Posts Tagged ‘abuse’

Serious Effects of Depressant Medication Abuse

Benzodiazepine is a psychoactive drug used to treat anxiety disorders, panic disorders, nervous tension, acute stress, and anxiety associated depression. Benzodiazepine slows down the activity of neurotransmitters in brain and gives relief from stress and anxiety. Benzodiazepine when consumed produces an initial euphoric feeling and mostly abused to experience the pleasure of feeling of drowsiness that it causes. Its abuse can produce side effects like muscle cramps, nausea, drowsiness, loss of concentration, loss of appetite, slurred speech etc.

Serious Side Effects
Benzodiazepine is a highly addictive drug and tolerance soon develops with increasing amount of dosages that further leads to addiction.

Unusual Risk Taking Behavior
Prolonged exposure to benzodiazepine causes a person to show more unusual risk taking behavior, decreased inhibitions, show less fear of danger etc. Benzodiazepine alters the brain chemistry that causes feeling of fearlessness that can lead the abuser to engage in dangerous acts. Such decreased inhibitions can result in person suffer from injuries, accidents, incurring debt etc.

Depresses Mood, Thoughts of Suicide or Hurting Themselves
Benzodiazepine changes the chemical structure of brain that causes the abuser to feel depressed, sad, and worthless. It also causes abusers to feel about committing suicide or hurting themselves. The person looses interest in daily activities and appears tired.

Hyperactivity, Agitation, Hostility, Hallucinations
The person abusing benzodiazepine shows heightened levels of hyperactivity and restlessness. The person feels more agitated and hostile due to these increased levels of hyperactivity. Hyperactivity can lead to body injury, accident, or physical violence. The person can also experience hallucinations like hearing strange voices, see things that do not exist etc.

Fainting
Benzodiazepine abuse can cause the person to experience loss of balance, coordination, fainting, lightheadedness etc.

Seizure
Benzodiazepine abuse can cause person to experience muscle twitching or convulsions that result in seizures. It further results in loss of consciousness, speech difficulties, and confusion.

Urinating Less or Not At All
Benzodiazepine abuse affects the urinary system and the ability to urinate. Prolonged exposure can cause the person to pass very less urine or even lead to anuria which is complete stoppage of passage of urine.

Blurring Of Vision
The persons abusing benzodiazepine may also suffer from eye sight problems and blurring of vision.

Jaundice
Benzodiazepine abuse also causes liver damage and dysfunction. Damage to the liver further leads to jaundice.

Physical Effects:
Benzodiazepine abuse can be physically and emotionally addictive.

Muscle Cramps
Persons abusing benzodiazepine have found to suffer from muscular side effects like muscle crams, twitching, muscle pain, muscle rigidity, and joint pain.

Nausea
Benzodiazepine abuse can cause gastrointestinal side effects like nausea and vomiting. These side effects are not serious but immediate medical treatment should be initiated if noticed.

Diarrhea
Other forms of gastrointestinal side effects include diarrhea. If diarrhea is noticed for more than 24 hours, immediate medical attention needs to be sought as it can cause dehydration or cardiac arrhythmias.

Drowsiness
Benzodiazepine acts as a depressant on the Central Nervous System (CNS) and causes drowsiness among the person abusing benzodiazepine.

Lack of Coordination
Benzodiazepine abuse affects the Central Nervous System and the person shows lack of coordination in the activities performed.

Loss of Appetite
Persons abusing benzodiazepine may suffer from loss of appetite and subsequently lose weight.

Loss of Concentration
Abusing benzodiazepine can also have mental side effects, and impair and affect the person’s ability to concentrate and perform regular tasks.

Slurred Speech
The person abusing benzodiazepine can have a slurred speech and is often seen in confused state of mind.

Sudden cessation of benzodiazepine intake can cause the person to experience severe withdrawal symptoms like seizures, convulsions etc. Addiction to benzodiazepine can be effectively cured through detox programs at rehabilitation centers under the observation of trained physicians. Detox programs help in early recovery of the addicted person and cope with withdrawal symptoms.

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What Methods Teen Treatment Centers Use to Fight Addiction

The rising popularity in teen treatment centers is something that inspires mixed emotions. On one hand, we are happy that we have these places of rehabilitation to help teens get better but at the same time, we are exposed to a growing set of teenage problems that didn’t exist before: chronic depression, alcohol addiction, and illicit drug abuse and prescription drug addiction.

Let us look at the three pronged approached adopted by teen treatment centers to counter this growing menace of substance abuse:

1. Counseling: Teens are at a vulnerable state of life where their decisions are usually impulsive and influenced; which is one of the reasons why they become victims of substance abuse. During the counseling phase, the counselor has a heart to heart chat with the patient and find out the root cause of his addiction. Short-term behavioral goals are charted out which can put a full-stop to drug abuse. These can be in the form of cognitive therapy, Narcotics Anonymous, Alcoholics Anonymous and other such programs. There is also another treatment program which is rapidly gaining ground, also known as ‘Stimulus Control’ that shows the teen how to practically stay away from ‘stimulus’ or ‘triggers’ in the form of situations and people that can lead to substance abuse and substitute it with conditions that foster participation in healthy activities.

2. Medication: Medication also assumes a lot of importance when used to treat various forms of addiction and boost the immune system. For instance, in case of nicotine cravings, an antidepressant like Buproprion is administered. If a teen is addicted to opiates like heroine, it is normal for him to have strong withdrawal systems post the detox procedure. In this case, Methadone, levo-alpha acetyl methadol or Buprenorphine hydrochloride are used as non-intoxicating opiates that can take care of these problems. Naltrexone is also used by doctors to counter the opiate effects and has been found to be especially useful in cases of opiate overdose.

3. Family Intervention: In a teen rehabilitation center, the family intervention aspect does matter a lot when it comes to effective treatment, as the people who are seeking treatment are not yet adults. The treatment aspects in this case include multidimensional family therapy (MDFT) and multifamily educational intervention (MFE).

Parents should cooperate fully with the treatment and should play a good role in motivating their children along with the efforts of the teen rehab. Apart from the above three points of treatment, there is a tilt towards motivational enhancement therapy that strengthens the mental resolve of the teen to stay away from these vices. The most effective time period for complete and comprehensive treatment is between three and five months in a long -term residential treatment program where not just substance abuse but every teen problem is addressed. When the matter is out of control for the parent, and the teen is too much into drugs, it is better to act promptly and take him to one of the best teen treatment centers for rehabilitation.

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Choose an Alcohol Rehab Center For an Alcoholic Free Life

The love of spirits can endanger lives. Some people realize it when it is too late. People who regularly consume alcohol suffer from health problems such as liver disease, chronic pancreatitis, gastritis, cardiovascular and neurological problems. Alcohol abuse may even lead to cancer and a painful death. Those who have difficulty in moderating drinking, neglect daily activities and show physical symptoms of withdrawal are in need of alcohol rehab.

The first step to have a free alcoholic life is to choose the right treatment program and then right Alcohol Rehabilitation center that should fit in the specific needs of the addict. If an incorrect evaluation is made at the initial stage, then the chances for failure are elevated. There are varying degrees of alcohol abuse. Some individuals may have a history of many failed attempts to end their abuse pattern. These patients are suitable for in patient residential treatment. Long-term inpatient alcohol rehabilitation programs are conducted over a period of three to six months and provide the addict with a change of environment as well as care. However, if an individual has only a short history of abuse, then outpatient treatment or counseling sessions are provided to the patient.

Alcohol Rehabilitation center accomplish this through regular contact with both the patient and his family, the ideal way to facilitate the patient successful re-entry into society. They not only teach them how to lead a drug free life, but also make sure that no longer they have any desire to take alcohol – ever.

Alcohol abuse treatment involves enhancing and elevating self-esteem and self-worth, healing core traumas, learning life-skills, gaining control over addictive patterns and improving the health of the body in addition to recover from alcohol abuse. Counseling focuses on the symptoms of drug addiction, the individual and the structure of the individual’s recovery program. It also teaches coping strategies and quick tools for recovery.

At Alcoholic Rehabilitation Center counseling sessions are undertaken for those who are the victims of this abuse. Such meetings and counseling sessions follow simple steps of recovery. At Alcoholic Rehab Centers, these meetings are held a few times a week and are usually free of charge. They focus on members sharing their experiences, strengths and hopes of recovery from alcoholism. Alcoholics Anonymous is one such program. Recovery from Alcohol addiction is a difficult and an uphill task, but definitely not impossible. Willingness and self control to quit a drug and entering the addiction recovery is very necessary.

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