After multiple car accidents, arrests, embarrassing situations, and hard times, my sister still refused to go into rehab for years. If you are reading this, you probably know someone who is stuck in the same place. The question all of us ask is why do they refuse the help they need? In this article, we…
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Seeking out help for an addiction can be a difficult and painful process, whether you’re looking for yourself or for a loved one. For most of us, the process is plagued with doubt, shame from the addiction, and budget constraints, all of which can push us to simply choosing and going with the first residential…
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U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) this week sent a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to prioritize the issue of synthetic opioids like fentanyl that are being manufactured in China in his current meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. “There is no dispute that China is the largest manufacturer of illicit fentanyl and other…
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The National Institute on Drug Abuse shows that 23.5 million Americans or nearly 1 in 10, are addicted to drugs or alcohol. Despite that, only about 11% of those addicted ever seek treatment. As a result, millions of people continue to remain dependent on drugs for years or even their entire lives, causing damage to…
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If you or a loved one is in search of a rehabilitation program or clinic, 12 step is almost certain to come up. The National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services shows that 12-step models are used by 74% of treatment centers in the USA, either as a primary treatment method or an optional one.…
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Smoking is everywhere. From old men and women in their 80s and 90s to teens who are too young to legally smoke, ‘everyone’ smokes. While the number of active smokers in the U.S. has declined from over 24.7% of the population in 1997 to just 15.1% as of 2015, smoking is often depicted as cool,…
DetailsVery few of us would correlate drug addiction with food addiction but recent studies show that food can have many of the same psychological and physiological effects as hard drugs. While on the surface food is harmless and difficult to take seriously as an addiction, many foods contain the same substances that cause heroin, cocaine,…
DetailsLike most recovering alcoholics, there are times when I miss drinking. Even though I have been sober for over six years, alcohol can still call out to me, especially in moments of stress or emotional turmoil. It whispers my name and tells me how refreshing a nice, cold beer would be or how much fun…
DetailsThe number of people killed by overdose in the United States has increased by a factor of 4 since the year 2000. There are now an average of 91 opioid-related deaths each day in the United States. Bernie Sanders held an MSNBC town hall meeting in West Virginia about the opioid epidemic that was televised…
DetailsYou know how some people live paycheck to paycheck? Well, as an addict, I lived from high to high. The only thing that mattered in between was getting the money I needed to capture that next high. Once I began my recovery, however, I quickly realized that I was suddenly going to have quite a…
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