FAQ Series: Is transitional sober living necessary?

I was recently asked by someone about to finish a drug rehab program in a rehabilitation center whether I thought transitional sober living was necessary for them to stay sober. The short answer to that is that nothing is “necessary” to stay clean and sober except a daily decision to remain that way. However transitional sober living definitely helps people who are newly sober stay that way after they leave a rehabilitation center.

Transitional sober living eases you back into life after a drug rehab program
Many people “go back out”—that is to say, they get drunk or high—soon after finishing a drug rehab program and leaving the rehabilitation center. This is because drug and alcohol abuse is the only coping mechanism they have made to handle life’s issues. If they don’t do a good job of learning new coping mechanisms while in a rehabilitation center, these recovering addicts don’t have much hope of sticking with their treatment plan.

The purpose of a transitional sober living home is to reintegrate you into society at your own pace. While I’ve already given the example of the person who “can’t handle life” once he gets out of a drug rehab program, I’ll now give you the more common example: someone who tries to take on way too much for their own good. When we’re using drugs and alcohol, most of our energy is being sapped by our addiction. However, once someone gets clean and sober at a rehabilitation center, they usually notice a tremendous surge in their energy levels. They may find they’ve forgotten about goals they’ve had for years, or they may decide they like a whole new set of hobbies.

Transitional sober living helps center these people and keep their focus on recovery during these first few months after rehab. Too many recovering addicts leave a rehabilitation center and get two jobs and a girlfriend and start school and start volunteering and so on. Transitional sober living gives you the opportunity to try your hand at all of life’s new challenges, while also giving you a safe space to come home to, where you and your fellows all have common goals.

Recovery is for us girls too!

So, I’ve been reading up on this blog and I noticed that there’s almost nothing about women in recovery. As a woman who has attended a drug addiction program in an addiction center, I know that there are quite a few women in recovery. From my experience in a same-sex sober living home I know there are sober living homes in Southern California that are for women. I just thought I’d shed some light on the subject of drug addiction programs for women, so that if there’s a girl in trouble who’s reading this blog, she knows there is help out there.

A drug addiction program for women at an addiction center
I went to a drug addiction program at an Orange County addiction center that was mixed with men and women. However, the therapists and counselors were definitely sensitive to my issues, and my individual counseling reflected this deep understanding on their part. My drug addiction program was specially tailored to deal with my past issues involving sexual trauma and an eating disorder.

Through focused and insightful one-on-one counseling with an understanding therapist, I was able to confront my issues that were driving me to abuse drugs and alcohol. It was like a huge weight was lifted off my back once these issues were aired in a professional and therapeutic setting. The experience was also a little frightening, because these were some deep fears and memories that I had kept secret for decades. Now that I’ve been clean and sober for a few years, I’m very grateful I went to a drug addiction program at an addiction center that had treated hundreds of women addicts before me.

The women’s sober living home helped my transition after rehab
After my month in the addiction center, I moved into its affiliated sober living home for women, which was also in Dana Point, California. It was exactly what I needed at that time of my recovery: a safe space where I could take new life challenges at my own pace. Oh, and not to forget, I couldn’t go back to where I was staying before because I lived with my dealer! Not only did the sober living home protect me from having to deal with that mess, but I feel like I met a great group of sisters while living there. We supported each other and looked out for one another, and that sometimes made all the difference.

I wanted more than just a 12-step rehab center

I recently got out of a 12-step rehab center in Southern California, and I thought I’d post to the drug rehab blog as a review of sorts. My search for an affordable alcohol rehab had me calling and visiting lots of places. This was not only the nicest looking, but also the most affordable alcohol rehab I came across in my search. While it is a 12-step rehab, I should mention that that’s not the only treatment they offer there.

I wanted to go above and beyond a 12-step rehab center
It’s not that I don’t think the 12-step approach is therapeutic; I know the 12 Steps do wonders for many millions of people. But, I had been to a 12-step rehab center before, with unsuccessful results. If I was going to do this again, I felt compelled to find an affordable alcohol rehab that offered the 12-step method along with some other treatment options. That search led me to an affordable alcohol rehab that offered holistic therapies in addition to the traditional 12-step and psychotherapy approach.

A different kind of 12-step rehab center
After seeing pictures of this place, I was amazed that it was an affordable alcohol rehab. Not only was it in a beautiful home in Dana Point, California (the “Gold Coast” of Orange County), but it also had a wealth of holistic treatment options. From acupuncture to massage, meditation to equine therapy, this place had healing options up the wazoo. Not only did they have rapid medical detox programs—which I needed because the withdrawals from the amount of booze I was drinking might have killed me—but they also had hookups with sober living homes in the area where I could go after treatment. This affordable alcohol rehab was truly amazing, and I recommend it to anyone who’s looking to beat their addiction before it gets any worse.

No One "Chooses" Addiction

Remember the public service announcement in the nineties that said, “No one ever says, ‘I wanna be a junkie when I grow up’”? Well, that’s entirely true. No one chooses addiction, just as no one chooses leukemia or Parkinson’s, or any chronic, fatal disease for that matter. But because addiction is a mental illness that warps your thinking and your actions, addicts start to do horrible things to people around them as a result of addiction. It’s hard to always remember that it’s not the addicts who are causing the harm, but rather their disease-addled brain. Addicts are suffering from a mental illness, and they need all the help they can get. To think that someone actively “chooses” addiction is absurd.

A rehabilitation program at a drug treatment center
Addicts no longer have to live that way if they realize they have a problem and they accept treatment at an alcohol drug rehab. An alcohol drug rehab center can do wonders for an addict, especially when a rehabilitation program is specially tailored to the individual patient. While in a drug treatment center, addicts learn all about the disease of addiction and how it manifests itself in their lives. As part of a rehabilitation program in an alcohol drug rehab, the bonds that were once broken between addict and family are restored with the help of licensed therapists and addiction medicine staff.

For the addict, it’s important to know that you’re not alone. Neither are you evil, broken, stupid or weak. You are simply suffering from a disease that requires a rehabilitation program in a drug treatment center as a course of action. A short stay in an alcohol drug rehab will teach you the exact causes and conditions of your addiction, while the rehabilitation program works to fix the social and personal bonds that were damaged by the disease. For those who want it, there is help at their fingertips.

Addiction is a disease requiring an addiction recovery program

Addiction & alcoholism treatment halts the disease progression
For a long time, people thought that addiction was simply the result of a weak will or an immoral conscience. Then science stepped in and found that addiction is not a personality trait or a lack of willpower. On the contrary, modern science has found that it is a partially inheritable chronic disease requiring an addiction recovery program as an addiction & alcoholism treatment. Like any chronic disease, without addiction & alcoholism treatment the disease will only get worse, never better.

Willpower is not an effective alcoholism & addiction treatment
Even though the scientific and medical community has classified addiction as a treatable mental illness, some still think they’d rather skip the addiction recovery program and just try willpower instead. Most recovering addicts have tried this at some phase in their addictions, and I’m no exception.

For years I tried to cover up my alcoholism and drug addiction by “controlling” it, or so I thought. In my mind, I was doing a great job at controlling my drug and alcohol use with sheer mental willpower. Forget the fact that my job, family and friends were dissolving around me under the burden of my disease. I knew I was probably an alcoholic and a drug addict, but I believed I was smarter and better than other people in my situation. I had achieved great things in my school and career, this would be no different. Boy, was I wrong! If anything, hiding from an addiction recovery program just prolonged my suffering.

Addiction & alcoholism treatment helps addiction the way insulin helps diabetes
Addiction is often likened to diabetes because they are both chronic illnesses that only get worse without treatment. Also, there is a daily choice to accept treatment, in one case at an addiction recovery program and in the other example with insulin maintenance and mindful diet. The choice to accept alcoholism & addiction treatment is your choice to make on a daily basis. But, the choice to have addiction is not one you can make. No one chooses addiction, just as no one chooses diabetes or cancer.

But, with an addiction recovery program of some sort, you can receive daily alcoholism & addiction treatment and live a normal and productive life, happy, healthy and whole.

FAQ Series: What’s the timeline of a drug treatment center?

How a drug addiction program works
While each drug treatment center varies in the specifics, a typical drug addiction program lasts about a month. There are also detox programs recommended for some patients that last from a few days to a week. Detox programs occur at the drug treatment center either before or during the first part of a drug addiction program.

Some alcohol and drug treatment centers adhere to strict time schedules, enforcing move-out days for each patient, while others are more lenient on the time requirements/limits of their inpatient drug addiction programs. After the month at a drug treatment center, patients go home or enroll in various aftercare programs—including sober living homes—to help with their recovery.

Detox programs: a sensitive undertaking
Detox programs must be under the supervision of medical professionals because the body can react violently to drug and alcohol withdrawals. Having a doctor on hand for detox programs ensures that the patients’ safety is monitored while their bodies cleanse themselves of addictive chemicals.

Detox programs can be traditional—lasting about a week—or they can be rapid, which involves doctor-administered medications to lessen the severity and symptoms of withdrawal. Some people choose to feel the symptoms of withdrawal because they feel it will be a helpful deterrent against future substance abuse. Others, especially people in outpatient drug addiction programs, choose rapid detox so they can return to work or family as soon as possible.

Inpatient and outpatient drug addiction programs
Some drug treatment centers have the staff and resources available to also offer outpatient drug addiction programs in addition to their inpatient, residential drug addiction program. This is an especially popular choice amongst executives, professionals, and homemakers, or anyone else who can’t responsibly take a month away from their professional lives or family. Think of an outpatient program like a night school, where you attend a rigorous schedule of counseling and therapy sessions to help you understand and defeat your addiction.

Orange County sober living doesn’t cost a ton

I found myself in an unfortunate situation a couple weeks ago. I was just about to be released from an affordable alcohol rehab in Orange County. Sober living was discussed with me in many of the counseling sessions throughout my stay at the affordable alcohol rehab. However, I didn’t feel like I needed transitional sober living. I thought that I needed to jump back out into the world and tear off like a bull at all the pent-up issues I had discovered in treatment.

Transitional sober living probably saved my life
Whoops! Good thing I didn’t go too far with this plan. The truth is, transitional sober living was exactly what I needed, even though I was trying to act tough and strong by never taking the suggestion seriously. The second I got back to my home where I lived with my girlfriend, I knew I had made a mistake by not entering the Orange County sober living home my affordable alcohol rehab was affiliated with. My girlfriend was hardly supportive of my desire to get clean and sober. She tried to push booze on me every day I was back at my house.

Newly single, and needing more help, I inquired about transitional sober living
I went back to the rehab and asked to see the Orange County sober living home they were talking about all those times before. Now I know why it’s called “transitional sober living”; it helps me transition back into the stresses and challenges of life at a pace that my recovery can handle. I’ve been in this beautiful Orange County sober living home for men now for a couple weeks, and I feel so lucky that this is my new life. Not only was I lucky enough to find an affordable alcohol rehab, I found one that cared enough about my long-term sobriety to continually suggest a transitional sober living home for me after my release.

I found an Oxycontin detox and affordable drug rehab!

After searching for quite awhile, I finally found a place where I could get Oxycontin detox and Oxycontin treatment without paying an arm and a leg. Most drug rehabs that treat prescription drug addictions seem to cost tons. So, I was relieved to find an affordable drug rehab that offered Oxycontin treatment. What’s more, this place also offers Oxycontin detox and rapid Oxycontin detox, which is especially helpful during any sort of painful opiate withdrawals. I’ll briefly go into my experience with the Oxycontin detox, which I had before I started my Oxycontin treatment at this affordable drug rehab.

Oxycontin detox cleared the crud out of my body
I had become addicted to Oxycontin painkillers after a pretty gruesome back surgery had me bedridden. Without the oxy, I couldn’t even summon the courage to leave the bed at first because the pain was so bad. Soon my body built a tolerance to it, and I had to take even more oxy just to manage the pain. After awhile, I found that I had a full-blown addiction to Oxycontin, and that I needed to seek help. That’s when my search for an Oxycontin detox started, because I had already tried to go off the pills on my own, with horrible results. I simply couldn’t take those dreadful symptoms again!

That’s when I found an affordable drug rehab with an Oxycontin detox practice and I signed up. They gave me rapid Oxycontin detox so I could be back on my feet in just a few days. With the help of doctor-administered medications, my Oxycontin detox went smoothly and quickly. With my body free and clear of addictive chemicals, I was ready to start my Oxycontin treatment at this affordable drug rehab.

This alcohol detox center exceeded my expectations!

I recently underwent an alcohol detox program at an alcohol detox center in Orange County, California. I’ve been drinking since I was a teenager, and over the last few years my drinking has gotten way out of control. I tried a million ways to get it under control, but it was no use. My shrink suggested that maybe it was time to try an alcohol treatment program. I figured, what the hell have I got to lose? I wasn’t happy or healthy or fulfilled in any way. I was just drinking day in, day out. So, I decided to give it a shot.

My time in rehab started with an alcohol detox program
Before I could start treatment at this rehab, they said for my own safety I’d have to go through one of their alcohol detox programs at their attached alcohol detox center. This alcohol detox center gave me the option of a normal alcohol detox or a rapid detox program. I like anything with “rapid” in the title, so they started me on one of their rapid alcohol detox programs.

It was a lot faster and more comfortable than I had heard alcohol detox programs were supposed to be. The doctor at this alcohol detox center gave me medications to help ease any withdrawal symptoms. He told me that it also would help my body flush out the alcohol and re-grow the damaged areas faster as well.

Whatever it did, it sure worked! Within just a few days—instead of the week a traditional alcohol detox takes—I was ready to start my alcoholism treatment at the rehab. My body felt brand-new and humming with energy. My time in the rehab I’ll save for another post, but I just wanted to tell the blogosphere how amazed I was at the service and attention I received in this alcohol detox center.

FAQ Series: How Will I Have Fun Now?

A common question before attending an addiction recovery program
This is a worry a lot of us had before getting into an addiction recovery program. Looking back at it, though, it’s not like any of us were actually having fun around the time we were deciding to enter a rehabilitation program. In fact, our lives were pretty miserable, which is why we were contemplating a rehabilitation program to begin with, right? It’s just that our drug and alcohol abuse had evolved from a once social and fun activity. Even those of us who entered an addiction recovery program thinking it would be the end of “fun” as we knew it, we soon realized that our actions before rehab were anything but fun.

A rehabilitation program is your gateway to fun
While rehab was often a lot of emotional strain and effort, it was truly the door that opened onto a world beyond our wildest dreams. Myself, I entered an addiction recovery program just hoping to find some way to stop drinking. I had tried everything in the world to control my drinking, and nothing worked. Forget about fun! I was hiding in my apartment everyday and only leaving to go to the liquor store. Once I made my decision to get healthy and attend a rehabilitation program, that’s when my life started feeling real again.

Life after an addiction recovery program
What started for me as just a way to stop drinking has now turned into a life beyond anything I could have imagined. Nowadays, I can set my mind to almost anything and actually do it. When I feel like travelling or doing something new and challenging, no longer do I have to worry about how I can get drunk enough beforehand and maintain my buzz in order to feel comfortable. I have problems and issues that arise in my life the same as anyone else, but I no longer have to drink or use drugs in order to cope with them.

Alcoholism Treatment & Alcoholics Anonymous

Alcohol addiction treatment usually brings to mind Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), though this is not the only way to treat alcohol addiction. In fact, many alcoholism treatment programs exist which use additional therapeutic methods to discover the causes of one’s alcoholism and to treat the alcohol addiction effectively. These alternative alcohol addiction treatment methods are of special use for people who have tried 12-Step recovery before with negative results. Some such addiction alcoholism treatment methods include individual psychotherapy, guided imagery therapy, equine therapy, process group therapy, hypnotherapy, are and music therapy, to name just a few. Through these groundbreaking alcohol addiction treatment methods, alcoholism treatment centers can gain an understanding of the causes and consequences of your alcoholism. Armed with this deep personal understanding, you can work on defeating your alcohol addiction triggers and replacing with them with tools to lead a better life.

For most people in alcohol addiction treatment centers, however, AA provides a ready-made support system that can be easily accessed from virtually any locale in the United States and many cities abroad. AA is a common ground where recovering alcoholics of all ages, sex, race and creed may help one another in their daily recovery from alcohol addiction. The AA style of alcohol addiction treatment focuses on the premise that alcoholics suffer from the chronic and fatal disease of addiction; without daily alcoholism treatment, the disease only worsens.

By working a spiritual—not religious—program of surrender, acceptance, atonement and reflection one may slowly recover from alcohol addiction. We stress that AA is not religious because you can belong to any creed—or even none at all—and still find the same measure of success with the AA program of alcoholism treatment. The AA program only requires that you believe in something outside of and greater than yourself. This can be a Christian God, electricity, nature, or anything, even a group of recovering alcoholics! This is a simple hang-up that snags many people who reject the AA principles before they fully understand them.

“Retreaders” & Drug Alcohol Treatment Programs

Many people scoff at attending addiction treatment services in a center for addiction treatment because they’ve relapsed once already. They may use this negative experience as “proof” that drug alcohol treatment programs don’t work. However, it’s important not to let one bad apple ruin the whole bunch, especially when it comes to addiction treatment services.

The truth is that most drug addicts and alcoholics never get clean and sober; they simply die from the disease of addiction in its various forms. Accidents, overdoses, malnutrition, heart attacks, strokes and certain cancers are the end of the line for the vast majority of substance abusers. The lucky ones manage to realize they have a problem before it’s too late to seek addiction treatment services. Most of these “lucky ones” don’t get clean and sober on their first try, even if they attend drug alcohol treatment programs at a top-notch center for addiction treatment.

Now that you know the truth, it’s important not to get down on yourself or someone else if a past effort with addiction treatment services didn’t do the trick. It seldom works the first time around. What’s important is that you get back on the horse and keep trying. Even if you can’t string together months and years of sobriety, every day spent clean and sober is one less day you have to worry about death, jail, agony and failure. After all, addiction is a chronic and fatal illness that kills most of the people it afflicts. With that knowledge, it’s easier to see every day spent in recovery as a gift, one which could easily have been taken from you in any one of your unlucky benders.

There’s a center for addiction treatment that understands the plight of these “retreaders”—people who have tried recovery and relapsed in the past. Successful drug alcohol treatment programs for retreaders will focus on what triggered the last relapse, while the addiction treatment services will try to find what was missing from the last shot at recovery. No matter what: don’t get down on yourself! You deserve this, and it’s within your reach.

Non-Religious Addiction Rehabilitation Services

Many people are turned off by drug treatment programs because they say the programs are religious. However, this is untrue for the vast majority of addiction rehabilitation centers which are, in fact, non-denominational.

Almost all drug treatment programs are non-denominational
This confusion results from the common practice of using the 12-Step recovery method for addiction rehabilitation services. The 12 Steps start with the premise that you are suffering from a disease of the mind. This method focuses on the therapeutic effects of surrendering one’s will to an external source. This is an age-old practice found in various Eastern and Western religions, though it ascribes to no religion in particular.

Then why is the word “God” in many addiction rehabilitation centers?
People in a drug treatment program at an addiction rehabilitation center may feel threatened by the use of the word “God” in a few of the 12 Steps. Rest assured, this is not meant to signify a Christian god, or any for that matter. It is simply a shorthand term for a belief in a power or force greater than oneself.

Addiction rehabilitation services are for atheists, too
Even atheists and agnostics can appreciate 12-Step addiction rehabilitation services when you realize that various accepted natural forces satisfy a “power greater than ourselves.” Take electricity, gravity, inertia, the big bang, and evolution for some common examples. The point is not what you believe in, but that you believe in something greater than the power of your own mind.

A good addiction rehabilitation center will help you conquer your mind
Drug treatment programs provide addiction rehabilitation services in hopes of freeing the addict from the destructive power of his mind. Belief in a higher power is a common teaching in addiction rehabilitation centers because it helps addicts get free of their diseased thought processes that will lead them back to drinking and drugging if left unchecked.

A Beautiful Alcohol Addiction Treatment Center

Some alcohol addiction treatment centers have drab facilities with prison-like cells for rooms. We’re not sure where it says that an alcohol addiction treatment center has to resemble a prison, but we’d rather get sober in a place that actually makes us happy to start a new life. Our pick for an alcohol addiction treatment center in Southern California combines all the amenities of a luxury resort, with the therapeutic resources of a successful and supportive addiction treatment center.

It’s our philosophy that every alcoholic goes through hell before they seek out alcohol addiction treatment. The search for an addiction treatment center is often the first step in accepting that you have a problem, one that cannot be fixed on your own. This is a tremendous step in the right direction. Unfortunately, the step towards an alcohol addiction treatment center is not one that every alcoholic makes. Most alcoholics die of the disease of addiction long before they get sober.

With such a history of pain and anguish, we believe that recovering alcoholics should enjoy life once they enter addiction treatment. Entering an alcohol addiction treatment center is the first move towards a happy, healthy life for you. It should reflect all the wonderful things that are to come if you continue with alcohol addiction treatment.

That’s why our current pick for outstanding alcohol addiction treatment center is one that radiates positive energy rather than austere or harsh conditions. Here you can undergo alcohol addiction treatment in a supportive and relaxing atmosphere, probably the only one you’ve experienced in quite awhile. Through one-on-one counseling with certified therapists and life coaches, you’ll learn the causes of your alcoholism and the triggers that set you back.

The alcohol addiction treatment center is set up so that you have the maximum amount of privacy and freedoms while still remaining therapeutic and structured. In our opinion, this addiction treatment center is top-notch when it comes to alcohol addiction treatment.

Drug Alcohol Treatment Programs for Multiple Addictions

Many people ask me if there are rehab and medical detox programs to treat multiple addictions. Obviously, most rehabs treat drug and alcohol addiction simultaneously, but a common question is whether these centers can accommodate addictions to many different drugs. We’re here to tell you, “Of course!” One great Southern California rehab has drug alcohol treatment programs for people who abuse many drugs at once. It takes counselors and addiction treatment staff with special knowledge to treat these multiple addictions, and this place has just the right experts.

A Medical Detox Program Keeps You from Harm
Usually, drug alcohol treatment programs start with a medical detox program to treat drug and alcohol addiction withdrawals. The body is a sensitive mechanism, and it quickly adapts to the presence of addictive chemicals. When you enter a drug and alcohol addiction treatment center, the sudden absence of chemicals in your body could send your organs into shock.

A medical detox program is imperative to your health and wellbeing if you abuse multiple substances. Under close doctor supervision, your body is taken off drugs and alcohol safely and comfortably, minimizing any harmful effects of withdrawals. When most addicts try to quit on their own, the withdrawals quickly cause them to return to their drug of choice. Drug and alcohol addiction cannot be successful treated unless the substances are out of your system, so a medical detox program is an absolute necessity for drug alcohol treatment programs.

Once a medical detox program is finished, the recovery portion of treatment can occur. With individual and peer counseling, group therapies, and alternative therapeutic approaches you can start to understand the inner workings of your drug and alcohol addiction. Knowledge is power, and self-knowledge is key to conquering the disease of addiction. For people with multiple addictions, it usually means that there are more social and emotional triggers for using than those people who simply have one drug of choice. One day at a time, a happy and healthy life is available for any recovering addicts if they don’t lose interest in their recovery.

Drug Alcohol Treatment for Young People

There’s no such thing as being “too young” for alcoholism or drug addiction. Addiction can strike anyone, young or old. Until recently, young addicts and alcoholics were considered not sick enough to enter most addiction treatment centers. However, lately there are now more addiction treatment centers that understand young people’s plight against drugs and alcohol. There’s one exemplary drug alcohol treatment center in Southern California that has a family treatment program to help the family recover from addiction in step with the young substance abuser.

Addiction treatment centers have started letting in young people because, after all, who says people have to be old, broke and homeless before they can enter an addiction treatment center? People who attend addiction treatment centers early in their lives are less likely to turn into old, withered alcoholics and drug addicts. The common misconception is that young people cannot be addicts, because they don’t live under freeway overpasses and steal to support their habit. This old thinking has got to be done away with!

The truth is that the only requirement for drug alcohol treatment is a desire to stop using. Young people that nip this disease in the butt early save themselves years of heartache and trouble. Anytime a young person expresses a desire to live a life free of drug and alcohol abuse, they should be encouraged by their friends and family. Drug alcohol treatment at an addiction treatment center gives the young addict the best chance of successfully defeating his disease.

A Family Treatment Program Heals the Family’s Wounds
One Los Angeles-area addiction treatment center has developed a family treatment program to fix broken family relationships and establish healthy communication. The family treatment program occurs simultaneously with the young person’s drug alcohol treatment, so that upon leaving the center the recovering addict has the full support and comfort of family members. This groundbreaking therapy involves in-depth counseling sessions and meetings with licensed therapists.

Drug Addiction Rehabilitation Services for Inhalants

For people addicted to inhalants, there is a Southern California center for addiction treatment that understands your condition. As with any drug, an addiction to inhalants requires drug addiction treatment in order to treat the disease of addiction. There are comprehensive addiction rehabilitation services for people who simply abuse inhalants as well as for those who were led to other drugs via the gateway drug of inhalants.

Inhalants are a class of gaseous drugs that are taken by inhaling them through the nose or mouth. Probably the first inhalant ever used to achieve a high was ether, a common medical anesthetic. This class of drugs includes nitrous oxide, or “laughing gas,” along with common household and industrial cleaners. Household inhalants work by cutting off the oxygen supply to the brain, which can sometimes cause a loss of consciousness. This is called “huffing,” and it is a common drug of choice for kids and teenagers because of its wide availability.

An addiction to inhalant drugs is quite dangerous and should not be underestimated. Without drug addiction treatment, it will only get worse. If you or someone you know abuses inhalants, you should know there is a center for addiction treatment in Southern California that has treated numerous people for this affliction. With addiction rehabilitation services tailored specifically to each addict, this center for addiction treatment has achieved great success with people abusing inhalants.

It’s important to find a drug addiction treatment center that understands the causes and consequences of your addiction. Through individual and group counseling, you’ll learn the details of your addiction, and also get a sense of what will happen if it is left untreated. If you combine inhalants with other drugs, there are special therapy sessions to help you learn about multiple addictions. On the other hand, if inhalants are the only drugs you abuse, there will be addiction rehabilitation services specially tailored for you.

Depression & Drug Addiction Counseling

There’s hope if you’re suffering from depression. For many people, depression is the first sign that they’re losing control over their drug and alcohol use. In fact, many people get into a drug addiction therapy program in a roundabout way by first seeing a shrink with complaints of depression. Before I get into the good news, just know that with the help of drug addiction therapy services, my depression went away almost immediately, without the use of prescription antidepressants.

My story with drug addiction counseling started when i was actually seeking treatment for a terrible depression. I just couldn’t seem to feel happy about anything. I had a job, a family, a house and the hole shebang, but every day I simply felt worse, like my world was closing in around me. I was drinking quite a bit, but I didn’t really think there was a problem with that; in fact, I was very thankful for alcohol because it gave me a brief break from my depression each night.

I went to a shrink about my depression, and I was surprised when he told me I might have a drinking problem. He told me that could be causing the depression, and that some in-depth drug addiction therapy services could help solve the problem! I told him I didn’t do any drugs, so I didn’t need a drug addiction therapy program. He told me that drug addiction counseling worked the same for people regardless of their drug or brand of choice.

He turned me onto a drug addiction therapy program where I could get daily outpatient drug addiction therapy services, so I could continue to work and provide for my family while I got better. I started attending these drug addiction counseling sessions around my work schedule. Just because it was an outpatient drug addiction therapy program didn’t make it easy. These drug addiction counseling sessions were one-on-one and sometimes in groups. We really got down to the nitty gritty of how we drank and why we drank. We were given tools to live our life by, like appropriate ways to handle stress, anger, fear and happiness.

At the end of the month-long drug addiction therapy program, I felt brand-new. My depression went away on its own. I had stopped abusing alcohol and self-medicating to handle my depression. As the result of drug addiction counseling, I’m happy, joyous and free!

Drug Treatment Programs Conquer Suicidal Thoughts

I think most people in the world think about suicide at one time or another. Whether it’s from a bad break-up, a family death, or something else, suicidal thoughts can creep into the mind and jump right back out again. I, however, have dealt with suicidal thoughts all my life. For much of my life I felt broken, like something was wrong with my brain that would never allow me to be happy. I self-medicated this pain with drugs and alcohol for many years. I thought that booze and drugs were the only things keeping me happy enough to stay alive. Boy was I wrong!

A few years ago, in a moment of clarity, it dawned on me that maybe an addiction rehabilitation center could help with my depression and suicidal thoughts. I had a friend just like me who had recently gone to a holistic drug rehab that was a drug treatment program and therapeutic retreat all in one. After he attended the addiction rehabilitation center, he emerged a new man, without the constant thoughts of suicide plaguing him. That’s when I decided it couldn’t hurt to give a drug treatment program a shot.

I went to the same holistic drug rehab he had gone to, and immediately started in on my drug treatment program with their professional staff. This addiction rehabilitation center certainly didn’t look or feel like I thought it would. Where were the austere and drab conditions? The crazy people shouting at the top of their lungs and shaking? I found that these Hollywood misconceptions of drug treatment programs were way off.

With the help of the one-on-one counseling at this holistic drug rehab, I learned that my drug and alcohol abuse were actually causing my depression and suicidal thoughts, rather than curing them. The peer counseling and group therapies at this addiction rehabilitation center taught me that these were normal thoughts for substance abusers to have, and that they could be treated on a daily basis with proper thinking and action. Through this addiction rehabilitation center, I gained a deep understanding of myself and also a supportive social network to help me out.

If you’re having trouble with suicidal thoughts, and alcohol or drugs are a part of your daily life, I recommend giving a holistic drug rehab a shot. After all, it can’t hurt.

Alcoholism Treatment & 12-Step Recovery

A lot of people wonder about the 12-Step method of recovery, probably because they’re often portrayed in movies and books about addiction and recovering addicts. I’ll try to explain my experience with them a little bit, so you may see how alcoholism treatment saved my life.

I received addiction treatment services through an outpatient drug rehab when I was 29. I just had my first DUI, and I was given the option of attending a state-sponsored outpatient drug rehab in order to reduce my enormous fines. I didn’t think I needed any addiction treatment services, but I also didn’t want to pay $10,000 in court fees, so I entered the outpatient drug rehab program to get alcoholism treatment.

I went to this outpatient drug rehab that gave addiction treatment services on weekends and evenings, so I could go around my work schedule. At first, I thought I would just attend alcoholism treatment to satisfy the courts, and as soon as I could I would start drinking again. However, through the meetings and counseling sessions at this outpatient drug rehab I learned that I did, in fact, abuse alcohol. What’s more, I learned why I abused alcohol and how it had affected my health, my family, and my career.

As the outpatient drug rehab program ended, my counselors started working on relapse prevention and long-term recovery plans. They turned me on to various 12-Step recovery meetings in my area that I could go to for continued support and informal alcoholism treatment. I went to these 12-Step meetings and met some welcoming and supportive friends who helped me through the 12 Steps.

The 12-Step method of recovery is all about accepting that you suffer from the disease of addiction and that—left to your own devices—you will go back to abusing drugs and alcohol. Through peer support and action, the 12 Steps teach you set of techniques and tools to fight your addictions on a daily basis.