Skip to main content

Things You Need to Know About Treatment

Written by Enlightened Recovery on . Posted in Addiction. No Comments on Things You Need to Know About Treatment

It Isn’t Jail

Treatment might feel like a punishment, but it isn’t. For some, attending treatment or “rehab” for a drug or alcohol addiction might come as a court order or mandated by an employer. Treating addiction and the addicts who are suffering from it is never about the dichotomy between “bad” and “good”. Though many addicts have a criminal record, they are not criminals. They are neither immoral, lost, nor inherently wrong in any way. Addicts are sick people who need to get well. It may be difficult to come to terms with the fact that you or a loved one is sick with a peculiar disease. Treatment is a time to get well and learn how to live in wellness for the rest of your life.

There Are Rules

Despite what many think, treatment isn’t a time to luxuriate and miraculously get sober. Of course, there are many luxurious amenities that come with treatment and some facilities even advertise themselves as being luxury. Treatment will come with rules, schedules, and structure. Some of the most basic rules are going to include: no doing drugs and no drinking alcohol. Depending on the type of treatment and the type of facility there will be unique and specific rules as well. Generally, there will be a lights out curfew, a wake up time, needing to take medication every day, and most likely, no fraternizing with patients of the opposite sex (or same sex).

Everything is For Your Benefit

When you are working through therapy modalities which may seem awkward you might find yourself asking how this is supposed to help. Most treatment facilities base their programs off of proven methods of therapy and evidence-based treatment modalities. That means every single part of your daily programming in treatment has a purpose. As time goes on you will start to recognize the lessons in every day activities.

You’re Going to Feel Better

You may think that 28-30 days isn’t going to make a difference. Truth be told, in the long scheme of things, 30 days is just the beginning stage of a lifelong process in recovery. However, within those first thirty days, you will start to see some pretty big transformations. You will start to regain mental clarity and as you absorb more and more therapeutic information, you will crave substances less. Your body will stop hurting, your brain will stop hurting, and you’ll start feeling better. At the end of 30 days, you’ll be craving more recovery, rather than more drugs and alcohol.

The Cost of Opioid Addiction

Written by Enlightened Recovery on . Posted in Addiction. No Comments on The Cost of Opioid Addiction

Cost to Insurers

Insurance companies pay around $3500 on average for a regular patient. For opioid addicts specifically, insurers are cost upwards of $19,000 comparatively. Spending on healthcare and treatment for opioid addiction costs $28 billion. That $28 billion contributes to a larger $75 billion sum which is the cost of overdose, abuse, and dependence on opiates.

Cost to America

Opioid addiction costs the United States just under $80 billion per year. Opioid addiction, or the overuse, abuse, and misuse of opioids all have a devastating affect. When someone is addicted to or misusing opiate drugs, they are usually unproductive. Additionally, their priorities get rewired, making them care less about important things. Some of that cost is in care, loss of productivity at work, and the cost of processing opioid addicts through the criminal system. Overdoses are costly as well. Fatal overdoses cost over $20 billion. Non-fatal overdoses cost the same.

Cost to Family

2 million people could be diagnosed with opioid use disorder, which would indicate the presence of opioid abuse or opioid dependency. Over 15,000 deaths each year are connected to opioid overdose. An estimated 40 people or more die every day from fatal overdose on prescription opioids. The number is higher when including opioids found on the street, like heroin.

Addiction is a disease that effects the whole family. When 40 people die every day, they are leaving behind 40 families who have to grapple with the loss of a loved one. Families try to get their loved ones into treatment and help them in any way they can. Addiction is taxing on everyone involved. The emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual cost of having a loved one who is in active addiction is high.

Cost to Ourselves

When we become chemically dependent upon the presence of substances like opiates, we cost ourselves years of our lives. Those years could have been spent happy and healthy, making positive choices for our lives as well as having a positive impact in others. We might cost ourselves financial stability by spending any all money on drugs or alcohol. We might cost ourselves our health as we deplete our immune system and mental health with every hit. We cost ourselves the spiritual growth, serenity, and peace we could be experiencing. Years of our lives spent in addiction can never be recovered- but we can.

People are Spending More on Treatment

Written by Enlightened Recovery on . Posted in Addiction. No Comments on People are Spending More on Treatment

The opioid crisis being faced around the world and in America is having a giant ripple effect. From the addicts themselves to their families, to treatment centers to the government, and to insurance companies. New studies find that the economic ripple effect is as dramatic as the familial ripple effect. Not only is the opioid epidemic costing America tens of thousands of lives and counting, it is costing insurance companies hundreds of millions of dollars and rising.

Compensating for the sudden surge in need for addiction treatment has been difficult for insurance companies. The Mental Health Parity Act sought to treat addiction as a mental health disorder no different from anything else, forcing insurance companies to pay up. Pay up, they have. New reports reveal that within the last four years insurance companies have spent thirteen times the amount of money on diagnoses of opioid dependence and abuse.

Included in insurance company payments for opioid addiction treatment are: hospitals, treatment centers, laboratories, and medical providers which might include therapists. The number raised from just $32 million to $446 million.

Caring for mental health is expensive when accounting for various doctors, routine visits, holistic health care appointments (often paid for by insurance) and medications. An average person costs just under $3500 a year. An average person diagnosed with opioid dependence or opioid abuse costs just under $20,000 a year. That cost is due to the insurers.

Though the rise in cost and expenditure is taxing on insurance companies it is of great benefit to the addicts they are ensuring. A drastic rise in spending on treatment on behalf of insurance companies means more people are going to treatment. Thankfully, the opioid epidemic has been receiving a wealth of media attention. At the same time, treatment centers are making money and are able to spend more money on marketing and advertising. As a result, more people are making their way into recovery via treatment.

Opiates and Anxiety Meds are Deadly

Written by Enlightened Recovery on . Posted in Addiction. No Comments on Opiates and Anxiety Meds are Deadly

400 is a big number. 400 is an especially big number when it is a percentage. Anything that is increasing or decreasing by 400 hundred percent is usually something of concern. Over the course of  fifteen years, between 1999 and 2014, opiate overdose deaths in middle aged white women rose 400 percent. Opiates are not the only cause of this concerning number. Anxiety medications like benzodiazepines accounted for a dramatic share of the deaths- almost a third.

Common Opiates

Opiates can range from street drugs to prescription drugs. Prescription opiates are painkillers, prescribed to treat trauma, injruy, surgery recovery, or chronic pain. Opiates are used as painkillers because of their morphine content. Morphine is an analgesic which the body naturally produces when it ingests opium. All opiate medications derive from the opium plant. Common prescription opiate painkillers include: Hydrocodone, Oxyncontin, Oxycodone, Zohydro, Norco, Codeine, and Percocet. Recently, “designer drugs” or synthetic drugs have been opiate imitators. Drugs like Fentanyl, Carfentanil, W-18 and U-4770 are synthetic opiate drugs. Morphine is also produced when the body ingests heroin, which is a street version of opium. Heroin can range in its potency and purity making it an unpredictable drug.

Common Benzodiazepines

Benzodiazepines are prescribed primarily to treat anxiety. While benzodiazepines are not meant, or indicated by doctors, to be habit forming, many find they become dependent on the drug. Without their regular dose of anti-anxiety medication people experience the same symptoms of withdrawal addicts do despite not even abusing the medication. Benzodiazepines work in a similar manner to opiates by slowing down the central nervous system and causing a feeling of calm and painlessness. Common Benzodiazepines include: Xanax, Valium, Klonopin, and Atavan. Xanax is a popularly abused drug. Cases of fentanyl, the strong synthetic opiate, being disguised as Xanax, have surfaced in southern and east coast areas.

The Washington Post reports that caucasian women are five times more likely than caucasian men to be given a dual prescription of both opiate painkillers and anti-anxiety benzodiazepines. Thankfully, the government is taking action to prevent any more increase in female drug related deaths. The CDC, the center for disease control, released a guideline encouraging doctors to educate patients on the risk of taking opioids and benzodiazepines together. The FDA, the food and drug administration, is now requiring a warning label on both medications, advising about the overdose risk for taking both medications.

Asia’s Growing Drug Crisis

Written by Enlightened Recovery on . Posted in Addiction. No Comments on Asia’s Growing Drug Crisis

Drug addicts face a difficult world. In America, they are shamed, stigmatized, labeled, and judged  for suffering from a chronic mental health disorder. Addiction is treated differently than their mental health counterparts such as depression or physical health counterparts like diabetes. Whereas other disorders which are relapsing and remitting see sympathy and compassion upon a relapse, drug addicts see punishment, judgment and exclusion. Additionally, addicts are assigned the roles of being liars, thieves, criminals, heathens, and generally immoral people. They face jail time, criminal records, difficulty getting health insurance, and more.

One thing addicts living in America do not face is execution. Sadly, many addicts die on the streets each day due to a lack of access to treatment or the desire to get sober. However, in countries like the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Myanmar, addicts are facing execution and lifelong jail sentences. In the Philippines, for example, 2400 people have died in the last two months. Indonesia has begun executing convicted drug felons. Other countries experiencing an epidemic of drugs include Japan, South Korea and Laos.

Asian countries are dealing with a surge in drug addiction similar to what America is experiencing. Whereas America is seeing a rise of epidemic proportion in opioid addiction, Asian countries are seeing a rise in addiction to methamphetamines. Methamphetamines, commonly known as meth or crystal meth, are highly addictive and incredibly destructive. In just three years, the amount of meth being found and seized by government officials has nearly quadrupled. 2009 saw 11 tons of methamphetamines; 2013 saw 42.

Coincidentally, most of North America’s supply of synthetic drugs like crystal meth come from China or neighboring Asian countries. Producing meth is cheap. Meth is also sold for low cost, but the quantity adds up in cost and revenue for manufacturers. As a business, the UNODC predicted Meth was worth $15 billion dollars in Southeast Asia.

The term “everything under the kitchen sink” applies to meth- it can be made from chemicals ranging between drain cleaner to gasoline. Consequently, the high produced by abusing meth is wild, erratic, and volatile, which leads to the rapid development of addiction. Treating meth addiction in Asia is difficult due to a severe lack in affordable treatment centers. Ironically, the area is littered with exclusive luxury rehabs for Westerners.

Pornography Addiction

Written by Enlightened Recovery on . Posted in Addiction. No Comments on Pornography Addiction

Sexual compulsion is not regarded as a mental illness by many. Shamed and stigmatized by mass culture, sexual addictions are swept under the rug and made a joke of. For someone suffering from an addiction to sex, sexual activity, or pornography, their illness is no laughing matter. Money, relationships, careers, and even physical health, are compromised by a compulsive need for sex.

Pornography addiction

is categorized as a process addiction. Process addictions do not necessarily include an end result, as opposed to getting high or drunk on drugs and alcohol. Instead, they involve the compulsivity and impulsivity of an entire process, like watching pornography. Process addictions can cause equal damage to one’s life as drug and alcohol abuse can. Most affected is the individual themselves and their mental health.

Obsessive and impulsive behavior surrounding pornography causes a disruption in the mental health of the individual as well as their family. Recently, celebrity Teri Crews disclosed his addiction to pornography. In multiple interviews, he explained that hours upon hours of his daily life was being lost to compulsively watching pornographic videos, viewing pictures, and more.

Pornography addiction can include chat rooms, forums, “sexting”, and webcam viewing. Because of the sexual nature of pornography addiction it is often confused with sex addiction. As a result, many assumptions are made about the details. Pornography addiction does not necessarily include any actual sexual acts. For example, someone addicted to pornography is not necessarily addicted to masturbation, which commonly accompanies pornography watching.

Where it is involved, however, the pleasure affiliated with viewing pornography gets hardwired. When it comes to real life affection, intimacy, and sexual relation, someone addicted to pornography feels that it falls short. The brain has programmed itself to be turned on by the extremes and detached reality of pornography.

Human relationships suffer. Feeling isolated, ashamed, and alone, someone might go deeper into their pornography addiction looking for solace. Online subscriptions and memberships can cost a lot of money, bringing on financial strain.

Recovering from addiction to pornography is possible with treatment and therapy. Discovering the underlying causes for the compulsion to watch pornography usually reveals unresolved issues. Assessing those issues and working through them therapeutically, along with creating a program of recovery, helps to relieve the obsession to engage in pornography.

Enlightened Recovery treats dual-diagnosis patients of substance abuse and mental disorders. If you or a loved one are suffering from mental illness and are seeking treatment call us today 833-801-5483.

An Eating Disorder at the Dinner Table

Written by Enlightened Recovery on . Posted in Addiction, Healthy Living. No Comments on An Eating Disorder at the Dinner Table

Eating disorders are not always obvious. On the other hand, eating disorders are not always hidden as well. Many wrongly assume that an eating disorder is most strongly evidenced by how thin someone is. Mostly that is because people wrongly assume eating disorders are about eating. Just like alcohol and drugs are really symptoms of the mental illness that is addiction and alcoholism, food, weight, and eating, are just symptoms of eating disorders.

Having an unhealthy obsession over food consumption, weight, body image, and body mass index is indication of a problematic way of thinking. That unhealthy obsession can be displayed in numerous ways. Similar to the way an addict or alcoholic goes to great lengths of dishonesty to protect their addiction, someone with an eating disorder will protect their illness. Binging and purging are easily hidden. When weight loss, or weight gain, or not noticeable, these harmful and potentially fatal practices can carry on under the radar.

“Weight loss,” chief executive of the National Eating Disorders Association Claire Mysko explains, “is not necessarily associated with a lot of eating disorders. Certainly with some- and with anorexia- that is a sign. But for most people who struggle with eating disorders, you wouldn’t necessarily know it from looking at them.”

Anorexia is a prevailing eating disorder that can affect men and women of all demographics, cultures, and appearances. Since anorexia mostly involves restricting a diet, commonly to the point of starvation, weight loss is a regular symptom. However, not all eating disorders are about restriction. In fact, most eating disorders include the practice of binging and purging. Binging is eating a copious amount of food to the point of feeling sick. Purging means using a method like vomiting, abusing laxatives, or excessive exercise, to get rid of that feeling. These practices can cause subtle fluctuations in weight, but no drastic weight loss.

The pervasive stereotype of what an eating disorder “should” look like prevents thousands from seeking treatment for their harmful habits. Eating disorders can cause heart failure, stroke, intestinal problems, and weight problems.

If you are concerned you or a loved one might be experiencing an unhealthy relationship with food, exercise, or body image, call Enlightened Recovery today. We offer care for dual-diagnosis issues. Eating disorders are commonly accompanied by substance abuse of drugs and alcohol. For more information call 833-801-5483.

Coffee and Caffeine in Recovery

Written by Enlightened Recovery on . Posted in Addiction. No Comments on Coffee and Caffeine in Recovery

Coffee and early recovery from drug and alcohol addiction seem to go hand in hand. Indeed, almost every gathering for a 12 step fellowship meeting includes the presence of coffee. If there is not a cup of coffee in hand, there is a caffeinated energy drink. Acting as a natural stimulant, coffee helps recovering addicts and alcoholics cope with the absence of other powerful stimuli. For some, however, coffee can be equally as triggering. Those who have abused stimulants in their past are at risk for becoming overly dependent on caffeine, experiencing euphoric recall.

While coffee has many positive benefits, such as being one of the most potent natural antioxidants, it can create adverse effects as well.

Adverse Effects of Coffee

Addictive

Stimulant

Causes exhaustion

Fatigue, Adrenal Fatigue

Heart palpitations

Dehydrating

Interfere with mood

Withdrawal Symptoms

Dependency

Hormone Imbalance

Generally, for recovery, coffee is not frowned upon. However, many residential inpatient treatment facilities will prohibit energy drinks and may even only offer decaf coffee- with or without the availability of sugar. During the first 30 days of recovery from drug and alcohol addiction, the brain is at it’s most vulnerable for experiencing cravings and withdrawal. Caffeine can exacerbate this process. Additionally, being reliant upon coffee can prolong the process of being dependent upon external substances for mood, focus, and coping.

Coming Off Coffee

Regular coffee drinkers who are in “need” of that first cup (and afternoon cup) will require a tapering off process to eliminate coffee from their diet. Attempting to remove coffee and quit “cold turkey” can result in symptoms of withdrawal. Withdrawal symptoms from coffee can include: headache, anxiety, cravings for coffee, erratic emotions, confused appetite. Begin by limiting the amount of coffee consumed each day. Gradually, replace coffee with herbal teas like green or black tea. If the goal is to remove the caffeine entirely, switch to non-caffeinated teas or hot water with lemon and honey. Drinking adequate water is critical, helping the body to sustain the ‘detox’ and hydrate it after dehydration. Though the mind might be resting, plan to incorporate extra rest for at least a week. Also include exercise and mindfulness based practices like meditation or yoga. Holistic and alternative therapies such as massage and acupuncture can help open the natural energy channels in the body to aid in the flow of caffeine detox.

Enlightened Recovery offers a program based in holistic healing as a mind, body, and spiritual approach to treating drug addiction and alcoholism. Recovery is about freeing yourself from all aspects of suffering in your life. Find hope and a solution for the problem of addiction with us. For more information call 833-801-5483.

Commonly Abused Substances

Written by Enlightened Recovery on . Posted in Addiction, Alcoholism. No Comments on Commonly Abused Substances

Synthetics

Synthetic drugs are the most difficult to regulate by law enforcement officials, medical doctors, and psychologists. Synthetic drugs are not traceable to a plant or particular chemical like many other drugs. Instead, synthetic drugs or “designer” drugs are made, quite literally, with everything under the kitchen sink. As a result, determining how the drug will effect the brain and body is unpredictable. Synthetic drugs are powerful stimulants, creating a fast and furious high and almost instantaneous dependency. Generally the effects and symptoms of Synthetic drug abuse include:

Paranoia

Rapid heart rate

Overheating

Slurred speech

Irrational thoughts

Fear of being chased by evil forces

“Superhuman” strength

Methamphetamines

Crystal Meth is a highly abused stimulant and synthetic drug. Also known as “ice” or “glass” the crystal like shards are smoked or injected. Meth is abused for its stimulant properties, causing people to stay awake for as long as ten days. Effects and symptoms of meth abuse include:

Dilated pupil

Suppressed appetite

Erratic behavior

Insomnia

Focus on picking the skin

Paranoia

Rapid weight loss

Alcohol

Alcohol is the most commonly abused substance, contributing to high numbers of death and alcohol-related injury each year. Binge drinking is defined as four or more drinks per sitting, which is about two hours. Drinking abusively can impair basic cognitive and motor functions, judgment, and thinking. Alcohol damages the liver, brain, and body. Effects and symptoms of alcohol abuse include:

Incoherence

Blackout

Slurred Speech

Poor Judgment

Vomiting

Imbalance, or stumbling

Needing more alcohol or not knowing one’s limits

Stimulants

Cocaine is the most popularly abused stimulant drug. Crack and other amphetamine drugs like Adderall and drugs used for studying are popular as well. Stimulant drugs work with the central nervous system, quickly accessing the brain and putting into hyper speed mode. Cocaine can cause in overdose with just one hit while other amphetamines taken in large quantities can cause heart complications. Effects and symptoms of stimulant abuse include:

Hyper focus

Ability to stay up all night

Maximized productivity

Jittery behavior

Suppressed appetite

Irritability

Aggression

Opioids

In 2014 approximately 28,000 Americans died from overdose on opioids including heroin and prescription painkillers. Opioid overdose is caused by respiratory depression, the slowing of the heart until it stops. Opioids are highly addicting, but through subtle means like chronic pain treatment. Opioids create euphoric sensation through muscle relaxation and feelings of warmness. Dependency on opioids result in brutal withdrawal symptoms, causing a need to continue using the drugs just to avoid the withdrawal. Effects and Symptoms of opioid abuse include:

“Nodding out” or falling asleep frequently

Slowed movement, or doing nothing at all

Rapid weight loss

Change in skin pigment and elasticity

Irritability when not on the drug

Constipation

“Pinholed” pupils

Severe symptoms of withdrawal

Benzodiazepines

Introduced in the 1950’s as “mommy’s little helper” benzodiazepines became famous for “taking the edge off”. Famous brands like Valium and Xanax are prescribed to help cope with anxiety. Though marketed as non-dependency forming, regular users of these drugs experience immediate symptoms of withdrawal when they miss a dose. Abusing Xanax can result in euphoric sensation similar to opioids. Effects and symptoms of benzodiazepine abuse includes:

Slow movements

Shallow breathing

Loss of judgment for physical pain

Enlightened Recovery offers hope and healing for recovery from drug and alcohol addiction. Our doors are open to men and women seeking holistic, 12 step based treatment. If you are concerned you or a loved one are suffering from problems with drugs or alcohol, call us today. We have a solution. 833-801-5483.

Understanding Addiction in the Brain: Pleasure

Written by Enlightened Recovery on . Posted in Addiction. No Comments on Understanding Addiction in the Brain: Pleasure

Addiction is a deeply misunderstood occurrence in the mind. Societal norms and cultural standards sadly contribute to the prevalence of stigma and shame surrounding addiction. Until recent years, addiction has been viewed through a lens of immorality. Addicts are people who have lost their way due to the consequence of their own choices. Partially, this is true. However, the progression and development of addiction in the brain is largely the consequence of neurobiology. Understanding how addiction works in the brain through the scope of neuroscience can help us to put aside our manufactured beliefs and open our hearts. Addiction is, if nothing else, and experience of suffering. Though largely based in pleasure, addiction is a carousel ride of up’s and down’s, that never stops spinning.

It starts with a substance. Drugs are chemicals that interact and interfere with the brain’s normal functions, which is largely run on certain chemicals. Specifically, the brain works off of neurons and neurotransmitters, as well as receptors and synapses. Drugs create chemical reactions in the brain that stimulate the production of certain neurotransmitters, block receptors, and change what is communicated between synapses. Primarily, it is the message of pleasure that throws the system off balance.

Pleasure and Addiction in the Brain

Pleasure is the primary purpose of the neurotransmitter dopamine. Dopamine lives in the reward center of the brain. The reward center is a small circuit that communicates what feels good, motivation,  to the rest of the brain. When drugs in the bloodstream reach the brain, they produce a copious amount of dopamine, overwhelming the reward center. Too much dopamine creates a mega-pleasure: euphoria. Euphoria feels extremely good to the brain, motivating it to feel euphoria again and again. Associating the action of taking drugs with euphoric sensations, the brain records this event for future reference. Each time the brain finds itself needing to be motivated, it is going to think about drugs.

This is where the ride stops being fun. Pleasure from drugs only lasts so long. The brain quickly develops tolerance. It needs more of the drug to feel as euphoric as it did before. More drugs creates more memories of euphoria. As the brain learns to associate euphoria and motivation, it becomes the only motivation. Eventually, the drugs hardly work, but the brain is convinced of their necessity. Trapped in a cycle of demand, the body fails to sustain the brain’s demands, resulting in symptoms of withdrawal.

 

Enlightened Recovery understands the struggle in breaking free from the endless cycle of suffering in drug addiction and alcoholism. We offer a program rooted in twelve step philosophy and holistic healing as a solution for mind, body, and spirit.

For more information please call us today at 833-801-5483.