Watch this revealing video about the Addiction epidemic.  No wonder there is a dire need for addiction treatment in the US.

Please post any thoughts or comments.

Its unfortunate, but reality. People die from this disease everyday, but its not everyday that one hits so close to home.

A former resident at Gatehouse Academy, Nicholas ‘Nick’ Aitken, passed away Thanksgiving Day from injuries related to his alcohol use.  View obituary.

May this page be forever in memory of his life – both successes and struggles. Our thoughts and prayers with always be with his family and friends.  May his life’s experiences let us never forget how cunning, baffling and powerful addiction can be.

Feel free to leave any thoughts, prayers or memories in the comment portion below.

In a recent Entertainment Weekly article, Arrested ‘Big Brother’ champ ordered into drug rehab, it has been made aware that Adam Jasinski, winner of 9th season of the Big Brother Series, was arrested for possession of over 2000 pills of the drug oxycodone.

The story brings up the idea of how we, as addicts and alcoholics, felt invincible when we out in the world ‘running and gunning.’

Our drinking and using brings most of us to a depth of insanity that many will never experience.  It is usually based in the realm of the delusion – the idea that things are not as bad as everyone says they are.

It is at the point that the lies we tell ourselves catch up to us, that we begin to realize how vulnerable and mortal we really are.

The scary part is that most young adults are quite resilient, and always return with a strong will to survive and not get caught next time.  This is why a long term addiction treatment option is so important.  When those feelings of invincibility return, which the inevitably do – the addict will still be in treatment, and less likely to go try it on his or her own again.

We hope, for Mr. Jasinski’s sake, he was court ordered to more than 28days.  If not, we are scared his insanity will drive him to do the same thing time and time again – every time expecting thing to be different.

Do you remember the invincible feeling? What happened to you that made you want to stop? Do you have a story to share about being court ordered to drug rehab? Did you ever feel like you we ‘famous’ because of your ability to obtain drugs?

According to Psych Central, “Sexual addiction is best described as a progressive intimacy disorder characterized by compulsive sexual thoughts and acts. Like all addictions, its negative impact on the addict and on family members increases as the disorder progresses. Over time, the addict usually has to intensify the addictive behavior to achieve the same results.”

Its an intriguing question to ask about the recent Tiger Woods infidelity scandal – Does T-W need to seek help for his recent behavior? Can we go as far to say he needs to complete Sexual Addiction Treatment? Would it excuse some of his ‘transgressions’ if he were to go to admit he needed help? Would it do anything for his problem given his social status, or we he just return to cheating?

Tiger’s latest actions meet some of the criteria that would suggest it might be a more serious problem.  We know, as addicts ourselves, that when the actions of our addiction start to drastically effect our family – we may need to take a closer look at the situation.

Written by Angela A.

In everyday life, I struggle with letting myself let go of how others live their lives, and letting go of control in mine.  It is definitely easier for me to realize that I am powerless over what people do, how they do it, why they do it, and where they do it.  By reviewing my 1^st step, I realize that my powerlessness over others needs to be given away to my Higher Power in my 3^rd step.

There are many times when I want to shake those I love and tell them that what they want is not what they need.  I have to realize that I cannot change anyone.  An individual can only change him or herself.  I have also been in situations where I do not want to live in the moment; however, I have to realize that my Higher Power puts me in specific moments to learn a particular life lesson that He has set before me.

When I live my life according to God’s will, which is doing the next right thing, I am much more content.  When I let others live their own life, I am more focused and less frustrated.  Thank God I don’t have to play God anymore.

Angela is currently enrolled as a resident in Gatehouse Academy’s addiction treatment program.  She offers her review and testimonial by telling us about a lesson she has learned from our 12-Step curriculum.

This week, let’s tackle a very controversial subject in the field of addiction treatment – does recovery from addiction or alcoholism involve finding a cure?

Some medical professionals, as well as treatment models, believe a cure lies in the form of a pill.  Antabuse and Methadone are probably the most familiar replacement drugs used to treat alcohol or opiate addiction. The idea of replacement therapy is that by creating a medication that safely fulfill the needs of the addiction, the addicted person will be able to live a productive life.

Looking at this solution from a rational perspective, it would appear that the medication acts as a crutch for the addict to rely on.  In other words, it simply creates a new addiction to the medication meant to cure the ailment.  An example can be seen at local methadone clinics, where hundreds line up to get their daily allotment of the medication.  It is apparent that this is the lesser of two evils, but the reality is that it doesn’t support the theory of the cure to addiction coming in the form of a pill.

The polar opposite school of thought comes from the 12 Step perspective.  The core thought being, “We are not cured of alcoholism. What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition.” This idea can be compared to a person suffering from cancer.

Once someone is diagnosed with cancer and receives successful treatment – it is never considered ‘cured.’  It may go into remission, but the chance always remains that it can return without reason or notice.  According to the 12 Steps, addiction works just the same way – the disease is never cured, rather it is arrested for a period of time and can return if the work is not done to keep it at bay.

In the final analysis, it is up to each individual to decide for themselves how they view addiction. What do you think?

Intrigued by the latest news from Yahoo! News story, Agassi admits using crystal meth in autobiography, I thought to myself – how do drugs and alcohol play into one’s drive to be successful in sports?

The article describes, world renowned tennis player, Andre Agassi’s introduction to Crystal Meth from a friend and the feelings associated with taking the drug.  Interestingly enough, the thoughts and experience accurately describe the obsession of the mind when an addict experiments with a drug for the first time.  The guilt and remorse are overcome by the intense feelings of pleasure and power.

From the sounds it, Agassi is lucky to have not developed a full on addiction to Methamphetamines, which would have more than likely required addiction treatment.  It appears that Agassi learned a valuable lesson about the dangers of using a drug like Meth, but made it out the otherside without losing everything.

Sports can be a great alternative to drinking and druging, but they can also lead young adults to use drugs to perform above and beyond their limits.  We find at Gatehouse Academy, some young people develop their addictions at a young age using performance enhancing drugs like steroids, methamphetamine and cocaine. Feeling pressure from peers and parents to preform well can put a young adult in a position to develop an addiction.

We also understand that Sports are a social activity that can introduce young people to others that use drugs and alcohol regularly. Many young people describe drinking as a way to fit in with older teammates, and feel a part of the team.

The danger of this behavior is that young people do not know if they have a predisposition to become an addict or an alcoholic.  If they are, then it will be a long and arduous battle for years to come, and they will most likely end up in one of three places: prison, mental institution or, God forbid, death.

Written by Kelli S.

“Perhaps the best thing of all for me to remember is that my serenity is inversely proportional to all my expectations.”

-Alcoholics Anonymous, pg 420

I have to remind myself this every single day. One of my biggest character defects is holding too high of expectations for myself and others. For me it’s simple, when I hold high expectations for myself and others and I or they don’t meet them I get resentful and fall into self-pity mode. Yes it is simple but not easy. I think the hardest part for me is that I tend to be a perfectionist. I want to be the best at everything I do and I have a hard time dealing with mistakes that I make. Over the past ten months I have learned that I’m not and never will be “perfect”.

After coming to this realization I’ve become so much more serene and content. I have learned to set goals rather than expectations. A goal is something that I can always work towards without set standards and time frames. My sponsor always tells me that expectations are pre-conceived resentments and for us alcoholics, resentments are our number one offender. If we hold onto them we will surely drink again. If I drink I’ll die and today I want to live!

Kelly is a current resident in Gatehouse Academy’s drug rehab program, and offers her review of the experience she has had in addiction treatment thus far.

Written by Jennah G.

We have the privilege of riding horses here at Gatehouse. I am so grateful to be working with the horses while I am here. I have been riding, breeding, training and showing horses since I was a little girl. They are my love and passion.

I love teaching people new things and how to ride. We also go on trail rides two to three times a week. I have ridden western style my whole life and here we switch off riding English western and just for fun bareback sometimes. I get to learn new things about English riding from our horse instructor Vel.

I gain a lot of spirituality from being down with the horses and riding through the beautiful canyons and riverbeds. I am very grateful to have this opportunity here and wouldn’t change it for the world!

Written by Brittnee S.

“Let go and Let God” This is a quote that has taught me so much. I have had quite an experience in sobriety and when things get tough I have to remind myself that I’m not in charge and I need to Let go and Let God take over. I have been letting go of a lot of things here at Gatehouse Academy. The biggest and hardest thing that I’ve had to let go of is my little brother. I pray for him everyday and just ask my higher power to help me let go of him. Something else I’ve learned is that I am not God and I can’t be in control of everything. I can’t change my past but what I can change is my future. Letting go has been extremely hard for me. Once I let go and let God, everything is so much easier for me.