Category Archives: addiction

Explaining Process Addiction

July 12, 2014

Does Process addiction Exist?

What is process addiction? This refers to a compulsive behavior that involves an action which on its own is not physically addictive but the person becomes dependent upon it. These behaviors may include: – love, sex, gambling, shopping, internet etc. This is a behavioral addiction and it doesn’t include alcohol or drug addiction.

Process addiction is mostly overlooked but it can be destructive to the victim. When a person is a victim of a process addiction, he/she feels severe coercion to engage in the activity repeatedly, sometimes even at the expense of their own physical, mental, relational or financial wellbeing.

Process Addiction

Which are some examples of these process addiction activities?

The list of activities which result into process addiction is very long since it is normally based on the activities that the individual regularly undertakes. When the activities are done repeatedly for a long period of time, there develops what can be called a habit in doing the activity. The person then becomes addicted with the activity over time and it becomes almost impossible to do without the activity. Some of the common ones are: – love, sexual activity, eating, shopping, gambling, watching pornography, mention them.

From this list though there are two behaviors which have proven to be outstanding. These are sexual addiction and pathological gambling.

·         Sex addiction

Sex addiction comes with recurring obsession to engage in sexual activity. A victim of this kind of addiction may end up sleeping with multiple partners over a short period of time and sometimes even forego personal duties in favor of sexual indulgence.

What are the symptoms of sex addiction?

Some of the indicator of a person addicted with sex may include excessive engagement in sexual acuities such as, pornography, masturbation and also behaviors like fetishism, exhibitionism and prurience.

  • Pathological gambling

Gambling is an activity that many of us engage into in variety of ways. This refers to any activity that someone engages with an expectation of monetary or material gain. The activity normally has probabilities and the person gambling accepts chances of losing or winning. An example of such events is a gamble on the results of a given football match e.g. World cup finals. The persons gambling predicts the result and places a valued item or some amount of money which is supposed to gain profit in the event of a win and in the opposite, it is lost altogether.

Even though these events we sometimes to for fun or looking for gain, when done for a long period they may turn out addictive. The person may increase the habit to a point of financial distress and often sacrificing belongings and time trying to get more money and consequently gamble it.

Which are the symptoms of behavioral addiction?

Process AddictionAddiction is usually difficult to spot. This is because different people engage into different activities during their free time in the form of hobbies. This makes it difficult to tell who is an addict of a given activity. However, people who are addicted to an activity will want to do it repeatedly, despite the damaging consequences which may come with the event.

The following are some of indicators of a behavioral addicted person:-

  • The person exhibits repetitive habits which persist or are continued despite their significant negative consequences.
  • The person experiences a feeling of loneliness, depression, anxiety and even sometimes highly stressed.
  • Another indicator of a behavioral addict is taking of increasingly big risks. For instance, the person may bet on the result of an event at 5dollars, the results goes contrary and the person bet again and again without a win but not seeming to give up even when the current bet is the only amount the person has as balance at that given time. This kind of addiction makes the person think of gambling without the losses that it comes with while the person unsuccessfully betting.
  • The addicts of behavioral addiction face difficulty in controlling impulses in general. These people follow their urge without having to reason out.
  • The victims of behavioral addiction have difficulty in sustaining relationships. This is particularly the case with the sex addicts. These people cannot control their sexual urges and thus they end up in uncontrolled sexual activities and normally with many different people. This makes it difficult for them to have a long term relationship due to un-trustworthiness (though they cannot control it) or in the event that the partner cannot withstand the frequent sex requirements of such persons.
  • Finally, the behavioral addicts will always want to hide or lie about their impulsive habits.

Treatment of behavioral addiction

In most cases, due to the nature of behavioral addiction the appropriate treatment is psychotherapy. Some times this therapy may need to be accompanied by some medication. It is common that the occurrence of behavioral addiction may be accompanied by likes of mood loss, anxiety or sometimes impulse control disorders. In such cases, treating all these conditions concurrently can relieve the symptoms of both.

Now we have seen the various symptoms of behavioral addiction. Are you in the category of victims of the same or do you of a person suffering from behavioral addiction like gambling and sex addiction? Meet professionals who will solve your problem at AWAREmed.

Does Process addiction Exist?

 

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SEX ADDICTION

July 11, 2014

What’s SEX ADDICTION?

sex addictionWhat is sex addiction? One might ask. Sex addiction is a habitual sexual thoughts and actions which is better described as a progressive intimacy disorder. It’s an impact that progresses as the disorder increase. Usually the victim of addiction intensifies the behavior to get the same result. Addiction varies with each and every addict. Mostly the behavior will not progress beyond things like pornography, internet sex services or just masturbation. Other addictions will involve illicit activities such as rape, obscene calls and even child molestations. Most sexual addiction will however not end in sex offenses and not all people who rape or molest sexually are addicts either. Slightly above 50 percent of people accused or convicted of sexual offenses are sex addicts.

Sexual addiction has also been described as an engagement in persistent and escalating ways of sexual behavior mostly carried out despite increasing negative repercussion to one’s self or to other people. In short, this is an activity that they will engage in not caring whether they will face health risks, being neglected by family and community. They will not even care if they are arrested or not. The issue is not the same with child molestation as this is usually rated as a sexual addiction. Over 70 percent of people who engage in the act of child molestation are sex addicts and it’s always so brutal that serving a jail term is the only way to keep the society safe and free from them.

Society is slowly coming to terms with the fact that people who commit this sexual offenses are not looking for sexual gratification but they are doing it rather for some kind of attention that is always related to power and control. Some even do it for revenge or to convey anger towards a certain towards a certain situation they had faced earlier in life or are facing in their current lives. Not long ago, research showed different reasons for sex addiction. This were related to an awareness of brain changes or brain reward that was associated with sexual behavior that led to an understanding that there is also a prevailing sexual drive that motivates the sex offenses.

Sex addiction is described in the diagnostic and statistical manual of psychiatric disorders in volume four and in the category of sexual disorders as a certain agony over a sample of frequent with lovers who are experienced b the personage only as things to be used. Sexual addiction also involves searching for many partners and masturbation among others. Unlike eating, sexual activity is considered to be necessary for human survival and happiness though some people completely abstain or are celibate. Some will choose to abstain from sexual activities due to different kinds of reason like religion and culture but for a completely healthy human being without these boundaries, it’s completely normal to have feelings for sex. In most cases, lack of interest can mean a very big problem or even a mental disorder.

            Symptoms of sexual addiction

Sexual addiction diagnosis has been described as a disorder where a criteria based on chemical dependency was used. The symptoms mostly include:

–          Too much thought of sex till it affects ones other activities even they really want to stop. For instance, if you love football, your minds starts deviating towards sex more.

–          Sleeping with more than one partners have also been attributed to sex addiction.

–          Watching too much pornography or spending most of one’s time in activities that involve or relate to sex.

If you find yourself battling with the above symptoms then you may be heading for sexual addiction. If you feel like your world mostly revolves around thinking about sex even when you are not supposed to then you are probably an addict that definitely requires treatment fast.

            Treating sexual addictions

Thereare several programs available for people who are looking for help for sex addiction. There is sierra Tucson in Arizona in the United States of America among others. These programs have the same approach and strategy towards sex addiction and they have proven effects in treating chemical dependency but first, did you know that sexual addiction is the most common addiction compared to other addictions? And what are the questions that one should ask themselves when looking for a good program for sex addiction treatment. Well for starters you should ask if there are groups that deal with these issues. If there is any then it’s the place for you to look for your treatment.

You should also ask yourself whether the program is based on a 12 step philosophy and if it’s ok to attend the meetings while on treatment. It’s always not easy for a sexual addict to know between a healthy and a not so healthy sexual acts. These programs will usually encourage abstinence in the early stages of treatment. Residential treatment maybe also be required for a few weeks to protect the addict from sexual exposure and relapse. It is also important to know that in order for one to heal quickly, one has to get rid of the guilt and the stresses associated with this kind of addiction

 

What’s SEX ADDICTION?

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Being Safe from Drugs

July 11, 2014

Being safe from drugs-Drug Addiction

Being free from drug addiction is practically possible only if you take it upon yourself to stop drugs and choose good friends.

We have just discussed in our last posting the consequences of an addiction and drug abuse noting several elements among them the legal, health, social and financial consequences. These are pertinent issues in addiction and I hope that you have had time to read through them so that we can together make progress from there. If you have then I strongly believe that you have made an informed decision to keep distance from anything that can trigger an addiction. In this article we will make progress from that and concentrate on elements which when done will help you and possibly guarantee your safety from drug abuse. Achieving this will largely depend on you and the efforts you make to realize this objective. To start you off, you will need to:

  • Be committed to knowing yourself better that is to say consciously be sober.
  • Visualize the bright future ahead of you.
  • Meditate on the positives of your lovely family, friends and the people who matter to you most.
  • Think of how people of your age are making good use of their talents in various aspects like music, arts, poetry, sports, dance, acting, comedy, writing informative articles to make a better society and many more.
  • Visualize how great professions are made and how young people are filling in those professional positions like teachers, financial experts, business entrepreneurs, investors, doctors, lawyers, scientists and many more.

Having these positive points at the back of your mind will help you look at situations in life differently and positively. All the people in your mind right now who have made it or who are making it in life all have a story to tell and you can and should be like one of them if not all of them. This is the spirit I want to encourage you to have as we progress in the discussion. You must desire to be and remain focus and shun all risky activities, behaviors and bad associations. All these are achievable and the following are some of the tips which if worked upon, then you shall have started the journey of your great dream, remember the wise saying a journey of great distance begins with a single step, your single step is focus. Now let us look at other tips:

Being safe from Drugs-Creativity  

Wisdom tells us that “an idle mind is the devils workshop” can you imagine who the devil is let alone renting him your mind to be his place of residence! This is not just a statement it is true and any right thinking person must take heed of this. If you are not properly engaged there is the likelihood that you will spend your time doing unproductive and useless things. If you are a student in school you have several options like joining the school football team, drama, musical instrument play classes or basketball or engage in charitable organizations to help people even if you are doing it without pay remember the joy and satisfaction one get in offering a helping hand to people, this may not have the monetary element but I can assure you that it is worth it than destroying yourself physically and psychologically by indulging in drugs and bad company.

Being safe from Drugs-Depression

Being depressed is a serious problem in human life because a depressed person can easily resort to drugs to relieve them of this situation. It normally create a state of loneliness, sadness, alteration of senses and bad moods causing them to give in to anything good or bad so long as it can bring this to an end. Depression is a serious health condition and must be given immediate medical attention. The medication must be administered by a medical doctor and not self-medication or prescriptions suggested by your friends. If you are still under the care of your parents then you must notify them immediately for action to be taken before it is too late.

Being safe from Drugs-Discover your Talent

You may be wondering how would one identify their talents and how it may be helpful in matters addiction, what you do and is capable of doing may be that talent waiting to be unlocked. You can unlock that talent by for example taking time to write or play a poem, drawing, painting, getting involved in a science project, reading or taking time to watch documentaries on a TV channel, or better still take time and participate in competitions. Believe me if you engage yourself in things like this you will certainly find one that is your talent. Doing this is meant to provoke that sleeping talent and also to help you position your mind in the proper thinking lane and staying focused on good things as opposed to destructive elements.

Take the lead role in doing thing personally and encouraging yourself positively

It is important that when doing things, you take them upon yourself because no one will help you solve your problems, doing thing your way helps you take control and maintaining focus. It may not be easy to do thing all by yourself especially new things you have never done before for example if you have never be into sports people may tease and jeer at you in manner of ways but this should not make you change your course instead take them positively and have fun over them by being humorous. Remember not everyone is a great sportsman but everyone can have fun in playing sport. Doing things yourself and relaying on your body to adapt to a game will help you understand the impact of drugs and the harm associated with it.

Being safe from Drugs-Choose only good friends

Many people get into drugs because of wrong associations and so the choice of association is very crucial for one to remain in the right path. Careful attention must be taken in doing this because it is not an easy one. It is not always easy to choose friends however one should be guided by what their objective is, like in our case we are looking towards staying in a drug addiction free environment. Like we have mention above the best friend would that whom you can learn something positive from for example if you are weak in drama and shy then you can associate with the best in drama this way you will be able to learn from the most active drama participants. Making the wright choice of friends enables you to remain focus but choosing wrong ones like those who smoke, drink alcohol or do drugs will definitely lead you into turmoil of drug abuse and addiction.

Following all these steps will surely let you make great improvement towards realizing good and healthy lives however in the event that you are already suffering from drug addiction then you will need to be treated first then you can follow through these guides. Good addiction treatment can only come from addiction experts like doctor Dalal Akoury who is also the founder of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center where treatment is not only done by the experts but in a more friendly way taking keen interest in ensuring that the patients get well fast. To achieve this Doctor Akoury together with her team of experts will focus on Neuroendocrine Restoration (NER) to reinstate normality through realization of the oneness of Spirit, Mind, and Body, Unifying the threesome into ONE  and you will have your life back and live it to the fullest there after.

Being safe from drugs-Drug Addiction

 

 

 

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The Consequences of Drug Abuse

July 11, 2014

The consequences of drug abuse-Drug Addiction

Drugs

Drug addiction consequences. Drug addicts often find themselves in the wrong sides of the law. Being arrested and re-arrested can be avoided by avoiding drugs.

If you have been with us on this link for sometimes now you must have read a lot about addiction in several articles we have been posting and we want to continue informing you of the many consequences of indulging in drugs. The consequences are many but for the purpose of this article we will categorize them in to five segments as follows: Legal, health, social and finances consequences. We are going to be discussing each briefly giving the insight of the consequences in each category.

Legal consequences
humanity has from creation lived in strict observation of rules and regulations. This system has been passed from generation to generation and today all nations globally operate within certain perimeters of laws. These laws include laws governing drug abuse detailing the consequences of any infringements which may include a lifetime in the confinement in prison, hefty fine or both. When one if found on the wrong side of the law other things likely to follow will be:

Criminal Record:  the affected person will have a criminal record on your file and this will tarnish your reputation with the authorities and the society.

Career and employment: -the affected person will lose many employment opportunities since most employers require certification of good conduct.

Licenses: – with criminal record on your head you are likely to miss certain opportunities in business like getting license to operate a liquor business or drive a taxi.

Travel: -with the advent of global terrorism having criminal record will restrict your travel and movement as many countries will not give you visa to set foot in their land.

Social Status: -people do not want to associate with criminals less they be branded criminals too birds of the same feathers flock together) this will injure your relationship not just with people but very close ones to you like those of your co-workers, neighbors and your relationships with your family and friends. In other words criminal records assassinate ones character completely.

Consequences Related to health
One of the greatest assets in human life if that of peace of mind and it is easily affected by drugs and addiction related problems. The effects are either physical or psychological.

Physical Health -Drug abuse can adversely affect every major system in the human body like alcohol and cigarette smoking may cause fatal illness like cancer.

Psychological Health – Mental health problems such as depression, developmental lags, apathy, withdrawal, and other psychosocial dysfunctions frequently are linked to substance abuse among adolescents. Others include conduct problems, personality disorders, suicidal thoughts, attempted suicide, and suicide. For example marijuana use which is common among young people has been shown to interfere with short-term memory, learning and psychomotor skills.

Addiction – often people think they can never get addicted, but this is not true as addiction can knock on the doors of anyone at any time. Someone who is addicted normally suffers lose of control and sound judgment and when they stop using the substance, they are likely to suffer severe psychological or physical symptoms, such as anxiety, irritability, unhappiness and stress.

Social Consequences

Drugs affect the brain directly and the human brain is design in a way that it controls almost everything we do. This action of drug addiction will therefore affect:

  1. Relationships:  bad behavior associated with drug abuse will negatively affect your relationships with your loved ones.
  2. Families:  substance abuse affects the emotional, financial, and psychological well-being of the whole family. Normally teenagers who use drugs withdraw from their family members and family activities, their actions in the process set bad examples for any younger siblings this is because their judgment and decision-making ability becomes greatly impaired, they may become more hostile toward family members and even steal from them to get money for drugs.
  3. Peers:  Your peers will stay away from you. No one will like to have bad influence, and they will feel scared around you. You will lose worthy friends, and find yourself keeping bad ones.
  4. School:  Chances are that you will drop out of school because your brain is affected, and you are no longer in control of your school work. You may rebel and get a suspension and so you will be vulnerable to committing crime and the results of this is very clear.

Financial Consequences
It goes without saying that when one becomes addicted to dugs they will need money for supply and when there is no money they will begin to start selling their personal belongings, phones, music iPods, personal jewelry etc. to finance their addictive needs. It must be noted that as the small drug users struggle to maintain their supply it is the bigger drug dealer who is making money out of this situation and with this money they organize more sophisticated crimes and the whole community or nation suffers the consequences.

We can never get to conclusion when discussing the consequences of addiction in human life and so there will always be room for further discussions on this but for the purpose of bringing this article to an end we must make all necessary effort to ensure that we and our loved ones do not suffer these consequences. How to do this will greatly depend on individual will power to abstain from all addiction related substances. Therefore seeking lasting solutions will be very desirable and talking to the experts on matters relating to addiction will be the starting point. AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center will be very helpful to all people willing to distance themselves from the consequences of addiction. AWAREmed is a facility founded by doctor Dalal Akoury who is a medical doctor and has had experience over several decades in matters addiction. Visiting this facility under Doctor Akoury’s care will be the most valuable thing you can do to free yourself from these consequences. While receiving treatment here, doctor Akoury and her team of experts will focus on Neuroendocrine Restoration (NER) to reinstate normality through realization of the oneness of Spirit, Mind, and Body, Unifying the threesome into ONE making you to be safe and free from all these consequences.

The consequences of drug abuse-Drug Addiction

 

 

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Hallucinogenic Drugs

July 10, 2014

Hallucinogenic Drugs – Drug Addiction

Hallucinogenic

Drug addiction is and will never be good for human life it does not matter whether you are taking hallucinogenic drugs or not

The human senses can be affected in different ways and by different means. Consumptions of various drugs are some of the actions that have the adverse effects in the human senses. Among those drugs are hallucinogenic drugs, this is a collection of drugs with the capabilities of altering the human senses. They are also known as psychedelic drugs and are powerful to affect the perception of the world around us. They can also be very intimidating to the senses or rather change them in such a way that things become more extreme like the affected person can see dull colours much brighter and  occasionally even ‘see’ sounds or ‘hear’ colours. Besides affecting senses these drugs can also change their user’s moods thoughts and even behavior.

Some Hallucinogenic drugs group include

Hallucinogen is a collection of various drugs like: LSD, PCP, Magic Mushrooms, Mescaline, DMT. They also include ecstasy, cannabis especially the stronger varieties such as skunk and ketamine. It must be noted that some of these drugs originate naturally from vegetation’s for example cannabis and magic mushrooms whereas others are produced artificially from laboratories. The examples of laboratory drugs may include ketamine and ecstasy.

Street names of Hallucinogenic drugs

Like any other drug hallucinogenic drugs also have some street names associated with them these street names may include any of the following: Dope, Pot, Mushrooms, Acid, Special K, Angel dust, Trip, Blotters, Northern lights, Smarties etc.

How are hallucinogens used?

  • Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is packaged in small squares of blotting paper or a sheet of small designs which the user drips onto their tongue. It can also be dropped into to sugar cube or used to produce capsules or tablets. When taken in whichever way it brings in alterations in human perception and feelings of being out of one’s body.
  • PCP or ‘angel dust’ is accessible in different forms and kinds which may include powder, tablets, liquid or crystals. It is ingested in the body through inhaling (snorted), smoked in cigarette, taken orally or injected.
  • Magic mushrooms are a wild form of fungus which is cultivated mainly in the UK and other parts of the world. The most common form is the ‘liberty cap’ although the ‘fly agaric’ variety is also used. They may be consumed raw even though many people prefer to add them to food or make them into a drink.
  • Mescaline is a more unusual form of hallucinogen which comes from a cactus plant.
  • DMT (dimethyltriptamine) is very similar to LSD. Besides being similar to LSD they are more powerful than LSD. It can be inhaled (snorted), smoked or injected and is less easy to get hold of than LSD.
  • Ecstasy is obtainable in tablets, capsules or a powder forms and is popular with clubbers as it enables them to dance for long hours. It boosts feelings of intimacy and closeness and is also known as the ‘love drug’.
  • Cannabis can be smoked or added to food e.g. ‘hash cakes’ and is taken as a means of relaxation although stronger varieties such as sinsemilla and skunk can cause mild hallucinations.
  • Ketamine is an anaesthetic drug originally designed for veterinary purposes but has been used by people for its hallucinogenic qualities. It acts in a very similar way to PCP and taken orally, as tablets or injected.
Effects of hallucinogenic drugs

As has been discussed the most noticeable effect one is that of altered perception, affected people report mind-altering effects in what they see, hear, smell or touch things which they think are there but in reality, don’t exist. These effects vary according to the substance taken, the quantity taken, how often, the environment, age and whether it is taken in combination with other drugs e.g. alcohol.

Some people may experience greater effects than others. One person may only have a minor experience which can be absolutely pleasurable often refered to as a ‘good trip’ whereas another person can experience a complete ‘out of body’ experience which is terrifying to say the least known as a ‘bad trip’.  Some of these effects only last for a short time but others can last for many hours.

People who experience altered perception can find themselves indulging in risky or dangerous behavior, for example believing that they are able to fly. It is not unknown for someone to jump from a great height because of a psychedelic experience.

Are hallucinogenic drugs addictive?

They tend to be used on an irregular basis only so addiction doesn’t occur but a tolerance can build up if the drug is used on a regular basis, for example cannabis or ecstasy.

These drugs have a strong psychological effect which often involves a change in the brain’s chemistry and structure which results in dependence.

People also find that they experience some rather unpleasant withdrawal symptoms if they stop which results in them continuing to take these drugs.

Other side effects include anxiety and depression and an unpleasant condition called ‘flashbacks’: this is where someone sees replays of their drug experience, weeks, months or even years after they took the drug. If any drug is causing you the mention side effects of hallucinogenic drugs you must not wait until it wears you down. It will be important that you seek help from the experts. This you can get conveniently at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under Doctor Akoury’s care where total focus is on Neuroendocrine Restoration (NER) to reinstate normality through realization of the oneness of Spirit, Mind, and Body, Unifying the threesome into ONE.

Hallucinogenic Drugs – Drug Addiction

 

 

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