Drug Abuse

Addicts, Alcoholics and Holiday Parties: What’s A Hostess To Do?

December 10, 2011 by Recovery Blogger

Folks in the addiction and alcoholism treatment fields are often asked about how a host should handle holiday parties attended by recovering friends.  Social occasions that involve people in recovery, especially those in early recovery, can pose some perplexing problems for a host.

On one hand, a host who is aware of a guest’s need to avoid mood-altering substances may wish to do what is possible to keep from exposing them to temptation.  On the other hand, social drinking is a part of everyday American culture. Most social gatherings involve some drinking by some of the guests, and there is certainly nothing wrong with that. Unfortunately, for some of us, it might not be the healthiest of environments, and a host may be at a loss as to how she ought to deal with guests who are in recovery. Here are some pointers on how to handle this delicate situation while, at the same time, being fair to all.

There are some simple things to remember. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Alcoholism, Drug Abuse, Family and Friends, Recovery, Relapse, Support Groups Tagged With: , , ,

Can Recovering Addicts and Alcoholics Attend Holiday Parties Safely?

December 7, 2011 by Recovery Blogger

Alcoholics and drug addicts in early recovery seem generally to take one of two attitudes toward holiday gatherings: either they are afraid to go, or they feel they need to challenge themselves in some way.

Obviously, people in early recovery are more vulnerable than folks who have been clean and sober for several years. Newcomers have not yet replaced their old habits — developed over years of using — with newer, healthier reflexes. There is a real possibility that being in a drinking (and perhaps drugging) environment could massively trigger a desire to use. This is also possible when we are further along in recovery, but by then most people have learned to deal better with situations that might be triggers.

Nonetheless, there is no reason that we can’t attend holiday parties with relative safety, so long as we follow some simple guidelines.

  • Take a sober friend with you. — This is by far the most important rule. There are excellent reasons: you are less likely to become enmeshed (especially at family gatherings) if you have someone with you who knows where you’re coming from; and also the two of you can have fun watching the partiers become progressively more loaded and silly.
  • Be sure you have your own transportation, or enough money for a cab. — The unpleasant truth is, you can’t depend on anyone but yourself to get you out of a tight spot, not even your sober friend. He or she is vulnerable, too, and if they get involved with the party, they may not want to leave. You have to be sure that you can leave on your own — and don’t hang around trying to help your buddy. You won’t be any help later if you relapse too.

At the party:

  • Never accept a drink from anyone else. Order your own coke, or soda and lime, and watch the bartender to make sure that’s all you get.
  • Never set your drink down. You might pick up someone else’s by mistake, or someone might decide to “freshen” it for you in all innocence — or not.
  • Always have a non-alcoholic drink in your hand. It keeps you from having to explain why you’re not drinking, and keeps people from offering to get you another. Just say, “No thanks, I’m OK for now.”
  • Nibble throughout the party. It keeps your hands busy and your blood sugar up, which helps you resist the idea of using.
  • If you walk into the restroom and someone has lines on the counter, or you see mysterious powder residue, leave. Don’t check it to see what it is.
  • Arrive late and leave early. Minimize your exposure by limiting your time in the situation. You may have certain obligations about attending, but being the first in the door and the last to leave increases the likelihood that you will become comfortable with the old, familiar party atmosphere. That way lies nothing but trouble.
  • If you feel uncomfortable, leave immediately. Don’t make a pass around the room saying goodbye — just leave. You can explain later that you “weren’t feeling well” and had to get home. That’s true, and you don’t have to explain farther. You suited up, showed up, and that’s all that is required.

With these precautions in mind, there is no reason that you can’t attend a holiday party. Just make darned sure you follow ALL of them, especially the part about taking a sober friend.

Happy Holidays!

Filed Under: Addiction Education, Drug Abuse, Drug Addiction, Family and Friends, Recovery, Relapse, Staying Sober Tagged With: ,

Hawaii Big Island study on fetal alcohol, drug exposure

September 5, 2011 by Recovery Blogger Leave a Comment

The…group surveyed 2,300 women across the Big Island surveyed over the past three years and found that 1,158 admitted to drinking alcohol or other substance abuse while pregnant, the West Hawaii Today ((http://bit.ly/mOQcV4) reported. There is no known safe amount of alcohol to consume while pregnant.

Alcohol-exposed pregnancy is the leading cause of miscarriage, stillbirth, birth defects and other disorders, said Naomi Imai, child and youth program specialist for the state Family Health Services Division.

Big Island study on fetal alcohol, drug exposure | CanadianBusiness.com.

Filed Under: Addiction Education, Alcohol Abuse, Alcoholism, Drug Abuse, Drug Addiction, Medical Issues, Mental Health Tagged With: , , , ,

Recovery Month

September 1, 2011 by Recovery Blogger Leave a Comment

National Recovery MonthThis September marks Recovery Month’s 22nd year. NRM  ”promotes the societal benefits of treatment for substance use and mental disorders, celebrates people in recovery, lauds the contributions of treatment providers, and promotes the message that recovery in all its forms is possible. Recovery Month spreads the positive message that behavioral health is essential to overall health, that prevention works, treatment is effective and people can and do recover.”

If you’re interested in getting involved with some Recovery Month activities, here’s a link to SAMHSA’s page of activities, organized by state.  In addition, you might want to check with local treatment centers and recovery clubs to see if they have anything planned.  Those of you who blog might like to mention it, as well.  If every recovering person promotes a better understanding of the process — even with one person — there will be millions of new advocates.

http://www.recoverymonth.gov/Community-Events/Find-An-Event.aspx

 

Filed Under: Addiction, Addiction Education, Alcohol Abuse, Alcoholism, Drug Abuse, Drug Addiction, Family and Friends, For Professionals, Recovery, Staying Sober, Support Groups, Treatment Tagged With:

Do social networking sites turn teens into substance abusers?

August 28, 2011 by Recovery Blogger Leave a Comment

(CBS) Is social networking turning America’s youth into substance abusers?

Teens who use Facebook and other social networking sites on a daily basis are three times as likely to drink alcohol, twice as likely to use marijuana, and five times more likely to smoke tobacco than teens who don’t frequent the sites.

“The findings in this year’s survey should strike Facebook fear into the hearts of parents of young children and drive home the need for parents to give their children the will and skill to keep their heads above the water of the corrupting cultural currents their children must navigate,” study author Joseph A. Califano, Jr., founder and chairman of Columbia University’s National Center on Addiction and Substance abuse, said in a written statement.

Seventy percent of teens spend time on these sites every day, according to the survey. That’s 17 million 12- to 17- year-olds….

Read the rest here.

Sorry, I don’t buy it.  I have no doubt that the statistics are accurate; it’s simply that I don’t agree with the interpretation.

What do we know about kids who don’t use drugs, as opposed to those who do?

 

  1. They tend to be active in all sorts of ways, from athletics to social organizations.
  2. They tend to be better students, which implies that they spend more time on schoolwork, both in the form of homework and other outside means of education such as research for book reports, projects, and general outside reading.
  3. They tend to come from stable families.
  4. In short, they tend to have lives that are fulfilling, and I believe that leads them to spend less time on social sites.

I’m no expert on population studies, nor a sociologist, but I can see when it looks like people are taking an easy shot, rather than doing a little critical thinking about other reasons for statistics, which are only numbers, with no inherent meaning.  The meanings are ascribed by the interpreters, and they are, in turn, informed by their ideas, prejudices, and agendas.

It may be true that exposure to these influences moves a small percentage of teenage social site participants in the direction of excess — it probably is.  But we’re talking about 70% of teens, here.  According to another study, by age 18 more than 70% of teens have tried alcohol at least once.¹  Furthermore, simply stating that some of them are x number of times “as likely” to use alcohol, marijuana or other drugs fails to take into account how many times they used them, how long they used them, whether it became a problem, and a number of other factors.

I have no problem with studies and their use in determining priorities for fund allocation, areas of concentration, and so forth.  I do have a problem with interpretations that are not put into context with other pertinent data, or skewed to make a point.  Ascribing a cause and effect relationship to these figures is like explaining addiction as being the result of “bad blood.”

This, in turn, is only my opinion, but it’s based on a intimate knowledge of addicts and addiction.  I wonder if that’s true of those who simply study us.

¹Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2008).Underage Alcohol Use: Findings from the 2002-2006 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health.

Filed Under: Addiction Education, Alcohol Abuse, Commentary, Drug Abuse, Family and Friends, For Professionals Tagged With: , , , , ,

Why Do Addicts Keep Using Despite The Consequences? — Part 2

August 24, 2011 by Recovery Blogger 1 Comment

Previously we mentioned that the pleasure center is a portion of the brain over which we have no conscious control, and that it can be stimulated by a variety of chemicals — some of them produced inside our bodies and some that we introduce from outside.  We said that the pleasure center rewards us for activities that it interprets as contributing in some way to our survival, whether they be social interactions, exercising, or more prosaic things such as eating.  We also stated that these pleasurable feelings, when pursued too far or for too long can create problems.  Now we need to examine how that happens.

While the actual mechanism of addiction is terrifically complicated, the underlying principles are reasonably simple.

  1. When we use drugs or are involved in pleasurable activities, they stimulate (or cause the stimulation of) receptor sites in the pleasure center and other areas of the brain. This causes us to feel good.
  2. With constant stimulation, the brain begins to adjust to the higher levels of brain chemicals by making physical changes that involve, among others, the growth of additional receptor sites to accommodate the excess neurotransmitters.  This leads to tolerance: needing more stimulation in order to achieve the same effects.  Tolerance is one of the first signs of developing addiction.
  3. As tolerance develops, we reach a point where our brain needs the presence of the stimulation in order for us to feel normal.  If we cease whatever is causing the stimulation, whether it be alcohol, other drugs or stimulating activity, for very long we begin to feel uncomfortable because all those extra receptors are telling us they need to be filled up.
  4. Eventually, we reach a point where any pleasure is short-lived, and we simply need the stimulation to keep going.  When we don’t have it, we experience withdrawal, feelings that, as a general rule, are the opposite of whatever good feelings the stimulation caused.  If we were using cocaine or other central nervous system stimulants, we feel depressed; if using downers, agitated; if we are a thrill junkie, bored and/or depressed, etc.  Because of the changes in other parts of the body there are often other symptoms.  For example, opiate withdrawal is like the worst case of flu you can imagine, doubled, combined with overpowering anxiety, nervousness and generally feeling terrible both physically and emotionally.
  5. At the point of marked, prolonged withdrawal in the absence of the drug or activity, we are definitely addicted.

But why can’t we quit?  We know using is causing us life problems, and we know withdrawal doesn’t last forever.  There are even medications to help.  What’s with the constant failures to stop using?

Remember that we said the pleasure center is a part of the brain over which we have no conscious control.  This part of the brain, because it is survival-oriented, interprets failure to meet its needs as survival issues.  We have created an artificial situation in which the brain needs extra stimulation to feel normal.  Therefore, when it does not get the extra stimulation, it sends messages to our subconscious that our very survival is threatened.  Addicts continue to use because their subconscious, over which they have no control, tells them that if they don’t they’re liable to die.

Those messages alone are enough to make it extremely difficult to stop using.  When reinforced with physical withdrawal, they are sometimes impossible to overcome with conscious effort because — again — we have no control over the feelings or the symptoms except for the use of more drugs.

Of course there is more to it.  The stresses created in our lives by addiction-related problems (and perhaps problems that preceded the addiction) make it even more difficult for us to allow ourselves to return to reality.  We must first detox from the drug, and then we need a lot of support and help while normalizing our social, emotional and health issues during the first months and years of sobriety.  We also need help getting through the “post acute withdrawal syndrome” (PAWS) that occurs while the brain and rest of the body are rebuilding and getting back to something like normal.  This can take a long time, and the issues associated with PAWS are a frequent (if not the most frequent) cause of relapse.

That, however, is a subject for another article of its own.  For now, understanding that addicts are subject to powerful emotional and physical experiences over which there can be no direct control will clarify a lot about addiction and the problems of getting clean.

Filed Under: Addiction, Addiction Education, Addiction Science, Alcohol Abuse, Alcoholism, Amphetamines, Cocaine, denial, Drug Abuse, Drug Addiction, Family and Friends, Medical Issues, Opiates, Painkillers, Recovery, Relapse, Treatment Tagged With: , , , ,

Why Do Addicts Keep Using Despite The Consequences? — Part 1

August 21, 2011 by Recovery Blogger 4 Comments

Early in human history there were probably few alcoholics or addicts, because the alcohol content available in fermented fruit was low, and plants that produced other intoxicating substances were relatively scarce.  The development of agriculture created food surpluses, especially of grain, the major ingredient in beer, and a class of workers that was not tied to food production.  These specialized occupations — brewing and raising non-food crops among them — allowed a gradual increase in the organized  production and consumption of mood-altering substances.

A field of opium poppies (DEA)

Brewing beer was widespread by around 6000 BC, and was extensively documented by the ancient Egyptians.  We know that alcoholism existed in biblical times, and that it was common by the time of the Greek and Roman empires.  It is likely that addiction to opiates and other drugs was present too, since images of opium poppies (Papavar somniferum) have been found in ancient Sumerian artifacts from around 4000 BC. The resin of these poppies was also known to the ancient Greeks, from whom it gained its modern name of opium. Humans being — well — human, it probably didn’t take long for the abuse of these and other drugs to begin.  Drug abuse has been around for a long time.

For thousands of years, excessive consumption of intoxicants was thought to be a completely voluntary act, and people who used them habitually were believed to be morally weak or deficient.  Around the end of the 19th Century some physicians began to consider the possibility that, beyond a certain point, chronic use of alcohol and other drugs might become involuntary.  Further study confirmed these beliefs, and the American Medical Association declared alcoholism to be a chronic disease in the mid-1950s.  As time passed, the “disease model” of addiction has become more clearly developed, and now many experts view all addictions as chronic diseases with a strong organic component.

Still, why don’t addicts stop using when it begins to destroy their lives?  To understand that, we need to look briefly at how the brain’s pleasure center functions.

We like to feel good.  We enjoy music, the company of people with whom we feel a connection, good food, a drink or two, maybe a hit or a line.  We enjoy sex, which feels good and satisfies our instinctive desire to bond intimately with another human.  We like to win at sports and other games.  We get a thrill when we hunt.  Our survival instincts are deeply involved with the pleasure center, which gives us positive reinforcement for survival-oriented behavior such as making friendships (allies), winning at games (and war), and successful competition in the arena of business.

We enjoy these good feelings and emotions for themselves, but they also provide a welcome change from the unpleasant aspects of daily living.  Many other activities, such as shopping and gambling, provide pleasure, thrills, and distractions from our humdrum lives.  All of these activities are rewarded by the pleasure center, and eventually we may find that we seek them out too often, or for too long.

So, people use drugs and most other substances — including food — because they make them feel good or satisfy a powerful need (survival again).  Adding certain chemicals to our bloodstreams through natural bodily responses, ingestion and other means causes production of other chemicals that stimulate receptor sites in the brain’s pleasure center. Sometimes the substances themselves mimic the presence of “feel good” chemicals that occur naturally in the body.  Whatever the case, the results are various combinations of pleasure, satisfaction, and euphoria–sometimes all three.  It is important to note that these changes occur in parts of the brain over which we exercise no direct control.  When these good feelings begin to become the focus of our lives, rather than an occasional pleasure, we are well on the way to addiction.

But what is addiction, and why is it so powerful?  We’ll cover that in Part II.  Stay tuned.

Filed Under: Addiction, Addiction Education, Addiction Science, Alcohol Abuse, Alcoholism, Drug Abuse, Drug Addiction, Treatment Tagged With: ,
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