Drug Addiction

15 Reasons to Go to a Meeting Today

According to the Alcoholics Anonymous website, you can go to meetings any time you feel the need to. Returning to meetings after an absence can prevent a relapse. There are many reasons why you should go to a meeting as soon as you notice any of these things. 1. You Find Yourself Craving Drugs or ….

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8 Things You Don’t Want to Hear About Addiction but Must Face Head On

Addiction isn’t an easy disease to cope with. It undermines all areas—personal, familial, public, financial, and professional—of a person’s life. At times, it may seem that facing another negative consequence of addiction is more than you can bear, but accepting the facts may actually be a great way to enable you to fight back. There ….

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Can You Take Addiction Medicine While in a 12 Step Program?

Addiction medicines, such as methadone provide a much needed line of treatment in cases of chronic, long-term substance abuse. People recovering from long-term opiate and alcohol addictions often require the types of physical support addiction medicines provide. Throughout the recovery process, 12 Step programs likewise play a critical role within the recovery process. While people ….

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The Hijacked Brain

Nature is truly bizarre. For instance, there is a fungus native to the jungles of Thailand that infects ants and turns them into zombies. The fungal parasite secretes chemicals that changes ant behavior to serve its own ends. And the behaviors are scary in their specificity. At one point in the process, it causes confusion, ….

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Is Addiction A Disease?

The argument goes like this: Addiction is no more a disease than any other habit or compulsion. It isn’t a disease because there isn’t a demonstrated genetic cause, it isn’t contagious, and you can’t take a medicine to cure it. In fact, according to AA and other organizations, the treatment is spiritual. At best, addiction ….

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Alternatives To 12 Step Programs

The 12 step structure is a popular one for informal addiction treatment, but it doesn’t fit everyone. There are those who stumble with the spiritual aspects and those that reject the “incurable disease” idea. Some find group meetings uncomfortable and don’t get any benefit from sharing. For these, there are alternatives to 12 step programs. ….

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Dual Diagnosis: Definition

In the addiction treatment field, the definition of a dual diagnosis patient is someone who suffers a mental or psychological illness along with their addiction. Both the addiction and the mental illness are strong enough that they could be diagnosed separately. It’s the combination that puts the ‘dual’ in dual diagnosis. The distinction between a ‘regular’ ….

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Dual Recovery

There are two meanings for the phrase “dual recovery”. The first is someone who is addicted to more than one (unrelated) substance or behavior. Sometimes it’s one substance and an activity, either of which is addictive by themselves. So, for instance, someone who is both an alcoholic and a compulsive gambler. Recovery would have to address ….

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Stages Of Change And Motivational Interviewing

One of the difficulties in treating addiction is matching therapy to patient. To some degree, each addict is different. They come with their own unique problems and attitudes. Treatment specialists are always looking for a useful structure to help them “meet the patient where they are.” This is the genesis for the Stages of Change ….

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The 5 Stages Of Change

How people move from one entrenched behavior to another has fascinated psychologists for a long time. The question is also important in addiction treatment, where the change sought is breaking a powerful habit. The question, “How can I help someone change their ways?” turns out to be best answered by looking at where someone is ….

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