Addiction is a stubborn foe

Even the best drug treatment center in the world can’t make drug rehab an easy process. On the contrary, rehabilitation is always something of a struggle, for the simple reason that addiction is a stubborn foe. But that doesn’t mean drug recovery has to be painful. On the contrary, the best drug treatment centers can make rehab an edifying experience, first and foremost by giving patients all the care and support they need. Expertise matters. So do elegance and personal comfort. In the end, the best drug treatment is the one in which you feel the most at home. Rehab can’t go forward on any terms other than those.

Remember too that you have to take the first step in the addiction treatment process. The best drug treatment center in Los Angeles can’t help a patient who refuses to enroll in a drug treatment program. For your own sake, for the sake of the people who care about you…make the right choice. Healing starts with you. Given the stakes, you can’t afford to wait another day.

Making addiction treatment a peaceful experience

Addiction is a personal disease. No one else has ever experienced it quite like you have. By the same token, no one’s addiction treatment experience will be quite like your own. The best addiction treatment program is the one that’s uniquely tailored to your individual case history, with a special emphasis on meeting each and every one of your needs. If you’re going to win the fight against drug and alcohol abuse, you need your own battle plan, not someone else’s. Given the stakes, you can’t afford to settle for anything less.

Remember, no one can look out for your own best interests like you can. There are plenty of private addiction treatment facilities in Los Angeles. It’s up to you find the one that can give you the care you need. Addiction treatment is a delicate art form. It can only succeed if it’s administered with empathy and expertise. You owe it to yourself to entrust your care to people who know exactly what they’re doing. In the end, no choice you make will ever be more important.

Here is to being hopeful and to making a difference

Filed under: Addiction, Addiction Treatment, Rehab — Suki @ 7:37 pm

Addiction treatment can work for you. Whoever you are, however hopeless you believe yourself to be…addiction treatment really can work for you. Too many prospective rehab patients believe themselves to be beyond saving. That simply isn’t right. The truth is that addiction treatment can work for anyone, provided it’s given the chance. In fact, addiction treatments change lives. Given the stakes, it’s well past time you found that out on your own terms.

Remember, addiction treatment has to start with you. Only when you find the courage to take the first step can you start getting better for good. The right drug and alcohol rehab center will help you rediscover the world as you used to know it, and yourself as you used to be. If you’ve made it this far, you shouldn’t need a lecture on the perils of addiction. Now you know what you can do about it. For your own sake, don’t wait another day to make the right choice.

40th Birthday and still going strong

I’m very happy to be able to report to you that our brother has now completed his 40th, drug-free day. He continues his addiction treatment  at a wonderful addiction treatment center in Malibu.

He called me on my birthday this year, remember the exact date and everything-the most precious gift I could ever have hoped for. I’m so grateful for the interventionist and the guidance and expertise in planning and executing our intervention.
I knew from the very first phone call that I made that terrible night, that this was the answer I was searching for. For the first time ever, I felt as if someone truly understood what I was going through and not only wanted to help but was able to do so. Others had said they wanted to help, but offered no real assistance or treatment for addiction information. You gave me the tools I needed to get to the point where I could actually begin thinking about and planning an intervention. You not only kept me updated every step of the way with what needed to be done in selecting and locating a drug rehabilitation program for my son. I have never felt such a sense of confidence in someone that I had never met personally.

Addiction Treatment center work miracles?

Anyone who knows anything about addiction treatment programs will tell you that they don’t work miracles. Drug treatment doesn’t happen by accident, after all, or by magic. Those rehab patients who get better are the ones who do the most to help themselves: who commit themselves to the process, and resolve to win the fight. Addiction treatment programs are hard, don’t let anyone ever pull the wool over your eyes on that one. But they’re worth it. More than worth it. If you’re a victim of drug abuse, getting help from a drug rehabilitation center will be the most important thing you ever do. And if you’ve experienced addiction firsthand, you shouldn’t need any more persuasion than that.

Addiction treatment programs are essential to the recovery process insofar as they can empower their patients, and help them develop the skills they’ll need to help themselves. The rehab center that’s “right” for you, then, is the one that’s committed to serving your unique interests. Personal attention matters in the addiction treatment process. Any addiction treatment center that forgets that couldn’t ever be worth your time.

Porn Addiction

Filed under: Addiction, Addiction Treatment, Porn Addiction — Suki @ 5:05 pm

I remember when I first tried it. I waited until nobody was home and I turned on the computer as quietly as possible. When the computer booted up I got a rush thinking about what was seconds away from happening. It was all so naughty and exciting at the same time. When I went to the website I felt like a forty-niner who had just struck gold. Tits and ass everywhere you looked and as far as the eye could see. It was great!

It wasn’t until looking up porn on the internet became a necessity that it started getting weird. It did take me a long while to get to that point because, let’s face it, it is porn. But once it gets to the point of compulsion and not just for the physical gratification it’s pretty easy to realize that something is wrong. I know it sounds strange to say, but I was addicted to porn. I eventually got to the point where it was literally like clockwork. Late at night or whenever no one was around I’d slip into the back room with the old lap top and go online. I’d sit there for hours and just stare at the screen wondering why I couldn’t turn away. It was scary.

Since those days I’ve gotten help from people who really know what I’m going through. Pure porn addiction help from real porn addiction recovery specialists. Getting help was the best thing I’ve ever done and it helped my life get back to normal.

Addiction Treatment

Filed under: Addiction, Addiction Treatment, Drug Treatment, Sobriety — Suki @ 1:25 pm

Addiction treatment is, in no uncertain terms, the treatment of addiction. Of course, of course: that much should be obvious, right? A no-brainer. A foregone conclusion. But look at the statement again. Think about it, mull it over, let it take root in your head. Addiction treatment is the treatment of addiction. What does it mean, exactly? What’s the buried truth—the deeper truth—there between the words? Pay special attention to the last part of the sentence: the treatment of addiction. Not of addicts—of addiction. Small as it may seem, that distinction—of addiction versus of addicts—is of critical importance to the recovery process.

Addiction is a disease. Period. It’s not “like” a disease; it’s not “almost” a disease. It is a disease, same as AIDS or cancer or any other more “conventional” ailment for which millions of American patients receive treatment. An addict is not an addict because he or she has some gross personal flaw—not anymore than a diabetic is a diabetic because of his or her lack of ethical character. Addicts, like diabetics, are sick. Clinically sick. Scientifically sick. Sick in a way that needs healing. Sick in a way, most importantly, that can and must be treated.

And so we’re back to square one: Addiction treatment is the treatment of addiction. Not addicts. Addiction. Addiction treatment aims to cure the patient, to combat the disease—addiction—which has made him or her sick in the first place. Addiction treatment does not pass judgment. It does not stigmatize, does not cast blame upon the individuals who receive it. Addiction treatment, simply put, aims to fix what’s wrong. Beyond that, all other considerations—moral, social, spiritual—are irrelevant.

But how, then, is that fixing accomplished? How does addiction treatment actually work? Individuals weighing the merits of recovery programs—either for themselves or for someone they love—often have questions about the most essential elements of the treatment process: conceptual methodology, structural organization, practical effectiveness. In order to make an informed, intelligent treatment decision, the potential patient—or his or her caretaker—must address each one of these areas in turn.

From a methodological standpoint, addiction treatment seeks to meet the specific needs of every individual patient; just as no two addicts are exactly alike, so should no two treatment programs be exactly the same. With that in mind, addiction treatment is geared towards treating the whole patient, not just his or her addiction. In practical terms, this means addressing a wide range of problems: medical, emotional, psychological, social, vocational, and legal. Addiction treatment is also defined by its inherently responsive, adaptable nature; as the needs of the patient change, the parameters of his or her treatment program must adapt in kind.

Broadly speaking, those parameters include two primary modes of treatment: behavioral and medical. Behavioral treatment aims to resolve the psychological underpinnings of an addict’s disease, both by exploring the roots of the addiction itself and by identifying the behaviors and thought processes that help sustain it. Behavioral treatment can include psychotherapy, cognitive therapy, and individual and group counseling. Medical treatment, by comparison, helps patients stabilize their lives—and stay off of illicit drugs—by providing chemical substitutes for addictive substances. Medical treatment techniques—like methadone maintenance programs for recovering heroin users, or nicotine patches for cigarette smokers—are effective insofar as they can ease the cravings associated with repetitive long-term drug use. In general, addiction treatment incorporates both behavioral and medical therapies in the healing process.

With respect to structural organization, addiction treatment is conventionally divided into a number of distinct phases, all of which function as complements to and outgrowths of one another. Addiction treatment typically begins with a one- or two-week detox program, which cleanses a patient’s system of all remaining drug residuals. From there, treatment transitions into primary care, wherein an individual continues to fight the physical ailments of post-addiction while developing the emotional and social skills necessary for functional sobriety. That process, which usually lasts for at least a month, often continues in extended care programs, which build on the gains made during primary care in a more advanced environment. For many patients, the recovery process continues in halfway houses, 3/4-way houses, and sober houses, all of which build towards the ultimate goal of self-supervised independent living. Studies have indicated that addiction treatment is most effective when patients spend at least three months in their recovery programs, though longer stays—of six months or a year, for example—have been shown to demonstrably enhance an individual’s chances for long-term success.

And, finally, a word on that success. For most potential patients, this is the most important consideration: Will addiction treatment work? Will it fix what’s wrong with me? The short answer is a resounding yes. Though no program is perfect, addiction treatment is generally every bit as effective as treatment of other chronic diseases, like diabetes or asthma. A number of studies have shown that drug treatment reduces drug use by up to 60 percent, and leads to a significant decline in criminal activity both during and after a patient’s time in a recovery program. Treatment has also been shown to reduce the rate of HIV infection for intravenous drug users and increase an individual’s prospects for employment by as much as 40 percent. Granted, specific treatment outcomes depend on the particular circumstances of individual patients, and there is no guarantee that any one treatment program will be successful. That said, though, addiction treatment very certainly does give a patient reason to hope—which, when weighed against the alternative, would seem at the very least to be a chance worth taking.

(Source: http://www.nida.nih.gov/PODAT)