If you are considering quitting drugs or alcohol, you probably want to know what the stages of detox are. Understanding how drug and alcohol detox work will prepare you as you go through the process. No matter who you are or what substance you are quitting, it is challenging to make the transition from addiction…
The family you are born into determines the first environment you will interact with as you grow. That environment will shape how you view the world, ultimately affecting who you become and how you interact with others. Drug addictions negatively impact every aspect of your life, putting a strain on the family and loved ones.…
It’s no secret that substance abuse issues cut across all professions. Department of Transportation (DOT) policy requires those who violate the drug and alcohol policy undergo an evaluation by a substance abuse professional. Those working in the world of a substance abuse professional (SAP) include doctors, therapists, social workers, and addiction counselors. All who fill this role…
The National Survey on Drug Abuse and Health shows that over 23.5 million Americans suffer from a substance use disorder. Addiction naturally has the largest impact on the addict. It’s important to consider the widespread effects of addiction on the people surrounding the addict. Substance abuse has a significant impact on families, both as individuals…
The World Health Organization defines substance abuse as “the harmful or hazardous use of psychoactive substances, including alcohol and illicit drugs.” According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, substance abuse can be defined as “long-term, pathological use of alcohol or drugs, characterized by daily intoxication, inability to reduce consumption, and impairment in social or occupational functioning; broadly,…
It’s hard to remember a time where there wasn’t a problem with opioids. While issues with drug use have persisted throughout the years, things began escalating in the early 1990s. That’s the part of the opiate overdose timeline where there was a rise in deaths related to natural and synthetic opioid abuse. The next wave hit in…
The idea of people using drugs to self-medicate symptoms of mental illness is not new. They may turn to drugs for euphoric feelings that offset feelings of depression or use alcohol to make themselves feel less anxious in social situations. However, drugs do more than worsen the side effects of mental illness. The changes caused…
An adjustment disorder is not what it sounds like. In fact, it is mostly about how a person copes with what is going on around them. They may have a diagnosable condition which causes what seems like abnormal behavior. This may be paired as a co-occurring (dual diagnosis) disorder along with substance abuse. People who…
An addiction disorder is defined as a condition where a person feels compelled to do something like use drugs or drink alcohol and cannot stop. They experience a negative impact on their lives, including career or school, relationships, and health. They do not understand there is a problem or the extent to which it goes,…
Recovery is a long arc, a story that starts with rehab and ends when a person’s life is over. That leaves a whole lot of room in between for many nuances. There are programs and different styles of healing from addiction, but detox and rehab have high success rates for a reason. They work to…