what happens when help is not affordable?

In my last post, I mentioned that an individual had just died from a drug overdose in my new hometown. It is sad that he died with some of his friends (and possibly some of his relatives) having known of his addiction. Some might even try to pin some of the blame on them, for not pushing him to go for help. Others will say that it was the individual's own fault for not seeking help on his own. But in many ways, I wonder if our society doesn't make the act of getting help more difficult than continuing to indulge in one's addictions.

Kicking a habit is of course very difficult, but simply trying to find someone or someplace that can show you the way should be easier. One shouldn't have to feel ashamed because he or she can only afford local treatment from a government funded institution. Unfortunately, there are so many sources who perpetrate the belief that the only way to get help is to enroll yourself into an expensive private drug rehab institute for some type of anonymous luxury addiction treatment program.

Like everything else in this capitalistic country, rehab has apparently become a commodity. Unless you're willing to pay tons of cash for it, it must not be worth it to even try. At least that's the attitude I am seeing on the internet these days. Put your money where your mouth is.

minding one's own business, or saving lives?

When someone passes away in a small town, everyone notices. It doesn't matter if that person was on their death bed, or hadn't been seen in a while - everyone feels the loss. That's part of being in a small community. The numbers are so small that even a drop by one makes an impact.

We recently lost a young man to a drug overdose in our town, and it came as no surprise to some of his friends. On one hand, I was shocked that this individual's problems with drugs was well known. After all, if his friends knew of the problem, couldn't they have tried to present this tragedy? Maybe. Maybe not. Unfortunately, another one of the problems of being in a small town is that certain subjects are still taboo. Although you hear often of small town people who always want to be in your business, that isn't always the case. Certain subjects are ignored - alcoholics, drug abuse, even some cases of domestic abuse. It is truly a shame, as those affected by these problems aren't very likely to find help if some of their neighbors don't get involved.

Being in a small town, we don't have drug rehabs or organized intervention groups. Trying to see a psychologist or therapist doesn't usually happen either, since those services usually cost lots of money. Although there are national organizations that can sometimes help, many of them can only be located with the help of the internet, and the internet is still a luxury for many small town residents.

Although I had never met the individual who died, his death has seriously affected some of those around me. It's sad and unexpected, but it also serves as an eye-opener that in some cases it is better to be a nosy neighbor and intervene than to mind one's own business. Someone's life may depend on it.

prescription drug abuse help

I recently discussed what I believe could be one of the origins of prescription drug abuse in our culture. many individuals don't realize how damaging prescription drug abuse can be, or to what lengths individuals will go to once they have become addicted.

The 1800nodrugs.com drug rehab website explains that prescription drug abusers will go so far as to write phony prescriptions, convince their specialty doctors to prescribe meds by convincing them that their regular physician is out of town, schedule appointments with random new doctors to establish a clean slate of prescription status, and in some cases steal medications.

It is strange that this phenomenon doesn't receive more attention. Instead, we see movies where people constantly offer one another powerful drugs like Valium, with no apparent responsibility for the fact that it was a prescribed substance. According to a national study discussed on this website, "The 17th annual study on teen drug abuse found that in 2004, more teens had abused prescription pain medication such as Vicodin and OxyContin than cocaine, crack, Ecstasy or LSD. The most popular prescription drug abused by teens is Vicodin, with 18% or about 4.3 million youth reporting that they had used it to get high."

In a nutshell, handing out prescription pain killers to friends isn't curing their illnesses, but may be influencing them to take on a very damaging addiction. As their name suggests, this 1800nodrugs.com website offers free drug counseling and referral services. Although prescription drug abusers sometimes try to cocoon their addiction in a humorous light, there is nothing really funny about it. When not prescribed, statements like, "God, I need a valium" should be reacted to no differently than someone stating, "God, I need some crack." Get them some help.

origins of prescription drug abuse

My son is currently going through the dreaded "terrible two" stage of toddler-hood, and coincidentally, we as parents are going through the "how the heck do we deal with this kid" phase. One of our biggest brick walls at this point is bedtime. Our son does not want to go to sleep. In fact, he doesn't know what he wants. He just wants to say "no" to whatever we suggest.

"Do you want to stay up?"

"Noooo."

"Do you want to go to bed?"

"Noooo."

Perhaps the problem lies in the fact that we are allowing him to make these types of decisions before he is ready to make them. Maybe his little two-year-old brain isn't ready to assess such earth-shattering options and rationalize which one will bring happiness and comfort. Or, perhaps he is just tired and cranky, because he pulled this same act last night, didn't get any sleep and is overly tired.

We have read lots of advice from websites and books, relatives and such. Some are conventional. Others promote "far out" experimental methods. In the back of my head, I am convinced that all would be okay if I could just reason with him, as we do with our older children. However, what do we do in the meantime?

We have tried the rewards methods, the punishment methods, the ignoring "don't give him attention for it" methods, even the "lock his door and let him scream it out" method (which nearly broke our hearts). Nothing seems to work at this point. So we endure, as parents enslaved to the beast that is two-year-old indecision and stubbornness.

One relative suggested that we give him a small dose of Benadryl each night, to soothe him. Problem is...I don't want my kid to get addicted to Benadryl. You'll know it is becoming a problem when they ask for it, or feel that they must have it in order to "get by". We noticed this when he was teething and was getting accustomed to some herbal teething pills for babies. I wonder if the problem that we have in today's society with prescription drug abuse might originate from this very same approach by parents. We already see it continue in the form of things like Prozac and Ritalin - I can't handle the kid - it must be an imbalance. Give him some drugs. Wouldn't this explain why some people end up addicted to things like pain killer?

As difficult as it may seem, I say stick it out, deal with the little brat and keep the drugs in the medicine cabinet. No sense in establishing addictive behavior at such a young age.

1-800 save the day

I find it refreshing that free help lines have not gone by the wayside in our current market-driven society. Having seen the effects of drug addiction firsthand several times in my past, I am thankful that individuals who may be having trouble with substance abuse can get drug rehab advice for free on the internet, and can still turn to live phone counselors for assistance in their needs.

I was recently offered a chance to review a website service known as 4Rehabilitation.com, which is an informative site and referral service. Understanding that "one-size-fits-all" rehab programs haven't always been very successful in the past, they assist individuals in finding the right type of program and facility to match their specific needs. I especially appreciate that they offer advice for intervention, as the person with the problem is often unaware or in denial, and family members and friends have many difficult decisions to make in pointing this out to them. Knowing what steps to take, and where to suggest a person go for rehab can make the difference between a successful intervention, and a general falling out.

It also recognizes that not all drug abusers are going to find help for themselves without a little persuasion from those who care about them.

stone hawk takes care of the "stoned-too-often"

Considering the theme of my last post, I was happy to have the chance to review a website for a drug rehabilitation center called Stone Hawk. Their drug treatment program comes with several success stories from survivors and former abusers. Their facility is located half-way between Battle Creek and Detroit, Michigan, but their website offers free advice and rehab information to users in any state and across the globe. The founders of Stone Hawk are none other than the Kellogg family, made infamous by their unique approach to medicine at Battle Creek and of course their portrayal in the film titled "Road to Wellville".

Like the original Kellogg health enterprises, Stone Hawk concentrates on recovery via relaxation and the elimination of stress, which includes frequent trips for their patients to their well-stocked fishing lake. With fully certified counselors and an actual M.D. overseeing the facility role of Medical Director, the facility offers a multitude of different solutions to best match different challenges. They offer drug rehab, drug detox, drug-free withdrawal, therapeutic and aftercare training.

Even if you're not quite ready to send someone (or yourself) to Michigan, you can always pick up some of the valuable information that they offer for free on their website, including articles on addiction, drug abuse, and alcoholism. If we discover that the rumors are true and my wife's new friend (see my last post) does have a serious problem, I may just have to request one of Stone Hawk's free information packet and send it to her anonymously in the mail.

total flake, or just hitting the bottle too hard?

My wife had recently made friends with another woman in our area (or so she thought), and was seeing a bit of promise in her new friendship, as the woman and her family had lots in common with ours. They have children close to ours in age, they aren't materialistically obsessed, and they lean a bit to the left of center, but not to the extreme. Unfortunately, the woman has consistently refused to return my wife's calls now. Strange enough, we've even run into her husband several times, and he acts like it is nothing.

There are rumors flying about the neighborhood that this woman is too busy "hitting the bottle" to be social with anyone (at least not anyone with a similar interest in being smashed). It's strange, though. Back in high school and college, there were certain individuals who we enjoyed hanging out with, but who had occasional problems with drug and alcohol abuse. You just forget about it, though, until you run into someone in real life (as opposed to the psuedo-life of college of high school) that has this sort of problem. You expect the "drunks" and "users" to be weird, strung-out individuals in ratty clothing, traipsing across prostitute-infested parts of town, but you don't expect normal everyday people to have this problem.

Unfortunately, drug and alcohol abuse affects every social status and class. Right now, we're not quite sure what to do. Do we just forget about this "friend" and let her do her own thing, or should we persist in trying to befriend her, and perhaps help her. Keep in mind, though, that there's always the chance that the "alcoholic" rumor may be just that - a rumor, and there may be other forces at work. Maybe she really is a flake, or maybe we pissed her off somehow.