Addiction Blog. Insight and Advice
from Our Austin Area Addiction Recovery Experts.
Discrimination After Rehab…So What?
Detox was hell. Rehab tested every ounce of willpower in your blood. You’d think that recovery alone would be the ultimate triumph: you’ve finally achieved sobriety. You’re ready to lead a healthy, productive life. Haunting Past Then come the questions, the stares, the rumors. People might know you were a drug abuser. You want to…
Do I Need a Recovery Coach? Benefits of a Sober Life Coach for Recovery
In the difficult terrain of recovery, there are some pretty bad days. It’s not easy and every step of the journey is a learning experience. It’s for this reason that many recovering addicts will opt for a recovery coach to help them along the way. A recovery coach is a professional sober life coach who…
Do People Overdose on Vicodin?
Like all drugs that are derived from opiates, Vicodin is addictive. Also like other opiate drugs, people who use Vicodin improperly are at a very real risk of overdosing on it. Vicodin is a combination of hydrocodone and acetaminophen. Although neither of these drugs by itself poses a serious overdose risk, the combination of both…
Do People Really Have Internet Addiction?
Like most drug addictions, behavioral addictions have gained a lot of acceptance in recent years. However, internet addiction doesn’t appear in the latest addition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the bible of mental health conditions for the whole field of psychiatry. In this day and age, that’s somewhat of a surprise,…
Do You Have A Gambling Problem?
Obsessive gambling is a behavioral disorder that spans a spectrum from occasional episodes of excessive gambling through full gambling addiction. Individuals who suffer from this disorder will exhibit the same dopamine reward response that is experienced by individuals with substance addiction. This includes withdrawal symptoms that may not be as severe as withdrawal from addictive…
Does Addiction Affect Men and Women Differently?
While addiction affects us all in devastating ways, requiring serious treatment attention and counseling to overcome, several clinics and studies are starting to notice that addiction affects men and women a bit differently. Understanding these differences is key to providing appropriate recovery support to both genders.For starters, the physiology of drug use differs from men…
Does Insurance Cover Rehab?
How can commercial insurance help me get the drug addiction help that I need? If you’re struggling with drug addiction or alcoholism, then you know what it’s doing to your life. The addiction to alcohol or drugs is linked to severe health problems, including damage to your heart, kidneys, lungs, or even brain. Not only…
Does Marijuana Affect Weight Gain?
Recently a group of researchers at the University of Montreal decided to analyze an NDIT (Nicotine Dependence in Teens) study led by Jennifer O’Loughlin. Nearly 1300 teens had agreed to share continual information regarding their diet, overall mental and physical health, physical activities, and frequency of cannabis, alcohol, or nicotine use. Because the study was…
Does Marijuana Cause Lung Cancer?
When you inhale marijuana smoke, you are introducing foreign substances into your lungs. Research scientists and physicians have long expected that inhaling foreign substances can damage your lungs and ultimately cause cancer. Moreover, those scientists have determined that marijuana smoke contains greater concentrations of the carcinogenic chemicals that are found in cigarette smoke. The expectation…
Don’t Carry Hate in Your Heart
It is often said that holding on to hatred is like drinking poison in the hopes that another person will die. We see examples of people letting go of hatred and offering forgiveness throughout history, including Pope John Paul II’s forgiving his would-be assassin, Mehmet Ali Agca after Agca shot and nearly killed the Pope…
Don’t Detox on Your Own – It Could Endanger Your Life
What can I do to overcome my drug addiction? When you’re struggling with drug addiction, it can be hard to know where to turn. Addiction can make it seem hopeless. How do you overcome such a craving? How do you protect yourself from the threat of relapse? Even before you get to those problems, how…
Dopamine and the Brain’s Reward System
At some point in man’s evolution and history, dopamine played a key role in assuring the survival of the species. When early man experienced something that we now recognize as pleasurable, his brain would release the dopamine neurotransmitter, which would then course through his body and create sensations of pleasure. Dopamine would be released when…
Driving Drunk During the Holidays
The holidays are a time for traveling and for fun. Unfortunately, as holiday celebrations go, those two don’t always mix well. Christmas is nearing, the eggnog is already flying off the shelves, and with the roads getting more slick, it’s time for the yearly reminder of just how easily one can become too impaired to…
Drug Addiction and the Family Unit
When a person falls down the rabbit hole into addictive addiction, the consequences are anything but individual.Everyone you come in contact with, from close family members to strangers on the street, will be affected by your addiction. To strangers, your incoherent mumblings or angry rantings will be fleeting; however, those closest to you have to…
Drug Addiction, Forgiveness, and Your Son
What can I do if my son is struggling with drug addiction? Parents all over the world are worried about their children, and how drug addiction impacts their lives. And though it can be tempting to get upset at your son for drug usage, you should keep in mind that anger isn’t going to help…
Drug Addiction Treatment for Men
Locating a treatment center that is oriented around specialized alcohol and drug addiction treatment for men can prove to be quite complicated in a number of ways. Sometimes, it’s easier for men to truly focus on recovery if they are surrounded by other men that are in the same struggle. Sometimes, this makes a man…
Drug And Alcohol Rehab What To Expect In Rehab
Most people develop their concepts of drug and alcohol rehab what to expect from popular culture and news stories. These are full of stories about celebrities who check themselves into rehab after drug- or alcohol-induced public meltdowns. Celebrity rehab centers are often shown as luxurious retreats. Here residents spend their time lounging around a pool…
Drug Dealers, Mexican Cartels, and How Rehab Fights Them
How do drug dealers and the drug trade affect me? If your one of the people who are struggling with drug addiction, you might not realize just what effect it’s been having. Though it’s often thought of as a “victimless crime,” drug abuse is anything but. In fact, the trade in illegal drugs and abuse…
Drug Dealers—What You Really Support with Addiction
What am I supporting when I give money to drug dealers? When you’re struggling with addiction, it can be hard to figure out just what effect that addiction is having. But though some people think of drug addiction is a victimless crime, the truth is that it’s anything but. Remember that when you buy drugs,…
Drug Overdose Statistics – Does My Son Need Drug Overdose Treatment?
Does My Son Need Drug Overdose Treatment? What can I do if my son is at-risk for overdose? Unfortunately, the reality of drug addiction is that anyone who uses drugs is at-risk for overdose—especially anyone using prescription drugs, which offer a much higher risk of fatal drug overdose. And as a parent, it can be…
Drug Rehab for Men: Stay Positive!
How can men and teenagers deal with drug addiction? If you’re a man who’s struggling with drug addiction, or if you’re a parent who’s worrying about their son, drug treatment and rehab is the best choice for beating drug addiction and making a journey toward recovery. But when you’re making a recovery through rehab, one…
