Blog

Modern science puts a new spin on the word addiction. This term is traditionally reserved for dependence on a substance like heroin or alcohol, but, today, medical professionals know that certain behaviors trigger a similar brain response. The medical community now also applies the word addiction to a range of compulsive behaviors that follow a cycle. When one behavior becomes a focus of your loved one’s life, the pattern may indicate an addiction that requires professional treatment. To understand why someone you care about may have a behavioral addiction, you must know more about the brain.

When you are watching a loved one become lost in addiction or a psychiatric disorder, you feel desperate to help them. You long to get things back to normal, to the way they used to be. Are you trying to find out how long your loved one may have to undergo treatment? The answer varies. Keep reading to find out which factors can affect the length of treatment.

While you may look at your bank account and wonder how you can possibly afford your loved one’s stay in a drug treatment center, you know that there is little question as to the value of the proposition. The thought of seeing a familiar smile, no matter how faint, or an inspired spark in their eyes about some long-buried dream tends to trump budgets for most.

The human brain controls your entire body, including your thought processes. According to Web MD1, billions of neurons connect, communicate and work together to ensure that your body works effectively and that your body moves in the way that you direct. The brain communicates through a complicated series of electrical signals and chemicals, says Web MD2. When a doctor diagnoses a mental health condition, it means that your brain does not communicate in a normal way. In some cases, it causes or contributes to an addiction to drugs or alcohol. In other situations, substance abuse directly causes your mental health condition.

Psychologists and addiction researchers have long understood that one of the most important factors in developing effective treatment methodologies for substance abuse is understanding the underlying causes of it. Assessing an individual’s personal life, mental and physical health, and cultural influences are absolutely essential. But in analyzing the explosive growth of substance abuse and addiction since the end of World War II, researchers have come to recognize the importance of society’s impact on the prevalence of these destructive behaviors, and the role the institutions that make up a society play.

When a loved one shows signs of a mood disorder like bipolar disorder, he or she acts out in ways that family members do not always understand. In some cases, a loved one uses drugs or alcohol as a coping strategy or worsens the symptoms of bipolar disorder by abusing a substance. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness1, almost 50 percent of men and women with a severe form of bipolar disorder and 33 percent of all individuals with a mental health disorder abuse drugs or alcohol.

People with a substance addiction often have another co-occurring mental illness, known as a dual diagnosis. Many treatment programs involve treating each part of the dual diagnosis separately, which studies show may not be optimal. Some addiction treatment centers may refer the patient to another facility for mental health care. Others lack the knowledge and tools to treat both disorders, limiting the patient's prognosis. Research continues to examine the complex mechanisms behind co-occurring disorders. While each case is unique, many factors can improve your loved one's chances of recovery.

Family involvement in a loved one's treatment and recovery from drugs or alcohol provides a powerful tool that prevents future addiction and substance abuse. The National Institutes on Health1 report that the family plays a central role in an individual's recovery because they provide the support system. Although the family helps a loved one reach personal goals, they also need support and assistance throughout the process so that the entire family improves and grows.

If you wake up each morning, wondering whether your life is worth living or saving, you should keep in mind that you are far from alone. Many people, whether gripped by drug addiction or some other inadequate coping device such as gambling or excessive shopping, struggle in this world that continually finds new ways to throw flaming curve balls at them. It is entirely too easy to harshly judge yourself, no matter what coping choice you make. And often, drug use and eventual addiction is less about a conscious choice you made when you became involved with drugs as it was an available means to drown out the world's noise and chaos.

Alcoholism is a devastating disease that can rip apart families, destroy careers, and jeopardize physical health. If you have a loved one who is struggling with alcoholism, these terrible outcomes aren't the only reason quitting is extremely important. Alcohol abuse significantly raises an individual's risk of taking their own life. Find out more about the connection between alcohol and suicide below. Then, reduce your loved one's risk by helping them get professional help today.

If you wake up each morning feeling sick and exhausted, you are probably starting to feel the many possible negative physical impacts that drug addiction is causing in your body. As difficult as it to accept, drugs cause chaos in your body. The longer you use drugs, the more damage they can do to your body. (1) Some of the possible illnesses or condition you might experience when using drugs over a long duration include the following:

Withdrawal is a challenge all people recovering from drug addiction must face. After prolonged drug use, the body becomes conditioned to depend on the drug to maintain stasis, or a normal level of function. When the person reduces or discontinues drug use, unpleasant symptoms may occur.