Archive for June, 2011

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The Process of Drug Addiction

June 27th, 2011

Many people all over the world suffer with addiction of one form or another and drug addiction is one of the most intimidating forms. Addictions have the quality of causing harm to the person engaged in them or the people around that person and for drug addictions, this effect can be devastating. Here we will look at the basic process of drug addiction so that you can better understand what it is.

How it Begins

Usually the person first tries the substance that they end up addicted to as an innocent form of experimentation with friends or family. They might have one beer, or a cigarette or a mood altering pill. They may enjoy the experience and feel like they are not at the risk of developing addictions because they can stop whenever they want.

One of the things that drugs have in common is that they all change how you feel right now. Whether you feel sad or anxious or depressed or nervous, you will feel something different after the substance. It may not necessarily be any better of a feeling; but it does get you out of your current state. The next time you feel the anxiety or nervousness or sadness, you may feel that you want to feel different right now. So, you turn back to that drug that worked the first time.

This is often times how it starts and you are not yet fully in the world of addictions. You are merely using a substance to feel differently. Eventually, however, the very fabric of your brain begins to change. You begin to associate the drug with feeling differently, with feeling better, just because it helped you to feel different.

How it Continues

Depending on how often you use the substance, this part of the addictions course could take a while. You begin to use the drug with increasing frequency and eventually, it may gain control over you. It is no longer your choice to have a drink or a cigarette or a pill, it is something that you must do in order to feel okay with yourself. It is no longer a matter of changing your feelings; it is just a matter of staying at a basic level of comfort. You have become dependent; you have stepped into the world of addictions.

How it Stops

There are many answers to how addictions stop having such a stronghold on the people they affect. Some people use their will power to stop addictions while others seek psychological or medical support. While some people choose to go to treatment voluntarily because they want to stop their addictions, others are forced to go because of the law or their families. Some people say that it does not make a difference whether you are forced into treatment or not for it to work. Many people find success with overcoming their addictions in both cases.

The important thing is to have space away from the substance and enough psychological and medical support so that you can ease back into the pleasant and nourishing world of sobriety.

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The Sweat and Saliva Drug Test Methods

June 24th, 2011

There are several ways by which drug abuse tests are done. Of the different types of drug testing, random drug testing is considered the most effective. Many private corporations and government agencies use it as part of their pre-employment requirements. Drug rehabilitation centers, correctional institutions, the police and military also employ this type of testing.

Lately, some schools have been mandated to perform random drug testing on both their employees and students. Parents may also use it on their teenage children.

However, there are those who criticize random drug testing, saying it’s a violation of privacy. An example critics give is when an employee, during working hours, is subjected to the test when he’s not even intoxicated. The presumption of guilt involved here is what they are most concerned about.

Of course, deterrence of drug abuse, more than anything else, is the objective in any type of substance use testing.

As there are different types of drug testing, so are there different methods. Two of the several drug abuse tests are the saliva drug test and the sweat test.

Saliva drug screen:

This drug abuse test, which is also called oral fluid-based drug screen, is employed to detect use of a substance during the past few days. Because of its convenience, the saliva screen is turning out to be the most frequently used. In addition, results from this test are difficult to corrupt.

Also, this test makes possible the easy implementation of random drug testing in places of work (private or government corporations), sports agencies or associations, hospitals, and schools.

Saliva drug screen can detect any of the CNS stimulants (cocaine or crack), opiates (morphine or heroin), benzodiazepines (diazepam or flurazepam), methamphetamines (“ice” or “speed”), amphetamines, or phencyclidines from time of use up to three days. It can detect cannabis, such as marijuana or hashish, one hour after use up to twenty-four hours.

Sweat drug screen:

In this drug abuse test, patches are attached to the skin to collect sweat over a period of about two weeks. The patches are designed with security features to detect surreptitious removal and re-attachment. The patches are sent to a laboratory for analysis immediately after the test period. If the individual has used any drug during the test period, the patches will test positive for that.

The sweat drug screen is almost exclusively used by agencies or institutions concerned with use of drugs over long periods (read: drug abuse or addiction), particularly when it’s impractical to use urine drug screen (another method of drug abuse testing). Child protective services and such other government agencies or departments are examples of these.

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Women and Addiction

June 23rd, 2011

There are many things that people all over the world want to change about their lives in order to live in a healthy way. Some of us face problems with addictions, which are patterns that cause harm to ourselves or others that we have little or no control over. Many women face issues of addiction and are also confronted with the effect these behaviors have on our children. Here we will look at some aspects of the process of addiction as it relates to women as well as the factors that helped them to change.

Factors Leading to Addiction

For any person, addiction can happen for a variety of reasons. Often times there is a time in our lives filled with stress when we learned that avoiding our feelings was easier than dealing with them. By replacing feelings with the use of a substance or activity, like smoking or gambling, people can continually avoid the feelings and develop a problem. For women, there are even more factors.

Although some men do have sexual traumas, it is more common that women are the ones who get raped or molested by adults at a young age. The women may not even remember the original trauma but can still cover up the feelings by using a substance to take their place. This means that they may have to deal with those feelings in order to overcome the addiction.

Effects of Addictions for Women

For anyone, an addiction can cause problems in the family. The lack of trust that the family can feel towards the person can cause family bonds to deteriorate. For women with children, the effect on their relationship can be devastating. Part of the problem may be the guilt that the woman feels from putting her needs above those of her children, which goes against the maternal instinct.

How Women Overcome Addictions

There are many ways to overcome addiction. Usually people combine psychological help with physical help. For instance, seeing a counselor as well as attending a rehab facility that deals with physical withdrawals if the addiction was to something like heroin that has severe withdrawal effects on the body.

One thing that women have been shown to do is replace the addiction with an activity they feel passionate about. For instance, some women choose to start up a running habit instead of smoking cigarettes. This helps them to feel better health-wise as well as to still get a rush of adrenaline from all the physical exertion.

Studies have shown that women who try to stop an addiction for the sake of their loved ones are not as likely to succeed as the women who stop for themselves. Wanting to quit the harmful pattern is the most important piece of the puzzle. If you want to quit because of your children, you might be able to for a little while, but you will be far more likely to succeed if you want to stop for your own sake.

When it comes to addiction, there is no easy way out. The most important thing is to truly look inside of yourself and find the reasons you have for wanting to step outside of that comfort zone and live a healthier and more productive life. No one wants to live in the cage of addiction and we are all capable of changing.

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