Encouraging Loved Ones Into Addiction Treatment

Addiction, as many people well know, disrupts the entire family. The impact of active alcohol or substance use disorder occurring in the household is significant in both scale and scope. Merely put, chemical dependency is a family disease; and family involvement aids successful recovery outcomes. Evidence-based treatment centers, including Celebrate Hope at Hope By The Sea, understand that family can play an instrumental role in helping their loved one accept treatment; we also take steps to include the family in the recovery process so that all concerned parties can heal.

The first step in the process of addiction recovery is encouraging the person you care about to seek treatment. Naturally, people in the grips of the disease are not always receptive to the idea of changing their life, even when it’s for the better. Addicts and alcoholics often wait until they are looking up from the bottom before they accept help. With that in mind, it is possible for interventions to go awry unless professional advice is sought. Unguided intervention often devolves into finger-pointing, guilting, and shaming; which, naturally, is hardly productive.

There are so many ways an unchoreographed intervention can go wrong that we strongly recommend you reach out to us for help. Celebrate Hope is a faith-based addiction treatment track, which means we join biblical principles with evidence-based addiction treatment techniques. For those who lost their connection with God, and strayed from the teachings of Jesus, faith-based treatment is an ideal method of breaking the cycle of addiction. When individuals turn to God for guidance and surrender to His will, long-term recovery is made possible.

 

More People Than Ever Need Addiction Help

A new Gallup poll shows that substance abuse is causing a higher number of families problems in the last decade and a half, The Hill reports. In 2005, 22 percent of respondents said drug use caused familial issues, whereas 30 percent report such troubles today and 37 percent report family problems related to alcohol. When Gallup asked about the impact of substance misuse on the family for the first time in 1995, only 19 percent reported concerns. It is likely that the sharp rise in drug-related family problems is connected to the opioid addiction epidemic in America.

The organization found that women were more likely to report family problems stemming from substance use than men, according to the article. What’s more, the highest number of respondents reporting issues reside in the West, 38 percent, compared to 26 percent in the South. The findings come from a survey of 1,033 adults nationwide.

 

Encouraging Recovery

Putting an end to family problems relating to substance use is possible, with the help of a recovery program. Celebrate Hope can assist you in expressing your concerns to a loved one productively and healthily. Please contact us to learn more about planning a Christian intervention.

Overcoming Fear, Seeking Addiction Treatment

Talking about what’s going on inside you isn’t an easy job, especially if you are struggling with mental illness. Fear is one of the most significant barriers to addiction recovery—even when you need help the most feeling paralyzed is a common occurrence. Regardless of how your disease manifests itself, i.e., one is predisposed to have reservations about discussing it with peers. Sadly, we all worry too much about what others think about mental health problems; it’s the byproduct of hundreds of years of stigma. Overcoming the worries we have about what people think of us is vital to seeking help; failing to do so can be deadly.

Please take a moment to consider how many people around the globe struggle with untreated mental health conditions, you might find it paradoxical that such people continue to eschew treatment. After all, over 300 million people battle depression each year, worldwide. Millions and millions of others struggle with anxiety, bipolar disorder, and alcohol and substance use disorder. In the United States, more than 2 million American meet the criteria for opioid use disorder, over a half million have a heroin use disorder. An even higher number of people are addicted to alcohol, and untreated alcoholism is one of the leading causes of illness worldwide.

With so many people who have a mental illness, you may find it troubling that mustering the courage to seek help is such a monumental task. Both people in recovery and in need of treatment make up a vast demographic; by joining together, we can end the stigma that prevents addiction recovery.

 

Addiction Recovery Works

Far more people are in active addiction than active recovery; a fact that may lead many individuals to think that recovery is a fluke. The reality is that anyone who openly and honestly works a program of healing can achieve lasting recovery. The likelihood of your recovery cannot rest on statistics or the mindset of those that addiction has passed over. Your recovery begins with a decision to try a different way of life, a polar opposite way of thinking. The first manifestation of that is surrender; admitting to yourself and another person that your way of living is no longer tenable.

Overcoming active addiction and taking steps for recovery usually involves talking to a friend or family member about seeking help. It’s likely that there is at least one person in your life who will not pass judgment about your struggles; a person who will encourage you to seek assistance and support you along the way. We realize that many people in late stage addiction have burned most of their bridges with family and friends. Perhaps you are one of those people, do not be discouraged; there exists a fellowship of people who want to see you get better, even if they have never met you. And their support is usually just a phone call away.

Those working in the field of addiction medicine and treatment are acutely familiar with what keeps people from asking for support. Many of those same people are in addiction recovery them self; meaning, they too struggled to reach out for help before they finally surrendered. Reaching out to an alcohol and substance use disorder treatment center can be your first step to ending the cycle of self-defeating behavior and a sign that fear will no longer drive you.

Remember your dreams and fight for them. You must know what you want from life. There is just one thing that makes your dream become impossible: the fear of failure. —Paulo Coelho—

 

Addiction Recovery

Celebrate Hope at Hope by The Sea can help you discover the journey of lasting recovery. We are here for you 24hrs a day to discuss your options for embarking on a new way of life. Please contact us at your earliest convenience; we would love to be a part of your addiction recovery.

Faith-Based Addiction Treatment

If you have made it onto our blog there is a good chance you are here for one of two reasons. You are considering addiction treatment, or you are seeking help for a loved one. If it is the former, we at Celebrate Hope understand the difficult decisions you face. On the one hand, you know that your life has become unmanageable, that to keep on your current course will likely be your demise. On the other hand, you have a disease that is ever trying to convince you that all is well. Even if you know that your addiction is out of control, you continue to try and convince yourself otherwise.

People in recovery sometimes say that nobody flirts with the idea of addiction treatment by accident. Those who can drink alcohol or do drugs casually never consider that they need 90-days of treatment to balance out their lives. What’s more, the typical person who seeks treatment doesn’t have an on/off switch, and the word moderation isn’t in their lexicon. Use disorders take many different forms, but the underlying currents are all the same.

Do you spend time each day trying to figure out how you are going to juggle your substance use with responsibilities? Have you lost important people and possessions due to drugs and alcohol? When you tried to stop in the past (without help) what was the outcome? The last question is somewhat rhetorical, but it makes a salient point; it’s unlikely that people who don't suffer from substance use disorders ever ask themselves such questions. That’s not to say you are an addict or alcoholic, and only you can make such a determination; although, if you meet certain diagnostic criteria it’s usually indicative of a problem.

 

Making Decisions for Recovery

Recovery is possible, but it’s next to impossible to achieve on one’s volition. Seeking the help of an addiction treatment center increases one’s chance of achieving lasting recovery greatly. Of course, there are many different ways you can bring such a goal to fruition.

The majority of treatment centers use the 12-Step model of recovery; a modality that relies heavily on spirituality. Those who engage in Step work foster a relationship with a power greater than him or herself, a “higher power.” For many Americans, Christianity was a major part of their life before addiction set in. Many addicts and alcoholics once had a close relationship with Jesus Christ until substance use came into the picture. At which time, all communication went dark. However, you can reestablish a connection with Him.

It makes sense for those who are ready to take steps for addiction recovery, to seek help from a treatment center that shares a common spiritual language. You may be more receptive to a Christian faith-based program than other types of treatment. Spirituality will be that which holds your recovery together, without it relapse is inevitable. If long-term recovery is your goal, reconnecting with Christ can give you the best chance of successful outcomes.

 

We Can Help

Anyone in need of treatment should carefully explore all their options. Being in treatment for 30 to 90 days is a tremendous commitment, such decisions shouldn’t be made lightly. If you are ready, open your heart and soul to Christ again, and accept His help; Celebrate Hope can help assist you. Please contact us today.

Addiction Recovery: A Commitment for Change

People who attempt addiction recovery without assistance experience disappointment relatively quickly. Alcohol and substance use disorders take tremendous effort to overcome and require a lifelong commitment to going against one’s programming. Simply put, recovering from addiction is not something accomplished on your own. If you have been unable to break the cycle of self-defeating behavior using nothing but will, there is a good reason for the outcome you found. Recovery requires support, a network of lifelines, one can turn to when the going gets tough.

Use disorders develop over time, and the disease is progressive. What starts off as recreation transmogrifies into addiction; once that happens, it’s impossible to reverse the change. You can turn a cucumber into a pickle, you can’t (try as you might) make a pickle a cucumber. Those who try to stop using experience fleeting results. Many people have managed to avoid using for short periods of time, but use recommences sooner rather than later because there isn’t a program to rely upon for coping with all things Life. As a result, people convince themselves that they are doomed to the fate of addiction.

Fortunately, such a conclusion is flawed because it's derived from going about recovery in the same way one went about keeping the flame of their addiction afire—on one’s own. With the help of others and the practice of constant spiritual maintenance, we can and do recover.

 

Seeking Assistance is Required

Individuals battling use disorders know that their condition will likely be their demise if they are unable to stop. Attempts made to free one's self from bondage rarely result in success. Again, we cannot find recovery by the ways and means that we found addiction. A different course of action is required, and one that should begin with alcohol and substance use disorder treatment; to be followed by a continued program of recovery, i.e., 12 Steps or SMART Recovery.

If you are still in the grips, you might ask yourself, ‘why can’t I skip treatment and just join a program? After all, there are meetings in my neighborhood.' Well, you can do that, and that's worked for many people. However, if you are in the late stages of use disorder or dependent on a particular substance — there’s a good chance that the symptoms of acute withdrawal and the people, places and things that trigger you to use will derail your efforts. The pain of withdrawal typically leads to a relapse before one has even contemplated what it means to be powerless over alcohol or drugs.

Medical detox and treatment, on the other hand, are safe environments staffed by people who can help you get through the earliest stages of recovery. This is the time period when the risk of relapse is at its highest. Various medications will dull the symptoms of withdrawal reducing the urge to quit abstinence and return to active use. Treatment centers offer clients 30, 60, or 90-days of trigger-free living. The elements that are known to precipitate substance use don't exist in recovery centers.

 

Treatment: A Commitment that Pays for Itself

Deciding to seek help via treatment should be made as carefully as possible. You are going to be away from your family and be unable to bring home a paycheck (in most cases) for an extended period. When you check into treatment, you are in effect checking out of your previous sphere of existence. It’s a move that gives one the opportunity to shut down, make necessary adjustments conducive to recovery, and reboot. It is a time-consuming and significant commitment.

Some people, have concerns that the financial investment they will have to make by deciding to go to an addiction treatment center may not be worth it—it’s only natural. It is a considerable investment in oneself. Although, the returns will be far higher than the initial investment; especially when you consider the fact that one has no future without recovery. Active addiction always has the same outcome: jails, institutions, and death.

Have you tried to get clean and sober on your own, to no avail? If so, please consider taking a different approach. You will not regret it in the long-run. Please contact Celebrate Drug Rehab today, to begin the life-saving journey of recovery. We have helped a significant number of people achieve what they once thought was impossible—a life without drugs and alcohol.

Substance Abuse and Suicide Among Veterans

It's a good sign. Major media outlets like premium cable (e.g. HBO or Showtime) and Netflix have been dedicating their resources and addressing suicide. Just recently, Netflix released a series called 13 Reasons Why, about a teenage girl whose temporary problems made her life no longer worth living. The web streaming service also released an original movie, The Discovery, which focused on where we go after we die, a realization that leads to a spate of suicides across the world.

While such content are works of fiction, the messages ring true. More importantly, they encourage us all to question the case of suicide. The reasons behind it, the various ways that it might be prevented. It is important that people, who may be susceptible to suicidal ideations, are made aware that suicide in most cases is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. As much as it may feel like you can't go on, feelings are not facts—there is always a solution to be had.

One demographic that is no stranger to suicide, or thinking about it, is people who have or are struggling with alcohol or substance use disorder. Especially among those whose substance abuse is a direct result of attempting to self-medicate another form of mental illness, such as depression or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

 

Suicide In The Military

One does not have to experience trauma in order to develop a substance use disorder, but such people are at a greater risk. Whether or not someone is struggling with addiction or a co-occurring disorder (substance abuse combined with another mental health disorder), people in the military take their own lives at a far greater rate than the general public.

It turns out that out of more than 4 million veterans, drug and alcohol abuse affects 8 percent of males and 3 percent of females, HealthDay reports. Such individuals were two-times at risk of suicide, compared to veterans without an alcohol or substance use—20 veterans die by suicide every day in the United States. The findings were published in the journal Addiction.

"We hope these findings will help clinicians and health systems care for people with substance use disorders, with mental health conditions, and with both -- and focus suicide prevention efforts accordingly," said lead study author Kipling Bohnert, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Michigan Medical School, and also a researcher with the VA Center for Clinical Management Research. 

Female veterans with substance use problems were found to commit suicide at more than five times the rate of female veterans who did not abuse drugs or alcohol, according to the article. The researchers found that females who abused opioids and males who abused amphetamines were at the greatest risk of suicide.

 

Suicide Prevention by Way of Treatment

Active substance abuse takes people to the darkest of places. With each day that passes one sees more and more doors closing. If you add other forms of mental health disorders into the equation, the picture becomes even more dismal. Despair can lead to a rash decision that can’t be reversed.

The first step to addressing why you feel the way you do, is to identify what you are doing that might be a contributing factor. If daily drug and alcohol use is occurring, it is definitely contributing to your feelings of despair. It is quite common for people abusing drugs and alcohol to also have a co-occurring mental health disorder, as we mentioned previously otherwise known as a “dual diagnosis.” While depression, anxiety, PTSD and bipolar disorder certainly complicate the treatment of addiction, recovery is still possible.

Please contact Celebrate Hope at Hope by The Sea. We specialize in treating co-occurring mental health disorders. We can help you break the cycle of addiction and begin the process of treating your dual diagnosis, so that you can lead a life in recovery free from drugs and alcohol.

Bipolar Disorder Increases Substance Use Disorder Risk

It is well understood that it is of the utmost importance to treat the whole patient in the field of addiction medicine. A significant number of people seeking help for a substance use disorder, also have other mental health issues to contend with; it is common occurrence which can complicate one’s ability to work a program of recovery. Many people will actually develop a problem with drugs and alcohol as a result of using the substance to help cope with untreated mental illness; if substance abuse counselors fail to address a client's co-occurring disorder while in treatment, then there is an increased risk of relapse down the road.

Over the years there has been a plethora of research conducted which indicates that people with a mental illness, such as depression, are at an increased risk of addiction. It might even be fair to say that a mental illness begets mental illness, in some cases. Studies also point out that a person with a co-occurring disorder, otherwise known as dual diagnosis, has a much better chance of long term recovery, if they are treated for the addiction and co-occurring disorder at the same time.

The most common co-occurring mental health disorders that addiction patients have, include:

• Anxiety Disorder
• Bipolar Disorder
• Depression
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

As was mentioned earlier, people with mental illness are often far more likely to have addiction problems, compared to the general public. This was the results of a new study conducted recently that found that adolescents with bipolar disorder are more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol, and develop a substance use disorder later in life, HealthDay reports. The findings were published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

The study involved 105 adolescents (average age 14) with bipolar disorder and 98 teens without the disorder, according to the article. Of which, 34 percent of the teens that were bipolar also had substance use disorder, compared to only 4 percent in the control group. The researchers followed up five years later with 68 of the participants with bipolar patients and 81 of the control group. The findings revealed that half a decade later, nearly half of those who were bipolar also had substance use disorder, compared to 26 percent of the control group.

Principles of Substance Abuse Prevention for Early Childhood

With every year that passes, it seems like scientists understand better both the roots and nature of addiction. While the brain is an extremely complicated organ, one that will probably never fully be understood, we know now that the groundwork for addiction begins at a young - potentially even at prenatal stages of life. The brain is extremely impressionable when we are young, the things we are exposed to can have an impact on our ability to defend against threats later on in life, such as experimentation with drugs and alcohol.

"Infancy, toddlerhood, and the first years of school are hardly a time most people associate with drug use," writes NIDA Director, Nora D. Volkow, M.D, in a blog post. "But aspects of family, school, and community environments during this crucial window of human development can set the stage for the social, emotional, behavioral and academic problems that, a decade or more later, may take the form of increased risk-taking and experimentation with substances like alcohol, cigarettes, or illicit drugs." 

It is probably safe to say that one of parents' greatest fears is that their child will have the disease of addiction. The current state of things with the opioid epidemic has shown millions of Americans that their child is eligible for addiction, too. It cannot be overemphasized how important early prevention and intervention are, and they may be the dividing line between some teenagers using mind altering substances or not. This week, the National Institute on Drug Abuse released evidence-based guides for practitioners and researchers: Principles of Substance Abuse Prevention for Early Childhood.

“Thanks to more than three decades of research into what makes a young child able to cope with life’s inevitable stresses, we now have unique opportunities to intervene very early in life to prevent substance use disorders,” said Volkow. “We now know that early intervention can set the stage for more positive self-regulation as children prepare for their school years.” 

Part of the guidelines' aim is to help people design and implement addiction interventions, including:

• Educators
• Policymakers
• Treatment Professionals