Posts Tagged ‘help in hawaii’

Big Island Recovery Garden

Drug and Alcohol addictions continue to affect people from all walks of life. Many people believe that all drug and alcohol abusers are criminals or are morally weak. But, that simply is not the case. Whether one is a doctor, stay-at-home mom, lawyer, teacher, preacher, mill worker, teenager or even a child, drug and alcohol addictions respect no one.
Addiction is a physiological dependence on something, meaning it is both physical and psychological in nature. Therefore, when one is addicted one literally needs whatever it is that feeds that addiction. Education remains a key factor in fighting drug and alcohol dependencies. When Hawaii Island Recovery helps people understand drug and alcohol abuse prevention becomes visible and effective.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) notes, a tremendous opportunity exists to effectively change the ways in which the public understands drug abuse and addiction because of the wealth of scientific data NIDA has amassed. NIDA further states that overcoming misconceptions and replacing ideology with scientific knowledge is the best hope for bridging the “great disconnect” – Read the rest of this entry »

Sunset - Big Island Recovery

Many people do not understand why individuals become addicted to drugs or how drugs change the brain to foster compulsive drug abuse. They mistakenly view drug abuse and addiction as strictly a social problem and may characterize those who take drugs as morally weak. One very common belief is that drug abusers should be able to just stop taking drugs if they are only willing to change their behavior. What people often underestimate is the complexity of drug addiction that it is a disease that impacts the brain and because of that, stopping drug abuse is not simply a matter of willpower. Through scientific advances we now know much more about how exactly drugs work in the brain, and we also know that drug addiction can be successfully treated to help people stop abusing drugs and resume their productive lives. That is what we do here at Hawaii Island Recovery. Helping people resume productive lives is our hope and desire. Call Michael Larroque at Hawaii Island Recovery’s office at 866-515-5032 now and start your journey to health and happiness.

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.