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Increasing numbers of people have become intimately acquainted with the misery of drug addiction: either their own addiction or the addiction of someone they know or care about.

There is a pattern to the onset and progress of drug addiction that is the same for every addiction, whether alcohol addiction, cocaine addiction, methamphetamine addiction, heroin addiction, or addiction to the most pernicious of all drugs: psychiatric medications.

THE PERSON IS IN SOME PHYSICAL OR EMOTIONAL PAIN THAT SEEMS TO HAVE NO RESOLUTION.

THEY TRY TO ESCAPE IT BY TAKING DRUGS.

THE PERSON FINDS THAT DRUGS GIVE A TEMPORARY RELIEF BUT WHEN THE DRUG WEARS OFF, THE PAIN RETURNS, SO THE PERSON CONTINUES TO TAKE THE DRUGS.

DRUGS ACT ON THE BODY LIKE POISONS, DEPLETING ITS VITAMINS AND MINERALS AND WITH CONTINUED USE OF THE DRUG, THE BODY’S ABILITY TO PRODUCE CERTAIN CHEMICALS SUCH AS VITAMINS IS CRIPPLED BECAUSE THESE CHEMICALS ARE REPLACED BY THE DRUG.

DEPRIVED OF ITS OWN NATURAL RESOURCES AND WITH THE ABILITY TO CREATE THEM INCREASINGLY IMPAIRED, THE BODY PERCEIVES THAT IT NEEDS THE DRUG TO FUNCTION AND DEMANDS THE DRUG THROUGH PHYSICAL CRAVINGS.

THE BODY HUNGERS FOR THE DRUGS THE WAY A STARVING MAN WOULD HUNGER FOR NUTRITION. THESE CRAVINGS BECOME SO SEVERE THAT THE ADDICT WILL DO ALMOST ANYTHING TO GET MORE OF THE DRUG.

IT IS DIFFICULT FOR ANYONE WHO HAS NOT SUFFERED ADDICTION TO IMAGINE HOW SEVERE AND RELENTLESS THOSE CRAVINGS BECOME.

THE  ADDICT COMMITS INCREASINGLY SERIOUS MISDEEDS AGAINST HIS FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND HIMSELF TO SATISFY THOSE UNRELENTING CRAVINGS. GRADUALLY HIS PREVIOUS PERSONAL CODES OF CONDUCT, HIS PERSONAL STANDARDS OF BEHAVIOUR ARE ABANDONED.

BECAUSE OF THOSE MISDEEDS. THE ADDICT FEELS INCREASINGLY DEGRADED, CANNOT FACE HIMSELF AND SO DIVES DEEPER INTO DRUGS.

THE PERSON IS NOW TRAPPED IN FULL BLOWN DRUG ADDICTION.

Addiction is a particularly vicious and destructive trap. Most drug addicts or alcoholics are, prior to their addiction, intelligent and most often creative persons with much hope for the future.

The shambling, malnourished criminal types to whom you give a wide berth on your city streets are usually in the final stages of a long and agonized downfall that began with a pain that would not resolve and winds up in a wide, cloying sea of agony.

Fortunately, when you understand the true reason for addiction, a door to an effective solution opens before you.

There IS a road out for the addict, a road that does not involve drugs of any kind. It a far more effective and workable road than has been provided before.

To find out more about it, you can contact Narconon or email me via my blog and I will point you in the right direction..

Drug addiction is a pathological condition in which, the addict consumes drugs not for any medical reason but for pleasure and relaxation. Millions of people die because of drug addiction. The commonly used drugs are heroin, cocaine, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and barbiturates.

The common symptoms experienced by a drug addict are anxiety, fatigue, depression, insomnia, high blood pressure and heart rate, cycles of increased energy and slower reaction time depending upon the type of drug being consumed. Drug addiction can have devastating effects on the person. The person would be physically, emotionally and psychologically affected by this addiction. Although there is no specific reason why a person develops this habit, this is generally due to peer pressure, stress, emotional distress or any other psychological reason.

There are drug addiction treatment centers that provide rehabilitation services for drug addiction and co-occurring mental health problems. The drug treatment centers provide comprehensive drug rehabilitation and heal the patients physically, mentally and spiritually. Dual diagnosis is prescribed for the persons suffering from drug addiction as well as mental health problems. Support from families is very important. Often the treatment centers involve family members to be a part of the treatment.

Treatment of the person begins with recognition of the problem. Generally the addict is unable to realize the problem. The treatment involves detoxification that is the removal of toxins accumulated by drug use. The withdrawal process is complicated and requires professional guidance. The common symptoms of drug withdrawal are convulsions, headaches, hyperactivity, loss of appetite, restlessness, sleeplessness, sweating, tremors and vomiting.

For any person suffering from this addiction needs care and support from the family. Before visiting any rehabilitation centre, awareness about the treatment and the recovery process is essential.

Addiction can be defined as dependence on something that can severely affect the person physically, mentally and psychologically. Drug addiction results in compulsive use of drugs due to the prolonged effect of the drugs on the brain. Memory, learning, and other behavioral circuits in the brain are affected due to repeated consumption of drugs.

Different types of drugs such as cocaine, marijuana, steroids, ecstasy can have physiological, psychological and social effects on the person. Irregular breathing, increased heart rate, brain damage, heart disease, arthritis, lung diseases and high blood pressure are some of the common physiological effects observed in the addicts. Drug addiction is one of the major reasons for increased crime rate and accidents in the society.

People, who are into such addiction, often do not realize that they have a problem. Drug addiction can lead to serious consequences if not treated on time. At times, addiction can be destructive in nature. People might ruin their lives and hurt themselves and their significant others. There are drug treatment centers that help drug addicts to come out this addiction and live a healthy life.

Drug addiction cannot be treated in a short span of time. A drug addict might not be able to quit this habit on his own .There are drug rehabs that combine medications, counseling, therapies and group activities to treat the patients. These drug rehab centers start the process with detoxification and follow it with different therapies and activities to prevent relapse and to completely cure the patient. Detoxification is the process of removal of toxins from the body. During the withdrawal process antidepressants, antianxiety substances and mood stabilizers are given for normal functioning of the brain and to prevent any kind of drug craving during the treatment procedure. The detoxification is followed by psychological treatment that involves friends and family members to motivate the patients. The counselors advise the patients on how to avoid drug craving and prevent relapse to live a drug free healthy life.

Drug addiction and drug abuse habitual use of any chemical substance to change states of body or mind for other than medically warranted purposes. Psychological reliance is the subjective feeling that the user needs the drug to uphold a feeling of well-being; physical dependence is characterized by tolerance and withdrawal symptoms when the user is sober.

Definitions of addiction are subjective and infused with the moral principles of the society or culture, the stimulant caffeine in coffee and tea is a drug used world wide by millions of people, but because of its relatively soft stimulatory effects and because caffeine does not generally activate antisocial behavior in person who is using these, the drinking of tea and coffee, despite the fact that caffeine is physically addictive, is not generally considered drug abuse. In Indian sub-continent Opium has been used for centuries without fetching unduly corrosive to the social fabric.

 By comparison, 72% of the population America has smoked cigarettes and 82% has tried alcoholic beverages.  As well, Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug.

Users of drugs, experience a wide array of physical effects other than those expected. Some drugs like, Marijuana and alcohol interfere with motor control and are factors in many automobile accidents. Users of   drugs, like marijuana and hallucinogenic drugs may experience flashbacks, unwanted recurrences of the drug’s effects weeks or months after use.

Sudden abstinence from certain drugs results in removal symptoms. For example, heroin and some other drug withdrawal can cause vomiting, muscle cramps, convulsions, and delirium. With the continued use of a physically addictive drug, tolerance develops; i.e., continuously increasing amount of the drug are needed to double the early effect. Sharing hypodermic syringe used to inject some drugs dramatically increases the risk of contracting AIDS caused by HIV.

In addition, increased sexual activity among drug users, both in prostitution and from the       disinheriting result of some drugs, also puts them at a higher risk of AIDS and other STDs (sexual transmitted disease). Because the purity and amount of illegal drugs are uncontrolled, drug overdose is a constant risk. The money to buy drugs, and some drugs, especially alcohol, are associated with violent behavior in users.

There are over 15,000 deaths directly attributable to drug use in the United States of America every year; the substances most regularly involved are cocaine, heroin, and often combined with alcohol or other drugs. Many drug users connect in criminal activity, such as prostitution, to raise the money to buy drugs, and some drugs, in case of

Alcohol, are associated with violent behavior.

Drug abuse affects society in many ways with their way of life. In the place of work it is costly in terms of lost work time and inefficiency. Drug users are more likely than nonusers to have work-related accidents, endangering themselves and those around them. Over half of the highway deaths in the United States of America involve alcohol. Drug-related offense can disturb neighborhoods due to violence among drug dealers, threats to inhabitants, and the crimes of the addicts themselves. In some neighborhoods, younger kids are recruited as lookouts and helpers because of the lighter sentences given to young offenders, and guns have become commonplace among children and teenagers. The great majority of homeless people have either a drug or alcohol problem or a mental sickness—many have all three.

Everyone gets upset after finding out that someone among his near-dear ones is a drug addict. Many people think that the addicts take drug just for fun, but every time this is not, consuming drug is not always a choice. Like other diseases, the patients of drug addiction should be treated with special care.

According to a recent report it has been known that the total costs of substance abuse in the US is around half a trillion dollars each year. So, there is no doubt that drug addiction is a major concern in the United States. The curse of this addiction is not just limited to the US, millions of people all around the world are suffering from it.

Those days are gone when the family members of an alcoholic or drug addicted patient used to roam around in the search of an addiction treatment center. Now there are thousands of drug and alcohol treatment centers available all over the world. The modern treatment centers are offering contemporary addiction treatments by using latest treatment procedures and cutting-edge technology.

It has been seen that the patients of drug addiction suffer from various physical as well as psychological problems. More time a patient will suffer from drug addiction, much worse will be the condition of the patient. So, it is suggested to everyone whose near-dear one is suffering from drug addiction to visit a drug addiction treatment center without any second thought.

You can also consider a Christian rehab center, where you will get much more treatment facilities than the traditional treatment centers. So, don’t waste anymore time, call an addiction treatment center and consult with an expert today.

This is really a difficult task to choose the right drug addiction treatment center. There are many rehab centers and each one has its own programs and methods to treat patients. Most of the time, addicted people avoid going to the treatment center; they are afraid that how they will be forced to deal with. Therefore, this is a crucial issue to choose right treatment center.

Some people prefer to choose rehab centers near their native places; thereby compromising on the quality of the treatment programs. People should choose the best addiction treatment center to avail the best service.

However, there are following points that can help in finding the best suitable treatment center for you:

- Availability of relapse prevention program: During withdrawal, it is possible that patients may face relapse symptoms. So the treatment center must have an effective and reliable relapse prevention program to control the condition. Under this program skilled professionals restrain patients to take drug and provide cognitive behavioral approach. Through personal counseling, patients have been trained to control themselves and stop the temptation of drug abuse. Nevertheless, this program is more effective in the alcohol rehab centers.

- Medication facility: Normally, in these cases medication is not required, but if the problem is serious patients need medicine for immediate relief.

- Recreational programs: This is one of the most important aspects of treatment center. Recreational programs provide confidence and assist in fast recovery.

- Experience and qualification of professionals and staffs: The professionals who provide treatment facility in rehab center must have good academic career and sufficient experience of treating drug addicted people.

- The location of treatment center: Location also plays an important and decisive role in correcting the addiction behavior. Therefore, if it is located close to beach, mountain, or any such kind of natural landscape, it is more conducive for the patients.

- An integrated approach: Since, single method of treatment becomes monotonous and boring, therefore if treatment center provides meditation and community participation facility along with medication and various therapies, the treatment programs become more effective.

Hence, before going to any drug addiction treatment center make sure that your problems match with the programs of treatment center. Because the better matched programs are much suitable for you to get treated faster.

What are the symptoms and signs of drug addiction? When do you cross the line of being an occasional drug user to becoming a full-blown addict? The answer is not just about how much is consumed, but rather on the effects of drug abuse. It isn’t also the mistaken perception that the person should be just about to live on the street just for him to be considered an addict. In fact, many drug addicts are living normal lives with steady jobs and families.

The symptoms and signs of drug addictions may be difficult to trace. Some drug addicts are actually capable of showing no signs of addiction. In fact, it may take a long time for someone to conclude that a person is a drug user. Some drug addicts, however, can be easily recognized.

A drug addict can show signs of depression, angry outbursts, manic behavior, irritability, moodiness and overall attitude change. They can engage in suspicious behaviors, such as more frequent and long visits to the basement, restroom or other isolated areas. A drug addict can also start talking incoherently and make inappropriate remarks. His grooming and physical appearance may also start to deteriorate. At times, you would notice that he is starting to frequently borrow money, sell possessions and steal items from the house, school or office.

Addiction to a drug may be a result of a person’s dependency on prescription drugs to relieve pain from an injury or accident. In this case, the medication becomes an addiction that is difficult to break. The person starts to crave for the drug that should otherwise be used only to lessen pain. Addiction may also occur when a person chooses to abuse his body with an illegal drug.

With the help of drug rehab centers, patients are able to revive from their addiction. Drug addiction is a desperate case wherein only the experts of drug rehabs can intelligently divert them. It is always good to see the professional help of drug addiction treatment programs instead of relying on self recovery which is often unsuccessful.

A drug treatment center provides an ongoing support for drug addicts even after they leave a program. Former patients attend therapy sessions and one-on-one counseling that is provided in order to help former drug addicts cope with their present trials. They are also advised to visit a drug detox center to eliminate all foreign substances in the body that are caused by drugs and can be a threat to the health of a person.

Drug treatment centers can help cure drug addiction within a matter of weeks, depending on how a person responds to their treatments. They scan the mental, physical and emotional conditions of an individual and customize a treatment for the person.

Drug addiction begins with the simple act of taking drugs, which leads to craving, seeking and addiction later on. It is easier to prevent than stop addiction by being able to recognize the initial stages before it becomes a habit that it difficult to break.

Many people struggling with drug addiction think that recovery is nearly impossible for them.  They’ve heard the horror stories of painful withdrawal symptoms, they can’t imagine life without drugs, and they can’t fathom actually being able to get through a recovery effort.  But people do recover from drug addiction – every day in fact.  But they don’t usually do it alone.  They have lots of help.

Help with drug addiction recovery can come from many different places in the form of loving family and friends, drug treatment programs, and drug rehab facilities.  Recovery is a long process that requires a commitment from a lot of people, but when you get help with your drug addiction, recovery is a very real possibility.

Drug addiction recovery entails more than just getting over the physical withdrawal from drugs, it also involves a healing of the mind and the mindset that started you towards drug addiction in the first place.  Recovery is a spiritual process that needs to take place in the mind, heart, and soul.

Recovery comes about after a long period of time.  The initial phase is abstinence or not using the drug.  Abstinence eventually moves into recovery as the addict begins to change and grow in positive ways.  Abstinence requires a decision, recovery requires effort.

Once you have gone through the abstinence phase with withdrawal from the drug, you can then move on to mental recovery.  This type of recovery has to do with issues like brain function and brain chemistry.  It involves changing your attitudes, belief systems, and rational thoughts so that you don’t start using drugs again.

Emotional recovery from drugs is a very complex part of the healing process as well.  This part of recovery has more to do with your feelings than anything else.  Emotional recovery involves learning to deal with feelings openly, honestly, and responsibly. It includes learning to express and resolve feelings in appropriate and effective ways. For most people in recovery, emotional recovery can take years.

Finally, you’ll need to recover from drug addiction spiritually.  Even if you are not a religious person, spiritual recovery has more to do with your attitude toward life and how you want to live that life.  When you begin to recover spiritually, the way you look at the world changes:  fear is replaced by faith, self-pity turns to gratitude, resentment becomes acceptance, and dishonesty turns to honesty.

You can choose to undertake your drug addiction recovery at a rehab facility or through a 12-step program, but you truly do need to seek out the help of others if you want to have a full recovery.  Very few people are able to recover from drug addiction on their own.  Don’t be afraid to ask for help because you can have a successful recovery from drug addiction once you do!

I often find myself baffled by the alternatives to 12 step Recovery. It’s kind of right out of the AA Big Book; “looking for an easier, softer way!”
If you really look at what happens to the person that is afflicted with the disease of Addiction, it’s a tale of immorality, unscrupulous ways, and anti-social thinking being adapted to. With the focus of a life becoming narrowed down to obtaining and using a drug, not much is left that would indicate ever needing to be concerned about other people or things, unless they’re needed for that “Quest”! A true addict

at the height of an Addiction does not care about anyone else, when all is said and done!
The goal of Recovery, in our Society, is to once again, or for the first time, become a productive member of said Society. An Addict most in generally becomes such an anti-social being in many or even just one way, that he can no longer blend in with, or hide from the rest of the world. Quite to the contrary, at some point the Addict begins to “stick out like a sore thumb.” Thus they are apprehended by the law for one or more of their anti-social behaviors, if they don’t die first. When Bill and Bob, the founders of alcoholics anonymous and the 12 step concept, were in the conception and philosophical stages of their journey to Sobriety, they found that they had to very nearly do a 180 degree turnabout. This is the point I’ve been trying to get to in that it is what the 12 step concept guides one into being able to accomplish. This kind of turn around produces something that I don’t think Bill and Bob would ever have been so presumptuous as to claim but I will. This “way-of-life” produces “Good” people.
True enough, the AA Twelve Step Program provides for the agnostic and only asks that one acknowledge a higher power of some sort. But God had a hand in the whole AA thing. Even though they carefully sculpted the program to leave no one out, they acknowledge God, by name, over and over throughout the Big Book. The actual goal that the Big Book accomplishes directly parallels the teachings of Jesus and His Disciples in the New Testament of the Holy Bible, and their goal! The outcome of a good personal 12 step program is what every Preacher, Priest, Minister, Rabbi, or any other Religious leader, is trying to produce with his congregation. I must say though, that the 12 Step Program does propose more of a loving, caring God. A God that only needs to asked for help and in no way professes Hell or Damnation. This is one of It’s strongest points. My faith was restored by the 12 Step Program because it made it easier for me to believe that I could be forgiven and given Holy Graciousness. Every time that you walk into a meeting room, you see miracles. There, you learn to recognize a miracle when you see one!
Before AA I had given up believing, and thought that what I had done left no room for redemption. I could not even try, because every religion that I had experienced had led me to believe that I was a “hopeless sinner.” I felt that no matter what I did, what I had done, left me destined to “burn in Hell.” Then in meetings I met these people who were so able to care about others. They were people who had changed from one thing into something new. The more of this I saw the easier it became for me to think, “Maybe I could do that too!” Maybe there was hope for someone like me! Maybe God could forgive me! Maybe I could actually become a good person!
I’m a Drug counselor now. But even with my education that led to certification, I see nothing more powerful, with any better results than 12 Step Recovery. I see where counseling added to 12 Step Recovery, increases success. I will state though that if one or the other had to be taken out of the equation, I believe that the 12 Stepper will do better than someone who only had Counseling. The 12 step concept is sort of a guide to living life, that doesn’t leave out much of anything. In one way or another the answers to the dilemmas of life are covered.

How can we best help drug addicts to overcome addiction?

The real secret lies in empowering the drug addict to take control of their own life. But how do we go about doing that? It is a hard lesson to learn, but we cannot directly control another person, no matter how badly we want for them to not self destruct. Addicts have a tendency to do that and it can be extremely difficult to help them when they are resistant to change.

The first thing you will want to do when trying to help an addict is to examine your own behavior. Are you enabling them to continue using drugs in any way? If so, then you need to change your own behavior first, so that you are not sabotaging their recovery efforts. For example, if their drug use lands them in jail, and you automatically bail them out of jail, then you are probably enabling them. How? Because you are denying them the natural consequences of their using. If you are protecting them from the consequences that they should be experiencing then you are not helping them, you are actually making things worse. Another example is if they are up all night partying and you call in sick to work for them so that they do not lose their job. Doing things such as this might seem helpful at first, but you are actually enabling them to continue to use drugs. If they are going to change their behavior in the long run then they are going to have to fall down and skin their knee a few times. Don’t deny them these natural falls.

The second thing you might do in order to help an addict is to encourage them to get professional help. This will usually involve encouraging them to go to treatment of some sort. While treatment is not a magic bullet, it might be the break that they need in order to start a new life in recovery. Sometimes it is even possible to call around to a few treatment centers and find an opening for someone in advance. If the person agrees to go to treatment then you have some options for them and can direct them towards the help that they need.

Sometimes the best you can do for a struggling addict is to let them know that help is available and that you will help them when they are ready. Make sure that you both understand that any help given will be on your terms, not on their terms. If you allow them to make their own terms then it is not really “help” at all, they will just manipulate and try to continue using or getting money. The moment of surrender is when the addict is willing to accept help on someone else’s terms. This is how you know when they are truly ready for change and are no longer just manipulating and playing games. When they ask for help and also ask for direction, then they are ready to make a real change in their life.

Getting the addict to this point is not easy and there isn’t much that you can do that will directly push them towards the point of surrender. The important thing is that you stop enabling them and this will allow them to reach the point of surrender on their own. The less you enable them the faster they will get there.