Battling Addiction

* http://Battling-Forums.com

The last forum was built on phpBB platform, and quite honestly was getting too spammy for even me! So .. I just deleted it altogther and started from scratch.

With this new forum brings hope of less spam, because it is a bbPress platform, from Wordpress.org .. just like this blog! Akismet is enabled inside the forum itself, and that should also help keep it clean. For those who don’t keep it clean, it should be easier for me to boot the riff-raff out of there!

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I have been posting around the week of the 10th of each month (well, mostly anyway) a “THANK-YOU” post, like this one, to all the advertisers from the previous month listed as at month end. That’s a permanent link in this blog, under the category heading which I call .. “Sponsor Appreciation”. I know it’s hard out there trying to figure out where to spend your advertising dollars .. and well .. THANKS for considering the Battling Addiction Blog.

I have compiled a new advertising page for the HART-Empire Network of sites for your perusal.

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by Melanie Marsden

There are few things I hate in life. Hate is such a strong word loaded with negative emotions. But I hate Oxycontin. And I hate Heroin. In my unprofessional completely biased opinion – they are the same thing. If you are using and haven’t made this connection yet – you’re fooling yourself. If someone you love is using and you think – at least they aren’t on dope – then wake up and see that it’s just as bad and only a matter of time before they get there. Nobody wakes up one day and says, “I think I’ll go shoot dope.” They get there one desperate day when they can’t afford the pills that they fooled themselves into believing for too long – were no big deal. I’ve lost a young cousin to suicide because he couldn’t get and stay clean, a boyfriend to an overdose after years of trying to get straight. I also have many friends, family and neighbors who walk around each day living a horrible existence because of addiction. Each of them started taking OC’s and some have graduated to Heroin.

I use the term junkie quite often in this story. I’m sorry if that label offends you. But I couldn’t write this piece without using it. Strong words carry strong meanings. This is one of them and where I use it – I use it to relay the strong feelings I feel about this horrible addiction. I don’t use this term as a put down – in fact I have come a long way and really try not to judge anyone about where choices in their life have taken them. As they say – “there but for the grace of God go you or I.” So when I say junkie – I say it with love. Because there are many junkies in my life that I have loved or still love. And my choice of words is to distinguish between the whole healthy person who existed before the drugs took control and the addict that they have become. I don’t hate them. Each and every one of them hate themselves enough. I don’t think less of them. They’ve got that covered too. And if you haven’t lived through watching someone you love turn into someone else in front of your very eyes you should thank God every day for shielding you from the heartache, pain and uncertainty that living life loving an addict can bring. And the next time your path crosses the path of a junkie remember that the shell of a person before you – is someone’s son or brother or friend. Instead of looking down on them or judging them – say a prayer for them and thank God that you weren’t given or didn’t choose this cross to bear in your lifetime. Easier said than done if you’ve been affected directly by their need for drugs. Especially hard to do if you’ve been robbed by, lied to or manipulated by an addict. If you have been, then I know it’s hard to read this with an open mind. If you have been I am sorry. And they are too whether or not they can tell you directly. They live with what they have done every day. I know it doesn’t take it away or make it better – but their hell is here on earth. Don’t judge those around you who are dealing with an addict in their life because until you are in a situation you never know how you yourself would handle it.

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By Michael Russell

Drug or alcohol addiction is a sneaky disease. It keeps you believing that everything is under control and it all depends on your will whether you want to quit or not, but in reality it doesn’t work that way. An abuser who keeps thinking that “its no big deal” and “everything is under control” is in a state of denial. This can keep a person in the cycle of addiction for years.

Once the addict comes to term with his addiction and recognizes that a problem does exist, you can help the person stay on the road to recovery.

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By Gary Paul Evans

There are few things more damaging to a relationship than an addiction. I constantly hear from my readers that their partner’s marijuana addiction eats away at their finances, ruins the time they have to spend together and overall leaves them feeling second-best to a leafy green weed.

It is understandable that a person dealing with their partner’s marijuana addiction will feel frustrated, insecure and even angry at their partner’s unwillingness to change their ways. Unfortunately, these feelings often result in animosity and fighting rather than a solution of the problem. It takes a person of great character and patience to stay with an addict through their recovery – especially when they are not willing to admit they have a problem.

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By Steve Sandlin

Drug Test Detection Times refer to the “window” of detection for drugs of abuse. If a person is tested too soon or too long after use, drugs may not show up in human urine. Often someone will ask us, How long to drugs stay in the body? This short guide will help to answer that question. For the purposes of clarity, this guide is a reference for the detection of drugs of abuse found in human urine.

How long do drugs stay in your system? The length of time that the presence of drugs of abuse in the body can be detected is an important factor in drug screening. The chart below outlines approximate duration times. When interpreting the duration for the presence of drugs of abuse in the body, you must take into consideration variables including the body’s metabolism, the subjects physical condition, overall body fluid balance, state of hydration and frequency of usage.

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By Morgan Hamilton

Alcohol and drug treatment has evolved quite a bit of past few decades. The first forms of alcohol and drug treatment were actually quite primitive compared to what’s available today. In the dark ages it was thought that addictions were caused by demonic possession, which had many different prescribed ‘cures’ ranging from blood letting to being burned at the stake. In the 19th and early 20th century, alcohol and drug treatment had made some strides towards improvements as opposed to when addictions were then considered forms of insanity and the treatments of choice involved straight jackets, padded rooms, and electric shocks. Could you imagine? You have to wonder what they were thinking?

What we consider today as modern alcohol and drug treatment didn’t really start until the second half of the 20th century. This was no doubt one of the well-known and often repeated ’12 step’ program designed by Alcoholics Anonymous. Doctors and practitioners slowly came to realize that effective alcohol and drug treatment was in fact a possibility. Some of the first forms of alcohol and drug treatment centers formed in this time were not much more than centers where the 12 step program could be taught. The treatments were actually more psychological than anything else.

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By Michele Graham

Most of us have some type of addiction, whether it be watching TV or over-eating, or compulsive behavior when cleaning and organizing, smoking or even talking on the phone.

Unfortunately, the worst addictions are drug and alcohol related. More and more families are affected by this terrible disease. It knows no class: you can be poor or rich, black or white or any race for that matter: you can come from a religious background or no religious training at all.

Drug and alcohol addiction ruins families, destroys lives, causes job losses and many more losses too many to discuss here.

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By Lloyd Morgan

Statistics say that over 70 per cent of smokers want to quit. So what’s stopping them? For many, the thought of going through lengthy withdrawal symptoms is enough to send the hand snaking towards the Camel pack. In reality, the pangs are far less than people fear. But how long do they last?

Giving up smoking is like getting addicted in reverse so it’s important to understand the nicotine addiction process. Scientists used to think addiction was a long drawn out process taking up to a year. Now they’ve come to recognize it begins with the first puff when nicotine enters the brain.

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By Tywford Lamai

Let us begin with the definition of drug rehabilitation: Drug rehabilitation or therapy is a procedure. In most instances persons will be admitted into a stay at a medical unit/facility and will go through a succession of examinations, tests, questions, analyses etc., etc. Now although these people undergo a phalanx of questions and tests, in the end, the ultimate aim is to help the patient to purge their bodies of the toxic drugs that at one time impaired their judgment and ability to function appropriately and also to subsequently permit them regain control of their lives, thereby allowing them full realization that toxic drugs are unimportant, unnecessary and bad/harmful.

Guess what? A good drug rehab program will centers strongly not only on the mind but also on the physical issues surrounding the breaking of an addiction. Fundamentally important to an excellent drug rehab procedure is a good and meticulous drug detoxification program.

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