DRUG
REHABILITATION

Drug and alcohol rehab centers should offer a variety of treatment programs that can meet individual needs and offer sustained help. Programs may include inpatient, residential, outpatient, and/or short-stay options. While alcohol and drug addiction progress through predictable stages, each individual's experience has quite personal and unique characteristics. It takes a trained professional, either a physician or therapist specializing in addictions, to make an accurate diagnosis and prescribe the most appropriate drug treatment rehabilitation program.

Not all alcohol and drug rehabilitation centers are the same—they can differ significantly in philosophies, program options, credentials, staff skills and qualifications, and cost. The process of selecting the right drug rehab center can be confusing. Most of us don't know exactly what to look for or the questions to ask that will help determine the drug rehab center that's best designed to meet our needs.

When my parents took me home from the drug rehabilitation center they forgot the instruction manual. Hence, growing up in a dysfunctional and alcoholic home taught me many things that has carried over into my adult life. Unfortunately, many of the things I learned have no use for me today. Yet these defense mechanisms remain a part of my being...

It's wonderful when you think about the tapestry of recovery. It's never a dull white sheet but rather wondrous shapes and colors, florals and swirls that are unique to each individual's life. When all those patches are brought together they cover all of us with beauteous warmth that provides shelter and support to all of us as we share that quilt with each other. My journey into recovery is unique to me but by sharing that I add to the texture of our quilt...

I believe that I was born with the disease of alcoholism. My family consists of six children, myself being one of the middle children. Neither of my parents are alcoholics. However, my mother is the child of a very abusive and angry alcoholic father. My early childhood was, what appeared to be...

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Those who struggle with drug addiction do not set out to destroy themselves and everyone and everything in their path--rather, these cataclysmic consequences are the effect of the vicious cycle of addiction. Drug use and abuse may seem to avert emotional and physical pain by providing the user with a temporary and illusionary escape from or way to cope with life's realities. In fact, more problems--serious ones--are created by using drugs.

Alcohol use and abuse is associated with serious medical problems such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, and brain damage. Alcohol can also elevate the risk for depression, as well as all types of anxiety and personality disorders. Knowing some of the facts and what help is available could save you and/or your loved ones untold pain and self destruction.

Diversion and abuse of the prescription pain reliever OxyContin ® has become a major problem. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reports that, in the United States, oxycodone products, including OxyContin ®, are frequently abused pharmaceuticals. The pharmacological effects of OxyContin ® make it a suitable substitute for heroin--and is attractive to the same abuser population.

The word "cocaine" refers to the drug in both a powder (cocaine) and crystal (crack) form. It is made from the coca plant and causes a short-lived high that is immediately followed by opposite, intense feelings of depression, edginess, and a craving for more of the drug. Using cocaine has dangerous emotional and physical effects that can prove to destructive to all aspects of a person's life--and can even be fatal without drug rehabilitation.

Methamphetamine--known by such slang names as speed, meth, chalk, ice, crystal, crank, glass, and uppers--is a highly addictive and ultimately dangerous stimulant. Whatever the excuse to use meth, or whatever the perceived short-term attraction to the drug may be, meth use is predictably physically, emotionally and mentally destructive.