Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Detox and Rehab for Prescription Drug Abuse

Prescription drug abuse is a growing problem in the United States. According to statistics, an estimated 20 percent of Americans abuse prescription drugs. Misuse and long-term use of prescription painkillers such as OxyContin, Vicodin, Valium, Xanax, Ritalin and Adderall can quickly spiral into dependency and addiction. Once dependency occurs, a person’s best hope of recovery is to enter a detox and rehab for prescription drug abuse.


Detox for Prescription Drug Abuse


Long-term use or abuse of prescription drugs can lead to physical dependence. The safest way to come off prescription drugs if you’re dependent is to undergo detox at a prescription drug rehab. Detoxification will flush out all of the painkiller’s toxic residue and purify body so the unwanted effects of the drug are no longer present.


During the initial stages of prescription drug detox, physical and psychological withdrawal symptoms will appear. The nature and severity of these withdrawal symptoms vary greatly depending on the type of prescription drug used and the frequency of use, but a good detoxification program will provide medical and supervised care to help alleviate and even eliminate the uncomfortable symptoms of drug withdrawal.


Withdrawal from prescription drugs can cause anxiety, depression and intense psychological pain that causes the person to falsely believe that they have to take painkillers in order to survive. Physical withdrawal symptoms from prescription drugs include:


* Nausea
* Cramping
* Vomiting
* Insomnia
* Hot/cold sweats
* Joint and muscle pain


Rehab for Prescription Drug Abuse


The second step of prescription drug addiction treatment is treating the mental addiction to the drugs. Even when the addict wants to be sober, the mind will tell the addict it needs more pills in order to function. Undergoing addiction treatment at a prescription drug rehab will provide a safe, supportive environment free of temptation and access to pills so that the mental addiction can be broken.


There are many different types of drug rehabs, but the best type of drug rehab for prescription drug abuse is residential treatment. Residential treatment for prescription drug abuse provides a structured environment that’s free of temptations and distractions, and provides round-the-clock care and support to help the individual focus on recovery. Residential treatment programs will provide supervised detoxification from the prescription drug’s harmful toxins, individual and group therapy to learn new behavior skills, and holistic therapies such as yoga, meditation and equine therapies to heal the spirit and mind as well as the body.


Prescription drug abuse can lead to serious health consequences and addiction if left untreated. If you or someone you love is misusing prescription drugs, a prescription drug rehab can help you break your addiction and regain control over your life.


Thanks for visit Drug Addiction Treatment

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Eating Disorders on College Campuses

According to the National Eating Disorders Association, nearly 20 percent of college students believe at some point that they’ve suffered from an eating disorder.


“The incidents of eating disorders on college campuses are much higher than they are in the general population and that’s because of their age, the transition, that there’s so much pressure on colleges,” said Jennifer Smith.


Smith manages the Walden Behavioral Care Clinic in Northampton.  She says the pressure to attain the perfect body leads many college females, and even males, to develop an eating disorder, leaving them at risk for long-term health consequences and even suicide.


Thanks for visit Drug Addiction Treatment

Monday, February 14, 2011

Top 12 Signs of Prescription Drug Addiction

Prescription drug addiction is a growing problem in our country because many people don’t take the abuse of prescription drugs as seriously as they should. Prescription drug abuse can lead to serious health consequences and addiction if left untreated. If you or someone you love is misusing prescription drugs, a prescription drug rehab can help you break your addiction and regain control over your life. The first step is knowing the signs of prescription drug addiction so that you can get the help you need.


Top 12 Signs of Prescription Drug Addiction


* Continued use of the drug, even after the pain it was prescribed for has ceased.
* Complaining about vague symptoms to get more medication.
* Lack of interest in treatment options other than medications.
* Mood and behavior changes, such as becoming hostile, volatile, agitated or anxious.
* Secretive or deceitful behavior in order to obtain the drug, such as having multiple prescriptions from more than one doctor or buying it off the street.
* Using prescription pills prescribed for others.
* Physical withdrawal symptoms when doses are missed. Flu-like symptoms such as joint and muscle aches, night sweats and insomnia are very common.
* Using more than the recommended amount of medication.
* Developing a high tolerance so that more pills are needed for the same desired effect.
* Withdrawal from friends, family and society, especially if people close to say you have a problem.
* Financial problems associated with having to purchase more and more pills.
* Past history of drug addiction.


 


Prescription Drug Addiction Treatment


If you or someone you love exhibits any of these signs of prescription drug addiction, residential treatment at Casa Palmera can put you or your loved one on the road to recovery. Our prescription drug addiction treatment program provides a structured environment that’s free of temptations and distractions, and provides round-the-clock care and support to help the individual focus on recovery. Our caring, highly skilled staff will provide supervised detoxification from the prescription drug’s harmful toxins, individual and group therapy to learn new behavior skills, and holistic therapies such as yoga, meditation and other therapies to heal the spirit and mind as well as the body.


At Casa Palmera, we also offer chronic pain management to help you control pain without the use of prescription drugs. The Casa Palmera Chronic Pain Program is led by physicians who specialize in treating patients who are compromised by pain and have a history of prescription drug abuse. Our program includes holistic therapies such as massage, acupuncture, neurofeedback/biofeedback, stress reduction, yoga, laser therapy, physical therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and more to reduce pain without medication.


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Sunday, February 13, 2011

Opiate Addiction

Opiate addiction is a painful and difficult situation to overcome. Opiates such as heroin and prescription painkillers are highly addictive and can cause severe dependence and intense withdrawal symptoms. If you or someone you love is suffering from opiate addiction, Casa Palmera can help.


What is Opiate Addiction?


Opiate addiction occurs after long-term use of opiates cause nerve cells in the brain to stop functioning normally. The nerve cells stop producing endorphins (naturally occurring feel-good chemicals) on their own, and become physically dependent on externally supplied opiates in order to make you feel good.


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Opiate addiction encompasses a wide range drugs, some illegal — like heroin — and some legal — like prescription painkillers. Sometimes opiate addiction occurs after legal use of prescription drugs slips into abuse, and sometimes it occurs as a way to experiment or escape the stress of life or childhood trauma. Whatever the case may be, opiate treatment programs will help you wean yourself off of opiates, overcome your physical and mental dependence on opiates, and address the core issues behind your substance abuse.


How Do You Treat Opiate Addiction?


The first step of opiate addiction treatment is to enter a detoxification program. The primary objective of opiate detoxification is to relieve withdrawal symptoms while the patient adjusts to a drug-free state. Opiate withdrawal can be a painful and sometimes dangerous process, which is why the detox period will be supervised by trained medical personnel who will monitor your withdrawal and make sure you are safe and as comfortable as possible. Opiate withdrawal symptoms can include extreme fatigue, flu-like symptoms, muscle and bone pain, insomnia, depression, anxiety and severe drug craving. It’s important to understand that detoxification alone is not a treatment for addiction. It is merely a useful first step to address the physical dependence to opiates so that long-term treatment can address the behaviors that have led to addiction.


Studies show that pharmacologic treatments combined with behavioral treatments are the most effective approach to enabling patients to stop using opiates and return to a more stable and productive life.


There are many effective behavioral treatments available for opiate addiction, including residential programs and behavioral therapies such as contingency management therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy. Residential treatment provides round-the-clock care and support in a structured environment that’s free of temptations and distractions. Contingency management therapy uses a voucher-based system where patients can earn points based on negative drug tests and use these points to earn items that encourage healthy living. Cognitive-behavioral therapy is designed to help modify the patient’s thinking and behaviors to increase their skills in coping with stress without turning to drugs.


Opiate Addiction Treatment at Casa Palmera


At Casa Palmera, we understand that opiate addiction is not just a physical problem, but a mental and emotional problem as well. Our holistic opiate treatment program will treat your entire physical, mental and spiritual health and help you identify and cope with the real reasons behind your opiate abuse.


In addition to traditional methods of opiate addiction treatment, we also offer a variety of holistic methods such as acupuncture, massage and yoga to help reduce withdrawal symptoms and return the person to a balanced state of well-being. We also offer a Pain Management Program to help those with chronic pain learn to manage their pain without the use of opiate-based painkillers.


Thanks for visit Drug Addiction Treatment