Addiction Help
Posted on Dec 3, 2009 07:18:05 AM
One of the hardest things about addiction is recognizing it for what it is. Whether it’s your own struggle or a loved one’s struggle, it hard to know that you’re really truly seeing addiction and not something milder. Who wants to face addiction? So much better to chalk it up to a stressful time or a “small habit” that you can quit at anytime.
Here are some symptoms of addiction. Please note that these symptoms could be attributed to something else, something not as severe as drug addiction. Only you are going to know the right answer. Some parts of the list are targeted particularly to friends and family members as ways to help you figure out if someone in your life is struggling with addiction.
Restlessness, combined with insomnia.
Slow speech or reaction time (associated with downers.)
Sudden weight loss.
Excessive sleep cycled with manic periods.
Continuous sinus troubles and/or nosebleeds.
Severe dental issues (associated with meth use.)
Changes in clothing, usually wearing long sleeves to hide needle marks.
Persistent cough that worsens instead of improving with time.
Apathy about life.
Increased irritability and an increased tendency to violence.
Paranoia.
Addiction is a tragedy and there are lots of reasons for why it happens. First and foremost: if there is a history of addiction in your family, the odds are higher that you will become addicted. Genetics plays its part in this equation as does the fact that many people use drugs to self-medicate. So if you have mental illness in your family tree, that might have been the trigger for the drug use and abuse for other family members as well as yourself. One final addiction factor that has to be mentioned is physical pain. Especially these days, you read about people being addicted to pain killers, opiates or opiate-derivatives like Oxycontin.
Once you think you’ve identified that there is truly addiction, there are several treatment possibilities. We’re very lucky to be living in such an enlightened age — addiction is seen for what it is: a medical problem.
First, there is Residential Treatment. This means that you (if you are the addict) or your loved one lives at a treatment facility. It’s intensive treatment so it only lasts from 30-90 days.
Second we have Medical Detoxification. Any addiction help is probably going to involve some level of drug detox because the drug needs to be out of your system as soon as possible. Many people begin their recovery journey in this way because of an overdose or time spent in the emergency room. A medical professional, during assessment, recognizes that detox is required.
Third, Partial Hospitalization. This is often used as relapse prevention. You go to the hospital 4 or 5 times a week for about 6 hours a visit. Think of it as outpatient addiction treatment.
Fourth, an Intensive Outpatient Program. With this type of treatment, you usually meet 3 days a week, for 2-4 hours. What’s nice is that a program like this can be scheduled around work or school so there are no conflicts and, more importantly, no excuses.
Next, Counseling. This works best when paired with another kind of treatment or as a support structure. Being able to talk with a trained professional, about your life and struggles, about the choices you’ve made that have lead you to this here and now, it’s invaluable as a way to stay clean.
Last, Sober Living Program. These facilities are particularly good if your home life could be a trigger for relapse. You live in a house with other recovering addicts, getting support, some counseling and most importantly, an alcohol and drug free environment.