Caron Pennsylvania Was Named One of America's Best Addiction Treatment Centers 2023
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TEENS & YOUNG ADULTS
Teen Alcohol and Drug Addiction: What Parents Can Do
Millions of teens and young adults across the United States living with one or more addictions, from drug addiction and alcohol abuse to process or behavioral addiction. High school-aged youth are regularly exposed to illicit drugs like marijuana, inhalants, prescription drugs, methamphetamines, opioids, bath salts, alcohol, and more. Combined with peer pressure and risk factors such as mental health issues and genetic predispositions, the teenage years are a vulnerable time when too many young people develop substance abuse issues.
Find out more in the link below.
https://www.caron.org/addiction-101/teens-young-adults/teen-alcohol-and-drug-addiction-what-parents-can-do
Teen Alcohol and Drug Addiction: What Parents Can Do
Millions of teens and young adults across the United States living with one or more addictions, from drug addiction and alcohol abuse to process or behavioral addiction. High school-aged youth are regularly exposed to illicit drugs like marijuana, inhalants, prescription drugs, methamphetamines, opioids, bath salts, alcohol, and more. Combined with peer pressure and risk factors such as mental health issues and genetic predispositions, the teenage years are a vulnerable time when too many young people develop substance abuse issues.
Find out more in the link below.
https://www.caron.org/addiction-101/teens-young-adults/teen-alcohol-and-drug-addiction-what-parents-can-do
Rethinking Addiction as a Chronic Brain Disease
Some researchers argue that the roles of social environment and personal choice have to be considered in order to make progress in treating people addicted to drugs. Learn more in this article by Jan Hoffman in The NY Times.
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Freedom Healthcare Services shared the following information: 5 Signs you need addiction treatment now.
http://freedomtreatment.com/5-signs-you-need-addiction-treatment-now/
LWoH: the first step is admitting you need help. for many people, its the hardest step.
http://freedomtreatment.com/5-signs-you-need-addiction-treatment-now/
LWoH: the first step is admitting you need help. for many people, its the hardest step.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS: IS IT A FORM OF ADDICTION TREATMENT? See the article released by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse.
http://www.centeronaddiction.org/the-buzz-blog/alcoholics-anonymous-it-form-addiction-treatment
LWOH: sometimes its hard to find a meeting where you connect. never give up... there are many meetings and places available. keep looking until you find the right fit.
http://www.centeronaddiction.org/the-buzz-blog/alcoholics-anonymous-it-form-addiction-treatment
LWOH: sometimes its hard to find a meeting where you connect. never give up... there are many meetings and places available. keep looking until you find the right fit.
Addiction: Disease of control
by Dr. John Massella
After more than 30 years of working with chemically dependent individuals and their families, I remain convinced that the primary issue associated with alcohol/drug abusers or addicts and their families is “control.” Those who use can provide us with hundreds of reasons for drinking or “drugging” (using drugs), however, it ultimately comes down to this significant desire: to be in control of what they feel. The standard population mistakenly believes chemically dependent folks use to escape. What about those who use when things are going well? Does one wish to escape good feelings? Not at all. Good just isn’t good enough.
While I was working with a physician who had a history of abusing oral narcotics, he relayed an incident in his history that so clearly illustrates this point. He was at his young son’s baseball game. The weather was perfect as he described it: not too hot, and a calm breeze was blowing. As he sat on the bleachers watching his child play, he thought, “What a great day. Wouldn’t a few vicodan be great right now?” The day was good, but he wanted it to be better than good. Addiction is about how one feels not being good enough. “I feel happy; I want to feel happier. I feel sleepy; I want to feel awake. I feel awake; I want to feel sleepy.” And so on. Again, how one feels isn’t good enough.
This belief and desire to control how one feels by using starts early in the addict’s life. Unknowingly, the loss of control begins at this time as well. Youth begin to lose what is called “maximum choice.” They gear their lives and activities around the use, choose their friends around it, refuse to go to dry parties and become resistant to participate in activities once enjoyed without using. There is the belief that they are in control, yet the need to use a substance to participate in normal activity is just not normal. It is amusing that many youth say that they drink or use out of boredom. This therapist does not consider drinking or drugging an activity. Using is done while engaging in an activity with others. The activity does impact the boredom or how one is feeling, but not as quickly as using something. So begins the attempt to be in control of the feelings and how quickly we can change them.
To get well, the user needs to not only abandon the drinking or drugging, but to get back to a way of impacting how they feel through their actions. There are hundreds of ways to impact how we feel or our mood: talk, ride a bike or horse, walk, jog, hike, play tennis or ping pong or hand ball, play a game, dance, cook — just chemically free. This, with the understanding that feeling “good” doesn’t feel like it does getting drunk or high. We cannot use being high or drunk as the gauge for feeling good. There needs to be a recalibration back to feelings without substances. Hopefully one can begin to practice finding stability in what they feel and work on acceptance. There is help; one need only ask.
by Dr. John Massella
After more than 30 years of working with chemically dependent individuals and their families, I remain convinced that the primary issue associated with alcohol/drug abusers or addicts and their families is “control.” Those who use can provide us with hundreds of reasons for drinking or “drugging” (using drugs), however, it ultimately comes down to this significant desire: to be in control of what they feel. The standard population mistakenly believes chemically dependent folks use to escape. What about those who use when things are going well? Does one wish to escape good feelings? Not at all. Good just isn’t good enough.
While I was working with a physician who had a history of abusing oral narcotics, he relayed an incident in his history that so clearly illustrates this point. He was at his young son’s baseball game. The weather was perfect as he described it: not too hot, and a calm breeze was blowing. As he sat on the bleachers watching his child play, he thought, “What a great day. Wouldn’t a few vicodan be great right now?” The day was good, but he wanted it to be better than good. Addiction is about how one feels not being good enough. “I feel happy; I want to feel happier. I feel sleepy; I want to feel awake. I feel awake; I want to feel sleepy.” And so on. Again, how one feels isn’t good enough.
This belief and desire to control how one feels by using starts early in the addict’s life. Unknowingly, the loss of control begins at this time as well. Youth begin to lose what is called “maximum choice.” They gear their lives and activities around the use, choose their friends around it, refuse to go to dry parties and become resistant to participate in activities once enjoyed without using. There is the belief that they are in control, yet the need to use a substance to participate in normal activity is just not normal. It is amusing that many youth say that they drink or use out of boredom. This therapist does not consider drinking or drugging an activity. Using is done while engaging in an activity with others. The activity does impact the boredom or how one is feeling, but not as quickly as using something. So begins the attempt to be in control of the feelings and how quickly we can change them.
To get well, the user needs to not only abandon the drinking or drugging, but to get back to a way of impacting how they feel through their actions. There are hundreds of ways to impact how we feel or our mood: talk, ride a bike or horse, walk, jog, hike, play tennis or ping pong or hand ball, play a game, dance, cook — just chemically free. This, with the understanding that feeling “good” doesn’t feel like it does getting drunk or high. We cannot use being high or drunk as the gauge for feeling good. There needs to be a recalibration back to feelings without substances. Hopefully one can begin to practice finding stability in what they feel and work on acceptance. There is help; one need only ask.