When a person is in treatment for alcohol, methamphetamine or any other substance, receiving therapy and counseling is very important to recovery. Besides the dual-diagnosing aspect, many addicts have low self-esteem and feel very poorly about themselves. A lack of confidence combined with self-hatred can make the recovery process difficult. One of the things that individual and group therapy do to help those in recovery is help the addict to try to understand why she started to use in the first place. Often there is a combination of poor self-esteem and several other factors.

By increasing a person’s self-worth, the addict will begin to see hope instead of feeling despair. The guilt that is felt will start to go away and the addict will have a better chance at sobriety outside of treatment. Many studies have found that even young children, 11 years old, have a greater chance of using drugs if they have poor self-esteem. Being unhappy with oneself can lead to many problem and drug abuse and addiction is one of the main ones.

Increasing the self-esteem of users will help them in their battle against addiction. If the user feels that he or she can stay sober, the chances of success increase.

All drugs of abuse, including nicotine, marijuana and cocaine, affect the brain’s limbic system. The limbic system is the "pleasure" part of the brain, as it releases the neurotransmitter dopamine when it experiences something enjoyable. Dopamine creates a feeling of pleasure and it wants to have the same experience again. For example, when you eat ice cream and like it, the limbic system tells you to crave it or want it  because it created a feeling of pleasure. When a person uses a drug for the first time, an unnaturally strong feeling of pleasure is experienced. It is natural for the brain to want to have this experience again–this is how addiction begins. And no one knows how many times it takes to become addicted.

When the brain produces a flood of dopamine, which makes the user feel "high," neurons begin to produce less dopamine and reduce the number of dopamine receptors. This leads the drug user to need greater and greater amounts of the drug. This is called building a tolerance. Also, when the neurons stop producing as much dopamine, the brain is left with a lower than normal amount and the user feels extremely down and depressed, thus making the brain crave the substance again and in greater dosages.

Gatehouse Academy is an extended care treatment center for young men and women in need of long term drug rehab or alcohol rehab. We offer the opportunity for young adults from the ages of 17-25 to learn life skills, continue formalized education, enhance physical well-being, and recover from the detrimental effects of chemical dependency.

If you have any questions please contact us.

This is another story of an individual dedicating his life to helping others after recovering from a hopeless state of mind and body.  Rickie battled with alcoholism for years before entering recovery.  This article describes the bottom he dropped to and his struggles along the way.  The feelings and experiences he describes are similar to many of the residents at Gatehouse Academy.  This story is a great description of the hopelessness of Alcoholism and the incredible transformation that occurs through 12 step recovery. 

"Part of me knew I was an alcoholic" but denial kept surfacing, Jones added. "For about 12 beers, I'd hate myself. But after 14 beers, I wouldn't care anymore. After 30 beers, I wouldn't remember."

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The following article talks about a recovering drug addict who has dedicated his life to helping others that struggle with addiction.  The principle of one addict helping another addict is part of the 12 Step Recovery approach that we use at Gatehouse Academy.  This is because carrying the message of recovery is as equally beneficial to the person carrying it as it is to the person receiving it.

Probation officer Mike Carley said, “It’s absolutely fantastic for me to see somebody who’s been through the mill with drugs coming out the other end and doing something really positive like this.

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In this article a mother expresses how she finally came to the realization that she had to stop bailing her drug addicted daughter out of jail.  Fortunately it was a wake up call for her daughter who now attends 12 step meetings regurarly.  'Tough love' can be one of several effective treatment options.

Calling it "tough love," she added, "I knew if I bailed her out, she would do the exact same things she had been doing. If she was there, she couldn't get to the drugs. I knew she was safe. And it gave her time to think about what she was doing."

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