Category Archives: alcoholism and addiction

Addiction effects on intimacy and sexual health

February 15, 2016

Addiction effects on intimacy and sexual relationships: The danger of substance abuse

Addiction effects on sex

You need sexual satisfaction? stop using drugs because addiction affects sexual health negatively

As the problems of drug addiction get rooted into the society, its effect begins to manifest in many areas of life including relationships. When we talk of relationships and addiction, a lot can be derived from this and so for the purpose of this article, we want to focus our discussion on how addiction effects on intimacy and sexual relationships. To this effect doctor Akoury who is an addiction expert of several decades says that for those who constantly abuse alcohol and drugs, this becomes their main source of problem in their sexual life something that can have serious complications in their relationship.

With alcohol and drug abuse in the picture under this circumstance, one of the most immediate casualties from substance abuse will be intimacy. Because the substance of abuse is effective in mind alteration, it may not be possible for users of such drugs to maintain healthy relationships while under the influence of the same. And as the addiction takes tall in them, it will completely take over their life leaving no room for any other meaningful activity. Before any corrective measure is taken, the victim falls into illusion and self-absorption causing them to remain that way until they are treated and delivered from the scourge of addiction. According to the experts at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center, total recovery from addiction will automatically cause recovered patients to regain their ability to be intimate and enjoy healthy sexual relationships.

Addiction effects on intimacy and sexual relationships: Intimacy defined

As we progress into this discussion, lets us understand what intimacy really is. Broadly the word intimacy is derived from a Latin word meaning inner. We can therefore say that it is the closeness or interpersonal relationships involving both physical and emotional intimacy.

Emotional intimacy can vary in degree and it refers to the closeness that people feel for one another while physical intimacy mostly refers to sexual and romantic contact. Progressively an intimate relationship is understood to include a number of elements like:

  • Trust
  • Where partners in a relationship will have widespread knowledge about each other.
  • Partners in an intimate relationship will feel warmth, affection and care for each other.
  • The expectation of the relationship will be long term.
  • Persons in an intimate relationship may mean that those involved think in terms of us rather than me.
  • Those involved in such a relationship will be committed to each other.
  • There is an expectation that the other partner will treat them fairly.
  • They share and agree mutually on many beliefs, experiences, and opinions.

Addiction effects on intimacy and sexual relationships: Importance of intimacy

Intimacy is an important aspect of being human because of several reasons. Drug addiction and misuse of alcohol has been proven to be the biggest enemies of intimacy and that has necessitated our discussion on this topic “addiction effects on intimacy and sexual relationships.” Therefore for you to make certain informed decisions, the following are some of the importance of intimacy in any relationship:

  • It is through intimacy that partners in a relationship get to appreciate and fully understand who they are. This closeness can easily be altered if either of the partners is struggling with addiction thereby creating rift between them and eventually killing any form of intimacy.
  • Luck of intimacy is very fundamental when it comes to the breakages of marriages and other romantic relationships. The damage that this omission (intimacy) can cause can be very painful thereby causing the feeling of un-fulfillment and more so to the sober partner who will in most cases be the one noticing that the relationship is lacking in intimacy.
  • On matters spirituality, Intimacy can be very vital and it may not be possible to progress as a unit in spiritual terms if people feel locked out from others.
  • Intimate relationships provide strength and support needed for the individual partners giving them the comfort that they do not have to face life on their own.
  • Egocentricity and self-centeredness can lead to a great suffering. However by being intimate with one another partners will be able to break down their own barriers and turn their focus away from themselves.
  • The sense of incompleteness is bound to happen because partners may feel that something is missing in their life if they do not have an intimate sexual relationship. Promiscuous sex without this feeling of closeness can be a hollow substitute.
  • If people lack intimacy in their life it can leave them feeling lonely. Loneliness can be very catastrophic in peoples’ life because it makes them vulnerable to other health complications including depression. The danger of this is that individuals may turn to maladaptive behaviors for solace.
  • Intimacy and sexual relationships are one of the most rewarding parts of the human experience. It is a real shame if people miss out on these aspects of being alive.

Addiction effects on intimacy and sexual relationships: Substance abuse and intimacy

Finally experts are registering that when people are so much into misuse of alcohol and drugs, then maintaining any meaningful intimate relationship becomes very close to impossible. This is expressly true because knowing what drugs are users will become obsessed with these substances and the implication is that they will become so much frustrated with their habit leaving no room for anyone else. And as the individual falls further into addiction they may even lose all interest in sex completely. Remember that addiction effects drive the individual into a world of delusion and selfish action. It will not be possible for another human to trust them fully, and this will prove to be a barrier to intimacy. Nonetheless with all these happening, the individual addict may still have people who love them, but the damage shall have been done meaning that, every time there will be a sense of wariness mixed in with the affection. That is to say, the person who is abusing alcohol or drugs may feel almost incapable of feeling true affection.

Addiction effects on intimacy and sexual relationships: The danger of substance abuse

 

 

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BEHAVIORAL THERAPY

Behavioral Treatment Of Sex Addiction

February 12, 2016

Behavioral Treatment Of Sex Addiction: Individual therapy

The common problem many people have today is not knowing how to deal with all these addictive problems. take for instance behavioral treatment of sex addiction is one such conditions that experts have been following for sometime now. We want to inform you of some of the insights you need to know in this journey so that you can take appropriate remedial actions when faced with such challenges

  • Sex therapy
    • Available from licensed therapists dealing with sex addiction and covered by the International Institute for Trauma and Addiction Professionals.
    • Also available from licensed therapists certified by the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors, and Therapists.
    • Intensive outpatient programs are available for those patients who may be in crisis but do not require hospitalization for their illness.
      • These programs usually last for several weeks or several months.
      • Work toward stabilizing the lives of patients recommended for treatment of sexual addictions.
      • Lead to individual therapy, group counseling, couples counseling
      • The goal is to help patients address, understand and overcome triggers in everyday lives leading to compulsive sexual behavior and acting out.

Behavioral Treatment Of Sex Addiction: Cognitive behavioral therapy

  • This is a form of psychotherapy which stresses solving current problems and eliminating unhelpful thinking.
  • Problem-focused and action oriented
    • is effective for the following conditions:
      • eating disorders
      • sexual disorders (including sexual addictions)
      • anxiety disorders
      • mood disorders
      • dependency disorders
      • tics
      • psychotic disorders
    • This form of therapy is based on the belief that changing maladaptive thinking changes the actions and emotions of those who can do this. Another form of cognitive behavioral therapy believes that changing one’s relationship to the maladaptive thoughts can be equal as effective (and easier).
      • Encourages people to identify and challenge erroneous beliefs to decrease personal stress and end self-defeating behavior.
      • Encourages patients to replace maladaptive coping skills with more effective strategies by challenging the way patient thinks and the way they react to certain habits and behaviors
        • This therapy has six phases
          • Assessment or psychological assessment
          • Reconceptualization
          • Skills acquisition
          • Skills consolidation and application training
          • Generalization and maintenance
          • Post-treatment assessment follow-up
        • In adults, CBT has been shown to be effective for
          • anxiety disorders
          • depression
          • eating disorders
          • personality disorders
          • psychosis
          • schizophrenia
          • substance abuse disorders

BEHAVIORAL THERAPY

Behavioral Treatment Of Sex Addiction: Psychodynamic therapy

Similar to psychoanalysis, but less intensive

  • Relies upon the relationship between the therapist and client more than other in-depth psychology.
  • Has been used in individual psychotherapy and family therapy
  • Core Principles
    • An emphasis on intrapsychic and unconscious conflicts and how they relate to development
    • seeing defenses as developing in internal psychic structures to minimize unpleasant consequences of conflict
    • A belief that psychopathology develops as a result of early childhood experiences
    • A view that internal representations of experiences are organized around interpersonal relationships
    • A conviction that life issues and dynamics will re-emerge as part of the client-therapist relationship called transference and counter-transference
    • use of free association to explore major conflicts and problems
    • focusing on interpretations of transference, defense mechanisms, and current problems and working through these areas
    • trust in insight as critically important for the success of therapy

Behavioral Treatment Of Sex Addiction: Group therapy

Therapeutic Principles

    • Universality of experience
    • Altruism
    • Installation of hope
    • Imparting information
    • corrective recapitulation of the primary family experience
    • Development of socializing techniques
    • Imitative behavior
    • cohesiveness
    • existential factors
    • Catharsis
    • Interpersonal learning
    • Self-understanding
    • Therapeutic goals
      • To use the group process and group context as an agent of change

 

Behavioral Treatment Of Sex Addiction: Twelve steps

  • This is a program which uses guiding principles to outline a course of action to solve specific problems such as alcoholism, drug addictions, and compulsive diseases
  • These programs usually have 12 “steps” or guiding principles and usually use spiritual language to help the person solve their current problems.
    • They have a large number of members and have been applied to some problems of a compulsive nature, including alcoholism, drug abuse, gambling, overeating, sexual addictions and others.
    • They also have auxiliary groups which usually run concurrently with the other groups for family members and friends of the person directly involved
    • They encourage their members to take responsibility for the problem behaviors which brought them to the group, and point the members in the direction which will enable them to control and resolve their problems
    • They claim a greater rate than other programs and encourage their members to keep coming back after a relapse
    • Use “sponsorship” to help group members control their compulsive behavioral
      • A sponsor is an individual who has more time in the program and is experienced at developing coping skills aimed at cutting down the compulsion and repairing the consequences of the initial problem that brought the client into the group
Behavioral Treatment

Behavioral Treatment Of Sex Addiction is one that can be done by way of individual therapy or even group theraphy

DIALECTICAL-BEHAVIORAL THERAPY

  • This is a modified form of cognitive behavioral therapy to treat people with Borderline Personality Disorder and chronically suicidal individuals and which has since been applied to people suffering from
  • This type of behavioral therapy combines
    • standard cognitive therapy techniques for
      • emotional regulation
      • reality testing
      • with distress tolerance
      • acceptance
      • mindful awareness
    • The first type of behavioral therapy experimentally demonstrated to be effective in treating BPD
      • a randomized study showed reduced rates of suicidal gestures
        • psychiatric hospitalizations
        • and treatment drop-outs
      • Teaches the patient to see therapist as ally rather than as antagonist
      • Involves four components
        • Individual
          • one-on-one sessions with a therapist
            • subjects discussed are
              • weekly issues—issues that have come up during the week. In order of importance, these are
              • Self-injurious, suicidal behaviors, and life-threatening behaviors
              • Therapy-interfering behaviors
              • behaviors that threatened to “derail” or interfere with the course of treatment
              • Quality of life issues
              • improving skills usage
            • Group meetings
              • meets once per week for two and one-half hours and focuses on four modules
                • core mindfulness
                  • being aware, from moment to moment of the stream of awareness from a first-person perspective
                • interpersonal effectiveness
                • emotional regulation

COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY

http://regenerativepotential.com/integrativeaddictionconference/

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Sexting

Sexting And Its Impacts On Sexuality

February 11, 2016

Sexting: Sexually explicit messages, photos, videos, or even voicemail can be sent or received over digital platforms devices such as smartphone, email, laptop or webcam. When such a communication takes place, it is called sexting. Sexting is a term coined from two words; sex and text. Sexting does occur between two individuals who are romantically involved with each other.

Impacts Of Sexting On Sexuality

Sexting creates some feeling among those individuals who get involved in the act. On sexuality, the act of sexting does cause a different kind of effects depending on the circumstances and the environment. Sexuality is when one is infatuated with feelings, thoughts or sexual behavior that they are not in control of. So to better understand the impacts of sexting, every angle would need to be examined.

There tends to be some increase in sexual exploration among those individuals, especially teenagers, who practice sexting. When teenagers send or receive messages with sexual contents, their sexuality is aroused, and being teenagers, their curiosity is also awakened. This may lead to the teenagers getting involved in some dangerous sexual habits; like practicing sex with multiple partners, which may consequently lead to contraction of sexually transmitted infections and even unwanted pregnancies.

Sexting

Reputation is also something that would be affected by sexting. When one sends photos are videos of themselves in nudity, there is no guarantee that such message would not end up in some wrong or unintended recipient. Sexting is done in the privacy of the two involved parties, however, when such contents get the light of public, one’s reputation is normally put in line. Tarnished reputation makes one lose credibility in the public face or even at work places.

There is also the case of emotional disturbance. The relationship between the two previously intimate persons who may have been involved in sexting may change for the worse. In most cases, one of the partners may want payback and expose intimate photo or videos of their ex-partner to the public. Such exposure may cause great emotional torture to the victim to the extent that they may lose their self-esteem. Sexting may also cause emotional turmoil in the case where a partner discovers that their better have may be cheating on them. This would be the case when one finds out their partners have more than one partner.

Sexting may lead to sex addiction. Sending and receiving messages of nude photo contents or explicit videos may make one aroused. Such contents would make their urge to have sex increase. The increase in sexual activities caused by this sex wanting feeling may lead to some immoral practices among those involved. Sex addiction leads to prostitution among individuals. Because they are made to no longer be able to survive abstinence, Individuals start paying to have sex. Sex addiction also causes sexual harassment. Individuals who can no longer control their sexual urge ran the risk of getting charged with sexual harassment. Since they are out of control and are unable to practice restraint, accepting a no from a partner becomes extremely difficult.

Sexting

Sexting exposes teenager to sexual contents at a very early age. This, in turn, triggers their sexual imaginations as they tend to do more sex explorations. They, therefore, are forced to develop sexually in their minds long before their bodies. This is particularly harmful to them since they get into sexual activities and practices at a very tender age, ending up getting sexually abused. There is also the feel of social pressure that arises from sexting. Teenagers who have been involved in sexting normally find themselves getting pressurized into having sex as they feel the urge to be like other ‘cool’ people having or practicing sex.

Also, sometimes, there is the case of someone feeling unsatisfied with their body. This is more commonly to women who, when they receive some photos of nude celebrities in their phones from their partners, they tend to question their own bodies wondering why theirs are not well developed as others. This do affect their self-esteem in a great deal.

There is also the disappointment that comes with someone when their nude photo gets to the public. In most cases, one gets shun by people close to them. This is hurtful to individuals especially if they cannot find some help in dealing with such cases. This leads to depression in most cases.

Impacts Of Sexting On Sexuality

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female sex addiction2

Female Sex Addiction and Drug Abuse

February 2, 2016

The Challenges of Female Sex Addiction and Drug Abuse

There is not much known about Female Sex Addiction and Drug Abuse.  Very few numbers are available, and there are few places that treat women who present with both conditions.  It is estimated that between 6% and 10% of Americans of both genders suffer from sex addiction and that between 10% and 20% of those are women.  The DSM-5 does not at this point recognize that sex addiction is an addiction.  However, there are several studies which confirm that the brains of sex addicts react in the same way as do the brains of drug addicts.  This means that drug addicts and sex addicts suffer from much the same dysfunction in their brains. So women usually with female sex addiction are usually treated as though they have both female sex addiction and drug abuse.

 There has been work done on a diagnosis which has resulted in a screening test to distinguish between the normally sexually active person and the sex addict.  The main point of the screening is that if a woman’s sexual activity has ever caused pain to yourself, put you in danger, or resulted in financial or social consequences, then you probably have female sex addiction. A counselor will have further tests which can distinguish between the different types of sexual addiction and can then prescribe appropriate treatment.

 female sex addiction2

This treatment can be complicated if the woman has both female sex addiction and drug abuse.  The drug of choice is also important, but the primary problem is that both the addictions need to be treated at the same time.  Otherwise the female sex addiction and drug abuse will reinforce each other. This means that the woman involved will have difficulty overcoming both the female sex addiction and drug abuse together, but will have even worse problems if the two problems are treated separately.

 

Approximately 80% of the time, the reason the two dependencies occur together is that the woman has at some point in her life experienced some form of abuse. The good part of having abuse in your past is that you survived it. The bad part is that abuse leaves a woman feeling unlovable, which is a recipe for severe depression.  The abuse was often traumatic enough that she also has PTSD. These two conditions can cause enough pain that the woman will seek to self-medicate, and may also try to make herself feel lovable and loved through a series of sexual relationships. This means that this woman who through no fault of her own was abused by others now has more problems than just the depression or the PTSD.  Since she has been self-medicating, she is now dependent on a drug like alcohol or some type of pill, and she is also a sex addict.

 Female sex addiction

This woman, and many like her, need special treatment in the center.  They need to be encouraged to look at themselves, not as objects to be used but as people with the right to have friendships and sexual relationships. They need to be encouraged to give up the drugs they have been using and to seek out and maintain healthy relationships. This is a very difficult task that these women have, and many who are initially successful in giving up the drugs will be tempted to use their female sex addiction to cover up or lessen the amount of pain they feel. This will be especially true in the beginning of their therapy, when they are still coping with the depression and the PTSD.

 

If they are treated for the depression and the PTSD and not for the female sex addiction and drug abuse the feelings about the female sex addiction and drug abuse may undermine any progress they make overcoming their depression and PTSD.  It is therefore imperative that they are  in the safest place they can find before doing any of this work and they need to be treated for all their problems at the same time.

 

The best places for a woman with female sex addiction and drug abuse to go to are those places that use a combination of approaches to treat those who want it. This woman needs a multi-pronged approach to deal with the drug abuse, the low feelings of self-esteem, the loneliness and the high anxiety levels at the same time.  Unfortunately, most therapists did not have the training necessary to recognize female sex addiction and drug abuse—let alone do anything productive about it.

 

This is about to change. The research that is being conducted at psychiatric hospitals and clinics has identified that female sex addiction and drug abuse is a verifiable condition that is causing pain to many people and they are now working on the best medications to treat female sex addiction and drug abuse.  That means that where these women had no hope, now they will be able to get the help they need to live normally.

The Challenges of Female Sex Addiction and Drug Abuse

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Family pain caused by alcoholism and drug addiction

October 12, 2015

Family pain caused by alcoholism and drug addiction : The support mechanism of alcoholism

Alcoholism and drug addiction causes family pain

Can you imagine at this age what alcoholism and drug addiction causes family pain? This must STOP.

In every family settings there are bound to be certain aspects that cause discomfort to the well-being of the family. Much as it is everyone’s desire to enjoy the maximum comfort, this is not always the case in normal day to day life settings. The problem could further be complicated with one or more of the members of this family abusing alcohol or drugs or both. In our series of articles about alcoholism, we want to primarily focus our discussion in this article by finding out why alcoholism and drug addiction causes family pain that much. Speaking to the experts from AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under the able leadership of doctor Dalal Akoury (MD) and also the founder of the facility, it is very clear that alcoholism and drug addiction affects the whole family indiscriminately. Everyone in the family whether young, teenage, or grown-up children; wives or husbands; brothers or sisters; parents or other relatives and friends all are not immune to the effects of alcohol abuse. Therefore if one member of the family is addicted to alcohol and drugs, it would mean that the whole family will suffers the consequences. According to the experts from AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center, an addiction is a family disease that stresses the family to the breaking point thereby impacting on the stability of the home, the family’s unity, mental health, physical health, finances, and overall family dynamics.

From that background it is evident that without finding timely solutions to any addictive substances, the consequences of that negligence would cause a total disruption to the family life and worst still cause harmful effects that can last a lifetime. Doctor Akoury says that dealing with any kind of addiction is not very easy for various reasons including the fact that no family is born with the knowledge of how to deal effectively with addiction. Because this is not inborn practice, it is however very important those individual users and their loved ones are educated on the skill that must be practiced daily to contain and bring the scourge of addiction to manageable levels. That is why at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center, we have prioritized creating awareness about all the elements through which alcoholism and drug addiction causes family pain and beyond. We therefore want to encourage you to stay with us on the link so that we can together make a difference in dealing with this problem because with the administration of proper help and support, family recovery from addiction can become a reality for you and millions across the globe says doctor Dalal Akoury.

Family pain caused by alcoholism and drug addiction : Roadblock to recovery

This is often a common question more so with people taking care of victims like for instance one may ask “why do i need help? She is the problem.” Have you ever said something like that? Whether your response is Yes or No one of the biggest challenges to family recovery is the belief that everything will be ok by just fixing their loved one who is addicted to alcohol or drugs. After all, “she’s the one who needs help, not me!” that is very easy to say but nevertheless, professionally doctor Akoury says that helping families understand that just as the addict is responsible for their own recovery they too are responsible for their own recovery. One fact must be put straight and that is the whole family must be in this together without excluding the children. Remember that addiction in the family strains relationships and people are likely to become anxious, mistrustful and tired. Besides that an overwhelming sense of hopelessness can set in too and because addiction inflicts family pain to everyone, it is essential that solutions are tailored to restoring the whole family which therefore means that even as we seek for professional solutions, recovery process from addiction will greatly depend on the commitment and willingness of the family.

Family pain caused by alcoholism and drug addiction : Recovery from addiction is a family affair

As a family disease, those who have been affected by addiction may take years to recover, as they rebuild and stabilize their lives, independent of what the alcohol and drug addicted family member does. Without question, it can seem overwhelming, but it helps to keep in mind that commitment to the recovery process is also a commitment to the overall well-being of the whole family. Therefore very constructive and active family engagement in the recovery process is essential if the family is to heal from the destructive impact of addiction. To keep hopes alive, the whole family needs a variety of supports, information and skills including the following:

End the isolation and connect: By joining an education or support group.

Education on Addiction and the Family: Understanding how addiction affects both the addicted person and the family is an essential foundation to moving on.

Learn communication skills: Active addiction destroys family communication. Developing these skills is essential to family recovery.

Detachment and responsibility for self: Learning to detach with love and focus on assuming responsibility for our own behavior.

Stop old behaviors: Many of our old ways of coping are ineffective and contribute to the problem not the solution: enabling, denial, blaming and minimizing the problem.

Engage the children: As a parent, depending on ages, you play a critically important role in providing support and protection for the children. But, engaging them in their own recovery is very important.

Build on resilience: Surviving active addiction to alcohol and drugs is never easy. Therefore use the recovery process as a means of building on your personal and family strengths.

Engage in personal and family activities: working alone and together to find activities that serve as a source of personal and family fulfillment.

Understand and prepare for relapse: Relapse into old behaviors is as real for family members as it is for those addicted to alcohol and drugs. Family members need to develop strategies for dealing with their own relapse issues and other challenges.

People recovering from alcoholism and drug addiction, their families, and their children can and often do achieve optimum levels of health and functioning, but this achievement is best measured in years rather than days, weeks, or months. In the process of recovery, families are strengthened through increased levels of genuine intimacy and families are better able to cope with life’s challenges. Over time, the discipline of recovery can bring the family together to be the healthiest it has ever been!

Finally as we settle on solutions to this problem, we must all appreciate that family recovery is very ideal and realistic for millions across the globe, and because of this hope, help, and healing of family recovery has become the most powerful way to break the inter-generational cycle of alcoholism and addiction in the family thereby bringing restoration to where hope was dying and discouragement was thriving. You can speak to us at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center about al concerns you may have in relation to alcoholism and addiction as potential factors of family pain and we will gladly come to your aide.

Family pain caused by alcoholism and drug addiction : The support mechanism of alcoholism

 

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