Archive for February, 2010

When someone considers alcoholism, alcohol addiction, alcohol abuse or anything related with alcohol or drug issues as an individual problem, we must say he or she is totally wrong. Alcohol abuse, addiction, and all types of alcohol problems are social in nature. It concerns all of us and can impact many of us as members of society. Look at for example car accidents, social violence, child abuse, broken home, lost productivity, etc, while not all of these are entirely results of Alcoholism we can certainly find alcoholism or drug addictive behaviors in many of the cases. A thorough research towards alcohol mentions in details that anyone can have a problem with alcohol, men, women, teenagers; even kids are not immune to alcohol related issues. Every addict needs his or her own special help. The existence of the many alcohol rehabilitation centers and alcohol treatment centers are proof of how serious alcohol and drug abuse issues are. Hawaii Island Recovery Center located on the Big Island of Hawaii, is a specially rehabilitation center for women and men. Located on Hawaii’s Kona coast with spectacular views , Hawaii Island Recovery Center offers its patients professional and unique treatments and proven methods, which all are arranged to fulfill the special needs of our clients. A complete facility, a comfortable and 24 hours caring and knowledgeable Hawaii Island admissions counselor will serve as the intake point to help you or your friend or loved one on the journey to a new and healthy start in life. As has been mentioned above, alcohol and drugs used wrong will influence your life and the life of everyone that comes in contact with you. So seek help from people that care about healing those with need, http://www.Hawaiiislandrecovery.com.

Stimulants

As the name suggests, stimulants increase alertness, attention, and energy, as well as elevate blood pressure and increase heart rate and respiration. Stimulants historically were used to treat asthma and other respiratory problems, obesity, neurological disorders, and a variety of other ailments. But as their potential for abuse and addiction became apparent, the medical use of stimulants began to wane. Now, stimulants are prescribed for the treatment of only a few health conditions, including narcolepsy, ADHD, and depression that has not responded to other treatments.

Stimulants, such as dextroamphetamine (Dexedrine and Adderall) and methylphenidate (Ritalin and Concerta), have chemical structures similar to a family of key brain neurotransmitters called monoamines, which include norepinephrine and dopamine. Stimulants enhance the effects of these chemicals in the brain. Stimulants also increase blood pressure and heart rate, constrict blood vessels, increase blood glucose, and open up the pathways of the respiratory system. The increase in dopamine is associated with a sense of euphoria that can accompany the use of these drugs.

As with other drugs of abuse, it is possible for individuals to become dependent upon or addicted to many stimulants. Withdrawal symptoms associated with discontinuing stimulant use include fatigue, depression, and disturbance of sleep patterns. Repeated use of some stimulants over a short period can lead to feelings of hostility or paranoia. Further, taking high doses of a stimulant may result in dangerously high body temperature and an irregular heartbeat. There is also the potential for cardiovascular failure or lethal seizures.

Treatment of addiction to prescription stimulants is based on behavioral therapies that have proven effective in treating cocaine and methamphetamine addiction. At this time, there are no proven medications for the treatment of stimulant addiction. However, NIDA (National Institute on Drug Abuse) is supporting a number of studies on potential medications for treating stimulant addiction.

Depending on the patient’s situation, the first steps in treating prescription stimulant addiction may be tapering the drug dosage and attempting to ease withdrawal symptoms. The detoxification process could then be followed by one of many behavioral therapies. Cognitive-behavioral therapy also is an effective treatment for addressing stimulant addiction. Finally, recovery support groups are helpful in conjunction with behavioral therapy.  Contact Michael Larroque at Hawaii Island Recovery at 866-515-5032 for additional information or help with prescription drug abuse.

People can become addicted to anything or anyone. Whether someone is born with an addictive personality or not is still under debate, but there are those people who are more prone to addiction in all its forms than others. People become addicted to mood changes and there are many people, places, and things that can create mood changes. Often these are called triggers when someone enters addiction treatment.

When first venturing into the addictive process, people come in contact with something or someone that creates a mood change. A person may become addicted to the thing or person that creates the mood change almost immediately or over time. The mood change does not have to be a positive one. People can become addicted to anger, depression, self-pity, shame, etc… The list is immense. People can also become addicted to crisis as well. Often these people end up in relationships with people who are seasoned at creating crisis and the best people at creating havoc are alcoholics and addicts. A person may be more prone to slipping through the gateway of addiction during times of crisis. During times of crisis a person is more vulnerable to becoming addicted. A crisis can be anything from the death of a loved one to losing a job.

Once the person begins to rely on the object to change their mood instead of their own resources the process of addiction is initiated and the only way to break free from the inevitable progression of addiction is to recognize that one is addicted and seek help from outside themselves. The reason why a person who has begun the process of addiction must seek help from outside of themselves is because they have become their own worst enemy so to speak. It is impossible, except in the most unusual of circumstances, for a person who has begun the process of addiction to stop on their own will power. They must find a power greater than themselves.

Substance-induced disorders are distinct from independent co-occurring mental disorders in that all or most of the psychiatric symptoms are the direct result of substance use. This is not to state that substance-induced disorders preclude co-occurring mental disorders, only that the specific symptom cluster at a specific point in time is more likely the result of substance use, abuse, intoxication, or withdrawal than of underlying mental illness. A client might even have both independent and substance-induced mental disorders. For example, a client may present with well-established independent and controlled bipolar disorder and alcohol dependence in remission, but the same client could be experiencing amphetamine-induced auditory hallucinations and paranoia from an amphetamine abuse relapse over the last 3 weeks.
Symptoms of substance-induced disorders run the gamut from mild anxiety and depression (these are the most common across all substances) to full-blown manic and other psychotic reactions (much less common). The “teeter-totter principle” i.e.,”what goes up must come down”is useful to predict what kind of syndrome or symptoms might be caused by what substances. For example, acute withdrawal symptoms from physiological depressants such as alcohol and benzodiazepines are hyperactivity, elevated blood pressure, agitation, and anxiety (i.e., the shakes). On the other hand, those who “crash” from stimulants are tired, withdrawn, and depressed. Virtually any substance taken in very large quantities over a long enough period can lead to a psychotic state.
Because clients vary greatly in how they respond to both intoxication and withdrawal given the same exposure to the same substance, and also because different substances may be taken at the same time, prediction of any particular substance-related syndrome has its limits. What is most important is to continue to evaluate psychiatric symptoms and their relationship to abstinence or ongoing substance abuse over time. Most substance-induced symptoms begin to improve within hours or days after substance use has stopped. Notable exceptions to this are psychotic symptoms caused by heavy and long-term amphetamine abuse and the dementia (problems with memory, concentration, and problem solving) caused by using substances directly toxic to the brain, which most commonly include alcohol, inhalants like gasoline, and again amphetamines.

Diagnoses of substance-induced mental disorders will typically be provisional and will require reevaluation sometimes repeatedly. Many apparent acute mental disorders may really be substance-induced disorders, such as in those clients who use substances and who are acutely suicidal.
Some people who have what appear to be substance-induced disorders may turn out to have both a substance-induced disorder and an independent mental disorder. For most people who are addicted to substances, drugs eventually become more important than jobs, friends, family, and even children. These changes in priorities often look, sound, and feel like a personality disorder, but diagnostic clarity regarding personality disorders in general is difficult, and in clients with substance-related disorders the true diagnostic picture might not emerge or reveal itself for weeks or months. Moreover, it is not unusual for the symptoms of a personality disorder to clear with abstinence sometimes even fairly early in recovery. Preexisting mood state, personal expectations, drug dosage, and environmental surroundings all warrant consideration in developing an understanding of how a particular client might experience a substance-induced disorder. Treatment of the substance use disorder and an abstinent period of weeks or months may be required for a definitive diagnosis of an independent, co-occurring mental disorder. Our substance abuse treatment program and clinical staff can concentrate on screening for mental disorders and determining the severity and acuity of symptoms, along with an understanding of the client’s support network and overall life situation.

The HAWAII ISLAND RECOVERY Drug Rehab program is an individualized and personalized treatment experience. Each client’s addiction treatment plan is formulated by all of our clinical staff, including our medical doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists, and addiction treatment professionals. We know that generalized programming is not always beneficial to clients and that the individual needs of client may vary. We focus on both addiction treatment and alcohol treatment, or one or the other if needed.

We believe that one-on-one treatment produces the best results. It is the rapport that develops between the client and the clinician that produces the most favorable results. Often clients have experienced trauma in their lives and this may be one of the many factors contributing to their drug and alcohol abuse. We provide a private, exclusive and comfortable environment in paradise (Hawaii) to begin healing from these issues. For more information call Michael Larroque at Hawaii Island Recovery at 866-515-5032.

One of the most important parts of drug and alcohol treatment is structure. Once upon a time people used to be able to simply go to AA meetings or NA meetings, get a sponsor, and get sober from drugs and alcohol. In the beginning, treatment was seen as not entirely necessary by people in Alcoholics Anonymous. The primary question people in AA asked was, “Why pay for treatment when AA is free?” As time went by the answer to this question became obvious to most people in AA. Treatment provides structure for the alcoholic and addict. This is especially important for young people suffering from drug and alcohol addiction. When I say “young” people, I mean people from the ages of 17 to 29 years old. In the past, when AA was developed, there was not as much of a sociological problem with the young adults of America as there is today. Today the TWIXTERS are entering the work force later, graduating from college later, and getting married later. Simply put, the adults of the 30′s, 40′s, 50′s, and even 60′s were not experiencing the dilemma that many young adults are experiencing in this day and age. Young adults are lost today. They are frightened of the future. They don’t know what they want to be or who they want to be so they live the lives of people they see on TV. When young adults begin to drift off into the abyss of adulthood between the ages of 18 and 29 years old, they are drawn to drugs and alcohol to cope with the feelings they are having. The Structure offered in drug and alcohol treatment allows these TWIXTERS to get a foothold in life and helps bring them back down to earth. The daily routing of drug and alcohol treatment provides TWIXTERS with something to do, because most of them are do not have careers and most have not completed their college educations. This is different than it was in the past. People went to college, got careers, got married, had kids, all by the time they were 24 years old. Now that age has increased and there is a large gap between 18 and 29 years old where young adults feel lost and without purpose. So one of the main objectives in drug and alcohol treatment is not only to help a young adult get sober, but to help them develop a life worth living and more importantly, worth getting sober for.

Addiction treatment’s main purpose is to help a person recover from drug and/or alcohol addiction. A person who goes in to addiction treatment may have other psychological problems that need to be addressed (Dually Diagnosed), but the primary purpose of every addiction treatment facility, unless they enter a dual diagnosis treatment center, should be the recovery from drugs and/or alcohol. Treating a co-occurring disorder will be part of treatment, but often drug treatment facilities will not be equipped to fully treat a dually diagnosed client.

Every treatment professional agrees that getting a person sober should be the first order of business because it is extremely difficult to treat a person for a co-occurring disorder when they are not sober. The ideal situation according to current research is to treat both the addiction and the co-occurring disorder concurrently. So when a person with a dual diagnosis enters treatment they should be evaluated to confirm any previous diagnoses, evaluated for medication, and immediately begin seeing a therapist to work on the co-occurring disorder.

The best treatment facilities, while being more expensive, are ones that combine drug and alcohol counseling and professional therapy. These should never be done by the same person, or rather, it is almost impossible to find a clinician who is capable of treating both at the same time, nor should they. A case manager’s responsibilities are distinct from a therapist’s responsibilities and the two do not combine very well in an addiction treatment facility. At Hawaii Island Recovery everyone has a therapist and a drug and alcohol case manager/counselor, or at least we highly suggest that they do. The therapist works with them on familial issues, co-occurring disorders, and relationship issues, whereas the drug and alcohol case manager/counselor works with the client on their recovery from drugs and alcohol.

The treatment plan for each client is developed by both the client’s therapist and case manager to ensure that both the client’s addiction and their co-occurring disorder is being treated effectively and efficiently. Over the years we have found that this is the best model for treating dually diagnosed clients.