Answer Addiction

Author: The Fix

  • Bam Margera Heads To Rehab After Dr. Phil Intervention

    Bam Margera Heads To Rehab After Dr. Phil Intervention

    Dr. Phil got in touch with Margera and his family then met for a three-hour intervention this past Monday.

    Former Jackass star Bam Margera is reportedly on his way to rehab — again — after a personal intervention with his wife, mother and Dr. Phil. 

    Margera, 38, has been in rehab many times, most recently in January. Then, he checked himself out after a few days. Over the weekend Margera posted an Instagram video in which he trashed his mother and wife, Nikki, while asking Dr. Phil for help. 

    “Dr. Phil, I need your help in a big big way,” he said in the video. “My family is in shambles. It’s worse than it’s ever been, ever. I’ve disowned my mom. Nikki I can’t stand.”

    In the video, Margera blamed Nikki and his mother, April, for his erratic behavior. 

    “When people say Bam might be going crazy, fucking a, maybe they’re right,” Margera said. “The only person who I will believe on the planet is Dr. Phil.”

    The Intervention

    According to TMZ, Dr. Phil got in touch with Margera and his family, and met for a three-hour intervention on Monday (Aug. 5). That ended with Margera agreeing to go to rehab. 

    Margera’s mother, April Margera, was cautiously optimistic. 

    “There are many, many addicts who have tried this over and over,” she told TMZ. “I think [former Jackass co-star Brandon] Novak said he was in there like 14 times. It might take several times. This may not be it. Every time I’m hoping this is it. It’s gotta be. We’re at the end of our rope.”

    April explained that her son was having a tough time overall, and lashing out at the people closest to him. 

    “I think he’s just really having a bit of a mental breakdown…. both chemical and physical,” she said. “There’s a lot of stress on him. He takes it out on the people he knows will sit here and take it. It’s awful. His mind is just racing, and we’re trying to get him help.”

    Margera’s former Jackass co-star Steve-O, who is in long-time recovery, posted on Instagram urging his friend to get help. 

    “It couldn’t be more clear that all of this isn’t OK, and I hope you’ll join me and Novak in recovery before your son loses his dad,” he wrote. “And, by the way, none of this looks cool (which is a good thing, because it’s humiliating myself that motivated me to commit myself to a program of recovery). It’s time to give up the fight, and join the winning team. I love you, brother…” 

    April said that this is just one example of the many people who are trying to support Margera. 

    “He has a whole legion of family and friends,” she said. “There are many many people who are behind supporting him, but right now he is his own worst enemy, and he doesn’t like himself. If he doesn’t like himself he’s doing to treat others really badly. This is not who he is.” 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Where to Find the Best Treatment for Morphine Sulfate Addiction

    Where to Find the Best Treatment for Morphine Sulfate Addiction

    Looking for morphine sulfate addiction treatment? Our guide can help.

    Table of Contents

    1. What is Morphine Sulfate and How is it Used?
    2. Overdose Risks
    3. Development of Morphine Sulfate Dependence
    4. Development of Morphine Sulfate Addiction
    5. Preparing for Addiction Treatment
    6. Inpatient or Outpatient Assistance for Morphine Addiction?
    7. Identifying Effective Plans Morphine-Related Care
    8. Find the Best Morphine Sulfate Care Facilities

    Suffering from the damaging impact of an addiction to morphine sulfate? Help is available for even the most serious kinds of problems. With the information gathered here, you and your loved ones can learn more about the nature of addiction. You can also learn more about the types of treatments recommended by experts, as well as the common care settings.

    Crucially, you can also learn how to tell which addiction programs have services that are up to par and which ones don’t. From this informed perspective, you can begin to identify you ideal scenario for quality care at a top-rated facility. That way, you’ll know you’re doing everything you can to prepare for your journey back to a sober lifestyle.

    What is Morphine Sulfate and How is it Used?

    Morphine sulfate (also known as morphine sulphate) is one of the formal chemical names for morphine, one of the world’s most widely used opioid medications. It’s available in a large assortment of forms, including tablets, extended-release tablets, capsules, extended-release capsules, oral solutions, concentrated oral solutions, injectable solutions and rectal preparations. Morphine also comes in a range of formulations and dosage potencies.

    In all of its many forms, morphine sulfate/morphine sulphate serves as a mainline treatment for moderate pain and severe pain. Certain products (e.g., extended-release capsules and tablets) are used only to treat severe symptoms that don’t respond to the effects of weaker painkilling alternatives. In addition, certain products are only prescribed to people who have previous experience with opioid substances.

    Morphine and all other related medications relieve pain by changing the way you perceive the signals sent by nerve receptors throughout your body. While doing so, they also slow down or depress the normal rate of nerve cell communication in your central nervous system. When this communication decreases, you experience feelings of sedation. At the same time, changes in your brain chemistry also trigger intense feelings of pleasure.

    All chemical formulas for morphine are classified by the U.S. government as Schedule II controlled substances. Among other things, this means that morphine’s use comes with a “high potential” for substance abuse. That abuse can lead to severe indicators of both psychological and physical dependence. In turn, a dependent state can transition into an addiction.

    Opioids powerful enough to qualify for Schedule II classification also have something else in common. Namely, they can produce dangerous suppression of your normal nervous system function when taken in high amounts. Potential results of this major alteration of your system include life-threatening decreases in your breathing rate and heart rate.

    Consumption of morphine sulfate/morphine sulphate can also lead to the appearance of a range of side effects. Some of these effects are only of concern when they’re severe or linger over time. Examples in this category include pupil dilation, urinary problems, headaches, sleepiness, painful stomach cramps and changes in your typical mood. 

    Other side effects are always worrisome to doctors, regardless of their intensity or duration. Examples here include heartbeat alterations, skin with a bluish or purplish appearance, breathing problems, extreme sleepiness, itching, rash, seizures and swelling anywhere in the region of your throat or face.

    Morphine sulfate/morphine sulphate and other morphine products are available in the U.S. under a wide assortment of brand names. The list of these products includes:

    • Kadian
    • Oramorph
    • MS Contin
    • Avinza
    • Duramorph
    • Morphabond ER

    Generic morphine products are also common. Morphine sulfate/morphine sulphate and its related medications have a few well-known street names or nicknames, including M, Miss Emma, White Stuff and Monkey.

    Overdose Risks

    In the past few years, Americans have been struggling to address a widespread phenomenon: opioid overdose. Like all other members of this large family of substances, morphine can serve as an overdose source. In addition to dangerous decreases in your normal heart and lung function, possible problems in someone affected by a life-threatening toxic reaction include:

    • Flaccid (i.e., limp) muscles
    • Skin that feels clammy or cold to the touch
    • Abnormally low blood pressure
    • Intense drowsiness followed by a dazed state called stupor
    • Complete stoppage of your heart or lung function
    • Complete loss of activity in your circulatory system
    • Unconsciousness
    • Coma (a profoundly unresponsive state of unconsciousness)

    You can potentially overdose on morphine even when taking it according to your doctor’s instructions. However, your risks rise if you disregard those instructions and take too much medication at once or reduce the time you wait between doses. Your chances of overdosing also increase if you consume any amount of medication without official permission from a doctor. Other groups with increased odds of experiencing a morphine overdose include elderly adults, people who mix their medication with benzodiazepines or alcohol, and people affected by certain kinds of major health issues.

    Development of Morphine Sulfate Dependence

    For 200 years, addictive morphine has played an important role in the medical relief of serious pain. However, by its very nature, it has the potential to make you dependent if you take it for more than brief amounts of time. Dependence is the common name for a set of chemical and physical changes that cause your central nervous system to treat a substance as an accepted part of its daily environment. If dependent people fail to meet the new expectation for continued substance intake, they can develop symptoms of withdrawal.

    Withdrawal is basically your brain’s way of telling you that its now-established need for the opioid in question has not been met. It can happen if you stop taking your medication altogether. It can also happen if you make rapid reductions in your habitual dosage.

    Morphine sulfate/morphine sulphate withdrawal is well-understood by researchers, doctors and addiction specialists. It begins with an early-stage syndrome that includes things such as anxiousness, aches in your muscles, a runny nose, insomnia, unusual sweating and excessive yawning. As the process continues, a group of later-stage symptoms also begin to appear. They include such things as cramping in your stomach/abdominal region, diarrhea, dilated pupils, nausea and bouts of vomiting.

    It’s easy to get morphine dependence and morphine addiction confused, especially since people affected by both issues can go into withdrawal. However, dependence differs from addiction in the way it affects your behavior and the function of your brain. To begin with, doctors can manage their dependent patients and assist them in maintaining reliable function in their daily routines. That is not the case for morphine addiction, which often triggers a damaging loss of day-to-day life stability. In addition, the brain areas altered by morphine sulfate/morphine sulphate dependence are apparently not the same as those involved in cases of addiction.

    Development of Morphine Sulfate Addiction

    Like dependence, a transition into addiction is possible even for people who never abuse their prescribed doses of morphine. However, it’s far more common for addiction to follow on the heels of an established pattern of abuse. That’s true whether you take the medication too frequently, in excessive amounts or without a doctor’s say-so. It’s important to note that unauthorized use of morphine always qualifies as a form of prescription drug abuse, regardless of any other surrounding circumstances.

    Potential Symptoms in Users of Morphine Sulfate

    The presence of morphine sulfate addiction will qualify you for a diagnosis of a disease called opioid use disorder, or OUD. In addition to withdrawal, specific problems found in addicted people with this condition can include:

    • Increasing tolerance to the drug effects of your accustomed dose of morphine sulfate/morphine sulphate
    • An established pattern of excessive medication consumption
    • An inability to change that excessive pattern and bring your prescription drug abuse to a halt
    • The presence of an intense desire to take more morphine
    • The creation of a daily routine that revolves around your need to acquire morphine, consume it or recover from its after effects
    • An inability to change your consumption habits even when you know that they cause you serious harm

    The OUD diagnosis also applies to people who aren’t addicted, but still suffer from damaging life changes as a result of their involvement in substance abuse. The possible symptoms of non-addictive problems include:

    • Repeated use of morphine sulfate/morphine sulphate in situations that create safety hazards for you or anyone else
    • A pattern of medication abuse that keeps you from fulfilling important duties in any area of your life (e.g., work, home or school)
    • An inability to lower your level of medication intake even when you know that it negatively affects your main social or personal relationships

    OUD sometimes only involves problems of addiction. On the other hand, it sometimes only involves problems of non-addicted abuse. However, the diagnosis includes both sets of symptoms, because they often appear together in the same person.

    The seriousness of OUD varies from case to case. Only people with at least two symptoms in the span of a year can receive an official diagnosis. In moderate cases, four or five symptoms are present. In severe cases of OUD, a minimum of six symptoms appear within a year’s time. It takes a trained doctor or addiction specialist to determine how many problems are present.

    Preparing for Addiction Treatment

    Recovery from morphine sulfate addiction begins with a period of opioid detoxification, or detox. Detox is the starting point for a couple of important reasons. First, it allows you to bring your medication abuse to a close and take your first step toward sobriety. At the same time, detox gives the medication levels already built up in your system time to decrease.

    Rather than seek assistance at this critical stage, some people try to detox without any medical oversight. It’s crucial to point out that no addiction specialist, doctor or public health official would recommend this go-it-alone approach. That’s true for several major reasons.

    For starters, people who try to detox on their own often go “cold turkey” and stop taking morphine all at once. This is a serious mistake. Why? Any addicted person who quickly cuts off their intake will go into rapid withdrawal. In many cases, the intensity of the symptoms triggered by rapid withdrawal is simply too much to handle. Instead of going through them, you have a good chance of just returning to your previous pattern of abuse.

    If you return to the misuse of morphine sulfate/morphine sulphate after detoxing for some time, you also face another, even more serious problem: the chance of experiencing a life-threatening overdose. As specialists in the field are well-aware, overdose risks are at their highest in this type of situation.That’s because your body will have lost a fair amount of its accumulated tolerance to the effects of morphine. This reduction in tolerance means that a habitual dose you took in the past may now be enough to crash your system, or even kill you. Unfortunately, someone dies in America every day as a result of precisely this chain of events.

    By undergoing detox in a monitored, medically supervised environment, you steeply reduce your chances of experiencing any of these major issues. With the aid of constant oversight and supportive care, you can go through detoxification gradually and reduce your risks for overwhelming symptoms. In fact, if necessary your doctor may prescribe a medication specifically intended to decrease symptom intensity. The ongoing presence of medical professionals also provides you with rapid assistance for any unanticipated detoxification complications.

    With your detoxification-related symptoms under control, you have smaller chances of relapsing back into addictive morphine abuse. If you do relapse, you’ll have ready access to help that can get you back on track and avoid overdosing. And if you do experience an overdose, the availability of immediate assistance can help you steer clear of any life-threatening outcomes.

    On top of everything else, supervised detox has another notable advantage. During your time of enrollment, you’ll receive guidance and information that prepare you for continuation of your recovery in a rehab program. Without taking this next big step, you can easily find yourself falling back into the same downward spiral of uncontrolled, addictive substance abuse.

    Inpatient or Outpatient Assistance for Morphine Addiction?

    Depending on your unique circumstances, you may need to spend some time in hospitalized care before beginning your rehab program. Factors that make this a possibility include very severe OUD symptoms and major problems with your health. Unless you’re affected by these issues, you’ll almost certainly move straight to enrollment in an inpatient or outpatient rehab facility.

    The residential model of inpatient care requires you to receive assistance while living at your chosen facility. This approach has several important advantages. First, since you stay onsite, you have round-the-clock access to medical monitoring and assistance. You also take part in a comprehensive, daily treatment plan that allows you to receive the most focused level of assistance possible. In addition, if that plan needs any modification, your doctor and the facility staff can take action as soon as possible and avoid potential delays.

    The live-at-home model of outpatient rehab can make it easier for you to fit substance recovery into your current daily routine. That’s true because it only requires you to visit your chosen facility a few times a week for treatment, assessment and guidance. This less concentrated approach can work for a significant number of people with mild substance problems. However, it’s not really suitable for effective treatment of moderate or severe problems. Outpatient care is also not the general recommendation for addicted people who struggle simultaneously with a major mental health condition.

    Identifying Effective Plans Morphine-Related Care

    Over the years, research has shown that the best method of treating opioid use disorder is to combine certain effective medications and forms of behavioral psychotherapy. On the medication front, there are three options approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration: the opioid prescription drugs buprenorphine and methadone, and the anti-opioid naltrexone.

    Some people seeking treatment are surprised to learn that opioid medications are used to treat morphine sulfate addiction. Those concerns are understandable, but unwarranted. Evidence clearly shows that appropriate use of buprenorphine or methadone doesn’t get you “high” or support addictive behaviors. Quite the opposite, these medications can help you stop your substance abuse, ease your passage through detoxification and reduce your risks for relapsing.

    Naltrexone plays a different role at addiction centers. If you’re in a program that aims for complete substance abstinence, it can help you avoid relapsing after you fully detoxify your system. The medication does so by creating a chemical barrier around your brain and preventing the entry of opioids. Since these substances can’t reach your central nervous system, they can’t produce their classic drug effects.

    Behavioral psychotherapy for morphine sulfate/morphine sulphate-related issues is available in multiple forms. All of these modern therapies provide their benefits by helping you modify damaging behavior that supports addiction. However, most approaches achieve this goal in different ways, and they can be combined to provide the best possible results in rehab. Research-proven techniques include:

    • Motivational interviewing
    • Family behavior therapy
    • 12-step facilitation
    • Community reinforcement approach (CRA) plus vouchers
    • Contingency management

    Motivational interviewing is suited for people who don’t feel sure they want or need to take part in rehab. It provides a benefit by encouraging participants to strengthen their own personal motivation. Family behavior therapy includes your loved ones and makes it possible for you to understand and change any family dynamics that promote substance abuse.

    Twelve-step facilitation is designed to encourage you to back up you main treatment with participation in an appropriate self-help group. CRA plus vouchers and contingency management share a common goal of rewarding your behavior when you stick to your treatment plan. Another approach called cognitive behavioral therapy can also help people dealing with serious opioid problems.

    Find the Best Morphine Sulfate Care Facilities

    As you may already know, all kinds of facilities are now offering help for people with opioid-related problems. However, that’s both a good thing and a bad thing. On one hand, it means that you can find a program that suits your exact needs. On the other hand, with so many possible options in front of you, you may find it hard to narrow down your choices and make decisions that ultimately support your recovery.

    The first thing to know is that not every program you see advertised meets current standards for effective care. A program can fail to meet these standards in a number of ways. For example, it may not provide treatment with the accepted combination of proven medications and therapy. It may also hire staff members who don’t have the experience or professional credentials required to treat addiction. In addition, substandard programs may fail to maintain their facilities in a safe, secure manner.

    When you call a program on your list of options, you should be able to verify that, at the very least, they follow current treatment guidelines, hire only experienced professionals and provide you with a safe environment. Addiction centers on your list should also readily answer your questions instead of just trying to “sell” you on their program. Information on any program’s website should also be informative and easy to navigate.

    When discussing its enrollment procedures, any reputable rehab center should mention the need for a thorough assessment of your addiction symptoms. They should also mention the need to assess your health and examine any other life factors that have an impact on how your morphine sulfate/morphine sulphate-related problems are addressed. Without this type of intake process, it’s impossible to determine the steps required to support your ongoing progress in recovery.

    You may notice that the very best addiction centers do more than cover the basics of effective care. Instead, they do what they can to customize your experience, treat you as a whole person and increase your level of comfort. The extras available to you may not be the same at every top-notch program. However, they generally include options — such as art therapy or stress management — that complement and reinforce the benefits of your medication- and therapy-based plan.

    With all of this information at your disposal, you’ll find it easier to narrow down your options and find the best rehab program for your unique situation. Once you take that step, you’re ready for the challenging, rewarding work of re-establishing your lasting sobriety.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • How to Find the Best Tylenol #3 Addiction Treatment or Rehab

    How to Find the Best Tylenol #3 Addiction Treatment or Rehab

    Are you looking for luxury Tylenol 3 rehab? We can help.

    Table of Contents

    1. What is Tylenol #3 and What is it Used For?
    2. Other Names for Tylenol #3
    3. Tylenol #3 Side Effects
    4. How Addiction to Tylenol #3 Develops
    5. Signs and Symptoms of Tylenol #3 Dependence and Addiction
    6. Tylenol #3 Withdrawal Symptoms
    7. Tylenol #3 Overdose
    8. Tylenol #3 Addiction Help
    9. Do You Need Inpatient or Outpatient Tylenol #3 Addiction Treatment?
    10. Recovering from Tylenol #3 Addiction

    If you have acute or chronic pain that’s considered mild to moderate, your doctor may prescribe Tylenol #3. It contains an over-the-counter pain reliever combined with codeine, which is an opiate. Like many other medications prescribed for pain, Tylenol #3 can give users a relaxed, euphoric feeling, which puts users at high risk of misuse.

    If you misuse Tylenol #3, you may find that it can be habit-forming and can ultimately lead to dependence and addiction. Overcoming addiction or dependence to strong substances can be difficult but is possible with the help of professionals trained in the field of addiction recovery. 

    The best Tylenol #3 addiction treatment and rehab centers can help you find a way to overcome dependence on substances and teach you the skills you need to avoid returning to misusing drugs.

    What is Tylenol #3 and What is it Used For?

    Tylenol #3 is a combination of Tylenol and codeine. Tylenol is a brand name for the chemical acetaminophen, a pain reliever and fever reducer. Codeine is a narcotic pain reliever, which changes the way the brain responds to pain. It also belongs to a group of medications known as antitussives, which means it can also relieve coughing. Acetaminophen can help to increase the effects of codeine. Tylenol #3 is available in the form of tablets or liquid.

    Tylenol #3 is classified as a Schedule III substance. This means that it can be habit-forming, but its potential for abuse is less than drugs like heroin, LSD, hydrocodone and morphine. Drugs classified as Schedule III substances have a moderate potential for physical dependence but a high potential for psychological dependence.

    When you have pain that isn’t being controlled by over-the-counter pain medication such as headaches, muscle pain, joint pain, back pain or toothaches, your doctor may prescribe Tylenol #3. When this medication is taken exactly as prescribed, you don’t have to worry about developing addiction. But if you take higher doses than prescribed or use it recreationally without a prescription, you are putting yourself at high risk of becoming dependent or addicted.

    Other Names for Tylenol #3

    The combination of acetaminophen and codeine is sold under several different brand names besides Tylenol #3. These include:

    • · Capital with Codeine
    • · APAP with Codeine
    • · Pyregesic-C
    • · Vopac

    You may hear codeine or acetaminophen combined with codeine referred to by a variety of other names on the street including:

    • Cody
    • Captain Cody
    • Little C
    • T1, T2, T3, T4
    • Dors
    • Fours

    When codeine syrup is mixed with soda, it is sometimes called Texas tea or purple drank.

    Tylenol #3 Side Effects

    Painkillers and other strong medications that require a prescription often have unwanted side effects. In a combination medication such as Tylenol #3, side effects can be caused by either the Tylenol or the codeine or the combination of the two. Some of the side effects that you might experience from taking Tylenol #3 include:

    • Nausea
    • Vomiting
    • Loss of appetite
    • Constipation
    • Dizziness
    • Drowsiness

    Some of these side effects may go away after you’ve been using this medication for a while. More serious side effects that you should tell your doctor about right away include:

    • Hallucinations
    • Agitation
    • Depression
    • Seizures
    • Difficulty urinating
    • Difficulty breathing or swallowing
    • Fast or slow heartbeat
    • Hoarseness
    • Decreased sexual desire

    Some side effects may require emergency medical attention. Get medical help right away if you have signs of an allergic reaction such as swelling of your face, tongue, lips or throat, hives or difficulty breathing. Acetaminophen can cause a skin reaction that can be fatal in rare cases, which might occur even if you’ve taken acetaminophen in the past. Immediately stop taking your medication and call a doctor right away if you experience redness of the skin or a rash that spreads and causes peeling and blistering.

    How Addiction to Tylenol #3 Develops

    Medications like Tylenol #3 that are frequently prescribed and easily obtained are often thought to be completely safe and not as dangerous as street drugs. You may have a prescription yourself on one or more occasions, or you may find it in a friend or relative’s medicine cabinet. 

    Prescription drugs can be every bit as addictive as street drugs, and if you take them at high doses or mix them with other substances, they can be deadly.

    Dependence and addiction can develop subtly and with very little warning. People can develop addiction when they take more of a medication than is prescribed or take medication that belongs to someone else. Painkillers are sometimes used recreationally just for the effect or out of curiosity, and people don’t realize how quickly they can become habit-forming. When you rely on painkillers on a routine or habitual basis, you may start to feel abnormal if you can’t obtain the substance that you’ve been relying on.

    As long as you use prescription painkillers for a short time and exactly as prescribed by your doctor, you shouldn’t get into trouble. If your pain isn’t being controlled by your prescription for Tylenol #3, it’s important to let your doctor know rather than trying to increase your dose on your own.

    Signs and Symptoms of Tylenol #3 Dependence and Addiction

    Whenever you take narcotic medications more often than prescribed or at a higher dose than prescribed, you are increasing your risk of becoming dependent on or addicted to the medication. Taking Tylenol #3 or any other opioid medication without a prescription just for the effect also puts you at risk of becoming addicted.

    Signs that you may have become addicted to Tylenol # 3 include:

    • Taking more and more of the medication to achieve the same effect
    • Feeling compelled to use the substance
    • Not feeling normal if you don’t have any medication to take
    • Developing uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms if you try to stop taking it
    • Lying to people you love or trying to hide your drug use from them
    • Putting yourself or loved ones at risk, such as by driving while under the influence
    • Losing interest in socializing or participating in activities that used to bring you pleasure
    • Putting more and more effort and money into obtaining more Tylenol #3
    • Continuing to misuse Tylenol #3 in spite of negative consequences such as conflict in your relationships, losing your job or having financial or legal problems caused by your drug use

    Tylenol #3 Withdrawal Symptoms

    If you’ve become dependent on Tylenol #3 or any other mind-altering substance, physically or mentally, trying to discontinue using it sets off very unpleasant symptoms known as withdrawal symptoms. These symptoms start as soon as a few hours after your last dose. Some of what you may experience includes:

    • Restlessness
    • Difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep
    • Irritability or anxiety
    • Chills
    • Fast heartbeat or breathing
    • Sweating
    • Teary eyes
    • Runny nose
    • Muscle aches
    • Stomach cramps
    • Nausea, vomiting or diarrhea

    Whether you’ve become physically or psychologically dependent on Tylenol #3, trying to detox on your own can cause such unpleasant withdrawal symptoms that you’ll probably seek out more of the substance to stop these symptoms. If you have been misusing other substances at the same time, trying to withdraw cold turkey can be extremely unpleasant and may even be life-threatening, particularly if one of the substances you have been misusing is alcohol.

    Tylenol #3 Overdose

    If you don’t find a way to stop relying on high doses of painkillers, you are at high risk of overdose. Symptoms of Tylenol #3 overdose include:

    • Chills
    • Bloody or cloudy urine
    • Seizures
    • Increased sweating
    • Nausea
    • Vomiting, possibly vomiting blood
    • Pinpoint pupils
    • Yellow eyes or skin
    • Loss of consciousness
    • Difficulty breathing
    • Slowed heartbeat

    If someone you love has a seizure, can’t be awakened or has difficulty breathing and you believe they may have overdosed on Tylenol #3, call 911 immediately. If they have other symptoms of possible overdose, call the poison control helpline at 1-800-222-1222.

    Tylenol #3 Addiction Help

    Continued misuse of addictive substances can cause changes in the brain that affect your self-control and your ability to choose whether or not to use substances. The good news is that it’s possible to overcome addiction to Tylenol #3 and other substances with help from people who are trained in the field of addiction recovery.

    If you think you have become addicted to Tylenol #3 and you’re ready to get Tylenol #3 addiction help, talk to your doctor or to an addiction professional. The more physically or psychologically dependent you are on any mind-altering substance, the more likely that you will need professional help to overcome your compulsion to keep using substances.

    Part of your recovery will include behavior therapy, which can help you modify your behaviors, make better choices and increase healthy life skills. Medication may be prescribed that can help to reduce cravings.

    Your doctor may recommend that you spend time in an addiction treatment facility. To choose the best Tylenol #3 addiction treatment and rehabilitation facility for you, try visiting several different opioid treatment centers and compare what they have to offer. Bring someone with you to help you evaluate which facility seems most suited to you.

    Do You Need Inpatient or Outpatient Tylenol #3 Addiction Treatment?

    The decision about whether to obtain treatment on an inpatient or an outpatient basis should be made with the help of your doctor, a counselor or an addiction professional. If Tylenol #3 is only one of many substances you have been misusing, you may need to enroll in an inpatient treatment center where you’ll be able to go through detoxification from all mind-altering chemicals while under around the clock supervision.

    At the best Tylenol #3 addiction treatment and rehab centers, specially trained addiction professionals and medical staff may be able to give you medication to help take the edge off the intensity of withdrawal symptoms. They’ll be available for emergency treatment if going through detoxification becomes dangerous in any way.

    At a treatment center, you’ll be able to participate in individual therapy, group therapy and support groups. You’ll spend a lot of time learning about the disease of addiction including what has triggered the compulsion to use in the past and what to do when cravings come back in the future. When you stay at a residential facility for a period of time, you give yourself the opportunity to be separated from acquaintances who may encourage you to go back to using drugs while you completely focus on your recovery without distractions or negative influences.

    If Tylenol #3 is the only substance you were misusing and you have a lot of day-to-day responsibilities such as a job or taking care of children, you may be able to obtain treatment on an outpatient basis. If outpatient treatment is right for you, your treatment plan will include therapy and participation in support groups.

    Recovering from Tylenol #3 Addiction

    The initial phase of getting all mind-altering substances out of your system is only the beginning of recovering from Tylenol #3 addiction. Cravings for substances may hit you when you least expect them, and you’ll need to continue to be vigilant and committed to a life of sobriety.

    The good news is that with a genuine desire to stop using, it is possible to learn to live a drug-free life. It can be done with the help of professionals in the field of addiction and peers who have had similar experiences, along with your own commitment to remaining focused on the journey of recovery.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Schools, Parents See Spike In Problematic Behavior Due To Vaping 

    Schools, Parents See Spike In Problematic Behavior Due To Vaping 

    Some schools have taken doors off bathrooms to limit the likelihood of students vaping in them. 

    As a high school freshman, Kristin Beauparlant began noticing changes in her son, Cade. During hockey games, he began to tire more easily, often having coughing fits. But Kristin says the onset of anxiety and mood swings was what really concerned her. 

    Over the next three years, the Washington Post reports, the Beauparlants eventually identified the problem: Cade had become reliant on nicotine via Juul, a type of e-cigarette resembling a USB drive. 

    According to the Post, the rise of e-cigarettes has sparked concern for young users, as pediatricians say they are seeing teens “who behave less like tobacco users and more like patients with [substance use] disorders.”

    Health Harms

    In addition to behavioral changes, nicotine use can lead to nicotine toxicity, as well as respiratory issues. In fact, Beauparlant was diagnosed with restrictive lung disease due to vaping. Beauparlant’s family is one of the few to try suing e-cigarette companies. Cade’s mother hopes it will lead Juul to fund treatment programs. 

    “We were thinking about vapes just like we thought about cigarettes,” Sharon Levy, director of the Adolescent Substance Use and Addiction Program at Boston Children’s Hospital, tells the Post. “Over time we realized no, no. This is something really different.”

    One potential reason for the teen behavior associated with e-cigarettes like Juul is their design which allows for greater intake of nicotine than normal cigarettes. 

    “With the Juuls, kids are able to get a much higher dose of nicotine—and dose matters,” Levy said. “These kids have behaviors that we often see in patients who have opioid or marijuana addiction, but we didn’t typically see with kids who developed addiction to traditional tobacco cigarettes.”

    In response, Juul has claimed their products are designed for adult use and claims that studies have shown nicotine from their devices to be absorbed more slowly than nicotine from cigarettes. 

    According to Jonathan Winickoff, pediatrician and researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital with a specialization in tobacco cessation, products proven to help adults quit tobacco may not have the same effect on teens. 

    “We have millions of kids now, millions of adolescents who are using mostly Juul—and in some cases other devices—who are unable to quit,” Winickoff tells the Post. “It’s something we don’t have the infrastructure to deal with.”

    Schools Take Action

    The use of e-cigarettes has become especially problematic in schools. Some schools have even turned to forbidding the use of USB drives since they look like Juuls. Others have taken doors off bathrooms to limit the likelihood of vaping in them. 

    Once Beauparlant’s son was caught vaping, the athlete was no longer allowed to play hockey. This took away any chance of playing in college as well. But after treatment from Winickoff, Kristin Beauparlant says she began to see her son return. 

    “We kind of lost four years of Cade to this addiction,” she told the Post. She adds that now that Cade isn’t vaping daily, “He just seems like a different kid. You can’t help but say there’s a correlation.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Bones Found At Massachusetts Sober Home Highlight Troubled Industry 

    Bones Found At Massachusetts Sober Home Highlight Troubled Industry 

    The body belonged to a resident who had went missing from the sober home in April 2018.

    On June 17, landscapers working at a Massachusetts building that had been operating as a sober home until recently made a startling discovery: bones that were ultimately identified as the body of a client at the home who had gone missing more than a year before. 

    The body belonged to Clifford Bates, who had gone missing from the Wakefield, Massachusetts sober home on the morning of April 28, 2018, according to The Boston Globe.

    When Bates failed to make morning meeting, his roommate urged the sober home operators to look for him, but they did only a cursory search, driving around the neighborhood before putting Bates’ belongings in the basement. Bates’ family eventually filed a missing persons report with the police, but there was no sign of him until the bones were found. 

    There have been few details released about Bates’ disappearance since the bones were recovered, because the investigation is ongoing. However, many people feel that the grim story is an indication of the troubles in the sober home industry. 

    “While we accept his death, we never, ever thought he would be found at Lakeshore, a fenced-in property of less than half an acre!!” Bates’ family said in a statement. “That part makes no sense. It makes us ill, angry, and we can’t shake it from our minds.”

    Lakeshore Under Scrutiny

    Lakeshore, the facility that Bates was staying at, was already under scrutiny for overcharging, overcrowding, and urging clients to drop their psychiatric medications and rely on a higher power for healing. That approach led one former client to become suicidal. 

    “I realize now, people really do have chemical imbalances. You can’t replace that with God,” she told the Globe. 

    Lakeshore’s founder, Daniel Cleggett Jr., had already been investigated by the state, under suspicions that he was brokering patients for Florida rehabs. Two patients he sent to Florida died, and another died of an overdose at a Massachusetts sober home that Cleggett operated. Still, laws prevented the state from more tightly regulating sober homes. 

    Legal Loopholes

    “It’s a legal loophole that costs lives,” said Brian Palmucci, city councilor in Quincy, Massachusetts, who has advocated for better oversight of sober homes. “We have these charlatans who are taking advantage of the opioid crisis to get rich.”

    Richard Winant, former president of Massachusetts Alliance for Sober Housing and a sober home operator, said that the money in the industry can tempt people to focus on profits, rather than people. 

    “People lose their way,” he said. “They start to see dollar signs.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Mental Illness And Video Games Do Not Cause Mass Shootings

    Mental Illness And Video Games Do Not Cause Mass Shootings

    While politicians suggest videogames and mental illness are responsible for these tragic events, research presents no direct links. 

    Some individuals are once again looking to mental illness and violent video games as possible causes of gun violence in the U.S. in the wake of a weekend of severe mass shootings that left at least 31 dead.

    However, according to multiple studies on both topics, there is little, if any, connection between mental illness or video games and mass gun violence.

    In terms of mental illness, surveys of past incidents in the country have found that only a fraction of the shooters had been diagnosed with any kind of mental illness.

    According to The Washington Post, a 2018 report looking at 63 active shooter assailants found that one in four had any mental illness, and only three total had a psychotic disorder. An early study that took data from 235 shooters found that 22 percent were mentally ill.

    According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, about 20% of the general US population has a mental illness in any given year. 

    “It’s tempting to try to find one simple solution and point the finger at that,” said Duke University School of Medicine Professor Jeffrey Swanson. “The fact that somebody would go out and massacre a bunch of strangers, that’s not the act of a healthy mind, but that doesn’t mean they have a mental illness.”

    At the same time, politicians have pointed to video games as a cause of violence for decades. President Trump himself has attacked video games multiple times, including in a speech Monday about the shootings in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio.

    “We must stop the glorification of violence in our society,” he said. “This includes the gruesome and grisly video games that are now commonplace. It is too easy today for troubled youth to surround themselves with a culture that celebrates violence. We must stop or substantially reduce this, and it has to begin immediately.”

    No Direct Links

    But again, the research does not back up their claims. Studies done on the link between violent video games and violent behavior after playing them consistently find no direct link or find that any effects are temporary.

    Western Michigan University Professor of Sociology Whitney DeCamp looked at data from a 2008 study that surveyed 6,567 eighth-graders about their taste in violent video games and found that “playing video games, no matter how bloody, did not predict violent behavior.”

    “I found that just by themselves, even without any controls, violent video games were a poor predictor of violent behavior,” DeCamp said. “Even in the best model, it only explained about 3% of the variation in violent behavior.”

    Better predictors for violence included parental involvement in activities and whether the kids grew up in violent neighborhoods.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Study: People Who Post On Social Media While High Regret It

    Study: People Who Post On Social Media While High Regret It

    More than half of the study participants had called or texted someone while high, and more than 30% regretted that decision.

    You wake up the morning after a night out and immediately reach for your phone to see what the damage is: the calls, texts or social media posts you made that never would have gone out if you were sober. 

    It’s a common experience, according to a study released today in the journal Substance Abuse. For the study, researchers from New York University surveyed partygoers about their social media and phone use while high, and how they felt about it after. 

    More than half of the study participants (55.9%) had called or texted someone while high, and more than 30% regretted that decision. Nearly 35% of people had posted on social media high, which 21.4% later regretted; and 47.5% of people had been in a photo high, which 33% regretted. 

    The study shows that drug use has important social implications, said lead study author Joseph Palamar, a researcher at the Center for Drug Use and HIV/HCV Research and an associate professor of Population Health at NYU School of Medicine.

    Risky Posts

    “Risky social media posts, including those showing people high on drugs, have the potential to cause embarrassment, stress, and conflict for users and those in their social networks,” Palamar said in a press release. “It can also have adverse implications for one’s career, since the majority of employers now use social media platforms to screen job candidates and may search for evidence of substance use.”

    Palamar said the fact that people regret their posts, texts or calls speaks for itself.

    “At least one in five experienced regret after engaging in these behaviors while high, suggesting that some situations may have resulted in socially harmful or embarrassing scenarios,” he said. 

    Younger people (ages 18-24) and females were the most likely to use social media or phones in a way they later regretted. People who identified as neither heterosexual, gay or bisexual were at an increased risk of social media posts, while black study participants were much less likely to post, text or call. 

    People using marijuana were the most likely to make posts, followed by those who were using cocaine. 

    Palamar and study co-author Austin Le, a research associate in the NYU Langone Department of Population Health, said that their research indicates that harm reduction efforts need to include the social consequences of getting high. 

    “While more research is needed, our findings suggest a need for prevention or harm reduction programs to educate high-risk groups not only about the adverse health effects of substance use, but also about the potential negative social outcomes,” Le said. 

    Palamar agreed. 

    “While prevention programs have largely focused on physical safety—for example, not driving after drinking—such programs can also stress that using a smartphone while high can increase the risk of someone engaging in regretful behavior,” he said. “Tactics such as using apps to prevent texting while intoxicated or delaying posting on social media until one is no longer experiencing drug effects may help to minimize social harm.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Kristen Bell Gets Candid About Mental Health On Instagram

    Kristen Bell Gets Candid About Mental Health On Instagram

    Bell revealed on Instagram that lately she’s been “feeling very off,” but she is utilizing resources and her support system to help her through it.

    Kristen Bell, star of Veronica Mars, is one of many celebrities who has been open about her mental health. She recently posted on her Instagram story, “Lately I’ve been feeling very off.”

    Bell added, “I’m checking in with my support systems and my resources and I hope you are too because we can handle whatever life throws at us if we ask for hope.”

    Several days earlier, Bell posted a picture of herself in a split image. In one image, she looked happy, in another image, she looked depressed. “Ever feel like this?” she wrote. “Me too. Often. It’s okay to not feel ok. We’ll get through it together.”

    On Instagram, Bell also suggested ways to battle back against tough mental health days, like going on Google and looking up “workouts near me, mental health resources near me, therapists near me, support groups near me.”

    In previous interviews, Bell has been very open about her mental health struggles. She learned about her family’s difficulties with mental health when she was 18. Her mother told her that there was “a serotonin imbalance in our family line, and it can often be passed from female to female.” Her grandmother had endured electroshock therapy, and Bell learned how to take care of her own mental health through her mother.

    When Bell decided to go on medication, her mother told her “the world wants to shame you for that. But in the medical community, you would never deny a diabetic his insulin. But for some reason, if someone needs a serotonin inhibitor, they’re immediately crazy or something.”

    Last year, Bell participated in a campaign for the Child Mind Institute, where she posted a message to her younger self, saying, “People seem like they don’t have problems, but everyone’s human. Everyone has problems. Everyone feels yucky on the inside sometimes. I have suffered from anxiety and/or depression since I was 18. What I would say to my younger self is don’t be fooled by this game of perfection that humans play. Because Instagram and magazines and TV shows, they strive for a certain aesthetic, everything looks so beautiful, and people seem like they don’t have problems, but everyone’s human.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Ryan Lochte Opens Up About Alcohol Rehab, Returning To Competition

    Ryan Lochte Opens Up About Alcohol Rehab, Returning To Competition

    The Olympic swimmer discussed his rehab stint, sobriety and his return to competitive swimming in a new interview. 

    Ryan Lochte spoke about spending six weeks in rehab for what he felt was problem drinking during a 14-month competitive swimming ban for an IV infusion of Vitamin B12 that exceeded the allowable amount. He claims he took the infusion prior to a meet in order to avoid an illness that had already sent his wife and young son to the hospital. 

    This followed a 10-month ban served for the incident at the 2016 Rio Olympics in which he and three other swimmers claimed to be robbed by armed men with police badges. This turned out to be a cover story for an alcohol-fueled night ending in property damage, which prompted a security guard to pull a gun on the athletes.

    Although neither of the suspensions were directly due to his alcohol use, Lochte made the decision to enter rehab after recognizing that something needed to change.

    “I think it was getting to a point in my life where I needed a change,’’ he told USA Today. “So, yes, I checked myself into rehab. I did the classes; I did everything.”

    After Rehab

    After finishing the program last year, Lochte has remained sober aside from having a single glass of wine to celebrate the birth of his daughter, Liv Rae. However, he says he no longer cares for alcohol.

    “I have bigger and better things going on. And I’m glad that I went to rehab and got checked out just because it helped me out.”

    Lochte was able to return to competitive swimming on Wednesday at the Phillips 66 National Championships. During his time trial, he swam the 200 IM in 1:57.88, just 3.88 seconds slower than his world record time. This qualified him for the U.S. trials to make the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

    The world-renowned swimmer has already been to the Olympics four times and won 12 medals, making him the second-most decorated swimmer in Olympic history behind Michael Phelps. He holds multiple world records at age 34.

    Lochte credits his wife and kids for bringing joy back into his career.

    “I’m having fun swimming again,’’ he said. “And I haven’t had fun since the 2012 Olympics. So it’s been a long time where I can honestly say I’m stepping out on that pool deck with a big smile on my face, and I owe it all to my kids and my wife. They’ve been my backbone throughout this whole journey these past three years ago.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Post-Incarceration Syndrome: Adjusting to Reality After Spending 15 Years in Prison

    Post-Incarceration Syndrome: Adjusting to Reality After Spending 15 Years in Prison

    Life inside the penitentiary is extremely hard. The violence and deprivation warp your whole view; you see a total disregard for basic human life firsthand. But the after-effects can be even worse.

    The day you get out of prison, especially after serving almost two decades behind the walls of the most dangerous penitentiaries in the United States, you honestly believe that you’re free; the healing road from all the horrors endured throughout your stay in the belly of the beast is about to begin. But, as you step foot back into society — especially your government reintegration center — you quickly realize that a whole new level of institutional hell awaits.

    I was released July 31st, 2017 after serving 15 years behind the walls of four extremely violent federal penitentiaries. This sentence was incurred for a bank robbery I committed at a young age to feed my addiction to heroin. 

    Assaults, Riots, and “The Hole”

    The atrocities experienced and observed while inside are enough to break any man. My body is healed from the eight stab wounds I survived during a riot, and from the multiple assaults received not only from other inmates, but from the officers who were hired to oversee my “rehabilitation.” Physically my legs still work after “laying it down” for three years in administrative segregation (“the hole”). 

    But I’m still in pain as my brain tries to process the trauma of it all. 

    “You come to prison by yourself, and you leave prison by yourself,” says Ryan, a convict who just completed almost a decade of his life behind bars. These words of wisdom have been passed down for years from the old heads who have lived it to the young bucks who are just coming into an unforgiving system. But the fact that 95 percent of prisoners with multiple years in segregation come out suffering from some type of psychological disorder undermines the saying. PTSD, severe anxiety, and paranoia of law enforcement are just a few of the friends riding shotgun with you back into society.

    There isn’t really a class to prepare you for your release from incarceration. The Bureau of Prisons technically has “pre-release” programs, but these programs mostly consist of returning your linen, giving your DNA, and getting a physical to prove you’re healthy enough to walk out from under the gun towers that have been your babysitters for most of your life. Until the day you walk out of prison, psychologically and physically, it doesn’t seem like it’s really going to happen.

    When you walk out those gates, there’s so many things you want to do, places you’ve been dreaming about over the years of isolation; seeing your old house (or new house, for that matter, because you’re unlikely to return to the only place you knew before prison). You want to see your family, finally free after the years of phone calls and visits behind glass. You dream of walking through a park with your shoes off and getting to just…breathe. 

    Disbelief at Being Out of Prison

    After my release from Big Sandy Kentucky, I wanted to eat breakfast with my family. I wanted to see the fountain that welcomes you to downtown Pittsburgh, and I wanted to see my girlfriend for the first time in years, actually hold her in my arms and kiss her (something that will immediately send you to segregation while incarcerated).

    “My mother and cousin showed up at the prison when I was released. Luckily, the CO’s that released me let me ride with [my family] to the bus stop an hour away,” says Tim Tyler. Tim was granted clemency from president Obama after 26 years of incarceration.

    The bus ride from his prison in Jessup, Georgia to Las Vegas took over three days with multiple stops across the country. “When I got off at my first stop in Savannah, Georgia, Wes Bruer of CNN and NBC took me to the beach. I sat there and stared at the curve of the earth with the sand on my feet. I went swimming, and cried my eyes out. I was just in disbelief I made it out.”

    Tim was able to start healing in those few hours at the bus stop in Savannah. He got a chance to see there’s still beauty in this world. When you’re used to nothing but walls, gun towers, and extreme violence, something as simple as this is life changing. 

    The only problem was that Tim technically had broken the law as soon as he was released. The law states that an assigned inmate must drive you to the bus station. No one else is allowed to ride with you or take you anywhere once you’ve arrived.

    “The inmate was fighting with the COs that let me ride with my mother to the bus stop. He didn’t want to let them do it. I didn’t know what to do, I was just lucky I was well known in the prison and they all knew what was happening with me.” Most of us aren’t that lucky.

    Finally Free…Sort of

    The name of the halfway house that you’re heading to has been decided long before you leave prison. You’re aware of its location, the things you can and can’t have, and the amount of actual time that you’ll be spending in what is still considered Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) custody. Everything else is left for you to discover on your own. 

    A packet is issued the day you leave, or sometimes a few days ahead of your release. This file contains all the information about the life you’re about to embark upon in your new world.

    You receive a bus ticket, along with an itinerary which states the amount of stops and what time you’re expected to report to the halfway house that’s been assigned. If you’re lucky enough to have clothes sent and actually given to you, the unforgettable prison stench almost separates from your body. If you’re like me, released from administrative segregation, a fresh pair of state-issue skinny jeans, white t-shirt, and pair of leftover shoes are provided, and 50 dollars. This is the cash payment for the debt paid with your entire youth, and this will be the very first trip taken without the luxury of shackles and handcuffs for the better part of your life.

    Soul Murder

    Soul murder is a term that Dr. James Gilligan, professor of psychology and law at NYU, uses to describe long-term incarceration. This “destroying of someone’s personality, the sense of their own aliveness,” is a condition most of the 2.3 million people in prison will bring with them after their release as they attempt to reintegrate back into some semblance of a normal life. 

    But what all the previously incarcerated will find out is exactly how hard it will be to get those few hours towards your healing journey.

    “The day I got out of the penitentiary was like a dream,” Ryan said. “My family picked me up outside the prison in Virginia and I had three days to get back to Chicago for my probation. That was the best three days of my life after ten years in that hell hole.” Ryan had fulfilled his entire sentence and wasn’t going to a halfway house. He was no longer in the custody of the BOP.

    Unlike Ryan, the day I was released was more like a nightmare. The moment I was dropped off at the bus station in the middle of nowhere, I was greeted with the best and worst sight I could possibly see: my family.

    I was in sheer horror as they introduced themselves to the inmate driver who is 100 percent going to tell as soon as he gets back that your family was there at the station to meet you. Whether you get on the bus or not, you’re guilty. Just ask the formerly incarcerated rapper T.I. who was sent back to his prison after getting his own bus to meet him. 

    I gave my family hugs and bummed a cigarette from my father. Leaning back against the hood of my mother’s car, I lit up the most bittersweet cigarette of my life. I’d quit smoking for years on the inside but I needed something to simmer down the level of stress I felt at that exact moment. It was the first time I realized the obstacles that came with readjusting to civilization. 

    We went to the local IHOP where I sat down at a table for the first time in 15 years. Just looking at the menu and knowing I could order anything was completely mind bending. The feeling of having a real plate, real cup, real silverware after 15 years of sporks and plastic trays was insane. All the people around me, the fast movements — it became overwhelming. I kept scanning the room for trouble, all the while processing the fact that I was not going back to segregation after this, I wasn’t even going back to the penitentiary. This was my first “normal” life experience.

    While absorbing the whole life change around me, I’m also seeing a smartphone for the first time. I saw Facebook, YouTube, and texting for the first time, and truly saw how far life had gone ahead while I was buried deep inside the prison system.

    Instead of waiting for the bus in banjo country, which would then whisk me away to the ghetto of every major city between podunk Kentucky and the city that held so many beautifully heartbreaking memories, Pittsburgh PA, I rode with my family. Luckily, the inmate who drove me didn’t end up telling on me.

    Post-Incarcaration Syndrome

    Life inside the penitentiary is extremely hard. The violence and deprivation warp your whole view about having any hope in humanity. You see the total disregard for basic human life firsthand. The years spent literally staring at walls teach you to detach yourself from all the horrors, and you shut out “life on the street” as a survival mechanism. You dream of walking with your shoes off on the beach and listening to the ocean. You envision a meal that doesn’t include someone getting beaten to a pulp while shoveling down whatever garbage given that day. But no matter how difficult and degrading the 15 years was that I spent just trying to survive multiple warzones, the after-effects are the most lasting.

    Post-Incarceration Syndrome (PICS) is a mental condition that affects people who have recently been released from prison, and the longer someone is incarcerated, the worse it becomes. Institutionalized personality traits, social sensory deprivation syndrome, and reactive substance use disorders are just a few of the main symptoms of what a returning convict will suffer. Just riding a bus or subway can cause panic. Flashbacks of being herded across the country in chains then released into a new warzone with absolutely nothing race through your mind. The simple act of walking into a grocery store or shopping mall can be so overwhelming you immediately need to leave.

    I struggle greatly with the demons and horrors I experienced while incarcerated. I drink before going out in public to numb the hypervigilance that never leaves me. The fear of going back is crippling. Simple things like having a smart phone, contact with a convicted felon (which is basically everyone you know at this point in your life) on Facebook, or not making it on time for work can end your healing journey before it even begins.

    About 650,000 men and woman are released from incarceration each year with some form of PTSD. The U.S. represents 4.4 percent of the world’s population yet houses around 22 percent of the world’s prisoners, according to U.S. Bureau of Justice statistics. Nationwide, 45 percent of admissions to state prisons are the result of probation or parole violations at a cost of $9.3 billion each year. Close to a third of that, $2.8 billion, is spent reincarcerating people for technical violations.

    Those technical violations include offenses like going to the ocean for the first time in 26 years, or enjoying a family breakfast after almost two decades behind bars.

    View the original article at thefix.com