs in recovery that are devoted solely to those who are close to an addict, either in active addiction or recovery. Here, there seems to be a very peculiar dynamic that forms between addict and non-addict, and the personality types that come from these relationships can actually learn to have very healthy lives together once recovery enters the picture. Either way, it is an enormous toll on friends and loved ones, but in this there is also a possibility for healing.

Drug and alcohol addition quite simply put, ruins people’s lives. Many people wake up one day to find that they may no longer have a play to live or a place of employment, or that they have destroyed and lost the relationships that have meant the most to them. On top of that, when left untreated or ignored, serious illness and death is the final result in most cases. So it is no wonder that many people search for the answer, for the ways to guarantee that this will never happen to themselves or to those whom they love and care about. The thing about it all is that is a complex weave of life that creates a drug addict or an alcoholic, and simple campaigns with tee-shirts and bumper stickers reading “Just Say No” are not enough.

It is naive to think that that would have ever been enough. The previously stated campaign, and the current campaign titled “the War on Drugs” are such that they may try to go after the symptoms, but they do not attack the cause right at the root. The Crystal Meth images on billboards today, are indeed, very powerful and tragic images, however this kind of circumstance does not happen over night as the campaigns and the billboards suggest. This is the result of many years, and can not be fixed with one three word slogan. The only way one can prevent this from happening to themselves, is by making decisions that one realizes will affect the rest of their lives.

And the only way to ensure that young people will not become addicts, is by instilling in them this kind of decision making skill, and making certain that they realize that they, and the decisions they consciously make, matter. This is a funny culture we live in, filled with mixed messages…of “glamorous heroin models” on the sides of buses, and meth addicts with no teeth on the billboards. Each person must really take stock, must understand if they may have the tendency to overindulge and to take the active stance on protecting themselves.

Though once seem as just another activity associated with the college experience, alcohol abuse on college campuses are linked with more frequently now with violence and other sadistic and illegal acts, including rape.  As a result, many colleges have taken another stance on alcohol.  They have made it completely illegal to possess on school territory.  While a step in the right direction towards making campuses safer, some students claim violation to their rights.  Such a claim has in its own way increased violence in the form of riots.   Residential drug treatment centers and other facilities specializing in treating substance abuse addictions are among those recognizing the growing problem

A drink now and again is not what campuses want to outlaw.  Rather they want to decrease  binge drinking.  Addiction treatment facilities have seen a rise in binge drinking among college age student and even younger.  Often those who binge drink become extremely violent and unstable to the point that school police officers have extreme difficulty in calming down those under the influence of a binge.   Campuses contend that binge drinking is not a right that can be defended, which is what they want to make illegal through making all alcohol illegal.

Campuses are aware  of how big a problem the abuse is becoming.  In a single semester, five campuses endured alcohol related violence.  Though alcohol related events tend to start out small, these intensified to full-blown riots for each of the separate campuses.
Alcohol abuse intervention is a good way for those who are friends and family of college students abusing alcohol to help them.  It can often aid in getting them to recognize some of the factors involved in their decision to drink excessively, including the fearlessness most in their formative years feel.

While a riot on a college campus is not a new thing, those brought on by alcohol are and becoming increasingly worse.  Many specializing in the area of psychology and social behavior studies feel these riots often have roots in the sense of rebellion against authority that occurred and originated in the early nineties.   Most of these riots happen because students want to rebel against authority, not because of say, a political cause.  The physicality of these riots is also alarming, since violence is used as an almost exclusive means of expression that students use.   Intervention and treatments are becoming increasingly necessary to help students and the campuses.

More and more the medical community is discovering that the reason some drug treatment facilities do not work for minorities originates in the lacking understanding of the specific culture minorities bring with them to the facility.  Some of the modules used in rehabilitation centers are foreign and more than improper suggestions of how to deal with addiction.  The various twelve-step programs that all at their core urge addicts to say they are powerless to their addiction and must submit to a greater being are actually more harmful than helpful, especially to those in the African American Community.  Counseling with people who are strangers to them is also unhelpful.  Because these steps do not fit their culture, many African Americans often feel tentative and uncertain about approaching addiction treatment.

Solutions to this timidity come in the form of pretreatment interventions and other methods that aim to help in easing addicts into a treatment for drug addiction. Not only does it help addicts to enter the facility, but they also stay longer.  Of course, there still needs to be more research done on what methods work well and which don’t, and which work together the best as this research is still in its infancy stages.

In a study done in North Carolina using the idea of a pretreatment as the foundation for drug rehabilitation entry and maintenance.  Finding substance abusers took more of street approach, using peers to do a chain campaign and also allowing regular self-referrals.  People eligible for the program had be at least eighteen years old and the applicants had to say they considered the African American identity their identity.  They could not have participated in another rehab program for ninety days prior, and had to have abuse crack cocaine for at least thirteen days in the past three months.  With such criteria, the researchers were able to provide themselves with a good background for their study, which proved hopeful and showed that the way minorities are given drug and alcohol abuse intervention must change.

Since the prehistoric period, hallucinogens have been used in cultures everywhere throughout the world, from the mild effects of the pure but strong tobacco passed around in the Plains American Indians ceremonies to the psychedelic outcome cults in Ancient Greece produced from building temples near the fumes of volcanoes.  But in these instances, the rights were purely for a religious or spiritual reason and to produce visions and images to help the cultures they were made in.

Throughout most of history, the availability of the plants with hallucinogenic properties has been tempered by whatever soil and climate conditions were available.  The reason for their popularity is due to the way in which it affects the brain’s chemistry, interrupting how the serotonin system functions.  However, with the industrialization of many businesses, the drug business has also increased ever since.  Along with an increase in drugs, there has been an increase in the number of centers for the treatment of drug addiction.

During the sixties, LSD became the hallucinogen of choice because of the fact that it could be produced anywhere due to its synthetic nature.  In spite of the history of the hallucinogenic for ritual purposes often considered respectable by their respective countries, LSD continues to remain illegal in the USA, unlike marijuana, which has been used in medical cases, in particular cancer.

Drug and alcohol abuse intervention provide many facts about the qualities of the drug.   In its most popular form, LSD takes the shape of what is named blotter acid: tiny paper sheets drenched with LSD that come in whitish colors or just plain clear.  Those sheets show in those colors are LSD in its most pure and undiluted self.  Lower quality colors include black and tan.

Drug rehab that specializes in LSD treatment often requires the patient to take part of a program that lasts for six months with 24 hour care.  Because LSD users often have a history of heavy drug abuse, this long of a treatment plan usually works best for them.

What is a healthizm? Its a small snippet of health or medical related information. Designed to help you get the information you need easily and concisely. It includes information relating to addictions and rehab.  Read the Healthizm blog at healthizm.com.

Melbourne’s drug and alcohol rehab clinics are being inundated with people seeking help, as celebrity meltdowns make seeking support more acceptable.

Read More at Herald Sun…