Understanding Addiction & Bipolar Disorder

Characterized by severe mood swings, bipolar disorder can oftentimes require specialized medication and care for treatment. Unfortunately, some patients believe that the medications are not suited to their needs or simply choose not to take them. These individuals sometimes rely on self-medication through drug and alcohol use, which can result in addiction. Understanding the reasoning behind substance abuse, the moods and the treatments offered can provide insight into both the addiction and disorder as a whole.

Depression and Mania

In order to understand the correlation between bipolar and addiction, we must first educate ourselves in regard to the moods. Depression is the mood where patients show an extreme disinterest in life, a discontinuation of typically exciting and fun activities and a heightened interested in suicide. In some cases the depression can be triggered once a patient is informed of their actions during a manic episode. The same patients can also suffer from mania, which includes heightened energy levels alongside the desire to participate in high-energy activities – exercise, frivolous spending and hyper-sexuality to name a few. Manic individuals will also immerse themselves within a variety of projects with the intent of completing each one, despite a lack of dedication and unrealistic deadlines.

Substance Abuse

When a bipolar patient dabbles in substance abuse, it is considered dual diagnosis. Substance abuse in bipolar individuals may occur during both the depression and manic phases. Some suffering from the disorder refuse to take prescription medication due to a fear of side effects and instead choose to self-medicate through alcohol or drug use. Others cater to the belief that the medications simply aren’t doing enough to alter their state of mind. For depressed patients, stimulants are often the drug of choice due to the energy and positive emotional effects. Patients in a manic state often resort to alcohol due to its depressive qualities. Unfortunately, self-medication will ultimately lead to addiction, providing patients with yet another condition to combat.

Help

Addiction treatment is the first step in addressing dual diagnosis. Many patients often require a mood stabilizer in order to keep the depression and mania at bay. However, most of the mood stabilizers used in mental health recovery do not interact well with illicit drugs or alcohol. Once the addiction can be managed through detox and counseling, doctors can begin administering treatment for bipolar disorder.

Researching dual diagnosis treatment centers? Contact Above It All Treatment Center today! With a team of seasoned addiction and mental health experts available to address each patient’s individual needs, you can count on Above It All for the personalized care and attention you’ve been searching for. Call today for more information and find out what Above It All can do for you!

Eminem Details His Scary Drug Past

The new documentary How to Make Money Selling Drugs features Eminem opening up about his addictive past, revealing that one particular overdose almost took his life

The multi-platinum rapper, who sought recovery for a sleeping pill addiction in 2005 and addressed the issue on his 2010 record Recovery, has admitted to a 10-20 Vicodin-per-day habit. “Valium, Ambien, the numbers got so high I don’t even know what I’m taking,” he related after rehabilitation.

Prescription Drugs

The new documentary details the steps that lead to a prescription drug addiction that nearly ended in tragedy. “My bottom was going to be death,” he says in the YouTube teaser. Remembering his first Vicodin experience, the singer explains a “feeling of ‘Ahhh,” everything was not only mellow, but didn’t feel any pain. It just kind of numbed things.”

The artist says that it was difficult coming to terms with the addiction since he was steering clear on street drugs like heroin or crack.

“I don’t know what point exactly it started to be a problem, I just remember liking it more and more,” he says.

Loved Ones’ Involvement

If loved ones tried to discuss the issue, “I would say, ‘Get that f—— person outta here, I can’t believe they said that s—- to me,” he explains. “They don’t know nothing about my f——– life, are they out of their f——– mind? I’m not out there shooting heroin, I’m not out there putting coke up my nose, I’m not smoking crack’ … I literally thought I could control it.”

Over time, the addiction caught up to the Detroit native, as he recounts the overdose that almost took his life.

“Had I got to the hospital about two hours later, I would have died,” he says. “My organs were shutting down. My liver, kidneys, everything. They were gonna have to put me on dialysis, they didn’t think I was gonna make it.”

Realization

Following his hospital stay, Eminem says he experienced sleepless nights for three weeks before falling into relapse a month later. “I remember just walking around my house and thinking every single day, like, I’m gonna f——— die. I’m looking at my kinds, and like, I need to be here for this.”

After regaining talking skills and motor skills, the Grammy winner remembers how far he’s home since the addiction.

“It’s been a learning process,” he says. “I’m growing. I just couldn’t believe that anybody could be naturally happy or naturally function or be just enjoying life in general without being on something.

He adds, “So I would say to anybody, ‘It does get better you know. It just does.”

Healing

Struggling with an addiction of your own? Pick up the phone and call Above it All addiction treatment center! With a team of seasoned professionals available to address your individual needs and goals, you can count on Above it All to have you on the fast track to recovery in no time. Call today!

Prescription Drug Addiction: A Growing Problem That Must Be Taken Seriously

Many people see their doctor and get a prescription for a medication, which they take as directed. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, however, approximately 20 percent of people in the U.S. have used a prescription drug for a non-medical purpose. This type of behavior can open the door to drug abuse and addiction. The fact that the medication was originally prescribed by a doctor does not make it any less serious than if the person was using street drugs.

Prescription Drug Abuse Overview

The following prescription drug abuse facts were provided by the National Institute on Drug Abuse:

  • Prescription and over-the-counter drugs are the third most commonly abused substances by Americans over the age of 14. (Marijuana and alcohol are the two most commonly abused substances.)
  • Opioid painkillers, such as Oxycontin and Vicodin, are the most commonly abused prescription drugs, followed by stimulants for treating Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (Ritalin and Adderall).
  • Sharing unused medications, such as pain relievers, with family members can contribute to drug abuse.
  • Drug abusers will crush the tablets so that they can snort the powder or inject it using a needle. This delivers the dosage into the bloodstream more quickly and provides a faster, more intense “high.”

Signs of Prescription Drug Addiction

Indications that someone may “need” a prescription drug to function include:

  • Increased dosage over time
  • Ongoing use, even after the condition being treated has healed or resolved
  • Spending a lot of time seeking medication, or visiting multiple doctors to get prescriptions
  • Change in personal appearance
  • Withdrawal from family and friends
  • Being defensive about drug use

Be alert for changes in a loved one’s behavior after he or she starts using a prescription medication. Someone who develops a pattern of complaining of chronic pain after an injury should have healed or who starts “losing” prescriptions and needs to see the doctor to get a replacement written may be dealing with a different issue entirely.

Get Help for Prescription Drug Abuse

When a problem with prescription drug addiction has been identified, it should be dealt with promptly. These medications have the potential to cause serious harm to the addict’s health or even death if he or she does not get appropriate treatment.

The staff at Above It All Treatment Center have the expertise to provide supportive help to clients who are dealing with a prescription drug issue. They will devise an individual treatment plan designed to address each person’s needs, including a pain management plan, if appropriate.

Above It All Drug Treatment Center Helps People Addicted To Prescription Pain Medication

A dependence on prescription medications for pain can start innocently enough. They may be prescribed following surgery or to treat an acute injury. In some instances, the medication is used to treat chronic pain. When the level of medication is not high enough to provide relief from the pain, you or your loved one goes back to the doctor to either ask about using a higher dose of the drug or to change to a different medication entirely.

No one wants to be in pain, and it’s understandable that you would be looking for ways to make the hurting stop. Unfortunately, it’s possible to develop a tolerance for these drugs over time, which means that you have to take higher doses to in an attempt to get relief from the pain. Some pain medications result in a physical dependency, where you must keep taking the drug to avoid going into withdrawal.

Signs of Prescription Medication Addiction

Some people think that they can’t have a problem with pain killers or other medications because they have been prescribed by a doctor. Nothing could be further from the truth. How can you tell there is a problem with prescription medication addiction that may require treatment or drug rehab in CA? Here are some signs that you or someone you care for may have a problem:

•Continuing to use the drug after the pain it was prescribed for has resolved
•Lack of interest in alternative treatment methods other than taking medication
•Seeing more than one doctor to get prescriptions for pain medication
•Taking a higher dose than the level recommended by the doctor
•Experiencing withdrawal symptoms when a dose is missed. These may include night sweats, muscle aches and insomnia
•Using prescriptions prescribed for other people
•Buying medication off the street

Prescription medication addiction is not “better” than any other type of addiction. It’s an addiction – period. Someone who is an addict needs help to get well.

Find a Treatment Center to Get the Help for Yourself or a Loved One

Often the hardest part of the process when dealing with any type of addiction is admitting that there is a problem. This disease is so wrapped up in guilt, shame, and embarrassment that it is difficult for people who are hurting to get treatment.

This is a problem that millions of people have had to deal with, and it’s more common than you realize. You don’t have to stay stuck in the cycle of addiction when you can get help from caring professional drug counselors. Contact the Above It All Inpatient Treatment Center today. Our phone lines are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The Spiritual Malady

The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous says: “But we found that such codes and philosophies did not save us, no matter how much we tried. We could wish to be moral, we could wish to be philosophically comforted, in fact, we could will these things with all our might, but the needed power wasn’t there. Our human resources, as marshaled by the will, were not sufficient; they failed utterly. Lack of power, that was our dilemma. We had to find a power by which we could live, and it had to be a Power greater than ourselves. Obviously. But where and how were we to find this Power?  Well, that’s exactly what this book is about. Its main object is to enable you to find a Power greater than yourself which will solve your problem. That means we have written a book which we believe to be spiritual as well as moral. And it means, of course, that we are going to talk about God. Here difficulty arises with agnostics. Many times we talk to a new man and watch his hope rise as we discuss his alcoholic problems and explain our fellowship. But his face falls when we speak of spiritual matters, especially when we mention God, for we have re–opened a subject which our man thought he had neatly evaded or entirely ignored. We know how he feels. We have shared his honest doubt and prejudice. Some of us have been violently anti–religious. To others, the word “God” brought up a particular idea of Him with which someone had tried to impress upon them during childhood. Perhaps we rejected this particular conception because it seemed inadequate. With that rejection we imagined we had abandoned the God idea entirely. We were bothered with the thought that faith and dependence upon a Power beyond ourselves was somewhat weak, even cowardly.” (Pg. 45-46 from the chapter  “We Agnostics”)

Discover Your Higher Power

Many of us come to find out after receiving help from Above It All Treatment that alcohol is but a symptom of this disease we suffer from. If alcohol was our main problem and it was just a matter of not drinking then most of us would not have to go to a detox, AA, or alcohol drug rehab we would just have to stay away from alcohol, our life would go back to normal, and our problems would go away when the booze were taken out of the equation but For most of us it didn’t work like that. We suffer from a spiritual malady that no matter how much willpower we exert it is not enough to fix our thinking problem. We found that when the drinking stopped our lives were still unmanageable if not more so. It’s not until we do the work to recover from this disease that centers in the mind that we can begin to function normally. It isn’t until we turn our will and life over to a power greater than ourselves that we can begin to live free, and stay sober.

Here at Above It All, we believe in the spiritual awakening that occurs as you go through your recovery. Do not put off your rehab because you do not believe in or are mad at God. Find your own version of faith; in all things including yourself. We believe in the 12 Step process and we believe in you.

Alcohol Rehab in California: Help to Break Free from Addiction

Alcoholism can be a difficult form of addiction to spot in someone you care for. Unlike street drugs, it is a legal substance and one that forms part of celebrations with family and friends. It can be very difficult to tell the difference between someone who is simply enjoying him or herself and a person who may have slipped into a dependency on alcohol.

If you are dealing with a person who is an alcoholic, a pattern will develop over time. He or she will find it more difficult to hide his or her dependency on alcohol from family and friends. Other people may become aware of the issue before the alcoholic is willing to admit there is a problem. Some signs that may signal a problem would include:

  • Drinking to excess
  • Persistent use of alcohol even when the person knows that it is causing a problem
  • Neglect of work, social, or family-related activities because of alcohol use
  • Large amounts of time spent on buying, consuming and recovering from alcohol use
  • The person experiences withdrawal symptoms when he or she stops drinking

Effective Treatment for Alcoholism

It can be challenging to convince someone who has developed a dependency on alcohol that he or her she needs treatment, but the first step in getting help is to admit that there is a problem. Addiction is an equal-opportunity disease and it has no respect for age, marital status, religion, race, or any of the other superficial things we use to convince ourselves that certain groups are different from us.

The first step in getting help for alcoholism is to call the alcohol hotline. You’ll be connected to a recovery specialist who can answer your questions about a 28-day treatment program. The first stage of treatment is detoxification, or detox. The client must be freed from the physical effects of alcohol. This stage is supervised by experienced, caring staff.

The next stage of treatment involves tackling the issues that led to the addiction and learning new coping skills for a sober lifestyle. By going to a treatment facility, a client can focus his or her attention on getting well, without the distractions of everyday life or the temptations that may make it easy to slip back into using alcohol as easily. Treatment will include a combination of the following:

  • Process group sessions
  • One-one-one meeting with an alcohol counselor
  • Individual therapy sessions
  • Alcoholics Anonymous meetings
  • Educational group meetings

Get Help for Alcoholism Now

You don’t have to wait one more day to find out about treatment options available for someone you love. Caring, confidential help is available at Above It All Treatment Center right now. All you need to do is pick up the phone and give us a call. Taking that first step is easy, and you’ll be glad you reached out to us.

Character Building

“But in other instances only the closest scrutiny will reveal what our true motives were. There are cases where our ancient enemy, rationalization, has stepped in and has justified conduct which was really wrong. The temptation here is to imagine that we had good motives and reasons when we really didn’t. We ‘constructively criticized’ someone who needed it, when our real motive was to win a useless argument. Or, the person concerned not being present; we thought we were helping others to understand him, when in actuality our true motive was to feel superior by pulling him down. We sometimes hurt those we love because they need to be ‘taught a lesson,’ when we really want to punish. We were depressed and complained we felt bad, when in fact we were mainly asking for sympathy and attention. This odd trait of mind and emotion, this perverse wish to hide a bad motive underneath a good one, permeates human affairs from top to bottom. This subtle and elusive kind of self-righteousness can underlie the smallest act or thought. Learning daily to spot, admit, and correct these flaws is the essence of character-building and good living. An honest regret for harms done, a genuine gratitude for blessings received, and a willingness to try for better things tomorrow will be the permanent assets we shall seek.”

-from the chapter on Step Ten from the AA Twelve and Twelve.

Putting What We Learn Into Practice

Most of us at some point and time both during the height of our using, and even after receiving addiction treatment, have had a hard time taking care of ourselves and the relationships we have had with others. Many of us know all too well what it’s like to sacrifice doing the healthy and right thing in order to continue feeling okay in the moment. This leads to the punishing, and harmful cycles it talks about in the excerpt above. If we do not get help, and we remain spiritually sick, then we will continue these behaviors as well as continue rationalizing them. Through a drug addiction detox, AA or 30-90 day rehab facilities we can begin to learn how to take care of ourselves and live an honest life.

It is through this as well as continuing to strive for personal growth that we can begin to heal and become happily and usefully whole.

Following Your Dreams in Sobriety

When it comes to recovery and sobriety we have to follow our dreams. Sometimes we have to commence to outgrow fear, take risks, and show ourselves what we are capable of. It’s one of the blessings and gifts that we receive. We receive alcohol addiction help, get sober, and as a result get to chase our dreams. If we are spiritually fit we get to go anywhere and do anything we want. There are many different opinions within the rooms around what is right or wrong good or bad but we learn through the help of a 30 day rehab program, A.A., or drug addiction detox how to build a foundation and follow our gut. We will come to know how to intuitively handle situations that use to baffle us and we will eventually learn when something doesn’t work for us or isn’t going to long before putting ourselves in harm’s way. We can begin to rely upon a power greater than ourselves and if we go with God in our hearts and sobriety in our minds we can accomplish anything. We got sober not only so we could escape from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body but also so that we could create a life worth living, and that we could be proud of. It’s a life beyond our wildest dreams. We get to live happy, healthy, and free lives. Let this be the first day of the rest of your life. Go and chase you dreams, enjoy sobriety, and live this amazing life we were given to the fullest!

Why Should You Seek Alcohol Rehab

Without the aid of alcohol rehab, a drinking problem won’t go away on its own. Instead, it becomes more and more damaging to both the alcoholic, and his or her family.

What we know is this: In nearly every case, alcohol and drug abuse are nothing more than symptoms of a much larger problem. Most often, substance abuse is used as a coping mechanism to avoid feelings of guilt or shame; sometimes it is used to address a spiritual malady, or to fill an emptiness that can’t be resolved without assistance from an outside source. You build walls to protect yourself from harmful feelings, but as those barriers go up, your willpower goes down… and soon you find yourself trapped in a never-ending cycle, with no resolution in sight. The farther you travel down the path of addiction, the harder it is to see how lost you really are, or to regain your footing after a stumble.

At Above It All Treatment Center, our clinical treatment will help you tear down those walls and map a route to move past them. Our highly trained, professional and compassionate staff stands ready to help you every step of the way. With our support, you will soon begin to function productively, without the feelings of guilt and shame and other barriers holding you back now.

The true strength of the Above It All program lies in its blend of clinical therapies and a 12-step immersion program; this powerful combination creates a synergistic balance that is unique to Above It All Treatment Center. As you progress in the program, you will be assigned specific Big Book studies best suited to help you work though the steps.

There is hope. With the right alcohol rehab program — treatment available with our help — alcoholics can, and have, learned to conquer their disease.

Alcohol rehabilitation is, simply put, an alcoholic’s best shot at starting a healthier, happier new life. The path won’t always be easy — the process begins with an alcohol detox period of several days, during which the body is cleansed of the toxins that come from wine, liquor or beer. The cleaning process can include unpleasant withdrawal symptoms such as irritability, depression and sweats or chills, but it’s necessary in combating the disease.

Once the detox is complete, the patient will continue with intensive, inpatient counseling that provides a chance to get to the bottom of the issues that caused the alcoholism in the first place. This is sometimes done through group therapy sessions where the patient can receive emotional support from others also starting a new life in recovery.

If you find that you or a family member are in need of alcohol rehabilitation, please contact us today and get started on the road to recovery.  Above It All Treatment Center is here to help you every step of the way.

Being of Service

“It is not a matter of giving that is in question, but when and how to give. That often makes the difference between failure and success. The minute we put our work on a service plane, the alcoholic commences to rely upon our assistance rather than upon God. He clamors for this or that, claiming he cannot master alcohol until his material needs are cared for. Nonsense. Some of us have taken very hard knocks to learn this truth: job or no job – wife or no wife- we simply do not stop drinking so long as we place dependence upon other people ahead of dependence on God. Burn the idea into the consciousness of every man that he can get well regardless of anyone. The only condition is that he trusts in God and clean house.” – Pg.98 Working With Others from the Big Book Of Alcoholics Anonymous

It is normal to want to help other alcoholics out when they are having a hard time with problems other than alcohol however if it is not the right kind of help we could be potentially harming them as far as stunting their sobriety is concerned. After all most of us had gotten to the place where we were willing to ask for alcohol addiction help because we were so desperate. It was painful and difficult at times but we almost always came out the other side. To help out financially or with a place to stay could mean robbing someone of that experience. These struggles for many were what kept us going at times we might have given up. It’s what also makes our new sober life that much more amazing because we were so broken, and beat down that everything else seemed pretty great and we were open to the alternative life sobriety had to offer. Therefore if we come across a newcomer we can help them along the path of recovery instead of taking it on for them. If they need jobs or a home we can work with them on the steps so that they once again can become employable if they are not and we can make suggestions for sober living, an affordable rehab, AA, or rehabs that take insurance etc. We may also share our experience, strength, and hope so that they may be able to see that we went through the same struggles, were able to stay sober, and that through God and sobriety anything is possible.