Quitting “Cold Turkey” Rarely Works: Here’s Why

When an individual regularly consumes toxic substances like drugs and alcohol, he or she may consume with the impression that quitting will be as easy as starting was. In fact, several surveys indicate that individuals in these situations often deem themselves perfectly capable of quitting anytime they’d like. Their strategy is typically one that includes…

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How Drug and Alcohol Use Could Harm Your Future Kids

Just as drug and alcohol use harms your body and brain, it can also have a devastating impact on unborn children. In pregnancy, your baby receives all of its nutrients from you. As both food and oxygen travel through the umbilical cord and to the placenta without dilution or filtration, it’s important to remember that…

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How successful are addiction treatment programs?

Measuring the success of addiction treatment programs is almost the same as attempting to measure the success of a particular medicine or prescription. Both addiction treatment programs and medicine have been designed to be as successful and efficient as possible. Whether they are, however, is completely up to the patient! Studies indicate that the success…

Is it wise to go through treatment more than once?

For many, rehab is an experience like no other. They enter a treatment facility broken, battered shells of themselves, ravaged by the disease that is addiction, and with very little hope for a bright future. A few months later, they emerge afresh, with a new lease on life and a new attitude, ready to conquer…

It Takes a Village: Why You NEED a Support System

Have you ever heard the saying, “It takes a village to raise a child”? Well, it takes that same village to help you through your recovery phase. As social creatures, humans thrive on interaction. It’s the reason why friendships are so sacred, relationships are so common, and family members are so close. When dealing with…

What happens if you relapse?

Most addiction recovery plans and treatment options focus on one thing: preventing a victim of addiction from ever touching the substance they were addicted to again. Actually, if the plan works well enough, the ultimate goal is to dissuade the victim from having any inclination to touch any illegal substance, and to have no interest…

Do you really want to spend the rest of your life addicted?

The short answer, of course, is no. Unfortunately, however, if you let it, your body will tell you otherwise. When consuming substances, the brain begins to depend on these substances for stimulation and the euphoric feeling we know as a “high.” Over time, the natural hormones and endorphins that your brain used to create begin…

Why Ignoring Addiction Simply Doesn’t Work

Far too often, those suffering from an addiction to any one of a number of substances, attempt to downplay the severity of their dependency by ignoring addiction. Unfortunately, studies have shown that many of their would-be saviors do, too. Is it a coping mechanism? An attempt to err on the side of caution, in case…