While the families of drug addicts and alcoholics feel shame, guilt and sometimes hopelessness, it is important to know that there are resources to help them cope. Education is the easiest and most useful resource available. Knowing about the drugs in question, options for treatment and how to get through everything will make the experience better. While no amount of information will stop the heartache, at least knowing about the substance and how to help the loved one will alleviate some pain. The Internet is full of thousands of site about every aspect of drug use. These sites can tell the family what they should be doing, how to treat the addict and how to get that person to addiction treatment.

There are several signals or hints that someone you love is drinking too much and needs treatment. A few of those signs are when the person exhibits gross drinking behavior. That means the person drinks more often and the quantity of the alcohol is considerably higher than non-alcoholics. Another sign is when the person has a blackout or extended period of time that she can’t remember what happened. Gulping or sneaking drinks is one way that alcoholics maintain the state of drunkenness. They will swallow a whole drink in one mouthful or take drinks when they think no one is looking. Finally, a chronic hangover is another sign that drinking alcohol has gone from abuse to addiction.

Overall, these are just a few of the signs that alcoholics show that can signal that they need help. Once these signals are noticed, it is imperative that the alcoholic go to long-tern alcohol treatment. Alcoholism cannot be cured but there are things that can make living a sober life possible.

There are numerous affects that using legal or illegal drugs have on the body. Those include, but are not limited to, mood changes, distorted vision, confusion, delusions, and blackouts. The affects get worse ranging from becoming dependent, having a weakened short-term memory, weakened problem-solving ability, and an increased feelings of paranoia and anxiety leading to severe pain attacks. However, the most severe affect that drugs can have on the body is death. While these examples are only a small percentage of what drugs do to a body, any regular abuse of drugs is a clear signal that the person doing the abusing needs help and has most likely become physically and emotionally dependent.

The nature of human beings is social, which makes group therapy in chemical dependency treatment a powerful therapeutic tool. Group therapy usually focuses on psycho-education, skills development, cognitive-behavior, support, and interpersonal process psychotherapy. The knowledge and behavioral modifications learned through these groups therapies is very effective in regards to the success rate of staying sober after the addict leaves the substance abuse rehab facility. Group therapy focuses on several things such as peer support, information and feedback from peers, social skills training, a reduction in the addict’s feelings of isolation thus giving the recovering addict the hope, support and encouragement necessary to break free from substance abuse.

Alcohol detox, or detoxification, is the term used to describe the body’s response to the elimination of the substance it has become dependent upon. Alcohol detox must be done in a medical center because the body can react violently to withdrawal and only trained medical personnel can administer any necessary medications to help with this process. The objective of alcohol detox is to help the patient attain an alcohol-free state which helps prepare the patient for entry into treatment and rehab. The fundamental goal of alcohol detox is preparation for long-term recovery from alcoholism. Alcohol detox lasts anywhere from 3 to 14 days.

Dual diagnosis treatment centers are rehabilitation facilities structured for patients with a chemical dependency and an emotional or psychiatric illness. Both of these affect the person physically, psychologically, socially and spiritually. The treatment centers that address both of these issues deal with them separately but they are linked together during rehab to help the addict with the correct medications, if needed, and to teach a new set of behaviors for when out of rehab, from ways to cope with the mental illness to the skills needed to maintain sobriety once back into mainstream society. The ultimate goal of dual diagnosis drug treatment centers in abstinence and medical compliance.

The U.N. drug control agency has issued its annual report and in it they condemned celebrities for their drug abuse and the judicial system for its leniency toward them. “Cocaine-abusing celebrities are glamorizing the use of narcotics and encouraging more young people to use illegal substances,” the United Nations has warned. The International Narcotics Control Board says that celebrities should be treated the same as non-celebrities and this leniency is sending the wrong message about our judicial system to the public while it encourages teens to abuse drugs, thinking they will also be able to get away with it.

A recent study by Columbia University found that more than 15 million Americans are currently abusing prescription drugs, with a mind-blowing 2 million of those people being teenagers. With a full 6% of the population abusing prescription drugs, researchers have found the most effective means of helping these abusers come clean. The first step is an intervention. The second is to be admitted into treatment. While the drug rehab options vary, statistics show that a 6 month to 1 year long commitment to an inpatient facility will greatly increase the chance for success with the likelihood of relapse decreased.

I had thought to write an entry about energy drinks from the perspective of ‘do you know what you are putting into your body? And what you are addicted to?’ Was I surprised to stumble upon these new energy drinks…‘Blow’ a white powder that is packaged in a vial and comes with its own mirror is a powered energy drink, just add water. ‘Cocaine’ a canned energy drink was taken off the market by the FDA last year and as of this month is back on the market. These products are packaged and marketed to appeal to our youth…. . Seems that business is so eager to make money on the backs of our youth that they have little regard for the messages that they are sending to them. ‘Candy cigarettes’ have been abolished but ‘Cocaine’ in a can is okay? Seems odd to me….. Oh by the way, energy drinks contain large concentrations of caffeine, are loaded with sugar, man-made chemicals, vitamins and amino acids. Too much caffeine and sugar isn’t good for you even if the product claims to be ‘all natural’. The marketing hype is that caffeine is a stimulant that it’s cool to be addicted to – personally I don’t think its cool to be addicted ……

The Food and Drug Administration is threatening to take legal action against the energy drink mix “Blow,” if they don’t clean up their image….

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At times the courts mandate that certain individuals must be committed to a drug rehab facility against his or her will. This is beneficial in multiple ways for the addict. For instance, this court-ordered treatment keeps the drug abuser out of jail and it also provides the person with an otherwise unaffordable option. However, the addict must make a conscious decision to stop using.

That being said, studies have shown that after 3 months in a program, an addict’s chances of having a relapse are decreased. Statistics show that the motivation for entering into a rehab facility has little influence over the ending result and if the addict stays in rehab as long as the court mandated, the probability of the addict staying sober is greatly increased.

A great example is a new study done by students at Kent University, Court-ordered drug treatment reduces offending, explains how court ordered drug rehab can be a successful motivator for Recovery.  In some cases, it can be what saves a person from walking down the path that addiction leads us.

Also it is important to remember, according to United Nations International Drug Control Program, Vienna, 2003, “Length of stay in structured residential settings and continued recovery work are the clearest predictors of continued abstinence.” So it is not only important to court order someone to addiction treatment, but also be sure that it is for longer than a 28-day ‘spin-dry’ experience.