Portage, Indiana Drug Rehab Information

What is drug abuse and how is it different from drug addiction? In fact there is a very fine line between these two and the term drug abuse is in facto drug addition but it seems less devastating to say drug abuse. Both involve the use of drugs to the point of creating adverse affects to ones health, relationships, career, mental outlook, etc. Addiction usually implies a compulsive uncontrolled used despite these effects being created. If one is continuing to abuse drugs despite the adverse consequences then there really is not much of a difference. It is mostly a matter of which term one chooses to use. Both will eventually lead to one of three outcomes – Jail, Death, or Sobriety. I suppose if you had to make a distinction you could say addiction is closer to jail or death.

Prescription drug addictions are on the rise, not only as primary substances of abuse but also as secondary substances of abuse. At Narconon Arrowhead statistics show significant numbers of program participants involved in multiple prescription drug abuse along with any other reported drug addiction or alcoholism. This is no small problem when one takes into account the severe debilitating effects occurring on both the mental and physical levels from the abuse of these ‘medications’. Couple this with severe and often deadly side effects from mixing these substances and the clear rise in violence and suicide that can accompany withdrawal and ones sees a whole new level of treatment needed in handling today’s addictions.

Addiction is a chronic, relapsing condition, characterized by compulsive drug-seeking and drug use which is accompanied by functional and molecular changes in the brain. In addition to being addicted to methamphetamine, chronic methamphetamine abusers exhibit symptoms that can include violent behavior, anxiety, confusion, and insomnia. They also can display a number of psychotic features, including paranoia, auditory hallucinations, mood disturbances, and delusions. The paranoia can result in homicidal as well as suicidal thoughts. With chronic use, tolerance for methamphetamine can develop. Users may take higher doses of the drug, take it more frequently, or change their method of drug intake. In some cases, abusers forego food and sleep while injecting as much as a gram of the drug every 2 to 3 hours over several days until the user runs out of the drug or is too disorganized to continue. Chronic abuse can lead to psychotic behavior, characterized by intense paranoia, visual and auditory hallucinations, and out-of-control rages that can be coupled with extremely violent behavior.

The 12 step program has been around in various forms since the 1920’s. It basically involves 12 different steps done by the addict or alcoholic in an attempt to gain control over the addiction or alcoholism. There are thousands of local meetings throughout the world whose membership uses the 12 steps as their basic approach. Many of the short term drug rehabs also use the 12 step approach to solving addiction or alcoholism. There is absolutely no doubt that this approach works for some and works well. However, overall success rates tend to be dismally low. For instance AA reports a meager 5-7% retention rate for those attending these meetings. All is not hopeless for you or a loved one who has found a 12 step program not fully handling addiction or alcoholism. There are more non-traditional alternatives available with significantly higher success rates; Narconon Arrowhead is one of these.