




Facts
Other powerful stimulants are amphetamines and their close cousin methamphetamines, better known by their current street names: speed, crank, crystal, meth, or ice. These stimulants are more popular with teens than ever, with 11.9 percent of high school seniors using them regularly in 1996. Amphetamines stimulate the nervous system; they create feelings of alertness, elation, restlessness and talkativeness, appetite suppression, and self-confidence while increasing the heart and breathing rates. Amphetamines and methamphetamines are easily swallowed in pill form or smoked, snorted, or injected in powder or rock crystal form. The effects can last for up to ten hours and the drug can stay in the body for up to four days. Tolerance builds up quickly, so that a long-term user may need up to twenty times the initial dose to achieve the same effect. Even though amphetamines in their various forms have been available for decades, drug experts say that they are now cheaper (sometimes costing only two dollars for a line or three dollars for a pill), easier to get, and more powerful than ever. The strongest rise in amphetamine and methamphetamine use is with suburban middle-class teenagers, especially among young girls who take the drug to lose weight. In California, which saw the first invasion of a particularly potent form of methamphetamine from Hawaii called Ice, use has reportedly reached epidemic proportions. Prolonged use can cause extreme paranoia which sometimes results in homicidal or suicidal thoughts, hallucinations and psychosis, insomnia, manic energy, heart and blood vessel toxicity, and severe malnutrition. Many people complain of unpleasant physical sensations that feel like bugs crawling on them (similar to coke bugs). An emergency room doctor in California says that "when kids come in jittery, picking at their skin, you don't have to ask—it's meth." Methamphetamine is highly addictive. Users trying to abstain from use may suffer withdrawal symptoms that include depression, anxiety, fatigue, paranoia, aggression, and intense drug cravings. Chronic abuse of methamphetamine produces a psychosis similar to schizophrenia and may include violent behavior, anxiety, confusion, and insomnia. Users can also exhibit psychotic behavior, including auditory hallucinations, mood disturbances, delusions, and paranoia, possibly resulting in homicidal or suicidal thoughts. The consumption of alcohol during pregnancy is one of the leading preventable causes of birth defects and childhood disabilities in the United States. Illicit drug use patterns tend to change over time; some suggest that there are cycles in popular drug use. The history of opium use for medicinal purposes dates back to ancient times. Morphine, the chief active ingredient of opium, was isolated in 1803 and began to be used as a painkiller and calming agent by U.S. physicians about 1832. Opiate use increased in the mid-nineteenth century with the rise in the opium trade with China, the advent of the hypodermic needle, and the liberal use of opiates by physicians during the Civil War. Heroin, a semi-synthetic narcotic derived from morphine, was first synthesized in 1874 and was offered as a medical remedy for coughs and chest pains around 1900. |
Therapeutic Community
An effective therapeutic community attends to the many needs of the individual, not just his or her drug use. Care given at a therapeutic community addresses the individual's drug use and associated medical, psychological, social, vocational, and legal problems. Also, a therapeutic community will continue to be flexible and provide ongoing assessments of the individual's needs, which may change during the course of care.
Remaining in care at a therapeutic community for an adequate period of time is critical for treatment effectiveness. The time depends on an individual's needs. For most people, the significant improvement is reached at about 3 months in treatment.
Alcoholism
Alcoholism, also known as "alcohol dependence," is a condition that includes craving and continued alcohol abuse despite repeated drinking-related problems, such as losing a job or getting into trouble with the law. It includes four major areas: Craving: - A strong need, or compulsion, to drink. Impaired control: -The inability to limit one's drinking on any given occasion. Physical dependence: -Withdrawal symptoms, such as nausea, sweating, shakiness, and anxiety, when alcohol use is stopped after a period of heavy drinking. Tolerance: - The need for increasing amounts of alcohol in order to feel its effects.
Residential Treatment
Residential treatment offers intensive drug addiction help over a period of weeks or months. This form of treatment has some advantages over out-patient treatment, although it may not be suitable for everyone. For example, those who are responsible for caring for young children may be better suited to attendance at an out patient treatment program. Residential treatment offers a safe, drug and alcohol-free environment where individuals can confront their own drug addiction and associated issues, with the help of qualified staff. Therapy usually consists of a mixture of group counseling, individual counseling and an introduction to the principles of a drug recovery program.
Drug Rehabilitation
Drug rehabilitation is a place or program that an individual enters to treat a drug or alcohol addiction. Through therapy and education, the individual is restored to their former non-drug using self. They are then able to re-enter society clean and sober. There are many reasons why a person would need to attend a drug rehabilitation program. Some of the many reasons are: the inability to control their drinking or drug use, alienating their friends and family, problems with the law, and problems at work. Also, there are several different types of drug rehabilitation programs available: inpatient, outpatient, residential, short-term, and long-term.
Relapse
Relapse is a term used to describe when an individual who has quit using drugs starts using once again. A relapse can mean just a one time use, a long term continues period of using or anything in between after a period of sobriety has taken place. An individual begins to experience a psychological relapse long before their first use after
quitting. Some things that can lead to relapse both physically or psychologically include: 1. Being in the presence of drugs or alcohol, drug or alcohol users, or places where you used or bought chemicals. 2. Feelings we perceive as negative, particularly anger; also sadness, loneliness, guilt, fear, and anxiety. 3. Positive feelings that make you want to celebrate by using. 4. Listening to others past drug use stories and just dwelling on getting high. 5. Believing that you no longer have to worry (complacent). That is, that you are no longer stimulated to crave drugs/alcohol by any of the above situations or by anything else – and therefore maybe it’s safe for you to use occasionally.
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