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Dual Diagnosis-a Key Part Of The Addiction Treatment Process

Someone with a dual diagnosis is afflicted with both a drug or alcohol problem and an emotional or psychiatric disorder. Gatehouse Academy understands the complex rehabilitation procedures that are associated with dual diagnosis center, and we have treated many of our residents for this problem. Unfortunately, many substance abusers who are treated at other facilities might be misdiagnosed as simply having a drug problem.

If the emotional aspect of recovery is not addressed, substance abuse has a much higher chance of reappearing after detoxification. Dual diagnosis is actually less rare than many people realize. In fact, 53 percent of drug abusers and 37 percent of alcoholics have emotional problems which intensify the abuse. On the other side of the coin, 29 percent of people who have diagnosed emotional problems also abuse drugs or alcohol. These conditions cross-reference each other, and it is easy to see why.

Emotional problems rarely have easy answers, yet substance abuse quickly takes away the pain. In many cases, drugs act as a quick solution to what is otherwise a complex psychological problem. Common mental conditions that are associated with dual diagnosis include depression, anxiety, and even schizophrenia. A dual diagnosis can manifest itself in the abuse of drugs and an eating disorder.

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Getting Sober One Day At A Time

Alcohol or Drug addiction treatment is a necessity, not a luxury. Drug addiction is disease. Like any disease, it can only be eradicated with competent clinical care. No addict gets sober outside of a drug addiction treatment facility. That’s simply not the way healing happens. Whoever you are, however tough you believe yourself to be…you can’t get where you need to go unless you get the right kind of help. For your own sake, please don’t force yourself to learn that lesson the hard way.

The day you check into a drug addiction treatment center will quite literally be the first day of the rest of your life. Drug or alcohol addiction treatment done right helps patients rediscover the world as they used to know it, and themselves as they used to be. It’s hard to imagine how any goal could ever be more important than that one. If you’re here, reading this, you already know how devastating drug abuse can be. Now you can know what you can do about it. All that remains is for you to make the right choice.

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Drug Addiction Treatment Starts With You

Drug Addiction treatment has to start with you. No one can get better for you in a drug addiction treatment center. No one can heal you against your will, or help you if you refused to be helped. Addiction treatment programs can only succeed to the extent that they’re driven by the active efforts of engaged patients. If you want addiction treatment to work for you, in other words, you’re going to have to work for addiction treatment. Like it or not, there’s simply no other way for healing to happen.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that you won’t benefit from support along the way. On the contrary, the care you get from a private addiction treatment facility will be vital in helping you get where you need to go. The only catch, though, is that that help can only be as useful as you make it. In beginning an addiction treatment program, you take your future into your own hands. How you mold it is and can only be up to you to decide.

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A Drug Or Alcohol Intervention Can Save A Life

While many people still try and define addicts as different then alcoholics, the fact of the matter is that the definition of addiction or alcoholism is almost identical and both require an intervention, and a stay in a alcohol and drug addiction treatment program. The main difference is that one is liquid in nature, while the other can take on a variety of forms. The overall effects of addiction or alcoholism are exactly the same. If a drug addict is unwilling to get into a drug and alcohol abuse treatment program, what can you do about it?

This can be a challenge. An addict can’t be forced to get into a drug treatment program except under certain circumstances, such as a violent incident that results in a court-ordered drug treatment program or medical emergency. But you don’t have to wait for someone to “hit rock bottom” to act. Many drug treatment specialists suggest the following steps to help an alcoholic get treatment:

Stop all “cover ups.” Family members often make excuses to others or try to protect the addict from the results of his or her drug abuse. It is important to stop covering for the addict so that he or she experiences the full consequences of drug use.

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Substance Abuse Treatment – Its In Your Own Hands

Drug and alcohol rehab can’t help you if you won’t help yourself. Too many patients check into drug and alcohol rehabs expecting to get carried across the finish line. That’s not the way addiction recovery works. No one can do the heavy lifting for you in a substance abuse treatment center. The truth, whether or not anyone wants to hear it, is that addiction is a personal disease, and an addiction treatment program has to be driven by a personal effort. Think of it like this: If you want drug and alcohol rehab to work for you, you’re going to have to work for drug and alcohol rehab. There’s just no other way for healing to happen.

Of course, none of that means you can get better outside of a drug and alcohol treatment center. On the contrary, addiction is a disease, not a choice, and like all diseases it can only be eradicated with medical help. But that help will only be as worthwhile as you make it. In the end, you hold your future in your own hands here. How you hold is up to you.

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Detox Is Essential To The Addiction Treatment Process

Detox is essential to the addiction treatment process. Anyone who tells you otherwise simply doesn’t get it. Drug addiction is at root a physiological disease, one which subjects addicts to acute metabolic dependencies. In plain English, addicts need drugs to function normally. When they don’t get them, bad things happen. Successful detox manages and mitigates those bad things, ensuring that the early stages of drug withdrawal aren’t any more trying than they have to be. In the fight against addiction, anything less than that sort of support simply isn’t good enough.

Remember, every journey begins with a first step. Detox sets the stage for the rest of the rehabilitation process, by preparing addicts to approach and engage with their drug treatment programs. Your detox experience, in other words, will be instrumental in determining the outcome of everything that follows it. With so much to lose, and so much more to win, you need the best help you can get.

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Signs And Symptoms Of Alcohol Or Drug Abuse

It is heartbreaking to hear from a teenager who wants to help their mom get treatment for alcohol and drug abuse and into a drug rehab center. But, at the same time, it is also enlightening to find that even young people can take proactive action to get help for his or her alcoholic or addict parent. You can also be proactive and take action now to help a friend or a loved one stop their alcohol and drug abuse, get them an intervention and into a drug rehab facility. If you are concerned that a friend or family member has a drinking or drug problem, pay attention to his or her behavior. Does it seem to occur on a regular basis? Are you often concerned about this person? The first step in getting help is to recognize the signs and symptoms of alcohol or drug abuse. Some of the early signs of alcohol abuse include noticing that the person is getting drunk on a regular basis, lying about how much alcohol he or she is using, having frequent hangovers, having black outs (forgetting what the person did while he or she was drinking). Signs of drug addiction may include the person’s inability to socialize and to perform routine activities, odd behaviors (altered speech, paranoia, lying) and very often, signs of depression (or “feeling down”). Depending on what drug they are using, you may also find drug paraphernalia in his or her surroundings.

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Addiction Rehab Recovery Does It Work ?

Addiction Rehab recovery is a multi-level, lifelong process. But to best understand addiction recovery, first understand what addiction is. Addiction is when a substance is used repeatedly and compulsively regardless of negative consequences of that use. Those negative consequences can be social, psychological and/or physical. There are many substances that can be abused today, some are legal and some are illegal. Addiction can be physical. When this happens, there are withdrawal symptoms when the substance is not used often enough or in high enough doses. Withdrawal and dependency are sure signs of a drug addiction.

When these signs occur, it is in the best interests of the addicted person to start the initial phase of addiction recovery which is called detox. Detox or detoxification is the removal of the substance (or substances) from the person’s body. It is best done under the care of a medical practitioner specializing in drug treatment.

The next step in addiction recovery is primary treatment. Primary treatment happens either during or after detox and its goal is to get to the root of the addiction problem. Primary treatment can come in many forms from short multi-day inpatient stays to outpatient visits.

Next is the extended care chapter in addiction recovery. Extended care also comes in many forms from addiction counseling to medication to joining a support a group. The main goal of extended care is helping the addicted person realign their vision of themselves and begin the process of transitioning back into their life. Extended care is similar to the next step, transitional living.

Transitional living is a step in addiction recovery utilized by some recovering addicts. Transitional living is the actual process of transitioning from inpatient care back to a normal, everyday life. Transitional living usually involves staying in a sober living home or another similar housing situation. This type of transitional home offers structure, support and a solid base for learning to live in the everyday world again. Many of these homes offer a variety of counseling, 12 step support groups and even employment assistance.

Outpatient treatment is the final step in addiction recovery. It includes many options such as counseling, behavioral management (such as coping with emotional issues that may have been hidden by the drug abuse), medications and support groups to assist in everyday living stresses.

Though there is no cure for drug Rehab addiction, there is help. For anyone seeking to overcome a drug addiction, there are countless options available. There is a different drug treatment center for each person and each addiction but there are treatments for everyone. Following these steps and seeking assistance with a drug problem is the first step to addiction recovery in a Rehab.

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