Alcohol & Drug Addiction Treatment

Not to often do you find an addicted person ask for help in finding a drug rehab center. That is the reason for a drug intervention. Whether a family is ready to confront their loved one with a solution to their addiction or not, just by researching this on the internet shows you are ready to make this move. A drug addiction treatment center is the most important thing for people who have a loved one addicted to drugs or alcohol.

Drug and alcohol interventions are very effective if done the proper way. Having the family willing to do this is the most important and always the first step. Once the family is 100 percent willing than calling the intervention company is the next step. The intervention specialist will then go over what steps need to be taken to have the most successful intervention as possible. Once everyone the family and the intervention specialist are all on the same page the interventionist will fly out to meet with the family. The meeting before the actual intervention is usually called “family day.” Usually the day before the actual intervention, family day, is vital to having a successful intervention.

During family day, the intervention specialist will educate everyone involved about enabling, tough love, addiction, drug rehab programs, and most important getting the family strong enough to sit down and with so much intention and love, get the addicted individual to finally accept help. I understand how bleak the outlook is but 90 percent of the time the person struggling with alcohol or drugs will accept the help and chooses to go into a residential drug rehab. The best situation of course is a person to enter into long term drug rehab but the first step is just getting him or her to go.

Official statements released after Heath Ledger’s death gave unequivocal confirmation that he died as the result of acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine. In layman’s terms, Heath was on too many prescription drugs all at once. Further reports indicated that medical professionals and pharmaceutical companies denounced any responsibility for Heath’s tragic and untimely death, as the combination of medications Heath was on was one that “no doctor would ever prescribe.” So let us assume then that these medications were obtained illegally and they were not prescribed. Some unscrupulous doctor sold the drugs somewhere and they ended up on the streets. The drugs were abused and resulted in the death of a loving father.

This is a nation wide problem, especially for residential drug rehabs. This does not only happen in Hollywood. This happens every day in regular American lives. In King County, Washington (Seattle), prescription opiates killed 148 people in 2006, a 572 percent increase since 1997. In Virginia, prescription narcotics took 399 lives in 2006, compared with 146 deaths from cocaine and amphetamines. In Oklahoma, of 603 drug-related deaths in 2006, more than half, 327, were attributed to hydrocodone, methadone or oxycodone. In Florida, people who died of drug overdoses in 2007 had prescription drugs in their systems more often than illicit drugs.

How many more celebrities must have their tragic story plastered across tabloid magazines? How many more parents must lose their children, and how many more children must lose their parents? Prescription drugs are highly addictive and can be deadly. Yet they are prescribed to the masses to cover up symptoms which are a direct result of nutritional deficiencies or sleep deprivation.

If pharmaceutical companies won’t take responsibility and neither will doctors, who will?

What is the difference between outpatient drug rehab and a residential inpatient facility? To many this decision will be life or death, or maybe the difference between happiness and misery. With most alcoholics or drug addicts the thought of leaving home or having to live in a residential drug rehab is impossible. Sometimes kids or a family is what is keeping them from taking the jump and entering into long term residential treatment center. Statistically speaking outpatient does not work and can sometimes cause a person more trouble because they are able to meet drug connections during this type of treatment.

An inpatient drug rehab is more equip to address all aspects of addiction like a medical detox, physical cravings, mental and emotional components, and of course aftercare. Whether you choose an inpatient facility in state or out of state make sure it offers at least a 90 day program. Generally anything shorter than 90 days is not effective. The longer the program is the better chance you have of overcoming your addiction. Many of the residential inpatient centers offer programs that are 6 months to a year. These are very effective programs because it not only allows for the patient to learn about the causes of their addiction but then gives them the chance to apply what the learned in house.

Many of the residential drug treatment centers that we refer to have a high success rate because of the length of stay and the treatment modality. Finding a holistic treatment program that does not subscribe to the notion of replacement drug therapy is another good choice.

All drugs and alcohol can produce unwanted, disturbing reactions upon withdrawal or discontinuation. For some drugs that have been around for years, especially opiates like heroin, withdrawal reactions are well documented in medical journals. However, doctors are too often unfamiliar with withdrawal symptoms associated with many prescription drugs they routinely prescribe.

Stimulants like Dexedrine, Ritalin, and Adderall, which are prescribed for ADD and ADHD, have no real medical data in terms of withdrawal effects. Other prescription drugs like SSRI antidepressants, such as Prozac, Paxil, and Zoloft often cause suicidal and distressing withdrawal, yet many physicians appear to be unaware of this and continue prescribing.

Oxycontin which was produced by Perdue Pharmaceuticals came under lawsuit because they had lied about how addictive this painkiller is. Now residential drug rehabs have noticed a huge increase in enrollment because of Oxycontin. Many abusers of Oxycontin later turn to heroin because it is cheaper to purchase of the street.

Alcohol Drug Treatment has helped thousands of people across the country overcome their addiction to alcohol and drugs. What we have noticed is the overwhelming amount of people who have been told false data regarding addiction. Many people think that alcoholism or drug addiction is an incurable disease or that it’s a family disease passed down through genes. This rumor has been dispelled several times scientifically by doctors and physicians and is strictly a theory based on environmental issues. There is truth to this theory but it comes from young people looking at family members and idolizing these drug and alcohol behaviors as “being cool.” The actual cause of addiction is the lack of self esteem, confidence, failures in life, boredom, stress, depression, and a lack of life skills. Usually a person will begin to deal with life problems by using alcohol or drugs then once this has been on going for a few months the physical dependency starts.

The most effective form of treatment for an individual addicted to drugs and alcohol is a residential rehab. Residential drug rehabs offer a treatment program that not only detox’s a person safely but then addresses the underlying issues which cause an individual to turn to drugs and alcohol as a solution. Abusing alcohol and drugs is never a solution but to some act as a way to “escape” or a way to mask depression, anxiety or other social fears. Life skills therapy in a residential setting is the most effective way to teach a person how to manage life. This is vital to an individual’s recovery from alcohol and drug addiction.