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QUESTIONS
Please browse through the information we gathered here for
you. We hope we have answered all your questions regarding
alcohol abuse, drug addiction and recovery from addiction.
If there is anything else you would like to know or if you
have any suggestions please contact us.
At Florida Center for Recovery you will find recovery from
addiction a powerful healing experience. We offer hope when
you feel there is just about no way out of what you are going
through.
Reach out to us. Recovery from addiction is just a click or a
phone call away. No problem is too small. We are always here to help.
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What is Alcoholism?
Is Alcoholism Really a Disease?
What Is The Cure For Alcoholism?
What Is The Treatment For Alcoholism?
What is Drug Addiction?
Can a Drug-Addicted Individual Voluntarily Stop Using Drugs?
What and How Long Is the Best Treatment for Drug Addiction?
Where Do 12-Step Programs Fit Into Drug Addiction Treatment?
What is Alcoholism?
Alcoholism is a disease that the individual cannot control.
The alcoholic becomes totally dependent upon the consumption
of alcohol. He or she will hide their supply, consume it when
no one is around and lie to cover up their drinking.
The craving for alcohol overwhelms the alcoholic. The craving
becomes totally obsessive and creates an intensive desire to
drink.
Once an alcoholic begins a drinking episode, they cannot control
their consumption and find it almost impossible to stop on their
own. Often the lack of supply, intervention by another person,
or "passing out" ends the binge. The alcoholic swears they won't
ever take another drink and yet find themselves drinking a few
hours or days later with the same result.
The alcoholic will build up a tolerance for the amount of alcohol
they consume. Slowly it takes more and more to achieve the same
euphoric feeling that they had before.
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Is Alcoholism Really a Disease?
Alcoholism is a recognized disease. It becomes a compulsive
need the same as eating, sleeping and the desire to be loved.
Nothing can stop the alcoholic, not threats, not health problems,
not lack of employment, not repeated brushes with the legal
system.
Alcoholism lasts until the time of death. It controls the individual,
destroys vital organs and slowly deteriorates the body.
Those who have lived with an alcoholic know the onset and progress
of the disease first hand. They will tell you there is no hope
until the alcoholic is completely defeated and cries for help.
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What Is The Cure For Alcoholism?
Alcoholism does not have a cure. There are alcoholics who have
quit drinking after treatment and ten years later, pick up a
single drink and find themselves back where they left off. There
is always the desire to drink.
Alcoholics need to avoid situations where they may be tempted
to drink. They always have an excuse in their hip pocket why
just one won't hurt. That "just one" hurls them back into the
abyss.
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What Is The Treatment For Alcoholism?
The type of treatment the alcoholic receives depends on the
severity of his/her alcoholism. Treatment may include detoxification,
taking doctor-prescribed medications and individual and/or group
counseling. There is counseling that teaches alcoholics to identify
situations and feelings that trigger the urge to drink and to
find new ways to cope that do not include alcohol use. These
treatments are often provided on a partial-hospitalization or
outpatient basis.
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What is Drug Addiction?
Drug addiction has many similarities to alcohol addiction.
The drug-addicted person has an intense desire for their drug
of choice. This intense desire is always there and occupies
the mind of the drug-addicted individual.
The drug-addicted person constantly craves the effects that
their drug of choice produces. This craving can only be alleviated
by the use of the drug.
The drug-addicted person cannot control their desire for and
actions to secure their drug of choice. Many will resort to
fraud, theft or the selling of sexual favors to pay for their
drugs.
The drug-addicted person builds up a tolerance for the drug.
Often a drug-addicted person will "graduate" to the next stronger
drug. Often a combination of drugs is taken in to affect the
high that the original drug first produced.
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Can a Drug-Addicted Individual Voluntarily Stop Using Drugs?
In short, the answer is no. Many try, few succeed. Treatment
is required if a person is to stop using. Unfortunately drug
addiction causes many changes in brain functions and the way
a person reacts to life's challenges. The changes in brain function
can affect a person long after use has stopped.
The compulsion to use their drug of choice is so strong that
drug-addicted persons will behave without regard to the affects
it can cause in a marriage, family relations, employment or
relationships with friends.
The drug-addicted individual cannot achieve and maintain abstinence
without treatment. This treatment should be conducted in a community
where one will be "out of the sandbox." People, places and things
familiar during drug use, can easily cause a relapse.
During treatment, the drug-addicted person will confront the
problems that have an effect on their use. Individual and group
counseling are most affective. Addicts know addicts. They instinctively
know when some one is not telling the truth, hiding an issue
or pretending not to have a problem.
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What and How Long Is the Best Treatment for Drug Addiction?
Not all individuals require the same length of treatment. A
combination of at least 90 days of 24 hour Structured Living
Program, Intensive Outpatient and Outpatient Therapy is needed.
Unfortunately some "experts" in the field of substance abuse
treatment recommend the "in house 28-day miracle program." Unfortunately,
at the conclusion of these 28-day programs, individuals are
thrown back into society without the needed tools to succeed
in maintaining abstinence. Learned behaviors of several months
or years cannot be changed in 28 days.
Individuals must be encouraged to undergo the amount of time
and treatment that is recommended by their physician, psychiatrist,
therapist and treatment team.
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Where Do 12-Step Programs Fit Into Drug Addiction Treatment?
Self-help groups are essential for the continued success of
the treatment program. Highly recommended are Alcoholics
Anonymous (AA), Narcotics
Anonymous (NA), and Cocaine
Anonymous (CA), all of which are based on the 12-step model.
Please visit their web sites above to learn more about their
mission and programs.
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