Drug and alcohol abuse cost society billions each year. The estimated cost of drug abuse in the United States currently exceeds $740 billion annually and continues to grow. To put such a staggering number into context, that is the equivalent of 435 duplicates of the Space Shuttle Endeavour orbiter, 1200 Air Force One jets, or…
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Years of research have shown that the use of substances, including tobacco, alcohol, illicit drugs, or the misuse of prescribed medications by pregnant women can have severe adverse impacts on infants. The reason for these impacts is that so many of these substances pass through the placenta. Therefore, when a pregnant woman does drugs during…
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Healing and maintaining recovery from addiction is difficult for every addict. When addiction and codependency occur together, recovery can seem even more challenging to achieve. Defining Codependency and Enabling Behavior Codependency and enabling behavior are similar ideas, and both are easy to overlook if one doesn’t know what to look for. Codependency Codependency is a…
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Historically, addiction was viewed as a choice. In the eyes of many, those who abused alcohol, drugs, or both were making a conscious decision to drink, swallow pills, or introduce illicit substances into their body. Fortunately, over time science has determined addiction is not a choice. Many scientists, addiction treatment providers, and mental health counselors…
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Grief can be an overwhelming and crushing emotion. It is an emotion without a timetable. Grief can last for days, weeks, months, or in some cases, even years. Grief is painful, and there is no quick resolution to the pain. Grief and the associated emotional turmoil can arise for various reasons and trigger an emotional…
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Compulsive behaviors and addiction are often linked. Throughout the years in television, film, and theater, we have been shown characters with compulsive tendencies or “addictions” to certain things. While none of these characters have had issues with substance abuse specifically, people with compulsive tendencies or a compulsive disorder diagnosis are typically at a higher risk…
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Residential treatment programs such as those here at The Hills in Los Angeles, California, allow individuals in need of addiction-related treatment to receive twenty-four-hour care designed to meet their specific needs. At residential treatment centers, individuals typically have access to a higher level of care than can be provided through individual, family, or group therapy…
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Weed, pot, dope, and marijuana are all different names for the same drug that comes from the cannabis plant. Weed can be consumed in many forms. It can be smoked; you can vape it, eat it, or drink it. Most people consume weed for pleasure or recreation; however, a growing number of medical professionals are…
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Addiction is a disease that can affect anyone at any time. The cruel reality is that addiction knows no boundaries. It does not matter if you are wealthy or living below the poverty line, what religion you are, or your ethnic background is addiction can enter your life and have potent consequences. Once someone becomes…
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Depression and addiction are mental health diagnoses that are more often than not linked in some form. Individually they are complex and Challenging diagnoses, which may seem impossible to manage. Combined, they are even more so. To learn how to manage them both and better understand if one causes the other, it is helpful to…
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