alcohol and drug abuse treatment

Archive for January, 2012

Interventions for drug abuse have been the focus of various media and television programs in recent years, giving rise to a seriously flawed public view of what an intervention really is. These programs have dramatized and glorified the intervention so much that the depictions are hardly recognizable from what a true substance abuse intervention actually is. Dispelling these myths and gaining an understanding of what an intervention is and how it can help someone who is suffering from addiction or alcoholism is critical to develop an accurate public awareness and more appropriately address these problems.

An intervention is the facilitation of a well-intentioned confrontation between a group of people who care about or have a significant interest in the life of an addict or alcoholic. The confrontation isn’t one between members of the group and the addict, but rather a way of guiding the addict to confront their own addiction with the help of the viewpoints of those closest to them.

The entire process of the intervention is organized, arranged and managed by an Interventionist. In most cases the interventionist is a disinterested third party who will facilitate and help guide the group during the process. The interventionist also ensure that participants only have a genuine interest in the welfare of the addict – those who would berate, harass, attack, condemn or those who have drug problems themselves are carefully excluded from the intervention. The idea is to create a positive, loving but firm group that can help the addict to recognize how severe their problem really is.

Each person in attendance at the intervention will often give an ultimatum or bargaining tool. Sometimes, these can be severe. Whatever the ultimatum may be, the idea is that the addict discontinue their substance abuse behaviors or there will be some type of individualized consequence. This can include refusal of future contact, withdrawal of income assistance, custody suits, arrest for possession or trafficking, divorce, foreclosure or the altering of other important relationships to the addict. Some of the possible expected outcomes include:

*Throwing away drugs and paraphernalia
*Detoxing
*Inpatient treatment
*Outpatient treatment
*Therapy

However, the overall goal of the intervention isn’t necessarily to force a person to go into treatment. Instead, the primary point of the intervention is to help an addict or alcoholic recognize how severe their problem is and understand that it isn’t just affecting them – it’s affecting everyone around them. This is often so compelling that the substance abuser reaches out for help.

The reason that so many entertainment programs have been based upon interventions is because there is the element of surprise – the addict doesn’t know an intervention is going to happen until it occurs. Additionally, there is often a great deal of drama as emotions come out in people in the group. While this might seem appealing to today’s drama-crazed society, the truth is that for the addicts, an intervention is often the last thing standing between the complete destruction of their life.

If you need help planning an intervention and subsequent treatment for addiction or alcoholism, please use one of the links below to get confidential assistance right now.

The Importance of Drinking Water

The human body is made of roughly 75% water and the brain is about 85% water. The brain is highly sensitive to dehydration. When the body is dehydrated, it redistributes its water supply and controls how much water will be used and where it will be used.

Over time, as the body becomes more dehydrated, the body sends signals that certain organs need to ‘shut down’ to reserve the water that’s left. This type of ‘shut down’ begins slowly and we don’t recognize the signals as a result of dehydration. We don’t only feel dehydration through thirst; our body feels it through, fatigue, headaches, stomach aches, fluid retention and more.

Thinking that coffee, tea, soda, juices and other similar beverages are a water substitute is a common mistake. While these drinks contain water, they also contain dehydrating substances such as caffeine, sugars and chemicals. These dehydrating substances remove the water they’re made in as well as water that your body has in store. Notice next time you drink one of these beverages that you will pass more urine than the volume of drink you consumed.

Quoted from Dr. F. Batmanghelidj, “Chronic dehydration can have a permanently damaging impact on a person’s descendants. If the root cause of a disease is dehydration, (which is most often the case in many circumstances), the same malfunctioning sensor systems that permit dehydration to establish in an individual can eventually be inherited by some of the offspring. This is why asthma, allergies and heartburn are very serious conditions that should be prevented by full hydration at all times.”

Without water, nothing survives. Imagine that you pick a ripe blueberry and leave it out on the counter. In a short time it begins to soften then shrink. It eventually dries up and shrivels. This is exactly what happens to our bodies inside and out. Our cells begin to soften and shrink, shrivel up and dry out and cause us aches, pains, constipation, lethargy, tiredness, depression, headaches, sleeplessness, cravings, anxiety, hypertension and more.

Some chronic illnesses that can be associated with dehydration are; asthma and allergies, depressed immune system, blood pressure, diabetes, constipation and autoimmune diseases.

Diabetes seems to be the end result of water deficiency to the brain. The brain is designed to increase the glucose threshold so that it can maintain its own volume and energy requirements when there’s a shortage of water in the body. When there is a chronic dehydration, the body depends on more glucose as a source of energy. The pancreas as largely affected as well as it needs an efficient amount of water to function properly. When it’s lacking a sufficient amount of water and can’t deliver its watery solution into the cells of the body, they wither up and die and this process is associated with diabetes.

Some classic symptoms of dehydration are;

Heartburn
Chest/ heart pain
Abdominal/digestive/reflux pains
Lower back pain
Joint pain
Migraine headaches
Colitis pain
Fibromyalgia pains
Morning sickness during pregnancy
Bulimia
Obesity
Cholesterol plaque
Osteoporosis
Osteoarthritis
Gout
Strokes
MS, MD and Parkinson’s disease

Many of us take medications on a daily basis to make life bearable when we simply could benefit more from water. In return we often get side effects from the medications such as organs becoming toxic, and our dependency on the drug.

For healthy hydration individuals should drink water before and during meals, upon waking in the morning, two hours after a meal to complete the digestive process, before and during exercising, and every time thirst strikes. A good rule of thumb for the amount of water one should consume is half your body weight in ounces (a 140 pound person should drink 70 oz. water daily, give or take a ‘few’ ounces depending on each individual and the level of activity being performed at a given time in the day).