“The abuse of prescription drugs is our nation’s fastest-growing drug problem,” Gil Kerlikowske, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, said recently. Sometimes it feels like we are constantly talking about the dangers of prescription drug abuse, but according to the latest statistics, people either aren’t getting the message, or they don’t care.

Prescription Drug Abuse on the Rise

Prescription painkillers are both dangerous and addicting. Just because they come from a doctor or pharmacist, doesn’t mean they aren’t harmful. In 2008, an estimated 1 million emergency room visits occurred because of people that abused prescription drugs or over-the-counter medicines. That’s about the same number of visits that took place by those that overdosed on all illegal drugs, such as heroin and cocaine. The emergency room numbers represent a 111% increase in prescription painkiller abuse over a five year period.

The study, which used data from SAMHSA’s Drug Abuse Warning Network, may come as a surprise to many. We still don’t generally consider prescription drugs as being as big of a problem as illegal drugs. This should be a wake up call to our country that this is a huge problem that needs to be addressed now.

Drugs that are Easy to Abuse

There are a few possible reasons for the spike in prescription drug abuse. One is that more and more doctors are prescribing these medications, in an effort to help those with chronic pain. With more pills out there, there is the potential for more abuse. A second reason for the spike is the increase in marketing campaigns by pharmaceutical companies for their products.

Prescription drugs can be just as harmful and addicting when abused as illegal drugs are. But many people feel a false sense of security about using these drugs to get high because they are prescribed by a doctor and approved by the FDA. So some people think that experimenting with them or selling them to others to use won’t cause any harm. Other people, taking the medications for legitimate pain, can become addicted to them over time, or because they begin taking too much.

Help for Prescription Drug Abuse

This could be a difficult problem to solve. When there are so many people that depend on these medications to make their pain bearable, it is going to be nearly impossible to keep the drugs out of the wrong hands. And there is a huge problem with doctors and pharmacists that will provide these drugs to patients without caring if they are abusing them or not.

Once again, education is important in dealing with this problem. We need to let more people know about the dangers of these drugs. We need to encourage those who have a problem or who know someone who does, to seek help. 

Sources

Painkillers

Abuse of meds sends as many to ER as illegal drugs

Pain drugs abuse requires urgent action: CDC

The time will come in almost every teen’s life when they are confronted with drugs or alcohol. Some lucky ones may not experience this kind of peer pressure, but the unfortunate truth is that many teens will be asked by friends or classmates if they want to try alcohol or drugs. As parents, the best thing we can do is equip our kids with tools to say no and to protect themselves. Through ongoing “talks”, we can let our pre-teen and teenagers know what we expect of them, how we feel about drugs and alcohol, and the risks and consequences of these substances. Teens need to know that they can talk to their parents about things like this and get help if they need it.

One thing parents should also do is give their child ways to say no. When faced with a peer pressure situation, it is important for teens to be confident in their answers and their decisions, and the way to do that is to rehearse it beforehand. Parents can actually role play a situation with their teen, or at least give them these different ways to say no if they need them.

Teens can use an excuse, such as:

1.  I can’t stay; I’ve got to help my dad with something.

2.  That stuff makes me sick.

3.  I’m supposed to meet so and so in a few minutes.

4.  No way. I think you just want me to get in trouble.

Teens can explain to their friends about the dangers of these substances:

5.  That stuff is so bad for you.

6.  Why would you use that junk?

7.  Haven’t you heard about the kid in the news who died from doing that?

8.  Go ahead if you want to kill yourself – I don’t want to.

9.  You’re crazy!

Teens can also just be honest with their friends:

10.  I’m not into that.

11.  My mom would kill me if she found out.

12.  I don’t have time for drugs.

13.  I’d be suspended from the team.

14.  Forget it. There’s no way I’m going to do drugs.

15.  I’ve got more to do with my life.

Once your teen has given their answer, they should be ready to leave. It rarely does any good to argue with someone about alcohol or drugs, and it might make it difficult for your teen to stick with their answer if they stay.

Kids should be confident in their answers. So many teens that experiment with drugs and alcohol do so to feel more popular. By giving a firm “no”, your teen can actually influence their friends in a good way. Teens tend to follow a strong leader among them, and sometimes all it takes is a positive teen that says no to drugs to keep the whole group away from drugs.

Sources

Ways to say “no” to drugs

How to Say It: Drugs and Alcohol

Talking with Your Teen About Drugs and Alcohol

I have been so busy the last few months with a new baby my son James Lee (born Dec 14, 2009); seeing to it that our company runs smoothly and opening our new facility Leading Edge Recovery Center in Hamilton, New Jersey (the grand opening was in March), that I have neglected my blogging. This is always my dilemma – managing priorities and deciding what is the most important thing. It seems like every time I get bogged down by the day to day, something happens to bring me back into focus.

Last week I received an email about a client of ours who after helping his wife prepare for their son’s birthday party, drove to a rest stop on the Georgia/Florida border and shot himself. I am always careful not to take credit for any of the success of our clients because then I would feel like I was on the hook for the setbacks; however, whenever something like this happens I cannot help but feel that somehow we failed.

We sell hope to our clients and families and in this case we failed to close the deal. This particular client suffered from chronic pain and was caught in a very difficult situation – he couldn’t deal with the pain and he didn’t want to return to the opiates. We are seeing more and more cases of chemical dependency issues associated with chronic pain conditions. I recently heard the term generation RX and realized how painfully true that really is.

A great number of the cases we deal with these days involve prescription medication. Many of the cases have to do with legitimate pain management issues, such as this case, while others are the same ole story of abuse and self-destruction. ?
While I realize that our company will never have 100% success with all those we treat, it is times like this when I stop and take stock of everything both personally and professionally. Stories like this fuel my fire and get me motivated to strive for improvement. So we press on at Treatment Solutions Network. We don’t forget to breathe, feel or take the next step. Just like finding our individual freedom of addiction, we take it one day at a time and realize that you only grow if you continue to move. Treatment Solutions Network applies the same process to our corporate vision – keep moving forward and learn from the setbacks. As long as we learn from the missteps, nobody suffers in vain.

I want to take a moment to share some fantastic corporate news with everyone. Treatment Solutions Network has been blessed to acquire Lisa Clark onto our team as our new Vice President of Business Development. From day one we have sought to have the right people on the bus and have been fortunate to add some world-class talent as well as just downright solid people and Lisa is no exception. Lisa Clark, RN, MSN and now Vice President of Business Development, comes to Treatment Solutions Network with progressive leadership experience in Addictions Treatment, Mental Health, Government Relations and Market Development in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries.

Lisa was educated at Boston University where she received her BS in Nursing and MS in Community Mental Health Nursing. She was credentialed as a Psychiatric Clinical Nurse Specialist, a Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor and a certified Critical Incident Stress Debriefer. She was trained in individual, group and family therapy at the Human Resource Institute in Brookline, MA (Red Sox Nation). She has decades of health care experience as a psychotherapist and in program design, direction, and management. Her areas of specialization are psychiatry and substance abuse treatment.

Her past positions have been local to national in scope. She has expertise with diverse populations, institutions and market segments. Calling New York City her second home town (Fenway & Yankee Stadium – two shrines!), Lisa was credentialed as an alcoholism counselor in New York State in 1985 and served as a Senior Examiner for New York State Division of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse. She served as the Metro Area Wellness Chairperson for the NY Federation of Alcohol Counselors. As a former Board Member of the Massachusetts Organization of Addiction Recovery, she sat as a non-voting member of the Massachusetts Behavioral Health Partnership’s Consumer Advisory Council. Lisa has extensive clinical and management experience with in-patient, outpatient and home health care settings.

Transitioning into addiction-related pharmaceuticals, Lisa has been an outstanding producer in sales, managed care and government relations as a registered lobbyist. Lisa served as the Senior Market Development Director for the addictions treatment business unit of one of the nation’s largest biotech companies. Lisa has been a top performer with track record of successful introduction of novel addiction treatment technologies and an orphan addiction treatment drug to the US market. She is a currently a consultant to the Network for the Improvement of Addiction Treatment (NIATx), Skip To Aims a partnership between The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Paths to Recovery program, the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment’s Strengthening Treatment Access and Retention (STAR) program, and a number of independent treatment organizations.

Lisa directed and managed a treatment program characterized as “The wave of the future” by The New York Times Sunday Magazine. She brings to the Treatment Solutions Network team a proven ability to meet goals, solve complex problems, and facilitate change. Her personal passion and commitment to recovery keep her motivated to succeed in order to best serve others…She likes long walks on the beach, moonlight, and… just kidding! (Rule 62 “Don’t take yourself too seriously”). Above all, Lisa brings vision to Treatment Solutions Network and that is what we all have in common.

Jim Bevell
CEO Treatment Solutions Network
561 577-3174
jimb@tsnemail.com

Depression affects millions of people every year. It is one of the most commonly diagnosed mental health disorders, yet many people continue living with this disease, without getting the treatment they need for it.

The cause of depression is still being studied, but we do know that it can be caused by chemical imbalances in the brain due to things like hormone changes. Other things can cause depression, such as substance abuse, the circumstances someone finds themselves in, or the events that take place in someone’s life.

Symptoms of depression include lack of energy and motivation, self loathing, oversleeping or insomnia, and weight changes. A person that is clinically depressed will often lose interest in the things and people in their life, and will struggle just to get out of bed in the morning. Someone with depression may also have trouble concentrating, and will find it difficult to do even the simplest, everyday tasks.

Dual Diagnosis

Dual Diagnosis refers to patients that have both depression and an addiction to something. These two diseases often go hand in hand, and increase the symptoms and side effects of each other. A person that has both depression and is addicted to drugs or alcohol will need to be treated for both conditions together for the best chance at recovery. Many facilities now offer dual diagnosis treatment because treating one and leaving the other will cause the patient to continue in an ongoing cycle of recovery and relapse.

We know that drug and alcohol addiction often occurs alongside depression, but it has been unknown which condition typically comes first or causes the other. A study that was reported in last year’s Archives of General Psychiatry suggests that alcohol abuse causes depression more often than a person’s depression causes them to self-medicate with alcohol. The study’s conclusion proposed that alcohol’s depressant characteristics may lead many people to be mentally depressed, and that the stress and circumstances brought on by alcohol abuse may also be the cause of depression in many people. We do know that people with a drug or alcohol problem commonly feel ashamed of their behavior and may suffer legal, financial, and social consequences because of it, all of which could cause depression.

Getting Help for Mental Health and Substance Abuse

Our mental health is not something to take lightly. It can be so difficult to come out of a depression, and the habits and behaviors that are formed during times of mental illness are hard to overcome. Treatment is available and can be very effective. For long term mental health, and to help prevent depression, it may be helpful to join a support group or group therapy. Other things like a healthy diet, avoiding drugs and alcohol, and engaging in some exercise have been found to help prevent and also treat depression.

Sources

Study links excessive Internet use to depression

Alcohol Abuse May Lead To Depression Risk, Rather Than Vice Versa

Relationship between depression and substance abuse

We would save ourselves a lot of trouble and hassle if we could find ways to manage stress and busy days in ways other than drinking alcohol. Our natural reaction to bad news, busy weeks, or hard days is often to have a drink. We seem to think that alcohol soothes the mind, or medicates our nerves, or maybe that it is our reward after enduring something negative. But we forget about how alcohol makes us feel the morning after, and how much time and money we actually waste on this substance that usually causes more harm than good. So maybe the next time we experience hardship, we shouldn’t reach for the alcohol. Maybe we shouldn’t make so many jokes about how a mom is really going to need a drink after that long day with the kids. Maybe we shouldn’t encourage co-workers to come out to the bar to drink their stresses from the day away.

There are many more effective things to do to relieve stress or to make ourselves really feel better. Sometimes just starting one of these activities will be enough to take our mind off of drinking. There really is so much more to life, and rewarding ourselves too quickly with alcohol takes away from these other experiences we could be having. The next time you feel pressured or entitled to drink your troubles away, try one of these activities first:

Go for a long walk

Visit a museum or the zoo

Go for a swim

See a movie

Take a class on languages or art

Get some coffee at your favorite coffee shop

Learn to play an instrument

Attend a play at a local high school

Take in a recital

Walk around the mall

Read a book

Play a game

Plant a flower or tree

Volunteer at a local food bank or shelter

Write a letter to a far away relative

Organize your photos

Call an old friend

Make a meal from scratch

Organize a baseball or volleyball game with friends or co-workers

Clean out a closet at home

Take a bath

Repaint a room in your home

Look through old yearbooks

Start a new hobby

Study the history of your town

Visit the Humane Society

Paint a picture

Go to the library

Ride a bike

Have a picnic

Plan your dream vacation

Sources

10 Steps to Stop Drinking Alcohol

NIH.gov

Things to do instead of drinking alcohol

One thing that we have all learned to do is to cope with our problems, but we don’t all handle them the same way. Some people express their anxiety or get help from others right away. Others bottle up their feelings and continue pushing on until they burst. Many of us, however, do a pretty good job of feeling sorry for ourselves and allow ourselves a little bit of pleasure to make up for the hard times. That’s where substance abuse, especially alcohol abuse, can often start.

Using Alcohol to Cope

For example, a working mom has had a long day at the office; she comes home to wild and disobedient children, a messy house, and no idea of what to have for dinner. Wouldn’t we almost expect one of the first things she does when she has a second to herself is grab a glass of wine or something to help her relax? Or a police officer, after a long shift filled with stress, may crack open a couple of beers the moment he gets home.

We see this all the time, we expect it of each other, and we joke about it, but is this kind of drinking really healthy? The problem is that we as a society often feel entitled to make ourselves happy. True, the pursuit of happiness is one of our rights, but this world is full of difficulties, and some of the ways we compensate for them are not actually going to make us truly happy anyway.

Say a close loved one dies. No one would think twice about the grieving family spending a little extra time out at the bar. We lose our job; again it’s expected that some alcohol will be consumed. Long days at work equal some wine or a drink at home, and don’t we think all stay-at-home moms get to drink in the evenings as a reward for their tough day?

Unhealthy Habits

If we continue in this way of thinking, we risk driving ourselves to alcoholism. Sure, it might still seem ok to reward ourselves for big accomplishments, or to comfort ourselves with alcohol. And sometimes drinking like this doesn’t cause any harm at all. But after a while, we start to use anything as an excuse to drink, and the combination of this self-medicating attitude, as well as the alcohol that our body is beginning to tolerate, can cause us to become addicted. After a while any excuse will do: I just had an argument with my sister, my neighbors are jerks, my cable went out, or even, I’m tired of doing the laundry; I get a drink.

Too many people have started out drinking at times like these and then gotten so caught up in the drinking that they became dependent on it. But the ironic thing is that drinking alcohol doesn’t fix our problems, it adds to them. If we drink too much, we wake up the next morning dragging our feet and unable to take on new challenges effectively. And if we are led to alcoholism because of it, that brings on its own set of troubles.

Sources

LAPD officers questioned in gunshots outside restaurant

Alcohol Alert

Drinking Alcohol To Relieve
Stress…A Dangerous Choice

Sometimes we need to meet people where they are with drug and alcohol treatment programs. There are treatment centers in all different areas of the country, for people in all different walks of life. There are facilities that specialize in family therapy, those that offer luxury rehab, and programs that work with only adolescents or women or older individuals.

However, many more groups of people could certainly benefit from therapy that is tailored to their specific needs. Police, firefighters, and emergency response workers respond well to being in treatment with others in their field. This concept could be applied to others as well; treatment for moms, treatment for certain religious groups, and treatment for other types of professions. People often feel ashamed and intimidated when they enter treatment, but if they are able to bond with others that are also recovering, they become surrounded by a support system that helps all the patients greatly in their recovery.

Sober College

A new kind of treatment for college students has emerged in recent years. One such facility is called Sober College, and it offers specialized treatment along with college courses. The college is located in Woodland Hills, California, and it offers inpatient treatment and a drug and alcohol-free environment for learning. The students of Sober College have been in college before, or had hoped to apply, but weren’t able to follow through with their education because of drug or alcohol problems. The center has partnered with Woodbury University, which is a nonprofit institution nearby that offers master’s level courses. Professors from Woodbury teach online courses to Sober College students, and the credits can be transferred to other universities as credits earned at Woodbury.

Staff and faculty of Sober College work to get students back on the right track toward continue their education. Its primary goal is to help bring these young people through the struggle with substance abuse that has been hindering their long-term goals. There is an alcohol abuse and drug addiction epidemic on college campuses right now, and this is detrimental to the learning ability of students. But by taking the students away from those temptations, getting them help for their addictions, and letting them offer encouragement and support to each other, a program for college aged patients can be successful. By adding college-level courses on top of it all, these patients are now on their way to setting priorities in life that include getting an education.

When we find out that people just like us struggle with substance abuse, it makes it a little easier to open up and face our problem. We all fall sometimes on our journey through life, and it’s good to have people around us that have been through the same thing to help us get back up. College students are no different. With programs like Sober College they can encourage each other in their studies while learning to be sober. 

Sources

Sober College Rehab

Sober College

Sober college: Sober Living by the Sea’s Extended Care Program

There are too many excuses flying around about why someone is caught with drugs or driving drunk. There are also too many people that believe the excuses.

Many high-profile stories have been told about drug or alcohol abusers that get caught or cause an accident, and family members that stand right by them, denying there is a problem. In fact, we might know someone who does this cover up scheme, and we may do it ourselves.

Family Cover-Ups

No one likes to get in trouble, and we often will make excuses to make ourselves look less irresponsible to others. It’s no wonder then that family members often have a hard time seeing the addiction of a loved one, and sometimes they are the last ones to know, and sometimes they actually help cover for the person.

The newest case that comes to mind is Lindsay Lohan, who recently was caught setting off her SCRAM alcohol-monitoring bracelet. Even though this young star was convicted of two DUI’s, failed to show up in court, and now set off a nearly foolproof device to monitor alcohol intake, she has made excuses as to why the device went off. Worse yet, her mother states that Lindsay did nothing wrong in the first place. It seems that her mother has taken on the role of covering up for an alcoholic.

Of course, this is not the only story of its kind. There was the man on the east coast whose wife caused a fatal car crash and blood tests showed she was high on drugs. The man said she didn’t do anything wrong and he was certain she wasn’t on drugs.

Getting Past the Excuses

Many of us can see this behavior in our own lives, if we look closely enough. Don’t we sometimes make excuses for a spouse that is too drunk to make it to work or to a family gathering? How many parents have blamed a teen’s erratic behavior on hormones or stress at school, because they are afraid to find out they are abusing drugs? How many of us have wondered if we should say something to a friend that we suspect is abusing prescription drugs, but choose to look the other way and not get involved?

The problem is that families and friends that believe these excuses or even make them for loved ones are causing more harm than good. Families that excuse someone’s behavior enable the person to successfully carry on in their addiction. If someone can continue to get away with acting foolishly by being high or drunk and shirking responsibilities, there isn’t much incentive to them being sober.

Do you really want to stand by your loved one? Try doing the most loving thing you can do: get them help. It’s not an easy thing to do, but for someone that has lost control to a substance addiction, a family member or friend that will stop making excuses and lead the addict to treatment is priceless. Excuses only enable. We want to empower. Find help now for those addictions that are ruining your loved one’s life.

Sources 

Mom: “Spilled” Drink Set Off Lindsay’s SCRAM Device

Mary Kennedy DUI: Get Help Before It’s Too Late!
Charges Unlikely for Husband of Wrong Way Driver

Maybe you’ve known for a while that you have an addiction to something. If you know deep down that you can’t get sober on your own, now is the time to do something about it.

An addiction can be very devastating. It can ruin lives and family relationships. Some people that are addicts are very easy to pick out, as they are the ones that can’t keep up their regular life because drugs have taken over. Other people, however, can almost elegantly balance a full life of work, family, and drugs. Both kinds of people need help, and they need help soon.

Reason for Not Wanting to Get Help: Shame

The National Institute on Drug Abuse states that 20.8 million people in our country are not getting the treatment they need for drugs or alcohol. There are many reasons why someone puts off getting help for an addiction. One of the main reasons is embarrassment over their problem, and the fact that they don’t want to let their family down. But what the addict fails to see, however, is how much a drug or alcohol problem really affects a family. Abuse, neglect, and emotional pain are all characteristics of a family with an addiction. Most families agree that they suffer much more with an addiction than they would if the person would get treatment.

Reason for Not Wanting to Get Help: Fear and Isolation

Some addicts are afraid they will feel isolated if they get help, and are unsure of what lies ahead. But someone that enters treatment does not do it alone. Relationships form between patients and staff, and support groups build lifelong bonds. Many treatment centers now realize the importance of family involvement, and family therapy is commonplace today. And treatment does not necessarily mean detox or an inpatient stay. There are many people that can recover with outpatient treatment and counseling.

Reason for Not Wanting to Get Help: Financial Burden

Another excuse that might be given for not getting help is the cost. New steps are being taken in the field of health care and insurance, so that many plans will now cover substance abuse treatment. Government programs will also cover many patients’ treatment. Even if the patient has to pay for their treatment, drugs themselves aren’t cheap. Enduring the financial burden of a drug habit or alcoholism is taxing on any family, not to mention loss of work, loss of productivity, health problems, and the toll on society.

An addiction certainly affects all those involved. It may be hard to give in and admit that a problem is too big to handle alone. But it is so important to get help. Today. Those people that put off getting help today will likely talk themselves one last day of drugs, or one more week of drinking, but these often turn into weeks, months, and years longer of the addiction. Don’t let an addiction continue to control a life any longer.

Sources

Understanding Drug Abuse and Addiction

Drugfree.org

NIDA InfoFacts: Treatment Approaches for Drug Addiction