Why We Love Outpatient Treatment
Drug addiction rehabilitation programs generally offer two options for the term of your treatment: residential programs and outpatient programs. Inpatient residential treatment programs are generally considered to be the better of the two options, as you’re immersed in an environment that is comforting and attentive, with the opportunity to spend as much time with the…
Mental Illness and Drug Abuse
An Overview of Mental Illness and Drug Abuse The links between mental illness and drug addiction can surprise you, but will make perfect sense. People living with mental illness will try to seek relief from their symptoms every bit as much as a person who is mentally healthy, but suffering from a physical ailment. Mental…
Casualties of the War on Drugs
Most people seem to understand that the United States’ contemporary War on Drugs hasn’t been nearly as successful as what was expected, and needed. In some ways, the drug war has made the problems with drug and alcohol addiction worse: taking people away from their families without ensuring effective treatments affects communities that don’t have…
Post-Rehab Allies
Your journey to lifelong sobriety will inevitably have good days and bad days. The good days, of course, are for you to cherish as part of your progress, but the bad days can be extremely difficult to overcome. Depression, cravings for drugs, anxiety, and uncertainty can weigh on a recovering person, and even with proper…
Commonly Abused Over the Counter Drugs
When it comes to drug abuse, we often think about street drugs. Therefore, it might come as a surprise that after marijuana, over the counter (OTC) medicines are the most commonly abused drugs. Although their intended purpose is to help promote the health, a number of people increasingly use them for other reasons that are…
Sex Workers and Drugs
What leads any person to life as a sex worker varies wildly – some were kidnapped and forced into prostitution, some ran away and needed the money for food, and still others made the professional decision to enter the industry. Understanding drug abuse and drug and alcohol addiction in sex workers means looking closely at…
Substance Abuse Issues in Cancer Patients
Chronic pain is intolerable. Whether it’s a mild backache, post-surgery pain, arthritic pain or cancer-induced pain, it is nearly impossible to cope with constant discomfort without medicinal relief. In essence, pain relief medications are actually important for your health and wellbeing. Not only do they alleviate the pain that interferes with your daily life, but…
What Happens to Drug Abusers?
Drug abuse begins in a variety of ways. Despite the huge number of people living with addiction to drugs and alcohol, there are often similarities in the stories of people living with addiction. Spending copious amounts of time in pursuit of a high will often place one squarely in the path of law enforcement, and…
Outpatient Care and Other Post-Rehab Options
There is no existing cure for addiction. Addiction is a disease, and the effects can cause lifelong struggles, which can result in relapse, or addictions to new substances or even habits. There are people who, after completing rehab, turn to food, sugar, sex, or a variety of other excesses to satiate their desire to latch…
Beautiful Boy and the Realities of Drug Addiction
Hollywood has a problem. For the most part, it remains unable to authentically tell stories of drug addiction. With the exception of the recent movie, Beautiful Boy, the film industry generally tends to toss aside nuanced questions such as “how does addiction affect the family?” or “what exactly does recovery entail?” Instead, it skews towards…