Answer Addiction

Author: The Fix

  • Artists, Activists Hold Anti-Sackler Protest At The Louvre

    Artists, Activists Hold Anti-Sackler Protest At The Louvre

    Celebrated photographer Nan Goldin led Europe’s first anti-Sackler protest at the Louvre this week.

    P.A.I.N. arrived in Paris over the weekend and gathered at the Louvre on Monday (July 1) to protest the Sackler family’s role in fueling the opioid crisis.

    Led by photographer Nan Goldin, who organized similar rallies at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City, the P.A.I.N. activists (Prescription Addiction Intervention Now) were there to protest the Sackler family, members of whom own Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin.

    Purdue Pharma is facing more than 1,600 lawsuits from American cities, counties and “nearly every U.S. state” for its alleged aggressive marketing of OxyContin and downplaying the risks of becoming dependent on the opioid painkiller.

    Goldin Organizes

    Goldin herself fell victim to the drug. Originally prescribed for surgery, she described becoming “addicted overnight” in a January 2018 essay published in Artforum. Since sharing her own battle with prescription painkiller abuse, Goldin launched protests against the Sacklers where they have donated millions and where their name is displayed prominently—inside major institutions like the Met and the Louvre.

    By rallying at these institutions, Goldin is urging them to stop accepting money from the Sackler family and to remove their name from their walls. “Twelve rooms in the Louvre (in the Oriental Antiquities wing) are named after the Sacklers, following their donation of 10 million francs in 1997,” reads a statement by P.A.I.N. provided to Artforum.

    “We do not accept that the Louvre bears the name of a family complicit in crime. We demand that the Louvre rename the Sackler wing and commit to refusing any criminal donations in the future.”

    Sackler Trusts Halts New Donations

    Since Goldin’s protests, the Sackler Trust has paused all new charitable giving. And the Met, the Guggenheim, the National Portrait Gallery and the Tate have agreed to stop accepting money from the family as well.

    Ultimately, Goldin wants the Sacklers’ fortune to be “clawed back” by the courts, and to be re-distributed toward treatment and outreach programs, as Artforum reported.

    In June, California, Maine and Hawaii joined the long list of plaintiffs suing Purdue Pharma. “The opioid crisis is devastating our communities and killing our loved ones,” said California’s attorney general Xavier Becerra. “Purdue Pharma and Dr. [Richard] Sackler started the fire and then poured gasoline on the opioid crisis with practices that were irresponsible, unconscionable and unlawful.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Sri Lankan President Signs Death Warrants For Drug Offenders

    Sri Lankan President Signs Death Warrants For Drug Offenders

    Sri Lanka’s decision to lift a 43-year moratorium on the death penalty has been met with opposition by world leaders. 

    Death sentences for four individuals convicted of drug-related charges were issued by Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena on June 26, prompting an appeal from the UN Secretary-General that was ultimately rejected.

    Political observers and members of Sirisena’s own cabinet have criticized the decision, which media sources have reported as being motivated by his upcoming re-election, though Sirisena has said that his goal is to thwart drug trafficking in his country.  

    Possible Appeal

    Legal challenges to the sentences have already been filed, and while Sirisena has said that the four accused individuals can appeal their convictions, he also noted that they have already decided the date of the execution.

    At a meeting in Sri Lanka’s largest city, Colombo, Sirisena told reporters that he had “already signed the death penalty” for the four individuals. He did not give the names of the four alleged offenders or a specific date for their executions beyond saying that they will be “implemented soon.”

    He also said that the decision to reinstate the death penalty, which had been on moratorium in Sri Lanka for 43 years, was a move to protect the “nation and the future generation from the drug menace, which is our worst social catastrophe.”  

    The New York Post noted that support for the death penalty has increased among Sri Lankans and earned the backing of several religious leaders, though political commentators were quick to add that Sirisena’s motives may lie more in improving his chances for re-election, which will take place later in 2019.

    “He is trying to protect himself like the Philippines president [Rodrigo Duerte],” columnist Kusal Perera told Reuters. “But I doubt whether it is enough. It won’t give him much political mileage now.”

    The decision drew considerable opposition from world leaders, including UN Secretary-General António Guterres, but Sirisena said that he told Guterres in a telephone conversation to “please allow me to stamp out the drug menace.”

    World Leaders Oppose The Decision

    The United Kingdom, European Union (EU) and Canada, as well as human rights groups like Amnesty International, all issued strongly worded condemnations of Sirisena’s decision, with the EU adding that the reinstatement of the death penalty would be a direct contradiction of Sri Lanka’s commitment to maintain its moratorium on executions in 2018.

    The country’s ruling political faction, the United National Party, issued its own condemnation, which declared that reinstating the death penalty would be “economic sabotage” and not befitting a “civilized country.” Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is a member of the United National Party, also said that a majority of parliament members were opposed to the decision.

    The move to revive the death penalty also faces several legal challenges from non-governmental organizations like the Centre for Policy Alternatives, which filed a case with the Sri Lankan Supreme Court on July 1. But plans to carry out the executions appear to have gone ahead as planned, with the Justice Ministry reporting that 26 candidates have been shortlisted for the job of executioner. The previous official hangman left his post in 2014, and his three replacements have all left the position after brief tenures.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • I Tried “Medical” Marijuana in Sobriety, Here's What Happened

    I Tried “Medical” Marijuana in Sobriety, Here's What Happened

    I was a destructive, chronic blackout drinker for years; marijuana, on the other hand, always seemed like a potential safe zone.

    Three years ago, at six years sober, I decided to try medical marijuana. “Try” is a cuter word than “relapse,” and “medical” made it seem like it was under the care of a doctor. But there were no doctors involved. And I should’ve known that for the kind of addict I am, when it comes to drugs, there is no try. There is only do, and do, and do more until one day you are on your floor sobbing because all the doing is making your life a living hell but you don’t know how to stop.

    I Know I’m an Alcoholic, but Pot Is Not Alcohol

    I was a destructive, chronic blackout drinker for years (not to brag). This is a gift only in that I have the clarity to know that “casual” drinking is not an option for me. Even the idea of a glass or two of wine with dinner makes me shudder because I want the whole bottle for dinner, followed by a dessert course of hard liquor and total chaos. I could one day forget this and convince myself that things might be different, but luckily it hasn’t happened yet. I’ve made too many amends and recounted too many drunk horror stories at dinner parties to ever go back.

    Marijuana, on the other hand, always seemed like a potential safe zone—a gray area in between complete sobriety and destructive annihilation. Before getting sober in 2010, I was too busy getting wasted on booze to give weed much attention. Unlike with alcohol, I don’t have a back pocket full of marijuana horror stories to put things in perspective. 

    It doesn’t help that the drug has a reputation for being extremely cool and relatively harmless. In TV and movies, heavy weed use gets to be the punchline while heavy alcohol use is the point of tension or tragedy. Alcoholics on screen always seem to crash their cars and destroy their families, while the potheads make dumb jokes and go on snack-related adventures. Sign me up please!

    Plus, medical marijuana really does help a lot of people—it’s been reported to work wonders for people with PTSD, cancer, epilepsy, and other problems I don’t have. It also seems to help people with problems I do have: anxiety, depression, insomnia, ADHD, feeling bored, feeling restless, feeling feelings, the pain of being alive. Based on what I’d read and heard, weed was the potential antidote to about 95% of my problems. 

    Weed’s public image has gotten even better as it becomes legal in more U.S. states, which I fully support even if it does me no favors. The days of reefer madness have been replaced by a culture of vape pens, gummy bears, bud-tenders, and medical marijuana. I live in LA, where you can’t go a block without a billboard or a storefront touting the drug as a solution to all your problems. Fun, glamorous, and soothing, it’s both therapy and leisure! For someone who loves therapy and medication as much as candy, an anti-anxiety medication in gummy bear form is almost irresistible.

    At six years sober from alcohol and drugs, I knew intellectually that smoking, vaping, or eating weed was probably a bad idea. But my imaginative addict brain convinced me I could be a “functional pothead” like I’d seen on TV and movies. I told myself I could smoke up like Frankie from Grace and Frankie or Ilana from Broad City. I didn’t take into account that I’m neither a divorced aging hippie with a bottomless bank account nor the most confident 20-something in the world. Or that neither of these characters are real people.

    Functional potheads exist in the real world, too. I know because I’m friends with them. Many are super-successful and seem happy with their lives. 

    So, with no doctor in sight, I made the decision to join the usually-high club.

    I Was a Dysfunctional Pothead from the Start

    Moments after getting high at a friend’s apartment, I realized my sobriety, which I’d worked so hard to attain, was gone. I also realized the universe was a simulation and everyone I’d ever met was mad at me. I had a debilitating panic attack and woke up the next day on my friend’s couch covered in Dorito crumbs. So, I did it again. And again. And again. For years.

    Weed didn’t torpedo my life the way drinking had. It worked slowly, gradually eroding my mental health and the life I’d built for myself. Like a frog in water slowly heated to boiling, I didn’t realize what was happening until the damage was done. Even then, I didn’t realize, because any time I had a bad feeling, I got high. If I felt shame, sadness, dissatisfaction, worry, pain, or longing, I got high. But emotional pain, like physical pain, exists for a reason. It’s your brain’s way of saying “SOS! We have a problem! Fix it!” Instead of listening and resolving the problem, I just shut the voice up with a weed pen.

    In some ways, weed did improve my life, especially at first. It made parties, which I had avoided since getting sober, more fun and easier to navigate. There’s a reason people numb their brains to ease the discomfort of interacting with groups of other humans all crammed into one place. One of my biggest struggles at parties is how to escape a conversation without the excuse of “grabbing another drink.” You can only go to the bathroom so many times before people get suspicious or try to do coke with you. Weed helped me detach from my anxious, people-pleasing brain and just enjoy hovering right outside the moment, looking in. 

    Sometimes I miss being high at parties. But since most of my life does not take place at parties, it’s not worth it.

    Must All Addicts Be Completely Sober?

    I want to make this clear: I’m pro-weed, just not for me. Like most rational people, I believe that it should be legal. It’s not marijuana’s fault I can’t use it wisely. And it’s certainly not the people wasting their lives away in prison for possessing or distributing it, most of them men of color. Draconian and racist U.S. drug laws have been shamelessly exploited by the police and the prison industrial complex for way too long. So I support the legalization of weed for medical and recreational use. Even if that means I have to smell weed smoke on every street corner and see it passed around at parties like pigs-in-a-blanket. 

    I also disagree with the idea that all addicts must be completely sober. Addiction is a complex problem that manifests differently for everyone and we don’t all benefit from the same treatment. Total abstinence works for some people (i.e. me), but I know recovering addicts who benefit from weed, sometimes as a form of harm reduction. I have lost friends to overdoses because they couldn’t stay sober. So if one kind of high prevents you from a much more lethal one, I’m all for choosing the lesser of two evils. Especially in a society where most people can’t afford therapy or prescription medication. Maybe some people need weed to just make it through the day, and that’s okay.

    For me, it didn’t work. I wanted weed to provide a temporary escape from this reality to a wackier one where food somehow tastes even better, like it does in every Seth Rogen movie. But the “temporary” part didn’t work out for me. I’ve never been good at dipping in and out of reality. If I find an escape, I’m buying a one-way ticket, learning the language, and putting down roots. Bye, reality! I’m an ex-pat now.

    The good news is: I finally got my high horror story. The bad news is it’s not exciting enough to tell at a dinner party. It involves long stretches of panic and paranoia, paralyzing depression, compromising my creative dreams, and isolating myself from people. Shortly before getting sober, I had a panic attack from taking too many edibles while hiking and two very kind strangers had to help me down a mountain. I’ll revisit that one next time I try to tell myself it’s a good idea to “treat my anxiety” with weed.

    Since quitting, my anxiety and depression have improved, in part because the doctor-prescribed medications I take are no longer cancelled out by weed use. I’m more productive, which makes me happier. And food, it turns out, tastes just as good sober. My life isn’t perfect, but it’s a lot better than it was. A big part of me wishes I’d never taken that 2.5-year vacation from reality. But at least next time I pass a billboard advertising weed as “therapy,” which happens at least once every time I leave my apartment, I know to smile and just keep walking.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Ringo Starr Speaks On Peace, Love & Sobriety

    Ringo Starr Speaks On Peace, Love & Sobriety

    The former Beatle reflects on seeking peace and love in the world and how sobriety has helped that journey.

    Musician Ringo Starr, formerly a member of the legendary Beatles, always uses July 7th, his birthday, to share a message of peace and love to the world. In an interview with Parade, Starr revealed that sobriety helped him get to where he is today.

    This year, Starr turned 79. He carried out his traditional birthday ritual of asking everyone to say or think the words “peace and love” at noon on July 7th at Capitol Records in Los Angeles, a place where his former band once called home.

    Celebrating 30 Years of Sobriety

    He’s also celebrating a few other milestones this year. Starr has now played his All Starr Band tours for 30 years now, a musical outing in which he plays alongside other music legends like Santana, Toto, and Men at Work. He’s also celebrating 30 years sober, which is no coincidence.

    “There is an absolute connection. [When] I got sober, I had all this time and more energy,” Starr explained in the interview.

    He recounted what it was like prior to getting sober.

    “I just couldn’t really move without alcohol. And without drugs. I was not a purist in any way! So in the end, I said to Barbara [Bach, his actress wife of 38 years], ‘You’ve got to get us into one of those [rehab] places,’” he remembered. “I didn’t know where they were. But she called some friends of ours in LA who knew, and I went to Arizona, where I found myself with 88 mad people in this place.”

    But despite how he may have felt about the company he kept in rehab, he can’t say it didn’t help him.

    “Well, it’s working today. That’s all I have. But it makes life so much easier,” Starr said.

    He also shared his secret for staying spry and healthy at 79: meditation, a vegetarian diet, and exercise.

    “I get up in the morning and I meditate. I go to the gym and I have a trainer, and I work out myself too, when I’m on the road,” he revealed. “I’m a vegetarian. When we’re on tour, to get out of the hotel, I usually go to the local organic shop just to see what they’ve got. But I’m only a vegetarian, not a vegan. I eat goat cheese. A vegan is very hard, and they eat a lot of sugar. I’m careful about sugar.”

    A Haze Of Drugs & Alcohol

    But things weren’t good for a long time for Starr, who admitted he spent two decades in an alcoholic haze following the breakup of the Beatles.

    “Now along the way I got lost in a haze of alcohol and drugs,” he told Rolling Stone in a 2011 interview. “But thank God I’m still here, coming out of it now a day at a rime (sic). And now I’m feeling like those days (the Sixties) again. I loved that movement, and now I sort of feel like I’m back in it.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Amanda Bynes Returns To Inpatient Treatment After College Graduation

    Amanda Bynes Returns To Inpatient Treatment After College Graduation

    Bynes has been working on developing a career in fashion since she retired from acting in 2010.

    Amanda Bynes is currently still living in an inpatient care facility for her mental health as she’s taking the next steps in her life and career, an unnamed source told People.

    In late June, the actress and fashion designer walked in her graduation ceremony from the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising before returning to the facility.

    “Amanda is still inpatient in a mental health facility,” said a friend of Bynes. “She was able to get an outing pass for a few hours for the special occasion so she could walk with the other students. But she left a little early and was back at the facility at the end of the graduation.”

    Bynes has struggled with mental illness and addiction for several years.

    In 2012, she was charged with a DUI, though the charge was dropped two years later. In 2013, she was put under a 72-hour mental-health evaluation hold in a mental health facility after she allegedly started a small fire in a stranger’s driveway. Since then, her parents have repeatedly filed for and been granted conservatorship over Bynes due to her illness.

    In 2018, Bynes publicly announced that she had been sober for four years after struggling with substance use disorder, particularly with Adderall.

    Getting Help

    In addition to working on getting sober and improving her mental health, Bynes has been working on developing a career in fashion since she retired from acting in 2010. She enrolled at the Fashion Institute in 2014 and received her associate’s degree in Merchandise Product Development last year, and her bachelor’s this year.

    Earlier this year, the Bynes family attorney Tamar Arminak told People that Amanda has been doing well in the inpatient program.

    “Amanda is doing great, working on herself, and taking some well-deserved time off to focus on her wellbeing after graduating FIDM in December,” he said. “She’s spending time reading and exercising, sketching for her new line and mostly making sure this time around she puts her needs first.”

    A Rare Photo

    Bynes even posted a rare photo of herself on her Twitter account—one of only 11 tweets on an account that has nearly three million followers. The photo shows her posing in cap and gown with a friend dressed in a leopard print vest and tie.

    FIDM graduate 2019 #fidmgraduation pic.twitter.com/KdFI5dPOdK

    — amanda bynes (@amandabynes) June 25, 2019

    Amanda unfortunately suffered a relapse in March after she attempted to return to acting. She has had difficulties in the past with seeing herself on screen and hating how she looked. 

    “I literally couldn’t stand my appearance in that movie and I didn’t like my performance. I was absolutely convinced I needed to stop acting after seeing it,” she said of her 2010 movie Easy A.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Cory Booker Criticizes Biden Over Crime Bill That Intensified War On Drugs

    Cory Booker Criticizes Biden Over Crime Bill That Intensified War On Drugs

    Booker wants Biden to take more accountability for his role in passing legislation that exacerbated sentencing disparities in black and brown communities.  

    Presidential candidate Senator Cory Booker brought up Joe Biden’s 1994 crime bill as a key factor in the “War on Drugs” and the increasingly disproportionate incarceration of people of color in an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press. 

    The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, which then-Senator Joe Biden helped to write and pass, increased the number and average length of prison sentences in the U.S. and incentivized local governments to build more prisons and jails. Criminal justice reform advocates have pointed to this bill as the start of an accelerated rate of mass incarceration.

    “These are very typical, painful issues to the point now that, because of a lot of the legislation that Joe Biden endorsed, this war on drugs, which has been a war on people, we now have had a 500% increase in the prison population since 1980, overwhelmingly black and brown,” Booker said. “There’s more African Americans under criminal supervision today than all the slaves in 1850. These are real, painful, hurtful issues.”

    Sentencing Disparities Persist

    Booker also pointed out that other Democrats who were involved in the creation and passage of the 1994 bill have expressed remorse while Joe Biden has continued to defend it.

    “But what we’ve seen, from the vice president, over the last month, is an inability to talk candidly about the mistakes he made, about things he could’ve done better, about how some of the decisions he made at the time, in difficult context, actually have resulted in really bad outcomes,” he said.

    According to The Sentencing Project, there are more people behind bars today for a drug-related offense than the entire prison and jail population for any crime in the year 1980. One in three black men will be behind bars during some period of their lives. That number is one in 17 for white men.

    Incarceration Rates Soar

    Incarceration rates, particularly for low-level drug offenses, have skyrocketed while crime rates have decreased overall across the country since 1980. Violent crime rates in particular have fallen sharply during the past 25 years, according to a report by the Pew Research Center.

    Senator Booker has made criminal justice reform a central issue for his 2020 presidential campaign. In June, he revealed a plan to commute the sentences of 17,000 prisoners convicted of drug-related crimes, followed by a bill to protect immigrants from being deported or denied entry into the country for cannabis possession.

    “For decades, this broken system has hollowed out entire communities, wasted billions of taxpayer dollars, and failed to make us safer,” Booker’s campaign website reads. “As president, Cory will fight to end the War on Drugs, implement bold and comprehensive reforms of our criminal justice system, and pursue restorative justice.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Candy Crush Exec Doesn't Think Players Are Addicted To The Game

    Candy Crush Exec Doesn't Think Players Are Addicted To The Game

    The Candy Crush exec was questioned about the excessive amounts of money and time players spend on the best-selling phone game.

    The mobile game Candy Crush is still going strong, according to a top executive at the maker of the game, King. 

    The Guardian reports that King executive Alex Dale told a committee researching “immersive and addictive technologies” that he does not think there is an “addiction problem” for those who play the game. 

    Nearly 500,000 Players Spend 6 Or More Hours Playing Each Day

    Dale says that the game has 270 million players. Of those, 9.2 million, or 3.4%, play for three or more hours daily. He also noted that 0.16%, or 432,000 players, spend six or more hours playing each day. The average player, however, spends 38 minutes per day playing.

    According to Dale, these numbers are impacted by those playing the game who have “plenty of time on their hands.”

    “Excessive time, it is very difficult to know what excessive is,” he said, according to The Guardian. “We have a fair number of people in their 60s, 70s and 80s playing Candy Crush. We do want people to play more. There are going to be people that like to play our games a lot.”

    Dale told the committee that in 2018, one player spent $2,600 in one day on a currency aspect of the game that can allow players to move through it faster. However, he said it should not be assumed the player has a problem since he spent the money on a game currency during a “sale” and used the currency over seven months. The same person spent an additional $1,060 on the game.

    “That sounds, and is, a large amount of money,” Dale said. “There was a sale on at the time so they were making a rational decision. It is down to player choice if that is what they want to do.”

    Telling Players How Much They Spend Deemed “Too Intrusive”

    In the past, Dale said, if players spent more than $250 in a week they would be notified via email, but some players felt this was too intrusive and said they would not spend the money if they couldn’t afford to.

    According to The Guardian, Committee Chair Damian Collins implied that King was not confronting the possibility of people having a problem with playing the game.

    “What I’m not getting is any sense that you feel you have a responsibility as a company to identify people that are addicted,” he said. “You are only happy for them to refer themselves to you if they think they have a problem.”

    Dale says King will again look into the idea of communicating with players about spending, but that it hadn’t gone well in the past. 

    “We will look at the whole area again but we have done it before and they didn’t like it,” he said. “We have customer support available in 24 languages. Among 270 million players we have between two and three contacts a month from people concerned about having spent too much money or time on the game.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Juul's Popularity On Instagram Explored In New Study

    Juul's Popularity On Instagram Explored In New Study

    Researchers uncovered nearly 15,000 Instagram posts related to Juul, all of which were posted over a three-month period in 2018.

    Thousands of posts about the e-cigarette brand Juul appeared on Instagram in just a three-month period in 2018, and more than half were focused on cultures or lifestyles related to young people.

    Those are among the findings in a new study in the online journal Tobacco Control, which, as UPI noted, also included posts comprised of content that promoted means of purchasing Juul-related products at a reduced cost.

    Spokesperson: Juul Is Cutting Back On Digital Marketing

    A spokesperson for Juul said that the company itself only issued eight posts on Instagram during that three-month period, and has actively sought to reduce digital marketing and social media listings, which medical specialists have claimed can contribute to the appeal of such products among young people.

    The study—conducted by researchers from the non-profit public health organization Truth Initiative, as well as New York University, the University of Chicago and Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health—looked at discussions of Juul and its products on social media by using hashtag-based keyword queries to collect posts about the e-cigarette brand.

    They uncovered nearly 15,000 Instagram posts related to Juul, all of which were posted between March and May of 2018. More than half of the posts (55%) contained what UPI described as “youth-related content”—memes, cartoon images and celebrity references, and using Juul products at home, school or other places that were likely to be frequented by teenagers.

    Another 57% of the posts also mentioned or specifically highlighted using Juul with family or friends during social activities, while approximately one in 10 also mentioned the addictive properties of nicotine, albeit in a “fun light,” as UPI said.

    Juul Deactivates Facebook, Instagram

    Lindsay Andrews, a spokesperson for Juul Labs, said that six of the company’s eight Instagram posts in the time period covered in the study were testimonials from former adult smokers.

    Andrews also said that in November 2018, the company deleted its Facebook and Instagram accounts, removed thousands of social media listings by third parties—including more than 25,000 individual Instagram posts—and limited its Twitter usage to non-promotional items like press releases. 

    But some health specialists remain skeptical of these efforts. Dr. Len Horovitz, a pulmonary specialist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City said, “Every young person has Instagram, and that’s how they share information. The actual industry doesn’t have to do anything but let the people using the device share their insights, and advice and encouragement.”

    Study senior researcher Elizabeth Hair, who is also the senior vice president of Truth Initiative’s Schroeder Institute, said that stricter regulation on social media could help to stem the tide of posts she and her co-authors uncovered.

    “If we can stop the promotional pieces of it, I think that will help stem a lot of it,” she said. “A lot of this content was from companies that were selling the product and had these promotional aspects to it.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Can Properly Communicating Negative Emotions Help Teens Avoid Depression?

    Can Properly Communicating Negative Emotions Help Teens Avoid Depression?

    A new study explored whether undercommunicating negative emotions after stressful life events impacted teen’s mental health.

    Being able to communicate negative emotions effectively may help teens when it comes to mental health—specifically when it comes to depression. 

    According to Medical Xpress, this was determined based on new research surrounding negative emotion differentiation (NED), which is “the ability to make fine-grained distinctions between negative emotions and apply precise labels.”

    “Adolescents who use more granular terms such as ‘I feel annoyed,’ or ‘I feel frustrated,’ or ‘I feel ashamed’—instead of simply saying ‘I feel bad’—are better protected against developing increased depressive symptoms after experiencing a stressful life event,” lead author Lisa Starr, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Rochester, tells Medical Xpress. 

    Communication Is Key

    Teens with low negative emotion differentiation scores are more likely to describe their emotions with less specific terms like “bad” or “upset.” Such teens have a harder time finding lessons in their emotions, as well as coping mechanisms, Starr says.

    “Emotions convey a lot of information,” Star says. “They communicate information about the person’s motivational state, level of arousal, emotional valence, and appraisals of the threatening experience. A person has to integrate all that information to figure out—”am I feeling irritated,” or “am I feeling angry, embarrassed, or some other emotion?”

    During the study, Starr and her team found that low NED scores can lead to a stronger correlation between depression and stressful events in life. 

    According to prior research, NED scores tend to be lowest during adolescence, leading to higher depression rates during this period of life. While prior research linked depression and low NED scores, it didn’t determine if a low NED score typically came before a depression diagnosis or after. 

    During the study, Starr and her team gathered a group of 233 adolescents around Rochester. They had an average age of 16 and a little more than half were females. WIthin that group, Starr and her colleagues did diagnostic interviews for depression.

    The participants then reported on their emotions for one week, four times each day. 

    The research team, according to Medical Xpress, waited a year and a half and then conducted interviews once again with 193 of the participants who returned. In doing so, they found that adolescents who struggled to differentiate negative emotions were more likely to struggle with symptoms of depression after a stressful life event. But those with high NED scores were better able to manage such symptoms and reduce the likelihood of a depression diagnosis. 

    According to Starr, changing the way one feels begins with the ability to acknowledge those feelings. 

    “Basically you need to know the way you feel, in order to change the way you feel,” Starr says. “I believe that NED could be modifiable, and I think it’s something that could be directly addressed with treatment protocols that target NED.”

    “Our data suggests that if you are able to increase people’s NED then you should be able to buffer them against stressful experiences and the depressogenic effect of stress,” she adds. 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • What Are the Top Rehab Options for Diastat Addiction?

    What Are the Top Rehab Options for Diastat Addiction?

    Looking to find a luxury diastat rehab that’s right for you? Use this helpful guide.

    1. Uses of the drug Diastat
    2. Precautions to take while using Diastat to control seizures
    3. Side effects of using Diastat 
    4. Diastat prescription – some things to remember
    5. Diastat addiction and its symptoms
    6. Withdrawal symptoms of Diastat 
    7. Going through the process of luxury Diastat rehab
    8. Cost of treatment and financing of rehab session
    9. Conclusion 

    Diastat is another name for diazepam rectal gel, a medicine used for treating certain kinds of seizures in patients suffering from epilepsy who need diazepam to have control over their increased seizure activity. The patients mainly use it even when they are taking epilepsy medicine on a regular basis, but still get seizures regardless of their daily doses of medicine intake. It is a prescribed drug, which means one cannot purchase it without a doctor’s prescription. 

    It’s supposed to be used for short-term relief, and it starts controlling seizures within 5-15 minutes of the intake of the medicine. Doctors prescribe Diastat to treat patients who are at home, in hospitals, in emergency units, and other medical facilities to treat patients when they experience an increase in seizure frequency. Diastat belongs to the benzodiazepine class, which means that the drug has a chemical formula that works in the user’s brain and central nervous system to rapidly provide calmness and relief to the whole body.

    When a dose of Diastat is taken, the chemical properties of the medicine react with the chemicals of the nervous system to provide the result that the user’s body needs. The dosage might differ from person to person; it depends on the user’s age, weight, and the severity of their health condition. So it’s advised not to take this medicine if the doctor does not prescribe it to you, or you do not suffer from any kind of seizure symptoms, the main reason for which the medicine is taken. It’s also not advised to take it on a long-term basis. If the symptoms do not slow down or disappear after a few times, the patient should seek advanced medical help for their conditions.

    Unlike many other drugs from the benzodiazepine class, Diastat is not made to be taken orally. As the name suggests, diazepam rectal gel is a gel. Diastat or Diazepam rectal gel is meant to be injected in the rectal area to get instant results. One thing to keep in mind about Diastat is that, even though it’s mainly used to treat seizures during epilepsy, it could also be prescribed for other conditions if the doctor prescribing the medicine finds it fit for the medical condition that their patient is suffering from. So if and when the doctor does prescribe the drug, the patient should ask why they are being prescribed the drug.

    It’s also possible that the doctor will not find it necessary to prescribe the drug to epilepsy patients depending on their medical history and the severity of their condition. If the drug has been prescribed, the patient should be very clear about one thing; that they should not stop using the medication without consulting their doctors, as an unfinished course of the medication might do more harm than good. Diastat is only meant to be taken if it’s prescribed to you. That means, you cannot borrow it from someone even if you have the same symptoms as they do, and you should not let anyone take yours if you use the medicine. With that said, everyone’s requirement for taking the drug might vary, and so does the dosage. Taking tonhis medicati without a doctor’s prescription could lead to some serious medical issues. 

    Uses of the drug Diastat

    Diastat is a gel form of the general Diazepam tablet that is usually intended to treat people with epilepsy who are already taking medicines for their medical condition. Epilepsy is a medical condition of the central nervous system . Patients with epilepsy might suffer from seizures, unusual sensations, and sometimes, patients lose consciousness or their sense of awareness. Anyone can have epilepsy. It could be due to genetics, or from a brain injury that the person might have had, or some other head trauma or a stroke. Epilepsy is treatable but incurable, which means a person with epilepsy could be treated with the right kind of medicine, but they would have to live with the condition for their entire life. 

    Along with other treatment, Diastat is one medicine that brings instant relief to the patient when they are going through an epileptic episode. It is essential for a person with this medical condition to get medical help, as epilepsy has been found to cause other health issues. Sixty-five million people all over the world are victims of epilepsy, and in the United States itself, the statistics are 3.4 million. Of this enormous number, around 470,000 are children who have epilepsy. 

    Once a person is diagnosed with epilepsy, they could be treated in different ways, depending upon the severity of their condition. The treatment includes medication, diet management, and sometimes, the patient might require surgery. Epilepsy medicines are called anti-seizure or anticonvulsant medication as an umbrella term. The medication may vary depending on a person’s age, type of seizures, other medication that they might be taking, and how high a dose they can tolerate. So even if the doctor suggests Diastat to someone you know who has epilepsy, they might not suggest the same medication to you and vice versa.

    Precautions to take while using Diastat to control seizures

    Diastat (Diazepam Rectal Gel) is a drug that releases a chemical to work on the central nervous system of the user. However, there are some precautions that the patient needs to take while using Diastat, as it could be very addictive or cause other problems. If a person is allergic to any kind of drug with diazepam, they should not be taking Diastat. As Diastat is the gel form of diazepam tablet, allergies to the tablet form mean allergies to its gel form as well.

    If the patient suffers from an eye condition called acute narrow-angle glaucoma, using Diastat could have adverse effects on the patient’s nervous system, and the treatment could go wrong. So if the patient has said eye condition and their doctor prescribes Diastat, they should let the doctor know about their condition in order to avoid any adverse effect on their health. Under no condition should a patient use Diastat with any kind of opioid. Since Diastat is part of the benzodiazepine class, taking it with an opioid, unless advised by an expert, could do more harm to the body than good. The reaction between opioid and benzodiazepine can be problematic and requires strict medical supervision and the correct doses.

    Diastat is not to be taken by a patient who is pregnant, as it could be injurious to not only the mother but also the baby. Also, if the patient is nursing or is in a state of possible pregnancy, Diastat should be avoided, as there are no clinical studies conducted to suggest the intake of Diastat is safe in these conditions. The experts on the subject suggest that Diastat should not be used more than five times a month and no more than once in five days. If the patient feels the need to use the drug to treat more than five episodes of epilepsy seizures a month, they should be contacting their doctor.  

    One should be very clear that Diastat is not to be used as the primary drug to treat seizures. Epilepsy seizures can be treated with other anti-seizure drugs, Diastat (Diazepam Rectal Gel) is only to be used when the patient is having seizure episodes even after the taking the primary anti-seizure drug. The caregivers of those taking Diastat should be able to identify the difference between a cluster of seizures and ordinary seizure episodes. Since Diastat is a drug that is only used to treat a cluster of seizure episodes, using it to treat patients who have ordinary seizures could cause long-term damage to the patient. While a patient is on Diastat, they should not drive, ride, or be near any kind of machinery that could cause harm to them, as use of this drug might cause drowsiness.

    Side effects of using Diastat

    Like any other drug, using Diastat has its own side effects too. The common side effects of Diastat use include but are not limited to drowsiness, sleepiness, dizziness, nausea, blurred vision, sleep problems (insomnia), or slurred speech, etc. All these side effects could affect users’ daily lives, so it’s advised that Diastat users should only take the dosage prescribed by their doctor. These are also reasons why patients taking Diastat are required not to drive or ride as they could hurt themselves if they are dizzy or fall asleep while they are driving. If the patient suffers from insomnia as a side effect, they should get in contact with their doctors to find a solution to the problem. Since these are common side effects of taking Diastat, the patient should give it time and see how their body adapts to it. If, however, if the condition is prolonged for a longer time than expected, the patients are advised to contact their doctors and get a change of medicine, or lower the dosage. 

    Other serious side effects may include but are not limited to worsening of seizure episodes. Since the Diazepam Rectal Gel should be helping the patient with their worst seizure episodes, if taking the drug only worsens the condition, they should get in contact with their doctor. It could also cause discoloration of the skin, hallucinations, confusion, hyperactivity, depression, triggering of suicidal thoughts combined with no fear of danger, and pain or burning while urinating. If the patient shows any kind of signs that they could harm themselves, they should be taken to a medical facility before anything worse happens.

    There is a chance of the patient having an allergic reaction to Diastat. The allergic reaction may present as trouble breathing, swelling of the face, lips, tongue, and throat. These symptoms may or may not occur simultaneously. It’s extremely important for an epileptic patient to let their doctors know if they have any kind of allergic reaction to any kind of medicine, issues with kidney, liver, lungs or any kind of significant health issues. Since Diastat could react with other medicines they could be taking to treat other health issues, informing the doctor beforehand about any other meds is always a good idea. 

    One of the most reported side effects of Diastat is sleepiness, which occurs 23% of the time, sometimes followed by other common side effects. There are also many reports that show patients have stopped taking the medication due to its adverse effects. The doctor who prescribes them the medicine warns the patients about its side effects. Under no condition should patients take the drug with alcohol or even after drinking a large number of alcoholic drinks. It could cause a hugely adverse effect on the user. Breastfeeding is prohibited if the patient is taking diazepam rectal gel, as it could affect the child’s well-being. Changing dosage or ceasing use of this drug without a doctor’s advice is prohibited as well as doing so may cause adverse results.

    The chemical name for diazepam, the active component of Diastat (diazepam rectal gel) is 7-chloro-1, 3-dihydro-1-methyl-5- phenyl-2H-1, 4-benzodiazepine-2-one. The ingredients could react differently to different users. Diastat contains 5 mg/mL diazepam, propylene glycol, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, ethyl alcohol (10%), sodium benzoate, benzoic acid, benzyl alcohol (1.5%), and water. The color of Diastat may be clear (Colorless) to a slight yellow with a pH between 6.5 and 7.2.  

    Diastat prescription – some things to remember

    Even though Diastat is used to treat increasing bouts of epilepsy seizures, there are some things that prescribers should know before prescribing this medicine to their patients. The prescription process of this drug not only depends on the diagnosis of the illness and how much to give to the patients but also on the medical history that the patient might have. 

    The prescriber should be able to determine the correct dose of Diastat that is necessary. They should be very careful when a patient is brought to them. They should be able to make sure that it’s a cluster of seizures but not an ordinary seizure, as prescribing the patient Diastat with ordinary seizures could cause extensive harm to the patient. Not only should the doctor be able to identify the condition, but they should also be able to administer the dose based on the severity of the patient’s condition, their age, and the gender of the patient. 

    As already discussed earlier, the patient should not be given any more than one dose in five days, but an additional dose could be given 4-12 hours after the first dose, only when the doctor prescribes it. Since only five doses are allowed in one month, it does not take a scientist to figure out how strong a dose of Diastat could be when it’s given. The injections of Diastat should be kept out of reach of children and even other adults who are not prescribed with the medicine, and it should be stored in a place where the temperature is 77°F (25°C). Store the Diastat drug in a dry place, so storing it in the bathroom is not recommended. The expired or unused drug is advised to be thrown away.

    Diastat addiction and its symptoms

    When talking about the addiction problem among the youth and adults, many people think that it is due to their own will that they have become addicted to a substance. They do not understand that no one becomes an addict at their own will, and they become so dependent on a drug that they would have no idea when they become addicted to it. Even if they wanted to, the users cannot stop themselves from taking it because, without it, they would feel a death-like experience. Drug dependency changes the way a person works, thinks, and acts.   

    Some drugs are so addictive that, even after consuming it for a very short period of time, the user seems to have become so dependent on it that they forget what it was like to live without it and even if they do, they only choose to focus on the hard times they faced without the drug. Naturally, no one would want to live in pain with their conscious minds, so they resort to depending on drugs, which provides them with relief from pain and other health-related issues.  

    Drug addiction is a disease that affects the drug user’s mind and body that, in turn, affects their behavior, which might result in them losing control over the substances they are using. With repeated exposure to a certain kind of drug, it would make the brain of the user work in specific ways and reduce their stress level, some even give them a euphoric high when taken. These are some of the reasons why a drug user slowly turns into a drug abuser.

    Diastat (diazepam rectal gel), being a benzodiazepine, has the potential of being an addictive drug as well. Mostly because drugs from benzodiazepines class work in the brain and nervous system of a person to be effective in treating a disease, they are also highly addictive. Therefore, people with mental health issues and high-stress level are more likely to become addicted to drugs from the said class. Diastat addiction is caused by a few reasons, including, genetics, the environment a person spends their day to day life, and the elements of brain chemistry.

    People with mental health issues are said to be easily addicted to a drug because the comfort and euphoria is something they cannot be felt with any other activity. When people try to medicate themselves out of pain and epileptic episodes, they could use Diastat as the preferred medicine. Without the doctor’s instruction, they would not know how much dosage to take, and for how long they should take it, so unknowingly, they would become physically dependent on it. Without even knowing, they would become deeply addicted to the drug and not know when and how to stop using it. 

    Since Diastat can control the brain’s electrical activities, the primary reason for a seizure, the patient feels instant calmness, which could also be the reason why a person could misuse Diastat. One dose of Diastat can start working on calming the body when a person is in seizures within 15 minutes after it’s injected. It will give the best results of the drug within one and a half hours of being injected; however, the effect of one dose of Diastat could last for at least 46 hours to 71 hours.

    However, if someone uses Diastat on a regular basis and uses high doses of it, it could be effective for a longer amount of time. Unlike other drugs of the benzodiazepines class, which works for short-term pain relief, Diastat is one of the longest acting drugs in the class. 

    Diastat addiction can be identified from the different symptoms an addict shows when they use the drug for a long time and is physically dependent on it. Some of the identification symptoms for Diastat addictions are mentioned below:

    • Obsessed with the use of Diastat: A person who uses Diastat for a long time will have their body and brain so used to having the drug in their system that they, at one point of prolonged use, would become completely obsessed with it. They would prioritize the use of the drug above anything their life has to offer them.
       
    • Prolonged use of Diastat: It’s okay to use the drug as long as you want until the doctor advises against it. However, there are many people who continue to use the drug even when they don’t need it anymore and are ready to endure the negative side effects that the drug’s prolonged use has to offer. In these cases, the drug abuser should be offered the professional help that they require and the one that they never knew they needed.
       
    • An unsuccessful attempt at ceasing the drug use: There are many people who realize the negative side effects that the drugs are causing, at one point in time, and desperately want to stop it and get out of the maze of drug abuse. However, their bodies grow so accustomed to having the drug dosages in their system that it becomes near impossible for them to cease the drug use even when they want to. 
       
    • Emotional changes: There is also a change in the emotions of a Diastat abuser. They would be more agitated, angry, frustrated, confused, and hostile than a normal person without the drug in their system would. If you’re certain a person uses Diastat for their epileptic condition and they show these symptoms, it’s almost certain that they have been using the drug way past their prescribed timing and are addicted to the drug.
       
    • Memory: Prolonged use of Diastat could make changes in the memory of the user. They could lose the sense of conscious, and their memory may slowly fade away. It would affect their cognitive skills and memory loss over time.
       
    • Use of the drug several times a day: Diastat is meant to be taken once in five days, so if a person feels comfortable in taking Diastat more than the recommended times, there is no wonder that they are abusing the substance. 

    A person with drug addiction is easily recognizable if the people close to them keep a close eye on the users. They would behave differently, and once a person is sure the drug user is getting addicted to the medicine, they should immediately take the user to the doctor to help their condition. People who are abusing Diastat will become antisocial, keeping themselves away from people and avoiding social gatherings. Since the drug abuse symptoms are quite obvious, the users try to isolate themselves so that other people do not notice what condition they are in.

    Withdrawal symptoms of Diastat

    The abuse of the prescription drug in any way is illegal and when discovered, is a punishable offense. When a person is addicted to Diastat, they should be taken to the doctor or medical facility where they could go through the treatment process to clean up their act. Over the years, the number of drug addicts has grown tremendously in the United States, and most of these addicts are either kids at early teenage or young adults. While many teenagers try drugs because of peer pressure and to become friends with a certain group of people, young adults are more affected by their lives and study pressure. Looking for a place to release their stress and study pressure, many young adults turn to drugs as their last resort. When such young adults are victims of epilepsy, it becomes even harder for them to focus on their studies and lives.

    The stress of academic and social lives take a toll on them, and they suffer from frequent epileptic seizures, which after some time, can turn into a cluster of seizures. The patient with a cluster of seizures is prescribed Diastat as an instant seizure relief medicine. So when the patient gets to experience the effects of the Diastat drug, they instantly start feeling the need of it, as it works fast, within 5 – 15 minutes to provide instant relief. Using this drug more than it should eventually leads the person to become physically and psychologically dependent on it. Even when they do not need the drug, they would feel like they do, and it will affect their decision-making abilities.

    However, there is also a point that Diastat users would not stop taking the medicine, even if they wanted to. When someone becomes so dependent on Diastat, suddenly ceasing the drug intake could make their body and brain go into withdrawal, which is never a good sign. Going into withdrawal and not getting help when they require it could make them turn to drugs again to relieve their bodies from extreme pain and discomfort. 

    Therefore, the help from a doctor while the patient goes through withdrawal symptoms is necessary. The doctor would recommend decreasing the amount of Diastat dosage every day until the patient no longer feels the need for the drug. Fighting with withdrawal is a long process, but in the end, everything is worth it. Some of the common Diastat withdrawal symptoms may include headache, insomnia, muscle aches, anxiety, and in some severe cases, it could cause rebound seizures (when the patient is taking the medicine for increasing bouts of epileptic seizures) and schizophrenia, etc.

    However, if you’re having difficulty following the doctor’s instructions, it could also be handled with the Luxury Luxury Diastat rehab process, which is one way to stop triggering a relapse and helps a patient to get out of addiction. Although there are many withdrawal symptoms that could vary from person to person, it depends on the amount of time they were using the Diastat drug and the severity of the drug usage. Some of the withdrawal symptoms might also include but are not limited to bad concentration, agitation, anxiety, depression, mood swings, impaired memory, dry mouth, and sometimes hypersensitivity as well. Since the body of the Diastat user becomes accustomed to having the drug in their body, when they stop taking the drug, the chemicals in the brain go back to work as it did prior to drug consumption, but it would take time to adapt to the changes. So without the drug in the brain, it’s more than likely for the user to show severe mood swings and impaired memory. Mood swings can be due to the hormones that are not receiving the chemical compound of Diastat.

    Without the drug in their bloodstream, the user’s skin would start prickling, which would make them hypersensitive to touch. Therefore, when a person suddenly stops using the drug, they could start scratching the skin to get rid of the prickling, and it would lead to them having a skin rash. If they are not given immediate medical attention, the skin rash will turn into something serious, and it’s highly likely that the user will proceed to harm themselves in order to help their bodies from prickling and burning up.

    Going through the process of luxury Diastat rehab

    As more and more people find a way to use any kind of drug to exploit a medical property of it and use it outside of medical reasons, there is no wonder that addiction becomes such a normal condition for them. The increase of drug addicts getting high with prescription drugs and/or recreational drugs has tripled in the last two decades. Despite the government taking drastic steps to control the drug business or providing various schemes and projects to help drug addicts, there are a few who would actually care enough to go to a rehab facility.

    Rehabilitation, or rehab for short, is a program offered by medical facilities to treat patients with injuries, mental illness, alcohol addiction, drug addiction to recover from their conditions. Even though rehab is for people who are looking to recover from some bad times in their lives and turn their lives to a normal one, when someone talks about rehab, most of the general population is quick to think about drug or alcohol rehab mostly.

    Rehabs for all the conditions are different in so many ways from one another. Drug rehabs help the drug addicts to get clean of their substance use disorder, and provide them with therapy and counseling sessions. Most drug rehab facilities also provide aftercare facilities to their patients. Some drug rehab facilities are also known to be gender and age specific. This is because they want to make the patients feel comfortable with them.

    While many people might be okay with getting therapy sessions with anyone, many people would be feeling uncomfortable with someone excessively older or younger than their age. The same goes for gender-specific rehabs; some people might be okay in receiving treatment with the opposite gender or a third gender person, for those who are not comfortable enough; they could go to rehabs that only take in people from one gender. Keeping in mind all these factors, governments and private organizations have set up different rehab facilities so that the patients, in no way, feel uncomfortable for the time they are receiving treatment with the facility.

    There are also drug facilities that can be specified in the type of treatment they provide to the patients. There are some rehab facilities that provide therapy and counseling session for a specific drug only- for example, there would be facilities that strictly provide treatment for Luxury Diastat rehab only. They would treat any patient with other drug addiction. Likewise, there are also rehab facilities that deal with a large range of rehab sessions for patients with all kinds of drug addiction. There is a general myth among the public that rehab facilities force the patient to stop using the drug, and the myth surrounding the rehab facilities and sessions are sometimes horrendous. However, it’s not anywhere near what people might think. No rehab facility would make their patients suddenly stop using the drug they are on as that could lead to withdrawal symptoms.

    The detoxification process, decreasing the amount of drug a person is using little by little, could be a long process. It depends on the severity of their condition and for how long they have been using the drug. The luxury Diastat rehab process can either be for a long or short term, depending upon the patient’s condition.   

    Going back to a few years prior, in 2013, 8.6% of the U.S. population or 22.7 million people were victims of one or another kind of drug addiction, as a report provided by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. This number has only grown since. Out of this huge percentage, only 2.5 million people seek out help in rehab centers. The people with substance use disorder lose their job as they are unable to show up to work on time, have difficulty concentrating on their jobs, and spend all of their paychecks in purchasing more drugs. Students with substance use disorder lose their focus in studies, sports, fail classes, and face a situation where they do not know what would help them out of their situation. 

    As a responsible citizen and a human being above all, if we come to know of anyone who is in need of help with their Diastat addiction, it is our duty to help them get the help they need to clean up their acts and turn their lives into a somewhat normal one. The road from drug addiction to recovery would be a long process and a tough one at it. The patient would be in need of constant support under surveillance throughout the process. The first few days would be quite delicate, in the sense that they would want to go back to using the drug when they would show the signs of withdrawal. However, finding a rehab facility closer to their home could help them in many ways.

    Luxury Diastat rehab facilities offer therapy and counseling sessions where the friends and family of the patient can also attend them as well. In those sessions, the therapist would explain to the family and friends what could trigger a relapse, how to avoid such kinds of situations, how to treat the patient for the first few days or for the first couple of months, how to walk away from the situation that could be triggering, and most importantly, how to help them through the entire process. To find a rehab facility suitable for the patient, one must do some research on the kind of services they provide and the expense of the whole session. 

    The short-term rehab session could last up to 28-30 days. These sessions are for the patients who have only recently started becoming addicted to Diastat, and the family and friends were lucky enough to recognize it in the early phases, which makes the process smoother as compared to someone who has to go through the process after years and years of substance abuse. The long-term rehab procedure could last up to somewhere around 90 days to 120 days, depending upon the severity of the drug use disorder. In those cases, the patient would come to face many situations where they would want to turn to Diastat to comfort their nerves and body condition. It’s crucial not only for the therapist but also for the friends and family members to keep a close eye on the patient.

    Luxury Diastat rehab could be provided in various treatment facilities. It could vary from necessary facilities to a luxury Diastat facility, depending on the budget and the amount of money the patient is willing to spend on the treatment process. Although the main procedure of the rehab is the same in both the basic and luxury facilities, the patient choosing to go for the luxury facility might get to experience some added benefits such as aromatherapy, massage therapy, dietary counseling, and many other luxurious, high-end services.

    The main process of counseling and therapy in both facilities would include:

    • Evaluation: During the evaluation process of rehab, the patient needs to visit the doctor’s clinic from where they plan to seek rehab process. The doctor would look at the patient’s medical history, how long they have been using the drug and the age, gender, and condition of the patient. After collecting all the information, they would devise a therapy plan for the patient depending upon the severity of the patient’s condition and the medication they would require during the process. During the evaluation process, the doctor would want to know the budget limitation, if the patients have any, and make their treatment plan accordingly.
       
    • Detoxification: Detox or detoxification is a process of removing toxic substances from a drug or alcohol abusers body. It could be both a medical and psychological process, where the patient is needed to decrease the intake of the drug that they have become so dependent on. It’s a long process that could last up to months, depending upon how long they have been using the substance. A substance user could not suddenly stop using the drug altogether at once because if they do, their body will fail to function correctly as it is accustomed to the doses of the drug.

      So ceasing to use the drug at once not only affects the person physically but also mentally, to say the least. They would feel dizzy, drowsy, and would have headaches and muscle aches, etc. In the worst case, however, the patient could suffer from anxiety attacks, and agitation that would make them angry at the smallest of things, and they will also have mood swings. So instead of stopping the consumption of the drug at once, detoxification is a long process where the doctor treating them slowly tapers down the doses on a weekly or monthly basis until the patient no longer feels the need of the drug in their system.
       

    • Rehab process: After detoxification, starts the rehab process. During the rehab process that patients would be under the strict surveillance of the rehab center, they would require various therapy and counseling sessions. With the help of the rehab session, the therapists and counselors would help the patient break their addiction cycle and explain to them what the addiction is, how it starts, and how it affects a person’s day to day life. Educating oneself with the subject matter and gaining insights into its disadvantages, a patient is unlikely to turn to drugs as an outlet for their problems again. Rehab facilities would also help the patients identify the scenarios that could trigger a relapse in the future so that they could avoid getting into such scenes and give in when they are out of the rehab facility.

      Instead of using the drug as an outlet for a person’s stressful and problem-filled life, Luxury Diastat rehab would help patients find new hobbies or practice a sport so as to distract the mind from the possibility of turning back to drugs. The therapy session would also help patients choose healthy relationships over problematic ones by getting a grip over their lives and starting anew with everything. 

    The rehab process could be any one of three types in most of the rehab centers.

    • Inpatient Rehab: When a patient chooses an inpatient rehab process, they require staying in a hospital 24/7 for the duration of their stay. They are monitored by the hospital official for any health or mental health issues, and the way the patients react to the rehab treatment. Every inpatient rehab facility provides its patients with certain accommodations that may or may not be the same in all facilities. If a patient chooses to get therapy in these kinds of rehab, they should take leave for a month from their work, school, or college, depending upon the treatment duration.
       
    • Outpatient Rehab: The outpatient rehab facilities do not require the patients to stay in any kind of hospital or therapy facility. Instead, they could stay in their own homes, go to school, college, and work just like any other person and visit the clinic at the time allotted for their therapy session. Outpatient rehab is usually for those patients who are a comparatively new addict and does not require as much extensive care as a long-term drug user would. Outpatient rehab could also be a part of extensive inpatient rehab treatment where the patient could visit a therapy session after they finish their inpatient treatment. Outpatient rehab focuses on counseling, getting educated about drug abuse, and going to a support group where the patients can share their stories with others from the same kind of addiction background.
       
    • Residential Rehab: A residential rehab just like an inpatient rehab requires the patient to stay in a facility, but unlike inpatient rehab, the facility is not a hospital or a clinic. In that type of rehab, the patients are treated in a luxury facility that is in a residential setup where they could receive treatment as well as live in a homely-environment. Some patients feel comfortable staying in a residential set up throughout the whole process, so for that, residential rehab is the way to go.

    Cost of treatment and financing of rehab session

    Getting a rehab session in a luxurious setup might sound tempting. However, it could be expensive as the luxuries it would provide would be of the best kind. It’s not possible for everyone to get into a Luxury Diastat rehab with their savings. However, many financial institutes provide loans for rehab treatment. Taking a loan from such institutes could help the person get the treatment they wished to get. There is also a huge chance that their health insurance covers the expense of the rehab process if the patient happens to have one. Some treatment centers also have the option of financing. One can even take a loan from friends and family members, which is another way to go. 

    Conclusion

    Drug addiction is a serious problem that the world is facing. However, everyone deserves to get their rehab treatment and turn their lives around. This would be only possible when the friends and family of the patient provide care and uninterrupted support through the whole process. While looking for a rehab center, it’s essential to choose the right rehab center, as it’s a matter of an individual’s physical and mental health. There are many facilities that are money hungry and do not provide the services they promise.

    So how does one choose the right rehab center? Do enough research, get in touch with people who were addicts but have received treatment, and are now living a healthy life. Look for a center’s credibility and certifications. Know about the kind of care they provide and also how the staff members treat the patients. In no way should a patient be allowed to get into rehab programs where the staff members are unfriendly and hostile towards drug addicts. As the person with drug use disorder needs love and care, a facility with such staff would do them no good.

    Make sure that the facility gives enough time to treat each individual with the utmost care and dedication. The doctor, therapist, and counselors should be keen to know about the patient’s story and why they turn to drugs to seek comfort. They should be allowed to share and talk about their stories without any hesitation. The rehab facility should also provide aftercare of the rehab treatment, and it’s crucial for the patient to know that no matter how hard life seems, they could always visit their therapists and talk about it. When you choose the right rehab facility, there is a considerable chance that your friend or relative would be able to turn their lives around once again.

    View the original article at thefix.com