Positive psychology in addiction treatment

July 24, 2014

Positive psychology in addiction treatment – Drug Addiction

Positive psychology in addiction treatment. It is much healthier to treat addiction when there is common understanding of the problem at hand.

Everyone would want to be given hope that their life situation is not permanent and there is light at the end of the tunnel. When professionals are administering treatment they often give their patients words of hope and keep it that way even when they are convinced that chances of living the hospital bed is diminishing every passing second after all the patients only visited the facility to get better and being hopeful is very necessary in treatment of any kind of health condition. However there are instances when this has not been the practice in some quarters like in addiction related problems we know for sure that there is high possibilities of relapsing during and after recovery a process that may occur repeatedly and can be very discouraging. When one relapses consistently such a person needs to be encouraged to soldier on and be given hope that this is normal and will be defeated with time. To do this it will be important that we cultivate the positive psychology in both the addict and the health care provider.

Positive psychology in addiction treatment – Definition

Therefore let us understand what positive Psychology is all about. First this is a new initiative in the arena of psychological research and intervention defined as the scientific study of the strong points and virtues that enable individuals and communities to flourish. The initiative is founded on the understanding that people want to lead meaningful and fulfilling lives, to promote what is best within them and to improve their experiences of love, work, and play.

In effective addiction treatment, positive psychological approaches play an important role in achieving long-term addiction recovery goals. Usually addicts are told that:

They have a disease which they will have to manage for the rest of their lives.
To expect relapse and that from a statistical perspective, most will die from their illness.

This is extremely demoralizing prognosis to provide to someone who has presented a problem to you for help. This is not the way to go and a positive psychologist would rearrange the conversation and the situation by instilling hopeful suggestions that addiction is a behavioral disorder and even the most rooted behaviors can be changed with proper treatment and change of life style among other applicable factors. While not denying the negative statistics surrounding addiction recovery, reframing of the opportunity to recover into something achievable is empowering and motivating giving hope to many who may be suffering from substance abuse.

Positive psychology in addiction treatment – Self-discovery

Positive psychology is a continuous process and is boundary less so long as the patients still need help. Therefore after giving these quality encouragement to the addict patient by suggesting that recovery is possible not just for a select few, the positive psychologist will then begins to work with the addict to re-evaluate life and initiate a process of self-discovery where the addicted patient get to know the kind of activities and relationships of great importance to and for them.

Like I said before with this positive psychology there are no limits. For instance example, consider a physically challenged person on a wheelchair all his or her life being pushed to your office for advice in life telling you that what they want to do is to be serving seals, what would you tell them? Many may condemn then because they cannot walk and so may not be productive in an assignment. This is the wrong way of handling people by doing this you will for sure achieve great injury and demoralization to this people, instead you may instill hope in them by suggesting and encouraging them to look into what it would take for them to save seals. You may inspire them that since they are not able to walk and be physically active what about if they be involved through the internet in those types of activities and raise funds to support the work! Being visionary is the kind of process being applied to the people suffering from addiction to help them a world and life beyond substances they abuse and to give them achievable goals to work towards with the sole objective helping them keep to their recovery.

Meaningful recovery is achieved when the pain of the past is worked through and goals for the future are set and worked toward. Part of the problem of addiction generally may include: An inability to envision a different future, future in which happiness, good work, and strong relationships are the fabric of daily life. With the application of positive psychology, the therapists are able to inspire and help addicts plan for and believe that they can attain the kind of future of which they previously could not even dream. This is the spirit that is transformative and realistic. If you have been with me on this link you may have read from our previous articles putting emphasis to every one of the duty of care owed to one another, this is an endless commitment that you and I should embrace for the good of our well-being. In attempting to achieve this doctor Akoury a known addiction professional of several decades founded AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center where total care and treatment is administered to all in need while focusing on Neuroendocrine Restoration (NER) to reinstate normality through realization of the oneness of Spirit, Mind, and Body, Unifying the threesome into ONE this is ware to be for all kinds of addiction related problems.

Positive psychology in addiction treatment – Drug Addiction

Guidlines for Prevention of Substance Use

July 21, 2014

Guidelines for Prevention of Substance Use – Drug Addiction

Giving goo guidelines to your children on matters relating to substance abuse and drugs go along way in shaping their future.

When one has grown to the age where they can on their own will chose to indulge in substance abuse then we can comfortably say that such individuals are able to make positive decisions of stopping the indulgence. Often young people are faced with a number of challenges in life but of all these challenges much as they have some effects on you they can never be any ware close to the effects of experience when one uses alcohol or drugs. The decision you take about alcohol and drugs will influence your health, school performance, your job, career or your relationship and freedom. The effects of alcohol and drug abuse are fatal and life threatening. Because of the seriousness consequences it is important to know that as an individual young or old you first ore yourself the duty of care to be responsible for your own well-being and then to others around you. When discussing the guidelines for substance abuse prevention and especially in our young ones we must take note of these two very important factors:

At what age do you first use alcohol and drugs?
Family history of alcoholism and drug addiction.

Guidelines for Prevention of Substance Use – Age of First Use of Alcohol and Drugs

Indulgence in alcohol consumption and drugs use at attender age when the brain is still developing and has not fully matured will definitely increase your risk of being an addict in the future for alcoholism and drugs. When you begin using drugs or consuming alcohol early say 15 years of age, because of the state of your brain at this time you will be more likely increase your risk to develop alcohol abuse or dependence compared to those making their first taste of the same at the age of 21 or more. This theory has been confirmed by several researches done of late.

Guidelines for Prevention of Substance Use – Family History of Alcoholism or Drug Addiction

Normally the choices individuals make to use alcohol or drugs are often influenced by their surroundings, peer, family and the availability of the drug in question. The moment an individual begins using these substances whether they are illicit or not their risk of developing alcoholism and drug dependence is largely influenced by genetics. It is necessary to note that alcoholism and drug dependence are not moral issues and therefore they are not based on choices or lack of willpower. Plain and simple, some people’s bodies respond to the effects of alcohol and drugs differently. If you have a family history of alcoholism or addiction, you are four times more likely to develop a problem.

Therefore as young people it is only necessary that you take measures to protect yourself and reduce the risk of alcohol and drug abuse. The following are some of the guidelines you may use:

Be confidence to Say No – don’t just do thing because the majority is doing it. Chose only to do what is right regardless of what your friend may be encouraging you to do. Be principled and stand with your decision even if you are the only one. If someone is pressuring you to do something that’s not right for you, you have the right to say no, the right not to give a reason why, and the right to just walk away.

Associate with Your Friends but Avoid Negative Peer Pressure – choose your friend very carefully avoiding those that are likely to be of bad influence like the company of smokers and alcohol abusers. It is said that birds of the same feathers flock together. Associate with people whom even if you were to mimic their behaviors there will be no harm or risk of being addicted to drugs.

Make Connections With Your Parents or Other Adults – as you grow up, having people you can rely on, people you can talk to about life, life’s challenges and your decisions about alcohol and drugs is very important. The opportunity to benefit from someone else’s life experiences can help put things in perspective and can be invaluable.

Enjoy Life and Do What You Love but Don’t Add Alcohol and Drugs – Learn how to enjoy the satisfactions of life and the people in your life, without compromising on alcohol or drugs. Alcohol and drugs can damage who you are, limit your potential and complicate your life. Whenever you are bored get out and engage in an active in school and community activities such as music, sports, arts or a part-time job.

Follow the Family Rules about Alcohol and Drugs – as you grow up and want to assume more control over your life, having the trust and respect of your parents is very important. Don’t let alcohol and drugs come between you and your parents. Talking with mom and dad about alcohol and drugs can be very helpful.

Get Educated about Alcohol and Drugs – you cannot rely on the myths and misunderstandings that are out there floating around among your friends and on the internet. Your ability to make the right decisions includes being educated.

Be a Role Model and Set a Positive Example – Don’t forget actions speaks louder than words and your actions will be setting the foundation and direction for your life and where are you heading to.

Plan Ahead – as you make plans for the party or going out with friends you need to plan ahead. You need to protect yourself and be smart. Don’t become a victim of someone else’s alcohol or drug use. Make sure that there is someone you can call, day or night, no matter what, if you need them and do the same for your friends remember we are pooling together.

Speak Out, Speak Up, Take Control – take responsibility for your life, your health and your safety. Speak freely about what alcohol and drugs are doing to your friends, your community and encourage others to do the same.

Get Help – if you or someone you know is in trouble with alcohol or drugs, look for AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under Doctor Akoury who is an addiction professional of many decades and together with her team of experts she will help you bet better in many natural ways but still focus on Neuroendocrine Restoration (NER) to reinstate normality through realization of the oneness of Spirit, Mind, and Body, Unifying the threesome into ONE and remember you are not alone.

Guidelines for Prevention of Substance Use – Drug Addiction

Effects of Crack Cocaine

July 14, 2014

Effects of Crack Cocaine-Drug Addiction

Crack cocaine addiction, it does not matter how you take it the bottom line is that it is death in waiting. Good news is that you can stop it.

It is everybody’s wish to be healthy and remain so in their whole life time. This desire is always under attack from all directions by all manner of things. Drug addiction is one of the most dreaded conditions that reverse the live healthy wish. In an attempt to trying to unlocking the this we have chosen to use this link to post informatory addiction articles to educate the public of the dangers involve in life if one associate with drugs. There are so many drugs being abused today however for the purpose of our discussion we will zero into cocaine and revel how it affect the addicted individuals and the general public. Our discussion will be in broken in two segments that is:

i. Short term effects

ii. Long term effects

Short term effects of crack cocaine

Crack cocaine will temporarily lift your spirit as an addict but this feeling when the concentration dies off in your blood stream the addict experiences extreme depression and craves for more of the substance.
Individuals addicted to crack cocaine normally skip meals and often don’t have enough sleep.
They also experience high heart rate, muscle spasms, convulsion etc.
This dug can make users feel obsessed, irritated, unfriendly and nervous even when they are not high.
The risks of experiencing heart attack, suffer stroke, seizure or respiratory failure are systematic with crack cocaine users irrespective of quantity used. These can be very fatal killing the individual.
Smoking crack further presents a series of health risks. Crack is often mixed with other substances that create toxic fumes when burned. As crack smoke does not remain potent for long, crack pipes are generally very short. This often causes cracked and blistered lips, known as “crack lip,” from users having a very hot pipe pressed against their lips.

Long term effects of crack cocaine

Besides the common dangers related to cocaine use, addicts are likely to suffer respiratory complications, alongside coughing, shortness of breath bleeding and lung damage.

Long-term effects from use of crack cocaine include:

It causes severe damage to the heart, liver and kidneys. Users are more likely to have infectious diseases.
Continued daily use causes sleep deprivation and loss of appetite, resulting in malnutrition.
Smoking crack cocaine also can cause aggressive and paranoid behavior.
Since crack cocaine also interferes with the way the brain processes chemicals, one needs large quantities of the drug just to feel “normal.”
Those who become addicted to crack cocaine lose interest in other areas of life.
Crack cocaine causes depression and when this becomes intensified, the addict can do anything to get the supply. They can be very extreme even to the point of committing murder. If for whatever reason the supply is not fourth coming, depression can drive the addict to the wall of suicide.

Physical and Mental effects- Short term

Because it is smoked, the short term effects of crack cocaine are more immediate and more intense than that of powdered cocaine as discussed below:

Loss of appetite
Increased heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature
Contracted blood vessels
Increased rate of breathing
Dilated pupils
Disturbed sleep patterns
Nausea
Hyperstimulation
Bizarre, erratic, sometimes violent behavior
Hallucinations, hyperexcitability, irritability
Tactile hallucination that creates the illusion of bugs burrowing under the skin
Intense euphoria
Anxiety and paranoia
Depression
Intense drug craving
Panic and psychosis
Convulsions, seizures and sudden death from high doses (even one time)

Physical and mental effects-Long term effects

Permanent damage to blood vessels of ear and brain, high blood pressure, leading to heart attacks, strokes and death
Liver, kidney and lung damage
Severe chest pains
Respiratory failure
Infectious diseases and abscesses if injected
Malnutrition, weight loss
Severe tooth decay
Auditory and tactile hallucinations
Sexual problems, reproductive damage and infertility (for both men and women)
Disorientation, apathy, confused exhaustion
Irritability and mood disturbances
Increased frequency of risky behavior
Delirium or psychosis
Severe depression
Tolerance and addiction (even after just one use)

Effects on the young Children

It is so painful that very innocent babies in their mother’s wombs become victims of cocaine. When pregnant women uses cocaine in whichever form the mother and the unborn child will all be in danger. This may increase the risk of losing the pregnancy especially in the early stages of the pregnancy. The consequences of cocaine use by pregnant women may result in the unborn baby suffers stroke, heart attack or have permanent brain damage.

Drug dealers/supplies

Research has established that most young people in drugs today got into it because of pressure from their friends. They wanted to belong, feeling cool and famous. These pressures from friends are known by the supplies and they will use this as your weak point to lure you into drugs because they are only motivated by their need of making money. You must be careful with the drug dealers because all they care about is money, money and more money. They care less if the drugs ruin your life as long as they get money.

The truth you need to know

To help you be safe you must get to know the facts at fingertip so that you do not fall prey to these heartless drug dealers.

You must distance yourself from drugs by all means.
Drugs are basically poisons. The quantity taken determines the damage caused.
A small amount acts as a stimulant (speeds you up).
A greater amount acts as a sedative (slows you down).
An even larger amount poisons and can kill.

This is true of all drugs. Only the quantity needed to achieve the effect differs nonetheless many drugs have other liabilities like: they affect the mind directly distorting the user’s perception of what is happening around them and as a result, the person’s actions may be odd, irrational, inappropriate and even destructive.

Drugs block off all sensations, the desirable ones with the unwanted. So, while providing short-term help in the relief of pain, they also wipe out ability and alertness and muddy one’s thinking.

Finally all the medicines we use are drugs whose objective is to correct something about the way your body is working with a view of trying to making it work better. These drugs are sometimes necessary but all the same they are still drugs: they act as stimulants or sedatives, and too much can kill you. So if you do not use medicines as they are supposed to be used, they can be as dangerous as illegal drugs. Therefore you must ensure that you are always seeking guidance from the experts to avoid doing wrong things. At AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under Doctor Akoury’s care you will get all the information and guidance you need and you will also be attended to by a team of experts who will focus on Neuroendocrine Restoration (NER) to reinstate normality through realization of the oneness of Spirit, Mind, and Body, Unifying the threesome into ONE.

Effects of Crack Cocaine-Drug Addiction

The Consequences of Drug Abuse

July 11, 2014

The consequences of drug abuse-Drug Addiction

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:

Relationships: bad behavior associated with drug abuse will negatively affect your relationships with your loved ones.
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.
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.
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

Addiction, Heart Disease, and Stroke

June 23, 2014

Addiction, Heart Disease, and Stroke-Deteriorates Good health

Drug addiction has negative effect on human health. It brings with it heart complications, and brain multifunction which leads to stroke

The greatest and most valuable asset one can have on earth is good health. It is one asset that has so many enemies attacking it left right and centre. Because of the great value of health we will be discussing some of its attackers in a bid of being prepared to keep the good health that we all need. It goes without mention that drugs and alcohol addiction has bad effects on our health due to their abilities to affect all the body organs like the lungs, the heart the brain among others. We are going to zero in two organs for the purpose of this article i.e. the heart and the brain of which research has established that there is a direct connection between drug abuse and irregular heartbeat, collapsed veins, bacterial infections, cardiovascular distress, heart attack and stroke. This is a discussion you don’t want to miss and so I take this opportunity to invite you to keep on the link for this fact finding mission.

Heart disease is associated with a collection of abnormalities affecting the proper functionality of the heart. For instance the dysfunction may be in the heart muscle, valves and electric system of the heart or the arteries that supply blood to the heart. The heart has muscles which may develop complications when the heart has been overworked chronically and it is normally common when one has high blood pressure/hypertension. Like the muscle of the arms grows when we lift heavy weights so is the tender muscles of the heart will enlarge when they are under chronic physical stress as seen with alcohol and drug addiction.

The heart receives its blood supply from the blood vessels which are occasionally affected by the coronary artery disease (CAD). It is important to note that the supply of blood to the heart should be consistent since the heart also gets its supply of oxygen to function effectively through this means. A disease in the heart arteries causes inadequate supply of oxygen to the heart which results in heart attacks in many cases and the effect of this is that the portion of the heart muscle tissue deprived of oxygen dies.

Addiction, Heart Disease, and Stroke-Stroke

Like the heart the brain also requires steady supply of oxygen to function normally and so when the arteries supplying blood/oxygen to the heart is either partially or completely blocked, then there will be inconsistency in the supply of oxygen to the brain causing that section of the brain deprived of oxygen to die.

The brain, like the heart, requires a constant supply of oxygen to function. When one of the arteries that supply blood to the heart becomes partially or fully blocked, the brain is deprived of oxygen. This, in turn, causes the tissue in the area of the brain that is not being supplied with oxygen to die. The effect of this will depend vary depending on the part of brain affected and so symptoms like inability to speak, walk, think or talk well will be seen in the victim. Stroke can also occur when the vessel to the brain ruptures or bust the effects of this is the same.

Addiction, Heart Disease, and Stroke

Drug and alcohol addiction create great strain on the body’s organs and organ systems such as the brain, nervous system, respiratory system and circulatory system. There is also a direct connection between drug and alcohol abuse and adverse cardiovascular effects such as irregular heartbeat, collapsed veins, coronary artery disease and bacterial infections that destroy the valves of the heart. Examples of drugs that lead to cardiovascular distress or cause heart disease include:

Cocaine
Heroin
Inhalants
Alcohol
Marijuana
Methamphetamines

Cocaine and crack are short-acting, powerful stimulants that act directly on the heart muscle, the brain’s neurotransmitters, blood vessels, nerve tissue and organ functions. The effects of the drug are immediate, and, depending upon the method of use, the effects can last from 30 minutes to 2 hours. The intensity of the high can increase the heart rate and blood pressure to dangerous levels, which in turn can cause irregular heartbeats and cardiac arrest.

Heart Disease, Stroke, and Addiction Treatment

It must be emphasized that cardiovascular distress can lead to heart attack and stroke. Alcohol and drug addiction are never and will ever be friends with the heart. Addiction to such substances must be treated timely for the valuable asset (good health) to be productive. Research indicates that perhaps the most dangerous time for drug abusers is the withdrawal period because it is during this period that the heart, cardiovascular system and other organ systems are under great stress. It is therefore important that during this time, drug and alcohol withdrawal be treated in a medically supervised drug detoxification center. Drug and alcohol withdrawal can be life-threatening and must not be stopped suddenly without the examination and professional medical advice from a qualified and experience doctor.

Proper care should be taken during detox from alcohol, benzodiazepines or barbiturates because users can experience uncomfortable and dangerous withdrawal symptoms which include seizures, heart attack or stroke. A qualified medical doctor should be there to supervised detox program this will help avoid these serious withdrawal symptoms and minimize discomfort during the detox period before drug rehab or alcoholism treatment.

In conclusion I want to give word of hope to those who have abused their bodies through years of alcoholism and drug addiction combining with smoking cigarettes, poor nutrition and lack of proper medical follow-up, all is not lost drug and alcohol addiction treatment is still possible with Dr. Dalal Akoury who is also the Founder of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center. Dear reader if you or anybody you know is suffering from this scourge of addiction you can be of help to them by sharing the recovery program available at this facility where doctor Dalal Akoury and her team of experts are offering exclusive NER Recovery Treatment to victims all over the globe as well to other physicians and health care professionals through training, clinical apprenticeships, webinars and seminars. Come and experience treatment with a difference everyone is welcome to be a part of this truly successful and fast addiction recovery treatment.

Addiction, Heart Disease, and Stroke-Deteriorates Good health

Tag Archives: Stroke