Based on reports made by the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), women face greater challenges when it comes to the problem of alcoholism. One of them is higher alcohol-related fatalities and the other is more obstacles to entering alcohol rehab.

Susceptibility to Alcohol

The NCADD states that death from accidents, diseases and suicide attributed to alcohol abuse is 75% higher for women than men. One of the possible explanations given is the difference in the way female and male bodies react to the substance.

When women drink alcohol, it becomes diluted by the water in their body and stored in body fat. When it comes to water and fats, women’s bodies generally tend to have less of the former and more of the latter. Thus with equal consumption, women are more likely to get intoxicated faster than men. This inevitably makes them more vulnerable to the effects of alcohol, from physical health problems to alcoholism.

Barriers to Rehabilitation

The established social expectations for women can further complicate the problem. Since they are usually the primary family caregivers, they have more responsibilities that hinder them from seeking outpatient and inpatient forms of alcohol treatment.

Think about how difficult it is for a married or single woman with children to go into rehab. Child care and financial resources are the two major issues that women have to overcome in order to seek proper treatment. According to the NIAAA, women compose only 25% of alcohol clients in US rehab centers.

Alcohol addiction affects both the alcoholic and his or her family. This is perhaps more pronounced in the case of female alcoholics. If any effective treatment is to be provided for them, it must consider their family involvement, which holistic alcohol rehab programs do.

Women need to be encouraged to take the step toward recovery if not for them individually, but their children and loved ones as well. While it can be more difficult for women to enter rehab and take that step, it is undoubtedly in their best interest and those of their loved ones.

The powerful emotions and complicated relationships that exist between parent, sibling or friend and the addicted person can further complicate the problem of addiction. Instead of really helping the afflicted person, you may inadvertently enable the substance abuse.

Here are some of the more common mistakes friends and family members can make. These are part of the obstacles that can hinder more effective solutions, such as drug rehab.

Making up excuses for them – When the addicted friend or family member is absent from work or is in trouble with authorities, your natural first reaction is to defend or come to his or her rescue. If there wasn’t an addiction issue, this would be the normal course of action to take.

But, making excuses and rationalizing the addict’s behavior to yourself and others only serves to protect him or her from the negative consequences of addiction. When nothing significantly bad can happen, he or she won’t feel the need to change.

Giving them money – Sympathy and the desire to support the addicted person’s material needs are also natural emotions. But it’s easy to underestimate the addiction and overestimate how much control the addicted person has over his or her thinking.

You could assume that he or she would use the money appropriately. In most cases though, the addict will use it to acquire more of the substance he or she is abusing.

Providing for their needs – Wanting to provide food, shelter, etc. for is also fueled by the natural feeling to protect and support the addicted friend or family member, and it results in the same enabling effect. You have to allow the addict to experience the disruption that addiction can truly cause.

In many cases, this enabling from friends and family can continue for years, allowing the person with the addiction to take advantage of the help loved ones give. While this is a common issue, it can be stopped. Simply stepping back from the situation and considering your friend’s safety and future can help you decide that enabling is not going to lead to recovery.

More often than not, the addict enters a drug rehab center because he or she finally realizes how unsustainable a life ravaged by substance abuse can be. While it may be the hardest thing to do, tough love may be exactly what your loved one needs.

Overcoming one’s addiction is a very private and personal matter. Just like with any other illness or disorder, treatment for substance abuse needs to be done confidentiality. This is such an important factor that some drug and alcoholism rehabilitation programs could fail if this issue isn’t effectively settled. One example that illustrates this is an initiative by the US Army that is supposed to provide treatment for soldiers who abuse alcohol.

The military institution is faced with the tragic fact that 1 out of 4 soldiers suffer from alcoholism. Based on their research, this problem has been linked to growing incidents of sexual assault, domestic violence and suicide. In 2009 the Army started a pilot treatment program that included confidential counseling. Unfortunately the program had a high 70% dropout rate. Because of this, the project has intermittently stalled for three years now, indefinitely postponing expansion to all 60 Army bases. To date, the program runs in only 6 bases located in Hawaii, Alaska, Washington, Kansas, Missouri and Colorado.

According to the drug and alcohol rehabilitation experts that have commented on the Army’s treatment program, the confidentiality issue is the likely cause of the dropout rate. While confidential counseling is offered, the serviceman seeking treatment is required by military policy to inform his or her commanding officer. This can effectively discourage anyone building a career in the Army from even thinking about getting into the treatment program.

Privacy and confidentiality are just some of the basic benefits offered by our private drug rehab center. We create a safe haven where your loved one can securely undergo recovery and not have to worry about the social pressures that are part of the reality of everyday life. Unfortunately, those who may need it most, those active in the military, are not getting access to the same level of treatment.

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If one of your loved ones has a substance abuse problem, you probably know the difficulty of convincing him or her to quit and seek help in a drug recovery center. Intervention experts say the task is just as difficult for the concerned relative as it is for the loved one suffering the addiction. They add that most of the obstacles that hinder a successful intervention are based on a misunderstanding of the problem of addiction itself and the emotional complications that are naturally part of any relationship.

It seems the most common mistake that family members make with their loved one’s addiction is to focus too much on the substance being abused. The wrong assumption here is that the drug or alcohol, by the power of its addictive properties, is mainly responsible for the problem.

Addiction is essentially reward-seeking behavior and so the important question that needs to be asked is why your loved one would behave that way. The answer according to the intervention experts is the addict is escaping discomfort. Physical, emotional or spiritual – on whatever level it may be, some sort of pain exists and the addict needs to avoid it and seek pleasure.

The feelings of hope, sympathy, guilt and fear are the very emotions the addicted loved one uses to keep the vicious cycle turning. Perhaps the most significant of these is fear, or more specifically fear of change in the family dynamics. It is not easy to see the cause when it lies too close. It’s harder to do something about it when it is an established family culture or setting that’s accepted and taken for granted. More often than not, the concerned family member is unintentionally enabling the loved one’s addiction.

Gaining a thorough understanding of these issues is the best way you can convince your loved one afflicted with addiction to enter a drug rehab center and begin his or her journey towards recovery.

To effectively treat alcoholism, one must uncover the underlying issues that have attributed to and trigger addiction. With our in-patient alcohol treatment program, we take a holistic approach to bringing these complicated issues to light so true healing can begin. A recent study supports the importance of our treatment for alcoholism by establishing a strong correlation between childhood trauma and this particular type of addiction.

The study is found in the Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research (ACER) publication. It involved a total of 196 patients, both men and women, who were undergoing detoxification for alcohol abuse. The study outlines childhood trauma as any form of sexual, physical or emotional abuse. It also includes physical and emotional neglect in its scope.

The central revelation in this research is that adults afflicted with alcoholism and exhibiting anxiety disorders, depression or suicidal tendencies had higher rates of abuse and neglect than those not burdened with addiction. Among the general population, there is only 8.4% for physical abuse and 6% for sexual abuse. But with male alcoholic patients the rates are 24% and 12% respectively, while with female patients it is 33% and 49%. It is also noted that findings are a little vague when it comes to emotional abuse and physical and emotional neglect as these are harder to define and mostly less reported.

An effective treatment program for alcohol dependency and abuse needs to take into account such major factors as childhood trauma. Since accompanying mental disorders are also a common outcome of abuse and neglect, dual diagnosis is highly relevant as well. Clarity Way specializes in dual diagnosis and provides a complete approach to rehabilitation so your loved one has the best chance of finding his or her own path to recovery.

A new pill called Nalmefene has been created and reportedly can significantly decrease one’s desire to consume alcohol. It works by blocking particular receptors in our brain that produce the feeling of pleasure from drinking alcoholic beverages. It is being pushed as the pill that could cure alcohol or opioid drug addiction. Is this good news? It would probably depend on how you view the problem of substance abuse.

If alcohol and drug addiction was simply a medical issue, then Nalmefene or any other similarly functioning pharmaceutical could be called the latest miracle of science. Unfortunately addiction is not that simple a problem. When a drug is used to counteract dependency on another drug or addictive substance, doesn’t that just add another node of dependency?

Based on reported tests, the new pill is effective. It can even induce acute withdrawal symptoms hence the side effects of nausea and vomiting. Nalmefene can certainly make drinking alcohol an undesirable experience. But has the alcoholism been treated? When the prescription for this counteracting drug is finally stopped, will the person suffering from addiction be finally sober for life?

There’s a reason why our long term drug rehab uses a holistic approach that includes various treatment modalities. This is because there are other factors besides medical causes that need to be considered in treating substance abuse.

Other than doctors and nurses, the dedicated staff of our private drug rehab center includes drug counselors, psychiatrists, therapists, physical trainers, and life coaches. Each of these professionals specializes in addressing an aspect of the afflicted person’s rehabilitation. We take great care to customize treatment plans to fit the specific situation of each client. The point is to treat the whole person. Substance abuse is not just some illness that goes away by taking another pill.

Prescription stimulants like Adderall and Dexedrine are sometimes called the respectable cousins of illegal street drugs such as cocaine and meth. Both groups affect the brain and body in similar fashion. Both are highly addictive. But only the former can be legally prescribed to treat conditions such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

The medicine carries inherent risks, but remains safe as long as it is prescribed correctly by a physician and used exactly as instructed. Problems arise when the stimulant is used for purposes other than what it was designed for.

Some college students, for example, use Adderall to boost their mental performance during examinations. Since the stimulant isn’t labeled as a dangerous illegal drug, the practice becomes more or less socially acceptable in this age group. A few students may even praise the medicine as the miracle drug that saved their grade point average. It isn’t hard to imagine how this could lead to dependency and eventually addiction.

Not all students who take stimulants are non-prescribed users though. There are certainly those that are afflicted with ADHD and have a true need for the medication. This is where dual diagnosis issues can emerge. Mental health disorders complicated by co-occurring substance abuse can often turn into a vicious cycle.

An effective dual diagnosis rehab program is the key to resolving such complications. The person suffering from stimulant addiction must first undergo detoxification in order to remove the substance abuse aspect of the problem. Then a more accurate evaluation of his or her mental health can be made.

Addiction by itself is already a complex issue. It can be made more so with a simultaneously occurring mental health disorder. A holistic approach to drug addiction rehab where emotional and spiritual, as well as psychological and medical, needs are addressed has a better chance of helping your loved one find the right path to recovery.

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Ice, yellow bam, poor man’s cocaine – methamphetamine goes by many names, and it is one of the most commonly made synthetic stimulants in the United States. The illegal drug is dangerous not only for its side effects but also because it’s quick and cheap to manufacture.

Unlike cocaine and heroin, which are mostly imported, meth is locally made and therefore that much easier to distribute. Law enforcement agencies report that labs are increasingly cropping up in rural areas and meth makers have even devised cooking methods that make mobile labs possible.

This worsening situation makes it all the more important to inform yourself about this illegal drug. Fortunately there are groups like The Meth Project Foundation. This foundation has launched public service campaigns to show just how dangerous meth can really be, with ads featuring the disturbing reality of what this drug can do to the human body.

One piece of information you certainly need to be armed with is how to tell if your friend, immediate family member or relative is using this dangerous — and dangerously addictive — substance. Users of this drug show various symptoms, and they can be a combination of any or all of the following:

• Paranoia and other psychotic behavior
• Mood swings and sudden outbursts
• Dilated pupils, even in brightly lit areas
• Burns on fingers and mouth
• Loss of appetite
• Erratic sleeping patterns
• Exaggerated mannerisms
• Excessive sweating not due to weather or physical activity
• Deteriorating physical appearance and lack of concern for hygiene
• Unusual body odor, which smells like ammonia
• Frequently in need of cash – always borrows money, sells possessions or steals

The best way to help your loved one find the path to recovery is by encouraging him or her to accept treatment in a drug detox facility. The journey of rehabilitation starts by first being able to identify the signs of meth addiction.

Identifying addiction is the first step in the road to recovery. In most cases, to overcome addiction, your loved one needs to check into a private drug treatment facility. Be aware that this is one of the most important decisions they will ever make.

Make a List of Requirements that Drug Rehab Facilities Need to Meet

First and foremost, your loved one needs to feel comfortable with the private drug treatment facility they plan on staying at. Start by taking a tour of the facility and meeting the staff to make sure they can meet your loved one’s needs. Ask the staff if they have addiction treatments that are backed by scientific studies. Do they include behavioral therapy treatment options to treat drug dependency?

Learn about the Treatments

Next, ask the medical staff to see if they tailor the treatment plans according to the patient. You do not want a standard drug treatment program that is not customizable to your loved one’s situation. To break your loved one’s drug dependency, the facility should create an individualized treatment plan for them, designed to address their unique challenges and goals.

Does the facility change the treatment program if your loved one’s needs change during their stay? The rehab facility should have weekly or monthly checkpoints during your loved one’s stay to make sure they are on track with their treatment program or if adjustments need to be made.

Find out the Plans for After Treatment

The amount of time your loved one spends in a private drug treatment facility should depend on their needs and problems. A good treatment facility will monitor their progress, and offer aftercare maintenance programs after recovery. Do they offer community support or group therapy to help people stay on track?

Clarity Way is a private drug treatment facility that offers tailored addiction treatment programs to help your loved one overcome their addiction. This facility not only takes care of your loved one, but involves their family members so they are comfortable knowing their loved one is receiving the care and treatment they need.

You are aware that your friend has a drug or alcohol addiction, and it has taken a strong hold of their life. But, what can you do? Bringing up your friend’s addiction is a sensitive subject, especially if they are in denial about their addiction. How can you bring up the subject of addiction recovery treatment programs to your friend?

Your friends’ problem with alcohol or drugs may be real, but addicts are usually in denial, and do not know where to go for help. When you bring up the sensitive subject of your friend’s addiction, you should talk to them in a safe and secure place, and let them know that you love them and are there to support them. Talk to your friend when they are not under the influence.

Speak to your friend in a caring and loving tone, and let them know you worry about them. Let them know that addiction recovery treatment programs help break the cycle of addiction by revealing the underlying issues. Encourage your friend to talk to the staff at a treatment facility like Clarity Way to learn more about the individualized addiction treatment program designed specifically for their addiction.

Your friend cannot break the cycle of addiction alone. They need professional help from experienced medical staff. Your friend has to want to get help, as it is not your responsibility to force them to get the help they need. If your friend decides to accept help, you can be there for support during and after their stay.

Addiction recovery treatment programs are tailored to each person’s specific needs during every stay at Clarity Way. Your friend will receive help from a medical doctor, life coach, addictions counselor, nutritionist, and other professional staff during their treatment program.

Clarity Way even offers an aftercare recovery program to help people stay sober after they complete their addiction treatment program.

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