Great discussion on the dangers of the holidays for those suffering from substance abuse. Addicted individuals who are trying to stay away from drinking find it extra hard during the holidays not to drink. Parties, others drinking and sometimes depression can all lead to drinking scenarios or other drugs. It is important to be mindful of family who suffer from substance abuse in planning parties. Have alternative options available for them and try to avoid putting them in tempting situations if possible.
Substance Abuse and the Holidays is a bad partner for many. Please also review our Substance Abuse Counseling Certification
The article, “Holidays a dangerous time for those with substance abuse” by Pam Bordelin states,
“Alcohol remains the most abused substance, with more than 15 million Americans suffering from alcohol use disorder. But quickly gaining ground are opioids. Officials have declared an opioid epidemic, a statement backed up by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. According to CDC director Dr. Robert Redfield, it’s the “public health crisis of our time.”
How big of role does physicians play in substance abuse in regards to prescriptions and medication?
The article, “Prescription Drug Abuse Epidemic: Are Doctors to Blame?” source; Recovery First states
“Blaming doctors for America’s prescription drug addiction epidemic is popular lately even among many physicians & psychiatrists. But affixing blame is not easy”
American Institute Health Care Professionals’ insight:
Substance abuse has risen with prescription abuse. Is it our fault or the doctors who write them without thinking of how they are working on the patient. There is a rise in malpractice over prescriptions that should not be given to patients. So should doctors in some, not all cases also share some responsibility? This article explores that question. What are your thoughts on the subject? Do you think doctors are to blame? Or do you think the patients share some of the responsibility?
If you are looking for an excellent substance abuse program then you should give ours a quick peek. Everything is self-paced and available online. You basically study at your own time and can move as fast or as slow as you like. Once you complete all of the courses you can apply for and earn your certification in substance abuse counseling. This certificate is good for 3 years and can be renewed by taking our re-certification courses and by gaining on the job experience. For more questions please feel free to contact us.
Bad family life leads to substance abuse among children and teens
Substance Abuse counselors no doubt encounter common themes with their patients. One common denominator would probably be bad family life. While not always the case, undoubtedly, it is probably usually the case.
The sad plight of the American family since the cultural revolution of the 60s has led to a decay of the traditional family and its values. Values that held strongly to a moral code, interfamily communication, order, and support. These values have been become weakened with the infusion of moral subjectivism and materialism.
The case of materialism is especially striking. Potentially due to worse economic times, families strive for the dollar over quality time. Without a home maker, children are less and less supervised by the parents and fall victim to idle time and lack of guidance, falling prey to various social “isms”. In this idle time, replacing the dinner table, family board games, and a close emotional tie is the rise of video games and the internet. Regular social norms that take place in the real world are now replaced with artifical ways of communicaton. These artifical ways of communication also open the children to a wave of information previously unattainable. A simple click of the mouse and the teen or child is flooded with information that may not be suitable. Of course, if the parents are too busy to find time, despite their own schedule, then these ideals from television and the internet become more of an influence over their child.
The situation is even worse is split homes. Divorce destroys the family structure and leaves children vulnerable to other sources. Furthermore, depression and unresolved grief may affect the child. These situations are breeding grounds for substance abuse.
What Can Be Done?
Regardless if a family is still married or divorce, parents must find time for their child. The simple gesture of love and its ability to help a child grow is the difference. Listening to your child, partaking in his or her interests, doing things outside, and just giving them a hug when they are sad can make the biggest difference. The question is how broken is this generation’s parenting skills? Do parents wish to take time and realize that their child is their primary vocation before “me” time at the bar or if divorced, dating. No matter how tired after work, a parent needs to make sure their child does what he or she is supposed to do, but beyond that, let them know you care and love them. Let them know that their concerns matter and let them know that you want to do things with them and be part of their life.
While some parents may form a friendship partnership with their children, it is sitll important that while being part of their life, there is a line between parent and child. If done in love, this line will serve as an important basis for serving discipline with love and forming of character. The child needs to see the parent as someone he or she can talk to and have fun with but also hold for the parent that revered sense of respect.
Ultimately, the solution is simple in preventing substance abuse, yet are we, as parents, willing to sacrifice the “time”.
Substance Abuse is hard when it is a controlled substance prescribed by a doctor.
the article, “What Doesn’t Kill You Can Only Make You Stronger”, by George Heymont states
“With nice supporting work from Mitchell Lewis and Gustav von Seyffertitz (I just love the sound of that man’s name!), The Docks of New York proved to be a highly atmospheric surprise.”
American Institute Health Care Professionals‘s insight:
How Modern Substance Abuse Got Its Start.
This article takes a good look at the history of substance abuse and how AA was founded. It goes into detail about how even in the past social networking turned into a great way for support. We are social animals by nature. We learn as a group. We live as a group. We thrive in a group setting. Why would addiction counseling be any different? When in a group, support becomes stronger and we learn that we do not have to go it alone. This is why organizations like AA are so successful.
For more on substance abuse counseling courses please VISIT OUR SITE.
Understanding the Signs and Symptoms of Substance Abuse
Substance abuse is a big problem. A surprising number of people use narcotics for recreation . While heroin is the most popular illicit narcotic drug, there are a number of legal narcotic drugs that people experiment with. Here are some signs and symptoms of narcotic drug abuse:
Doctor Shopping
When someone becomes addicted to a prescription narcotic drug, he or she often starts “doctor shopping” in order to increase his or her supply of the drug. The term “doctor shopping” refers to looking for doctors that are willing to prescribe more of a given drug. Doctor shopping is a sign that something is seriously wrong. It is not normal behavior and almost always indicates that some kind of drug addiction is involved.
A lot of narcotics abusers engage in doctor shopping. When they discover that their primary doctor is no longer willing to prescribe as much of their drugs as they want, they resort to looking for doctors willing to prescribe them what they want. Unfortunately, there are unscrupulous doctors out there that take advantage of this behavior. Many are not trained and have not had any type of substance abuse counseling education.
Everyone suffers with substance abuse.
Craving the Narcotic
Often the first sign that someone is starting to abuse their prescribed narcotic medication is that he or she starts to crave it. Craving indicates that the person prescribed narcotics needs to talk to his or her doctor immediately in order to change his or her medication.
Almost always, a different (non-addictive) drug can be substituted in place of the currently prescribed drug. If this is not enough to deal with the problem, some kind of professional counseling may be needed.
Feeling a Need to Take the Narcotic to Feel Normal
Narcotics are powerful drugs that do play a useful role in pain management. Problems develop when people prescribed narcotics inadvertently become addicted to them. One of the earliest signs of this is feeling a strong need to take the narcotic in order to feel normal.
As dependence on the narcotic develops, addicts feel the need to take the narcotic drug more and more frequently. At first, escalating the dose brings relief. Then, inevitably, after a period of time addicts feel like they need to escalate the dose again. This leads to a never-ending cycle of increasing the dose, feeling comfortable with the new increased dose, and then feeling the need to increase the dose yet again.
Persistent Euphoria
Narcotics abusers often feel unusually euphoric. They may appear to be exceptionally elated (or “high”) much of the time. Ultimately, the persistent euphoria a lot of narcotics users experience greatly interferes with their ability to function well in everyday life. They find that they can no longer hold down a job, and they are incapable of functioning well in society. Of course, some narcotics abusers are able to hide their euphoria and more or less blend into society. But these abusers are the exception, not the rule.
Shallow Respiration
Ultimately, narcotics abuse often leads to respiratory problems because narcotics sedate the muscles involved in breathing. A narcotics overdose often leads to death through this mechanism. Persistently shallow respiration is a very worrisome symptom of narcotics abuse. Narcotics abusers that develop it are often quite close to dying as a result of their drug abuse habit.
Constipation
The overuse of narcotics tends to mess with normal elimination. Narcotics abusers typically become constipated as a result. The degree of constipation is usually tied to the degree of narcotics abuse. The more the narcotics abuser abuses narcotics, the more constipated he or she becomes.
Slurred Speech
Narcotics abusers sometimes exhibit slurred speech, which may cause people to assume they are drunk. Slurred speech frequently occurs in narcotics abusers because heavy narcotics use tends to interfere with normal thinking and the ability to communicate clearly.
Small Pupils
While a lot of drugs tend to dilate pupils when they are abused, narcotics are unusual in that they contract pupils. This sometimes gives narcotics abusers the appearance of having “beady” eyes. (Of course, lots of other things besides narcotics abuse can temporarily diminish pupil size.) Narcotics abuse is a big problem in many industrialized countries. Abusers often start abusing narcotics after accidentally becoming addicted to narcotics prescription medication. Doctors who prescribe narcotics need to be especially careful to look for signs and symptoms of narcotic drug abuse in the patients they have prescribed narcotics.
If you want to learn how to stop substance abuse or if you are interested in becoming a certified substance abuse counselor then you might want to visit our webpage.
Substance Abuse can start from the early beginnings especially when parents unknowingly allow their children to drink under their supervision. Instead of removing the temptation to drink later, studies show it enhances the temptation. The European model of younger drinking ages just does not fit with America’s culture.
Meredith Bennett-Smith of the Huffington Post writes on this subject in her article, “Parents (Mistakenly) Believe Lettings Kids Drink Alcohol Early Discourages Later Use, Study Says” about the growing problem of early age drinking that is connected with parents who drink with their children.
“A surprising number of parents believe that early exposure to alcohol will discourage children from drinking in adolescence and help prevent alcohol abuse later on, according to a new study from the RTI International and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.”
This alarming trend is another thing Substance Abuse Counselors must deal with when counseling parents and teens about the addictive nature of drinking.
If you are interested in substance abuse counseling program, please click here
Doctors can help control substance abuse just with a little training and good notekeeping
Substance abuse continues to plauge our society and where it can be met on a regular basis is at the doctor’s office. Unfortunately, many doctors are not well equipped to deal with the issues of substance abuse. Maybe they should look into receiving an certification in substance abuse counseling?
Sandra Boorman of the “Washington Post” writes in her article, “Few Doctors Know How To Treat Addiction” that certain changes could be on the horizen to better train doctors.
“They are seen every day in doctors’ offices, outpatient clinics and hospital emergency rooms: men in their 50s with bleeding ulcers; young adults pulled from car crashes; middle-aged women fighting a losing battle against chronic pain.”
With better trained doctors in this area, perhaps the war against substance abuse can be met early. By working together doctors and counselors can help turn the tide in the war against substance abuse. Also they will be not only saving lives but helping put families back together as well.
If you are interested in Substance Abuse Counseling, please review our program and click here. AIHCP
Substance Abuse remains to be an issue in America as high rates of addiction continue to plague our nation. It is a problem that needs to be addressed with compassion and proper training. Many addicts use drugs and alcohol as a way to not deal with issues they are facing. The physical addiction then makes sure they are sunk into substance abuse.
LJ Anderson writes in his article, “The Changing Face of American Addictions” about the continued problem of addiction.
“A study released by The Partnership at Drugfree.org in March showed that 10 percent of American adults, ages 18 and over, consider themselves in recovery from drug or alcohol abuse. The organization’s president, Steve Pasierb, described the findings as a reminder that “addiction is a treatable disease and recovery can be a reality.”
The article from Mercurynews.com can be fully read by clicking here.
There are people in the world that believe they can stand up and make a difference. These people are substance abuse counselors. They are trained in ways to help addicts break their addiction and get back to normal productive lives. If you would like to learn more about substance abuse counseling, please click here.
Teen substance abuse is an area where parents will always need to stay vigilant. Peer pressure and experimentation are constant. What is the answer to this problem? Being involved in your teen’s life. Knowing where they are at and who they are with. However when that is not enough you might want to start hanging around other parents that have similar parenting habits as your own. An article suggests that teens who are friends with other teens that have parents with the same parenting style, they are less likely to abuse drugs.
Substance Abuse: How to Keep Your Teen Clean!
The article, “Keeping Teens Substance Free”, Source: MedicalNewsToday
“Among friendship groups with ‘good parents’ there’s a synergistic effect – if your parents are consistent and aware of your whereabouts, and your friends’ parents are also consistent and aware of their (children’s) whereabouts, then you are less likely to use substances,” said Michael J. Cleveland, research assistant professor at the Prevention Research Center and the Methodology Center, Penn State.”
Obviously this is not a fool proof way to keep your teens off of drugs and alcohol but it is a start in the right direction. There are many other teen substance abuse counseling techniques you can use. Drug abuse counseling and alcohol abuse counseling help and resources can be found throughout the internet. If you want to learn more on the subject, our website is a good place to start.
Substance abuse can have many different effects on the human body. It is never positive and has lasting effects on the brain. A new study shows that cocaine, while it gives the user a quick rush, it can slow your brain down in the long run. It is important that young people receive
The article, “Cocaine Brain? Cognitive Decline Tied To Chronic Use Of Illicit Drug”, Source: Huffington Post states
“Regular cocaine users often experience early cognitive decline and brain atrophy, and the new findings show how these users are, indeed, actually losing gray matter in their brain much faster than people who don’t take the drug.”
Struggling with an addiction to drugs is a horrible thing to go through. The need for trained substance abuse counselors to combat these addictions and help those trapped by them is ever growing. If you are interested in substance abuse counseling, you should visit our site.
