Drug abuse may involve legal or illegal drugs. One illegal substance that can cause addiction is phencyclidine or PCP. This drug originally had legitimate medical uses. However, doctors discontinued using it due to the severe effects of PCP that patients experienced. Once you know more about these effects that PCP causes on the mind and…
Signs of opiate addiction may not be obvious to everyone. You could have a loved one struggling with drug abuse and not recognize the problem immediately. Learn to recognize some of the most common signals those who have problems with opiate use send through their actions and appearance. After recognizing that a problem exists, you…
Different drugs have different effects on the body, but they all end up doing permanent damage that is similar after a long period of usage. As we explore the effects of drugs on the body, we need to keep in mind that much of the long-term damage will appear after years of use. Continue on…
Is there a difference between dependence vs. addiction? It’s hard for most people to see how these two components impact their lives and their ability to stop using drugs and alcohol. Yet, this concept is an important one. Understanding when you have a physical dependence and when you have an addiction can help you to…
Detox is an integral part of substance abuse treatment programs for meth addiction. Individuals going through detox and withdrawal are expected to experience mild to severe meth withdrawal symptoms. As much as the thought of symptoms such as panic attacks or hallucinations can be daunting, the process is necessary to help you overcome meth addiction. If…
You’ve heard the term, and the name sounds safe. But exactly what is synthetic marijuana? The answer may surprise you. Synthetic marijuana, which attempts to be natural, isn’t. Rather, the only natural part of this product is the plant base on which synthetic chemicals have been sprayed. There’s little-to-no regulation regarding synthetic marijuana, except to say…
There are many factors that can contribute to our addictions – our family’s experience with substance abuse, our genetic makeup, our mental illnesses and our lack of healthy emotional coping skills. One factor we often ignore but that can be particularly problematic is boredom. When we think of boredom, we think of it as being…
Forgiveness can be hard to do when you have so much anger inside of you. When you know someone struggling with addiction, all you can think about when you look at that person is all the hurt they caused you. Practicing forgiveness is an important step in maintaining a relationship with a recovering addict to…
One element of our addiction recovery that we don’t always take the time to address is the prevalence of our unhealthy boundaries. We often are so eager to return to our regular routines, to see our family and friends, and to get on with our lives, that we don’t even think of our boundaries as…
We use our addictions in different ways in our lives, one of the most common being that we’re attempting to fill the emptiness we feel within us. We use drugs, alcohol, sex, relationships, gambling, and any substance or behavior that makes us feel good, to compensate for the voids we feel in our lives and…