Addiction Blog. Insight and Advice
from Our Austin Area Addiction Recovery Experts.

How does drug addiction affect my job or professional career? If you’re a man struggling with addiction, remember that it impacts every area of your life. From your family and your relationships, to your health, even to your finances and work situation. If you’re struggling with an addiction to illegal drugs such as meth, cocaine,…

Recent data was compiled by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) highlighting which jobs have a higher rates of substance or alcohol abuse. Work can be a major stressor in our lives but some jobs create more stress than others with some workers choosing drug or alcohol abuse as a way to…

A Texas native, Joe Hartwell was born in Houston. Following a troubled home life and his parents divorced when he was 12, Joe left home at age 14 and hitchhiked to California. He spent the next two years following the Grateful Dead as they toured across the US and began experimenting with drugs an alcohol….

The dads of today’s busy world are doing everything they can to be “Super Dad” by balancing the many demanding tasks and responsibilities. It seems like there are a long string of never-ending demands on your time and energy that can quickly build the levels of stress and anxiety in your life. Men commonly don’t…

Relapse can be experienced like this: a momentary relief followed by a devastating emotional blow. All that hard work, it seems, for nothing.Ever created a project on your computer only to have it fry on you, its contents gone forever? It was going along so well, you think. Why didn’t I take the necessary precautions…

The brain has many self-produced neurochemicals which make people feel happiness and joy when an experience occurs. Seven brain molecules are linked to happiness. Here are some keys to unlocking this potential in the brain and in people’s lives. Happiness Daily activities and lifestyle choices have the power to affect overall happiness. One negative side-effect…

No words can describe or express our deepest thanks and gratitude to The Last Resort for everything you have done for our son/brother. Just saying thank you doesn’t seem like enough but seems like a good start. Before our daughter found The Last Resort for her brother, we thought we would be making funeral arrangements….

The day is finally here. The sun is shining outside as you gather your things and sign out at the front registry. You completed your intensive residential treatment program here at The Last Resort and you’re ready to walk out into the world a new man and begin your life after alcohol rehab. Beginning Life…

I came into the program for the fourth time and God willing, the last time, in 2012 at the age of 24. I got out of treatment full of fear and was restless, irritable, and discontented. I was thrown into a sober house with all these questions plaguing me and weighing down every step I…

In July of this year, I reached rock bottom. My addiction had taken full control of my life and I was living in a depressing state of unmanageability. Although I had lost hope in my future I was blessed with a willingness to surrender. I didn’t know where I wanted to go, but I knew…

We are all familiar with the marriage vows “for better or worse, richer or poorer, in sickness and in health”. A person who expresses these vows rarely considers that the “better or worse” might include living with a partner who is suffering from drug or alcohol addiction. While some marriage partners might prefer to terminate…

Most people associate post-traumatic stress disorder (“PTSD”) with military service veterans who have experienced the violence and terror of a war zone and who are having difficulties reintegrating into a peaceful society. PTSD is a very real problem for many military veterans, but it is not confined to just that group. Anyone who has survived…

Alcohol has been a part of western culture for hundreds of years and we’re all familiar with the classic “drunkenness” that it produces, along with the infamous hangover that greets us the next day. So, in an effort to better understand the substance that creates so many dangerous addictions, let’s take a look at the…

As of July 1, 2015, twenty-four US states have legalized medical marijuana use. However, even with almost half of the country legally behind cannabis, the drug is still controversial. Those in favor of marijuana stand behind the belief that there are few long term effects of using, while those against it say the opposite. They…

If you have suffered a sleep disorder, or if you are taking a lengthy transcontinental flight, your physician might prescribe Ambien to help you sleep. Ambien (or, in its generic form, “zolpidem”) is a non-traditional sedative that has a depressant effect on your central nervous system. It works directly on your brain by slowing down…

Xanax is an anti-anxiety medication belonging to the drug family of benzodiazepines, first developed in the late 1960’s as a sleep aid. The short and long term side effects of Xanax can be dangerous and ultimately lead to addiction.Officially known as alprazolam, but more commonly known by any or all of its street names—Bars, Z-bars,…

Depression and alcoholism often go hand-in-hand. Individuals who suffer from depression or other psychological disorders may be more prone to alcoholism, and because alcohol is itself a depressant, an alcoholic may experience depression symptoms as he sinks further into the clutches of his disease. Alcoholism and depression may each be catalysts for the other. However,…

Drug addiction and alcoholism will rob an individual of every opportunity to live a complete and well-rounded life. Procuring drugs and alcohol gradually becomes the sole concentration and purpose of the addict’s existence to the exclusion of family, friends, and career. Addiction rehab and recovery will help the addict to break his physical and chemical…

Medical and recreational marijuana use has gained increasing acceptance in the United States over the past ten years. In spite of that acceptance, individuals who use marijuana and its primary active component, THC, can find themselves at a point of abusing these substances, in which case they will need to break their patterns of abuse….

Because alcoholism is such a widespread problem, it has spawned a massive amount of research has been conducted in an effort to thwart it. Over the years, scientists have developed—and discovered—many types of medication for alcohol withdrawal treatment that help make alcohol withdrawal manageable. Alcohol withdrawal is a menacing illness that be tough to endure…