Addiction and the Downward Spiral

Actress June Fairchild, know for her roles in “Up in Smoke” and “Thunderbolt and Lightfoot”, died Tuesday in Los Angeles from complications related to liver cancer. Fairchild appeared in several films in the 1970’s, and it appeared she had the ability to become a star before addiction came into her life. Fairchild’s drug and alcohol addiction led to her living in a cardboard box on skid row in Los Angeles.

Stories such as this highlight the destructive nature of substance abuse addiction. Going from appearing in films alongside Clint Eastwood to living in a cardboard box shows addiction affects everyone, and is detrimental to everyone.

Stories like this often don’t get as much notoriety as other celebrity drug stories. A well-known celebrity getting in trouble with the law or overdosing, while in the prime of their career, provides a juicier storyline. However, stories such as this probably show the nature of addiction in its truest form. There is a good chance addiction will lead to overdose or getting arrested, but it is a certainty that addiction will negatively affect the trajectory of your life. For every rock star that dies from a drug overdose, there are probably dozens of individuals who had promising careers that drifted into obscurity before their careers took off due to addiction. Many tragic Hollywood addiction stories happen when the camera is no longer around.

All addicts, regardless of their place in life, suffer from a gravitation pull towards rock bottom. This downward life trajectory may be “televised”, it may not. Many times, only recovery can reverse the downward trend. If you have an addiction, and would like to learn how to our program can help, contact us for more information.

Alcoholism in the Overworked

Addiction can sneak up on a person in many ways. Rarely, if ever, does an individual develop a substance abuse addiction intentionally. Many addict’s stories involve a set of misfortunes that started initially as a harmless act. Perhaps a person was injured, and was prescribed opiate painkillers at their local doctors office. There are several innocent-seeming acts that can lead someone down the path to addiction.

Being overworked has proven to be a top contributor to increased drinking. Recent studies have found that individuals who work 48 hours or more in a week are more likely to engage in risky alcohol consumption. Risky alcohol consumption is defined as women having 14 or more drinks in a week, and men consuming 21 or more drinks in a week. Working longer hours, or being a “workaholic”, has been loosely attributed to increased drinking for some time. Television and movies typically show an individual who works long hours in a bar after they finally leave the office. Though this has been acknowledged in media, science is beginning to show proof that working longer increases alcohol consumption.

A troubling thought regarding this study is the fact that the individual drinks more, with less time on their hands. If they are spending more time at work, they have less time for leisure activities. What little time they do have at the end of the day is being filled with alcohol consumption. This can lead to an individual associating leisure or free time with drinking, which can be a dangerous association. When alcohol consumption becomes the main recreational activity, addiction can become much more likely. Attributing alcohol to fun can also be unhealthy because the individual fails to live a well-balanced life. Less time, and more drinking, leaves much less time for exercise or other healthy outlets that well-rounded, healthy individuals have in their lives.

If you’re struggling with a problem with alcohol abuse, Harmony Foundation offers programs to help you get your life back on track. If you would like to learn more about out programs, contact us for more information.

Insomnia in Early Recovery

Early recovery offers an array of challenges. In addition to being newly sober, those in early recovery are forced to face life and its problems without the use of substances. This is usually a monumental challenge, and anything from showering to going to the grocery store seems totally different in the early stages of recovery. Addiction likely leaked into every aspect of the individual’s life. Towards the end, every activity was completed with a buzz. Being under the influence became a prerequisite for all things. A common activity that is hindered by addiction is sleeping.

Sleeping is also hard to attain in early recovery. Mental and physical changes, coupled with having to process a drastically different life, lead to many hours lying awake in bed. Recent studies have indicated that individuals in early recovery are 5 times more likely than the general population to experience insomnia. These studies also typically indicate that insomnia in early recovery raises the risk of relapse.

Insomnia and addiction are closely linked across the board. Individuals who experience insomnia are more likely to develop addictions, and individuals with addictions are more likely to experience insomnia.

Sleep, like all other activities, was easier to achieve in addiction if a certain ritual was upheld. Many times, if any step in the ritual was excluded, the activity became difficult or impossible to complete. One aspect of the ritual will almost always include using the drug of choice, but many times the ritual goes deeper than that. The dose, method of consumption, time, and location must all be orchestrated perfectly to accomplish the task. Sleep is almost always one of these tasks.

With the ritualistic mindset so engrained in those with addictions, it can be hard to accomplish sleep or other tasks sober. The motivational engine behind the machine has been removed. Sleeping, and other day-to-day activities, will have to be completely re-learned.

The importance of recovering in a safe, supportive environment cannot be stressed enough. Trouble sleeping will lead to trouble doing everything awake. Without adequate sleep, those in early recovery face a difficult challenge with dulled senses and slower thinking. A residential treatment program, with a recovery curriculum that fills the addict’s day, leaves the body and mind tired and at peace at the end of the day. Facing early recovery with a fresh body and mind, coupled with profession care designed to help learn how to accomplish life’s challenges sober, provide the best chance for long term recovery.

If you are interested in learning more about our program, contact us for additional information about how to achieve long-term recovery.

The Consequences of Addiction

Individuals in active addiction frequently have an impaired ability to fully realize the damage their substance abuse is causing to their lives. They also typically can’t fully realize the toll their addiction is taking on the lives of others around them. More often than not, any consequences stemming from their addiction are given a pass. Losing a job, relationship, or financial security while in addiction is contributed to anyone and anything besides the substance abuse. A common opinion on this occurrence is that addicts contribute problems in their everyday lives to things other than their addictions in order to justify continued use.

A recent study suggests the misdirection of fault addicts place on the source of their problems may not be entirely voluntary. The study measured the brain activity of cocaine users and sober individuals while playing a simple gambling game. The results showed that the cocaine using subjects had significantly impaired loss prediction signaling, a signal a nerve sends the brain to regulate dopamine. This signaling occurs to alert the individual that the act produced an unfavorable outcome, and should be avoided in the future.

The study further proves that the disease of addiction physically, mentally, and emotionally affects addicts in forms that are deeper than they appear to the outside world. While those around the addict, who don’t suffer from addiction, see the addict’s decision making as poor judgment, the study indicates what is occurring is a loss of ability to make sound choices. While in the grips of addiction, an addict has a severely dulled sense of the harm they are causing to their lives.

To improve this dulled sense of consequences takes time. An inpatient addiction treatment program, incorporating the 12 Steps, provides the time, setting, and teachings necessary to help addicts fully realize the damage their addictions have caused. This not only allows the individual to stop the damage being done, but also teaches them the steps necessary to repair some of the damage.

If you or a loved one have an addiction that is causing negative consequences to lives, Harmony Foundation provides treatment programs that teach the methods necessary to stop these consequences. If you suffer from addiction, and are interested in reversing the trajectory of your life, contact us to learn more about the solution.

Inpatient Rehab versus Outpatient Rehab

Many individuals seeking treatment for their addictions will weigh the pros and cons of inpatient treatment and outpatient treatment when making their decision. There are many differences between these two treatment options. Inpatient treatment involves around the clock care while the client lives in the facility. Outpatient treatment involves care within a specific time period, while the client lives at home, or somewhere other than the facility. Outpatient treatment can initially be attractive to those in active addiction because it seems to be less of an interruption to their daily lives. While the addict may be well aware of the fact that they need inpatient or residential treatment, the ability to continue living at home and attending work or school may sway their decision in favor of outpatient treatment. Recent studies have suggested that, depending on the circumstances of the individual and their addiction, the decision between inpatient and outpatient treatment may be more clear-cut than originally thought.

A recent study found that residential treatment had a much higher success rate than outpatient treatment with young adults with an opiate dependence. The study found that 30 percent of young adults with opiate addictions who participated in a month long inpatient treatment program were still sober one year later. The same study indicated the same demographic who attended outpatient treatment showed only 17 percent of its participants sober after one year.

Seeking help for an addiction is a monumental step in the recovery process. However, seeking the right treatment for the specific addiction you face is vital to the long-term chances of your success with sobriety and recovery. In many cases, the convenience of outpatient treatment alters the opinion of young adults with opiate addictions looking for treatment, and leads to them electing outpatient treatment due to the convenient aspects it offers. Though outpatient addiction treatment certainly has its benefits, inpatient treatment at a tried and true addiction treatment facility provides the greatest chance at a lasting recovery for young adults with an opiate dependence.

Harmony Foundation offers a specialized inpatient addiction treatment program designed for young adults. If you or a loved one would like more information about how to achieve long-term recovery from addiction, please contact us today.