Now is the Time to Seek Help

Getting help for yourself or someone you care about regarding drug use is best instigated sooner than later.

Addiction is almost universally acknowledged as a disease by the medical field and  it is a progressive disease at that.  The gradual nature of addiction and the way that it affects the brain can often lead the one suffering with it to believe there is not a problem.

Addiction is also a family diseaese and this denial often permeates the entire family, leading to elaborate rituals that will enable the primary drug abuser to continue the drug use without experiencing consequences.

It can be difficult to begin conversations that will confront the drug use. This is why there is an entire industry of professionals whose sole purpose is to facilitate this difficult “intervention” into the user’s life to try and compel them to seek help with their drug use.  The interventionist will also be invaluable in helping the family of the individual to recognize the part that they play in the the addiction cycle and cease that immediately.  Often, these exact behaviors are what provide adequate leverage to get the drug user to accept treatment.

Recommended Treatment

We have found that the best treatment is:

  • residential
  • gender specific during initial detox and primary phase of care
  • a combination of 12-step principles and other therapeutic processes
  • more effective if it is long term

There are correlations between all of the above and and the likelihood of successful outcomes. As you seek treatment, we urge you not to consider treatment methods that claim to provide a “cure” for addiction.  Addiction requires constant ongoing maintenance – but this is not to mean that the path or recovery is a permanent sentence.  In fact, life in the recovery community can be incredibly empowering and joyous.  Some people claim it is the first experience of being serene  and happy in their entire lives.

A Word About Opiate Abusers

As many families have found out the hard way, prescription drug abuse is particularly sinister in the way it “sneaks up” on the individual and becomes habitual without their realizing it.  Many a user has innocently started down this road by using pills that were prescribed for a legitimate medical condition, or by recreationally experimenting with a drug they might consider “safe” due to its legality.

We have covered so many instances of accidental overdose in this website that we wanted to make a special mention that painkiller addiction is often fatal and help should be sought immediately – if possible before the very next use.  This epidemic of opiate addiction and overdose has affected so many young people from “stable” middle class backgrounds that these cases have really grabbed our attention in recent years – although of course any life negatively affected by addiction is a tragedy.

Some Resources:

SAMHSA – The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.  This website provides an extensive listing of treatment centers and will undoubtedly be able to offer some kind of resource within a reasonable distance from your location.

NIDA – National Institute on Drug Abuse. This website has a plethora of information about various drugs and a lot of good information about seeking help.

Sober Living by the Sea A California rehab center that practices a combination of 12-step treatment with the latest in evidence based therapeutic practices

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