Battling Addiction

By Trevor Kugler

In this country the term “drug abuse” is a very often misused term. When you hear or read the term “drug abuse”, what pops into your mind? Things like cocaine, heroine methamphetamines, marijuana, and crack, right? And you think of completely out of touch ‘junkies’ living on the streets, selling whatever they can for money, right? Or, at least the types of drugs listed here to be the ‘real’ drugs, right? These are the drugs that people abuse, right?

Drug abuse in the form of alcohol, nicotine, and prescription drugs is actually much more prevalent in our culture, but no one wants to talk about that. If you have a six pack in the comfort of your own home, you don’t abuse drugs, right? If you smoke cigarettes, while disgusting, you’re not thought of as a drug abuser are you? If you take a pill everyday, that a doctor told you that you could take, and that pill alters your ‘reality’ somehow, is that drug abuse?

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By Larry Smith

In the last article, I discussed why it is imperative to have an aftercare plan to help you recover from addiction. So, what needs to be included in your aftercare plan?

My friend Donny has graciously given me permission to reprint his aftercare plan. He has over seven years of sobriety to his credit and still follows this plan to this very date.

1. I will attend 3 AA meetings each week.

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By Larry Smith

If you have a desire to recover from the disease of addiction, you must take certain steps to increase your chances of long-term recovery. Residential treatment is a great place to start you on your road to recovery. Program lengths may vary from 30 days to several months. If you have just returned home from a treatment centre, it is imperative that you have an after care plan and follow it 100%. Below are the top 5 reasons why you must follow your after care plan:

1. You are 100% responsible for your own recovery — Nobody else can do it for you!

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By Jonathan Huttner

While many people still try and define addicts as different from alcoholics, the fact of the matter is that the definition of addiction or alcoholism is almost identical. The main difference is that one is liquid in nature, while the other can take on a variety of forms. The overall effects of addiction or alcoholism are exactly the same.

Drug Addiction Treatment Versus Alcoholism Treatment

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By Christopher Ruane

Well its no surprise that many people know about the harmful effects of smoking even if some of them refuse to quit because of self denial. However, what is less commonly known is the fact that if you are not quitting smoking, there is a risk of other forms of addictive behavior occuring, including use of illicit drugs and addiction to these substances also.

So how do you get addicted to anything in the first place ?

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By Michele Graham

Drug addictions are destroying our country, little by little. The families that suffer from having a family member addicted to drugs are increasing in numbers. We as the family of the addict, need to rise up in arms to be heard.

I personally have a family member that has been an addict for 13 years, half of his life. When he is sober and not using, he is the kindest most wonderful person you would ever want to know. But when he is using, you cannot trust him or anything he says or does. He has no money for drugs, so he obtains them by giving everything that is not nailed down away to the dealers that prey on his weakness.

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By Eddie Tobey

Gambling is addictive, and often leads to financial trouble. Thousands of people fall into gambling debt, and this is where gambling debt help is needed.

The people who are unfortunate enough to find themselves falling into gambling debt should seek some professional gambling debt help. These gambling debt counselors are experienced professionals who will gladly help the gambler to overcome his various financial problems. They can often help these people get out of the debt trap to start a new life. They teach them the right procedures in which to repay their creditors, while saving as much money as possible in the process. They can offer gambling debt help by consulting the various creditors and getting them to lower their interest rates. This in turn lowers the amount of money the gambler has to repay.

However, as gambling is very addictive, gamblers need not only financial help, but also personal counseling to overcome this addiction. Many gamblers in debt have tried Gamblers Anonymous for help, only to come out of it when they run into friends and co-workers at the meetings. As gambling is a private addiction, they cannot face known people with this addiction.

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By Eric Morris

Drug treatment centers have skilled staffs that are experts or specialists in drug treatment. These people shoulder a great deal of responsibility because their patients need to be carefully handled in the center and treated in a holistic way.

Drug treatment programs should be well designed and flexible so that the patients are not embarrassed or feel guilty that they have done something wrong. Remember that no one wants to become a victim to vice. It is just that they are not aware of the consequences of their actions or have been forced into it due to circumstances. A drug treatment program should look into the factors that led a person to take drugs.

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By Bill Byrne

This article is dedicated to those who decided to quit smoking once and for all, and now are looking for ways to stop smoking. Here is the original program, that will show you how, following a few steps, you can forget this bad habit and abandon the cigarette.

First of all you need motivation. When you stop smoking it is important to know the reason why it has to be done. In this case the result is not a goal. The reason to change your life can be care about the health of your future children, your family, and other people you love, because they become passive smokers, winning the heart of a person that does not approve smoking is a good reason too. You can find thousands of motives to stop smoking. But don’t make a test of your will-power a reason of struggle for the health - that usually leads a person to the beginning of the way. This makes your next try twice harder.

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By Clara Myers

Like it or not, the drug subculture is now part of the mainstream. Despite the government’s war on drugs, access to illicit drugs is relatively easy for anyone that wants them. A cursory glance at the headlines or television will tell you that drugs have invaded all parts of our society. The housewife, the professional athlete, and the elected official have all succumbed to the temptation of illicit drugs. Even scarier is the dramatic rise in drug use among children as young as 10 and 11 years old.

Parents are right to worry about their children and the influence the drug culture has over them; however, the dilemma is trust versus safety. If parents become heavy-handed in their approach to dealing with the problem, they risk losing the trust of their child and will have to deal with the ensuing emotional backlash. To take a laissez-faire approach could bring disaster as well. Many teens admit that they would use drugs more often if it weren’t for the threat of regular drug testing at home.

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