855-763-6488In recent decades, researchers and mental health experts have made extensive progress in uncovering the basic nature of substance abuse and addiction. In part, their conclusions show that, over time, abuse and addiction affect the body in ways that are highly analogous to the effects of chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes. Still, despite these findings, people with abuse- or addiction-related issues are sometimes stereotyped in society as morally weak or somehow mentally deficient. Despite these stereotypes, current evidence shows that people with low IQs don’t have especially high risks for illicit drug use. In fact, high childhood IQ score-not low scores-appear to be associated with increased risks for illicit drug use in adulthood.
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18 Feb / 2013
Zoloft in Brief
Zoloft is the brand name of a compound called sertraline. It is one of a class of antidepressant medications called serotonin-specific reuptake inhibitors (SSRI). The SSRIs are a relatively new group of antidepressants, the first of which was Prozac, approved for use in the United States in 1988. In the early 1990s, several researchers published articles noting that upon administration of these SSRIs, suicidal thoughts, gestures (such as self mutilation or cutting), and even attempts increased. The articles noted that for some patients, suicidal thoughts had not been reported in the past despite the diagnosis of depression, and that in others the intensity of these thoughts or actions greatly increased.
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Alcohol and all commonly abused drugs alter your experience of reality by altering the levels of chemicals in your brain known as neurotransmitters. Generally speaking, problems with alcoholism and drug addiction begin when your brain gradually adapts to the long-term changes in neurotransmitter levels. In the scientific community, much of the focus on abuse- and addiction-related brain changes has centered on dopamine, a neurotransmitter that plays a key role in the normal function of the brain’s pleasure centers. However, altered levels of another neurotransmitter, called glutamate, also contribute to the onset of addiction by changing the ways in which you learn, make decisions and engage in other basic thought processes.
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16 Feb / 2013
What Are the Health Effects of Alcohol Withdrawal?
Alcohol withdrawal is a condition that occurs when a long-term, heavy drinker stops using alcohol. It inevitably appears in alcoholics who decide to stop drinking and seek alcohol addiction treatment. Depending on factors that include the length of alcohol use and the intensity of alcohol use, the symptoms of withdrawal can range from relatively mild to severe or even life-threatening. Unfortunately, fear of these symptoms can play a significant role in continued drinking and the avoidance of treatment. However, in the vast majority of cases, alcohol withdrawal produces more or less predictable changes in the body, and proper monitoring and medical treatment can help a recovering drinker make it through this process.
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15 Feb / 2013
Side Effects of Buprenorphine
Most any medication intended for healing may induce some harm or discomfort. All medication prescriptions include information on side effects or adverse reactions to the medication. Some people may have no reactions while others have multiple reactions. Whether one experiences these effects depends on multiple factors including dosage and the person’s tolerance.
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The addictive characteristics of powerful pain medications such as oxycodone, morphine, fentanyl and hydrocodone have well been demonstrated in extensive research on the topic. The challenge in the medical field was once access to the necessary medications to effectively manage chronic pain. Now, the challenge is weighing the relief from the pain against the potential for addiction.
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08 Feb / 2013
The Dangerous Path of the Meth User
The body produces adrenaline to react to immediate stress. Methamphetamine is the synthetic version of adrenaline, designed for use in the medical treatment of exogenous obesity and ADHD. It appeals to the social drug user for its ability to create power, intensity and euphoria.
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07 Feb / 2013
The Dangers of Recreational Drug Use
The recent decriminalization of marijuana in Washington state and Colorado has drawn attention to the power of the young voter. Young voters are deeply concerned with personal freedoms. It may be important, however, to spend some time educating younger voters about the inherent dangers of some freedoms – recreational drug use being one of them. Contrary to what many young people may imagine, using some drugs even just occasionally for recreational purposes can pose an immediate threat to the health and life of a person.
