Steps to An Effective Intervention

By Stacy Barnes | August 18, 2010

Sometimes friends and family members may feel that they constantly express concerns about a loved one’s substance use but never see any changes. You may have reached this point after weeks or months of giving lectures, making threats, ignoring behaviors, accepting promises of change, giving second chances, or imposing consequences. People often worry that initiating a discussion will lead the person with the problem to take drastic steps.

They might make a scene in front of other family members, move out of the house, drop out of school, drink or use other drugs even more and hide it from everyone, or retaliate against them or other family members. However, you might find the conversation to be a wonderfully productive experience.

Perhaps the person simply hasn’t noticed behavior changes, or didn’t realize that his or her substance use was a problem or was causing problems. An intervention with an addict can be a very daunting ordeal, but with the proper steps taken, an effective intervention and positive outcome may result.

An intervention is an orchestrated attempt by one, or often many, people (usually family and friends) to get someone to seek professional help with an addiction or some kind of traumatic event or crisis, or other serious problem. The term intervention is most often used when the traumatic event involves addiction to drugs or other items. Intervention can also refer to the act of using a technique within a therapy session.

Drug intervention encompasses ten steps:

Drug Intervention Step #1: Don’t Rescue the Addict
Friends and family members can attempt to protect an addict from the consequences of his behavior by making excuses about his addiction or getting him out of trouble. This behavior must stop! Once the addict experiences the effects of his behavior, he may become more motivated to stop using drugs.

Drug Intervention Step #2: Don’t Become an Enabler
Family members should be careful not to reward the addict by paying his bills, bailing him out of jail, letting him stay for free or ignoring his behavior.

Drug Intervention Step #3: Find the Right Time
If possible, select a time to talk with the addict when he is sober, when the entire intervention party is in a calm frame of mind and when you can speak privately.

Drug Intervention Step #4: Find Strength in Numbers
Enlist the support of family members, relatives and friends in confronting the addict as a group, selecting one person to be the initial spokesperson. Remember, the idea is to make it safe for him to come clean and seek help.

Drug Intervention Step #5: Be Honest
Tell the addict that you are concerned about his drug addiction and want to be supportive for him while he gets help. Support your concern with examples of the ways in which his drug use has caused problems for you, including any recent incidents.

Drug Intervention Step #6: State the Consequences
Tell the addict that until he gets help, you will leave him to the consequences of his behavior and will no longer bail him out. Make it clear that you are not trying to punish the addict, but protect yourself from the harmful effects of his addiction.

Drug Intervention Step #7: Listen
During your drug addiction intervention, the addict might ask questions regarding potential treatment. Listen! These questions are a sign that he is reaching for help.

Drug Intervention Step #8: Be Prepared
If the addict is ready to take action, don’t wait. Once he’s agrees to go into rehab, work immediately to get him admitted into rehab. Prior to the intervention, pack him a bag, make travel arrangements and ensure he has acceptance into a program.

Drug Intervention Step #9: Don’t Give Up
If the addict refuses help, don’t give up. Be supportive and don’t enable or allow his behavior. Listen whenever you can and be ready to help the addict into therapy when he is ready.

Drug Intervention Step #10: Find a Good Rehab Center
Unity Recovery Center can help engage your loved one in treatment for alcohol or drug addiction. They can help them get past denial and move forward with a drug-free, healthy and honest lifestyle. Help your loved one get free from denial and addiction. Call Unity Recovery Center of Florida (877-772-5505) and make changes now.

Topics: Interventions, Substance Abuse | Comments Off

Alcoholism Depression

By Stacy Barnes | August 2, 2010

Do people become depresses because they drink or are they already depressed and drink to self medicate. Research shows a strong relationship between alcoholism and depression. For people who have been alcohol dependent for a long time, alcohol can have a toxic effect on their serotonin neuro-transmitters, but that does not necessarily lead to depression or anxiety. Alcohol feeds depressive symptoms, incresing both their frequency and severity. Up to 40 per cent of people who drink heavily have symptoms that resemble a depressive illness. About 5 to 10 per cent of people with a depressive illness also have symptoms of an alcohol problem. Depressed people often turn to alcohol in the belief that it has the ability to ease their symptoms. What they fail to realise is that nothing could be further from the truth. The euphoric feelings produced by the drug are however soon replaced by sensations of drowsiness, petulance and irritability.

Young people who have a major depressive episode of two weeks or longer are twice as likely to use drugs for the first time or take their first drink than those who are not depressed. A study of teens 12 to 17 years of age revealed that 2.2 million young people face major depression each year. Of the teens studied who had never drank alcohol before, 29.1 percent who were depressed took their first drink in the past year compared with 14.5 percent who did not have a depression episode.

Of those who had never used drugs before, 16.1 percent with depression started using drugs for the first time, compared to 6.9 percent of the non-depressed teens.

Alcoholism may cause a relapse in people with depression. The depressive symptoms from alcohol are greatest when a person first stops drinking. So people recovering from alcoholism who have a history of depression should be carefully monitored during the early stages of withdrawal; the symptoms of depression are greatly reduced after three to four weeks of stopping drinking. When depression occurs with alcoholism or substance abuse, it is referred to as a “dual diagnosis.” The main danger of the dual diagnosis is that when both depression and alcoholism are untreated, each illness makes the other worse. It is also important to recognize and address both conditions, because treating one without treating the other is unlikely to be effective.

The combination of depression and alcoholism is one of the most costly disorders affecting our health care system. A recent review of 44 controlled clinical trials regarding the use of antidepressant medications for the treatment of alcoholism and depression was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. It concluded that antidepressant medications have benefits, but are not a stand-alone treatment. The best treatment for alcoholism and depression is a combination of addiction treatment, medication, and psychotherapy.

If you are struggling with depression and alcoholism, especially if you have had any thoughts of harming yourself, you need to get help. “There are highly effective forms of treatment for suicide, and any individual who feels suicidal should see a mental health professional as soon as possible,” urges Shadick. Alcoholism and depression are a dangerous combination, but they are both highly treatable diseases and not moral weaknesses or character flaws.

Topics: Addiction Treatment, Alcohol Addiction, depression | Comments Off

Ecstasy Overload

By Stacy Barnes | July 30, 2010

Not since LSD in the 1960s has the world witnessed a drug phenomenon like the rapid and widespread emergence of Ecstasy. In the past five years, Ecstasy use has doubled among teens; 11% of American high school seniors now report they have tried the drug. This summer in New York City, officials seized over a million tablets in the largest Ecstasy drug bust. In Illinois, possession of fifteen tablets now carries a mandatory minimum sentence of four years in prison. Enthusiasts describe Ecstasy (also known by its chemical name MDMA) as the most intense euphoria they know, while detractors maintain that it is a cause of brain damage and even death. With its growing use, Ecstasy has created an unprecedented level of controversy-and misinformation.

Merck, the German pharmaceutical company, developed ecstasy in 1912 in the process of trying to find a substance that would stop bleeding. It was not studied on its own until 1927, and then again in 1959, but no human trials were conducted. It was re-synthesized in 1967 by US pharmacologist Alexander Shulgin. For a period, with its serious side-effects unknown, it was used in psychotherapy particularly for people who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). As it became better understood, this work ceased, and it was made illegal in 1985.

MDMA (ecstasy) is an illegal drug that acts as both a stimulant and hallucinogen, producing an energizing effect, as well as distortions in time and perception and enhanced enjoyment from tactile experiences. Typically, MDMA (an acronym for its chemical name 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) is taken orally, usually in a tablet or capsule, and its effects last approximately 3 to 6 hours.

MDMA can affect the brain by altering the activity of chemical messengers, or neurotransmitters, which enable nerve cells in many regions of the brain to communicate with one another. Research in animals has shown that MDMA in moderate to high doses can be toxic to nerve cells that contain serotonin and can cause long-lasting damage to them.

Overdose from ecstasy can occur. It is usually presents with a very high body temperature and blood pressure, hallucinations and an increased heartbeat. This is especially dangerous for those who have preexisting heart or lung disease and for individuals with psychiatric disorders. Although the exact cause and number of deaths from ecstasy are difficult to determine, hospital admission records indicate that ecstasy is known to cause deaths by inducing:

• bleeding in the brain
• kidney failure
• overheating of the body, dehydration
• excessive increase in blood pressure

MDMA is an addictive drug and can cause both physical and psychological dependence. Besides the side effects, the drug has severe social, behavioral and health consequences. As to who and when someone becomes addicted remains unknown. Even though long term use of MDMA is known to cause addiction, it is very likely that even short term use may cause partial dependence.

Ecstasy recovery or full treatment for the consequences of ecstasy intoxication and addiction, should include a full and complete Ecstasy Detox. As Ecstasy gets trapped deep in the body tissues, a long sauna detox sweat out program would be needed to remove the build up of these chemical residues from the body. The body has an amazing ability to repair itself and rebuild itself once there is no more threat to its survival. If you cannot stop, you need to learn what it is that makes you crave intoxication, learn how you can overcome cravings to use, and learn how to enjoy yourself without a need to get high. A period of in or outpatient treatment may provide you with the therapy and re-education you need for a better life free from ecstasy and other drug abuse.

Topics: Ecstasy Addiction, MDMA Abuse | Comments Off

Betting on Addiction

By Stacy Barnes | July 20, 2010

Gambling for fun and problem gambling draw a fine line between the divide of healthy versus harmful. The biggest question poses: where is this line drawn? Problem gambling, also known as ludomania is an urge to gamble despite harmful negative consequences or a desire to stop. Problem gambling often is defined by whether harm is experienced by the gambler or others, rather than by the gambler’s behavior. Severe problem gambling may be diagnosed as clinical pathological gambling if the gambler meets certain criteria. Although the term gambling addiction is common in the recovery movement, pathological gambling is considered to be an impulse control disorder and is therefore not considered by the American Psychological Association to be an addiction. Although this may not be “classified” as an addiction, the damage that is done by this impulsive behavior is non-reversible is most instances.

Identifying that there is a real problem is the first step. Signs of problem gambling are commonly characterized by a progressive addiction characterized by increasing preoccupation with gambling, a need to bet more money more frequently, restlessness or irritability when attempting to stop, “chasing” losses, and loss of control manifested by continuation of the gambling behavior in spite of mounting, serious, negative consequences. No matter how large or small scale the damage is, the main focus is that damage is being done. Problem gambling doesn’t have to take place in casinos and racetracks; it can literally take place anywhere. The compulsion to gamble or bet can transcend all over, today people are even betting on the outcomes of political elections or the winner of reality shows.

As with any other form of compulsive behavior and/or addictions, there is help available for problem gambling. Gamblers come in all forms; a person that suffers from problem gambling can very well be the person next to you. Look for the warning signs, as they may vary is severity but generally they include the use of gambling as a way to escape problems or relieve depression, inability to stop playing regardless of winning or losing, and despite constant vows to abstain, use of alcohol, sleep, or drugs to escape, restlessness or irritability when attempting to cut down or stop gambling, and many other signs alluding to gambling addiction.

Topics: Gambling Addiction, Problem Gambling, ludomania | Comments Off

Sex Addiction

By Stacy Barnes | July 12, 2010

Tiger Woods, Jesse James, and Charlie Sheen all share what similar quality? They are all addicts. Their addictions may vary in different forms, but as of recent gossip news, it seems that these men all share an addiction for sex. Some say for these men, it is the hubris that enables them to defy the lines of fidelity or it is truly an addiction for sex that drive these men to do what they do, in excess. Chances are you’ve known someone, maybe even someone in your own family, who’s struggled with an addiction to cigarettes, alcohol or drugs. But what about an addiction to sex? A growing number of medical experts are saying compulsive sexual behavior is a very real disorder that an estimated 16 million Americans, both men and women, are fighting.

Compulsive sexual behavior symptoms vary in type and severity. Some signs that you may be struggling with compulsive sexual behavior include:

There’s a broad range of sexual activities that can be warning signs of compulsive sexual behavior. Examples include:

No matter what it’s called or the exact nature of the behavior, untreated compulsive sexual behavior can damage your self-esteem, relationships, career and other people. But with treatment and self-help, you can manage compulsive sexual behavior and keep your urges in check.

For more information:

MayoClinic

SexAA

Topics: compulsive behavior, sex addiction | Comments Off

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