In the world of addiction treatment, relapse prevention is one of those areas where the only way to stay on top of it is through constant diligence and work. Unlike other diseases where the illness is gone once you have taken the appropriate medicine, addiction is a chronic disease; the threat of relapse is always something that will be with a person once they become afflicted. This has to do with the way addiction affects the brain and also how the brain is affected by outside triggers. These triggers can come from anxiety, anger, interpersonal situations and a whole host of other factors. If you aren’t constantly working in a recovery program of some sort, then the odds of relapsing jump upward.

The Disease of Addiction

In order to fully understand why relapse prevention is not only a vital but also an ongoing process in dealing with addiction, it is important to know exactly what the disease is. Addiction is defined by the American Society of Addiction Medicine as a chronic brain disease that primarily affects the reward, memory, motivation and related areas. The dysfunction that occurs in these areas leads to characteristic biological markers as well as shifts in a person’s psychological, social and spiritual bent. This change in tendency is displayed in a person’s pathological pursuit of triggering their reward center through the consistent use of certain chemical substances.

The main symptoms of addiction are the inability to abstain on a regular basis, behavioral problems, inability to recognize intrapersonal and interpersonal problems stemming from use, cravings and emotional dysfunction. Addiction is a chronic disease, meaning that there will be periods of relapse and remission. Without proper treatment, including relapse prevention programs, the disease can progress and possibly result in disability.

Addiction Treatment

If you are suffering from addiction or a substance use disorder, then the first step is to seek help from a treatment center. Depending on how far the disease has progressed and how it has affected your everyday life, you might need a high level of initial care as can be found with an inpatient program or a lesser level of care from an outpatient program. Here is a comprehensive list of options:

• Long-term inpatient programs are designed for people who have severe addiction problems and require 24/7 care in a medical facility. These programs focus on detoxification and medically assisted withdrawal, group counseling as well as individual therapy, resocialization including employment training and household management and coming up with strategies and coping mechanisms to prevent relapse. People stay at the facilities on average between 6 and 12 months.
• Short-term inpatient programs are intensive programs based around a revised 12-step approach. There are individual and group counseling sessions as well as health and wellness training. The average stay is three to six months.
• Intensive day treatment programs are designed to give a level of care compatible with an inpatient program while still allowing the patient to live at home. There are two to four-hour meetings multiple times weekly focusing on both group and individual counseling sessions.
• Outpatient treatment programs are for people who have addiction or substance abuse issues but can still function in the world by going to work and taking care of their family. A meeting takes place one to two times weekly for two hours each time and entails both group and individual counseling.
• Individual treatment options work well for people who are in the beginning stages of addiction and do not require a high level of care. Usually, the approach used will involve Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and address the issues that led to the initial substance abuse. Meeting frequency and duration vary.

The Struggle of Relapse

Once you have completed the course of recovery through one or more of the various programs that are available, the focus of treatment shifts toward a model of preventative care. For many people, by the time they reach the end of their treatment program, they will have already had a relapse. Relapse simply means returning to substance abuse after a period of sobriety. People suffering from addiction have a 40 to 60 percent chance of relapsing at some point according to the National Institute of Health. Those numbers are on par with other chronic diseases like hypertension and asthma and are significant to point out because of the shame and regret that are often associated with relapsing. Relapse is considered a common part of recovery and is actually a useful tool for signaling the need to reenter treatment or modify a treatment plan.

Triggers and Early Warning Signs

An important aspect in recognizing that a relapse is likely is understanding what might be triggering it. A trigger is something that prompts a person to feel upset and scared because they are made to remember something bad that has happened in the past. In the world of addiction, triggers can very easily lead people to relapse and possibly spiral downward if not addressed in a timely manner. Here is a list of some of the more common triggers that can spark a relapse:

• Withdrawal symptoms that come about from the discontinued use of a substance are a huge trigger for relapse. Not only are these symptoms a major cause of relapse, but they are often a major obstacle to people seeking treatment in the first place. Symptoms of withdrawal are varied depending on the substance, length of use and amount ingested. Symptoms include anxiety, nausea, physical weakness, stroke, accelerated heart rate, irregular bowel, blood pressure problems, mood swings and sleep problems.
• Everyday life can be full of stressors that can wear people down and possibly become triggering.
• Poor self-care in the form of stress management, eating and sleeping habits or leisure time can all weigh a person down mentally and physically, which can result in relapse.
• Seeing old friends they formerly used with is a big trigger for many people. The old friend doesn’t even have to be using anymore for the trigger to still be present. Many times, friends who use together develop a co-dependency that will still be present even in the face of abstinence.
• Old hangouts like bars, drug houses or anywhere that use commonly occurred can trigger the urge to pick up again.
• Anything that was a part of a drug-using life can become a trigger to use again. Old habits become etched into memories as do the memories of using that are tied to them.
• Uncomfortable emotions are difficult to deal with under normal circumstances, and for someone suffering from addiction, negative emotions can definitely trigger the urge to use. When people experience feelings of hunger, anger, loneliness, fatigue or sadness, it’s natural to want to shut them down as quickly as possible.
• Relationships and love can cause all sorts of highs and lows that can trigger someone. This is especially true of the lows that come from fighting or breaking up.
• Leading an isolated existence without contact from friends or family can cause someone to overthink things or just become generally depressed, which is never a good thing for someone with addiction issues.
• Being overconfident in your ability to abstain from using or thinking that you have it beat is a surefire way to relapse again. Acting as if nothing bad can happen blinds you to the dangers from all the triggers listed here, which leaves you open and vulnerable. It is important to remember that having an addiction is nothing to be ashamed of and nothing to pretend doesn’t exist.

The Stages of Relapse

There is a misconception that a relapse is an event when, in reality, it is a process. Before a person picks up a substance and begins to use again a whole process has taken place leading them to that point. This process is cumulative and can begin weeks or even months before the actual use occurs. This is why one of the main goals of treatment and relapse prevention is to recognize these warning signs in their initial stages and deal with them at their easiest. Recognizing triggering events such as those listed above is one great way to prevent a relapse. Another way is to recognize the stages of relapse listed below so that you are prepared to deal with them.

Emotional relapse is the first stage and occurs long before a person even thinks about using. They are still cognizant of their last relapse and want to avoid future use, but their emotional and behavioral states are setting them up to do just that. Denial is a big part of this stage and takes shape in many forms including isolating, bottling up emotions, not going to meetings, not sharing if they do attend meetings, focusing on other’s problems rather than their own and poor eating or sleeping habits. The underlying theme here is the denial of the person’s addiction and the need to stay vigilant during recovery.

The two important areas to address during this stage are denial and self-care. With the former, there is a mindset developing that the person is immune to or in control of their addiction. This sets up a false sense of security that will leave them open to triggers and eventual use. The latter can be problematic because neglecting oneself whether physically or emotionally will also leave them vulnerable to triggers.

Mental relapse is the next stage; at this point, a person is involved in an internal struggle between using and abstinence. As they progress through this stage, the desire to escape starts to overpower the will to abstain. Some important indicators of mental relapse include cravings for drugs or alcohol, fixating on people, places and things from when they used, minimizing or glamorizing past use, lying, bargaining, thinking of ways to control their use, looking for an opportunity to use and planning a relapse.

Avoiding high-risk situations is important in helping a person step back from this stage. If they are reminiscing about an old bar they used to go to, they might try visiting it, or they might glamorize their past use and trick themselves into believing they should have never stopped in the first place. This stage can be seen as a tightrope walk where the person walking it can fall off at any moment and start using again.

The final stage is the physical relapse where the actual process of using again. Some clinicians split this stage into a “lapse” which involves one use and “relapse” which involves multiple using events. However, this can be problematic for the person lapsing by tricking them into a false sense of security that can quickly lead right back to this point or further. It is best to minimize the potential negative consequences of any use by rejoining a treatment program whether it is a 12-step program, outpatient facility or some form of individualized care.

Relapse Prevention Tips

There are certain steps you can take to help ensure that the risk of relapse is minimized throughout the recovery process. There are many people who have gone years and decades abstaining from use, so it is definitely possible. Here are some tips that can help you avoid that next pitfall down the road to recovery:

• Stay in treatment for its duration and follow the aftercare guidelines.
• Eat a healthy diet low in refined sugars and simple carbohydrates. These two substances can cause energy spikes and crashes as well as emotional swings.
• Have a regular exercise regimen.
• Try natural ways of reducing stress such as meditation and yoga.
• Join a support group or 12-step program and make connections with people in similar circumstances.
• Avoid people, places and things that are associated with drug or alcohol use.
• Surround yourself with positive family and friends who will support your decision to stay clean.
• Pick up a hobby or creative endeavor to give yourself a positive output for your energy.

With this knowledge and these tips in hand, you can prepare yourself to deal with whatever curveballs life may throw at you in a positive way while maintaining your sobriety.

When someone with substance use disorder becomes sober or first gets out of rehab, there’s a lot of excitement involved even when they know that there is a hard road in front of them. It is exciting to get free and change your life even if it can seem a bit scary at the time. Consider the advice below to maintain your motivation in sobriety.

Set Goals

It can seem like a lot to you to remain sober and have goals at the same time. Being sober is amazing in and of itself, and your life is going to continue to open up to amazing possibilities as a result. You might want to gain back what you have lost or reach for something you put off long ago. You can do this.

In fact, it helps your sobriety a great deal to work on other aspects of your life. Addiction has most likely negatively impacted your health and personal relationships. Setting and working toward goals can help you to take back what was stolen, and it will give you additional motivation to remain sober.

Choose large goals, but break those goals up into smaller ones. For example, if you want to run a marathon, you can’t start off running the whole thing just because you used to do it. Instead, start by working toward smaller milestones. You might want to build up to running 5 miles, but you need to start with simply walking. Then jog before moving on from there. Achieving smaller goals will help to boost your confidence, which will also prevent you from sabotaging your own efforts.

Understand That You Are Worth Your Sobriety

Speaking of self-sabotage, you need to understand that you’re worth your sobriety, and you deserve a fulfilling life. You are not damaged goods, and you are not too far gone. Don’t believe that nonsense. You were meant for something great. You have been through the worst, which means you can help a great many people. People will listen to you because you have been where they are, and you can show them that awesome things await them in their sobriety.

You might become fearful or suffer from a feeling of inadequacy while on your journey, but don’t let that stop you. These feelings are temporary, and you can change them with the right mental attitude. You know what’s important to you. Staying motivated in recovery means being honest with yourself. So, when you feel tempted to drink or get high, ask yourself what’s really going on. You could just be afraid of success. It happens to more people than you might think.

Get Rid of the “All or Nothing” Mentality

On your journey, things aren’t always going to be great. You’re not going to have perfect days, and that’s okay. The important thing to remember is that you don’t throw in the towel just because things aren’t perfect. Don’t beat yourself up or quit because you didn’t work out or didn’t complete something else you set out to do. Pick up where you left off and keep going.

Imagine that you’re walking down a road. Let’s say the road is 5 miles long, and you want to reach the end. Along the way, you stumble on some rocks or veer off the course to take in some pretty views. Maybe you take a nap under a tree for a few hours and start back down the road. Would you be upset that you stumbled on rocks, looked out over the landscape, or took a nap? No, of course not.

Just because you’re not steadily walking down the road, it doesn’t mean you’re not going to get to the end, and it doesn’t mean you haven’t crossed the same amount of road to get to where you are. Progress is progress. Don’t disregard all of your previous achievements and beat yourself up for getting off-track. Just get back on the road and keep going.

Keep a Journal

It’s easy to forget where you’ve been, all you have struggled with, and how you used to think. If you keep a journal and read your earlier entries, you will find that you have grown a great deal.

In fact, with a record of what you’ve been up to, you might find that you have drastically changed in just a few months, which is nothing short of amazing. This can be incredibly encouraging on days when you feel down or think you aren’t progressing.

If there are areas you haven’t been able to overcome, don’t lose heart. It happens, but don’t forget to celebrate your successes. When you find yourself in a difficult situation, look at it as a learning opportunity and use it to continue on your path to personal growth. Be sure to take things as they come, and don’t forget to write down your thoughts, feelings, and actions along the way.

Keep Your Eye on the Prize

On your recovery journey, you’ll discover many reasons why you want to be sober. In the beginning, it might simply be because you’re done living the way you did before sobriety. For others, they might want to be sober for their kids.

All of the reasons you have for being sober are valid and will help you stay committed, but it’s important to remain diligent. When life gets hard, because it will, you will need to stay focused on what you want. You will need to get rid of all of the distractions keeping you from your goals. Also, be sure to constantly remind yourself why sobriety is important and why you’re worth the effort.

Don’t Chase the Past

Addiction has a way of robbing people of precious moments that occur on a daily basis. After the storm has cleared, you might have this overwhelming desire to make up for lost time. However, it’s important to remember that you can’t change the past, and you don’t live there.

What’s more, if you’re busy worrying about the past, you’ll never live in the present, and you’ll rob yourself of your future. So, allow the past to teach you and propel you in the present so that you’ll have brighter days ahead. Ask yourself, “What am I going to do with what I have today?” Then, stay focused on the present and remember that looking back at the past with regret will not help you reach your goals for a more hopeful future.

Decide What You Want in Life

It might be beneficial to you to create a vision board. Put everything on it that you want in life. This could be as simple as taking cuttings of things you want from a magazine. During the process, avoid focusing on superficial things and think of what it is you truly value in life.

This might be family, friends, or health. Think big and small. Eventually, you might want to get your dream car or pay off debt, but you also might want to enjoy the morning air on your front porch with a good cup of coffee. Put that on your vision board, and look at it often. Whenever you do one of the things on your vision board, put a star or some other mark to see how much you have accomplished.

Take Time to Love Yourself

You’ve been through a lot, and it’s time to love yourself. Along the way, you might have caused harm to others, but you have been harmed too. Taking time to love yourself helps to undo some of the harm you have experienced.

Self-care lets you know you matter and will give you fuel to keep on moving. You will start to feel better about yourself and begin to grow physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Self-care activities that can boost your overall well-being include yoga, jogging, and other exercises. You can also start daily meditation or take time out of each day to read an inspirational book. Life can get busy, but it’s important to focus on healing, especially during the recovery process.

Keep a Schedule

Along with maintaining a self-care routine, keeping a schedule is vital to your success. When you keep a schedule, you will prevent yourself from not achieving your goals and having fruitless days. Having a schedule in place is also one of the best things that you can do to properly manage your activities so that you don’t begin to feel overwhelmed.

If you have unhealthy people in your life, your schedule can also help you to maintain your personal boundaries. It’s vital that you attend to what’s important and avoid putting your needs on the backburner for the sake of “helping” others. A schedule will ensure that you avoid distractions, meet your daily responsibilities, and remain focused on your sobriety.

Reach Out

You weren’t meant to carry all of your burdens on your own. Consider attending AA, NA, or other meetings to talk with people who have been where you have. You’ll find “old timers” and new people at these meetings who can help you both learn and grow. Meetings will also give you the opportunity to work with a trustworthy and wise sponsor who can provide support along your recovery journey.

In addition to attending meetings, it’s important to reach out to true friends and beloved family members who really have your back. Also, consider getting in touch with your higher power. Learn from those around you, and remember that you don’t have to go through life alone.

Take Time to Enjoy Life

It’s time to start living the life you always wanted. Trying to stay sober can be hard work, and you might feel it’s an uphill climb. Because of this, you need to take time to enjoy life to avoid getting burned out.

Enjoy fresh air, take a bath, get out in nature, and find other healthy things that bring you pleasure. This may be something as simple as an exciting TV show, a good book, or some comfy clothes. Whatever it is, embrace it. Doing so will make the process of staying sober easier.

Make a Gratitude List

When you start thinking of all the things that have gone wrong in your life, it’s time to be grateful for all the positive things that have happened to you. Make a list of all the things that are good, no matter what they are. You can be grateful that your bed is comfortable or that at least you have a bed. If you went through rehab, be grateful for the opportunity and don’t forget to express gratitude daily for being able to live life sober. Keep a list of all the positives in your life and refer to it often. Say “thank you” to your higher power and work hard every day to keep a feeling of gratitude in your heart.

It can be difficult to give yourself time to achieve everything you set out to do or to stay motivated in recovery. However, it’s very important that you don’t look at everything you need to do and get discouraged or overwhelmed. Staying motivated in recovery is about understanding where you’re going while focusing on achieving your goals in doable steps. You weren’t meant to do it all overnight. Recovery is a process, but step by step, you’re going to do this. You’ll see.

Larson is a well-respected man. He participates in community outreach programs, regularly donates chunks of his wealth to charity, and even hands out soup to the homeless on every holiday he can.

By day he is a stock broker, and by night a humanitarian… except when he goes shopping. Larson lives a double life. When he goes to the mall, he obsessive-compulsively steals items, some he wants, and some he doesn’t even care for. When grocery shopping, he hides things on the bottom of his cart and walks out with them. Even his friends feel the wrath, as many small things seemingly disappear around him. Larson has a stealing addiction.

Kleptomania VS Addictive-Compulsive Theft

According to the Shulman Center for Compulsive Theft, Spending & Hoarding, which hosts Kleptomaniacs Anonymous, kleptomania is a rarely-diagnosed disorder with different characteristics than the more common addictive-compulsive theft. Basic differences between the two are as follows:

Basically, if you find yourself stealing random items for no purpose, and you cannot control this urge, you likely have kleptomania. However, if you find you cannot stop stealing things you desire and you feel guilt or shame afterward, chances are you’re an addictive-compulsive thief  Either way, there is help available to you, although currently that help is limited. (See bottom of article.) More and more experts are agreeing nowadays that stealing can be an addiction, just like drug and alcohol abuse can be, as reported by CBS News.

Theft as an Addiction, not just a Crime

Terrence Shulman, founder of the aforementioned Shulman Center, is the leading expert on theft as an addiction. A former addictive-compulsive theft himself, (as well as a lawyer), Shulman realized he was addicted, not just breaking the law. He set out to help himself and others like him, and founded the Shulman Center, which is the largest stealing-addiction recovery network available.

In an article written for Addiction Professional, Shulman notes that 10% of Americans shoplift regularly, nearly 70% of arrested shoplifters will repeat the offense, and a whopping 75% of Americans have stolen from the workplace.

The fact that 10% of Americans admit to shoplifting regularly is simply astounding. Further research on these 32 million people may show a majority of them to be addicted to stealing.  Foundations like Mr. Shulman’s serve to treat these addictions, but perhaps because stealing is a private and taboo thing, many people do not treat their addiction. This is perhaps illustrated most greatly by the fact that 70% of those caught stealing go and do it again.

In Conclusion

If you took a Milky Way from a gas station once and also borrowed money from your uncle but never paid him back, you are not addicted to stealing.  If every Thursday night you steal a Milky Way, and borrow money from people constantly without paying them back, you may be addicted to stealing.  This is all to say that only you know the difference.  If you believe you may be addicted to stealing, there is help:

The Shulman Center

Help for Shoplifters

The Pathways Institute for Impulse Control

Also, there are conference calls available three times a week, open to anyone anywhere who wants to discuss their addiction to stealing.  Click here for the days, times, and phone numbers.

Children of addicts are the real victims of drug abuse. Of the 586,000 heroin addicts in America, surely a large number of them are parents. With heroin addicts dying from overdoses at a rate of over three per hour, surely a large number of them leave small children behind. The average age of a heroin addict in America is 23, so it’s fair to assume that the majority of heroin users who are parents have children well under 18.

Brenden Bickerstaff-Clark’s son is eight, and last week in a video that’s gone viral, Bickerstaff-Clark told him how his mother had died from a heroin overdose the previous night. After grabbing his hand and taking a deep breath, Bickerstaff-Clark looks his son in the eye and says, “Mommy died last night.” The unnamed boy is unsure how to process the information at first, but after a moment responds, saying, “What? What do you mean, my mom?” He then cries hard as Bickerstaff-Clark explains the truth: that his mother had died from a fatal heroin overdose. It’s the saddest thing online right now.

The 29-year-old father posted the video to Facebook “for any and every addict with children.” Bickerstaff-Clark himself is a recovering heroin addict with (at the time of the post) 94 days clean. Regardless of whether or not you agree with his method, the message was definitely spread. The video currently has over 34 million views.

Already an Epidemic

This happened in Youngstown, Ohio, which is in Mahoning County, which is just one of the several Ohio counties in the middle of a heroin epidemic. In fact, according to the Ohio Substance Abuse Monitoring Network (OSAM), the Youngstown area is oversaturated with heroin. A recent report stated that on a scale of 1 to 10, the overall availability of heroin in the area is a 10. Local law enforcement commented on this, saying “Heroin is still our biggest problem; we’re just so inundated with the heroin.…”

One woman from Youngstown recently begged the police to take her to jail in order for her to beat heroin. Her quote given to NBC makes it clear how badly the area is affected: “There’s no help out there anymore. There’s a three-month waiting list for any rehab around here because of the heroin epidemic. It was faster to go to jail.”

Drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in the US, and the Mahoning County Coroner reported that 42.4% of the drug-related deaths processed in the last six months were due to heroin. The drug is so rampant in the area that even a 97-person drug bust in Warren, OH didn’t even make a dent in the amount of heroin around. Actually, OSAM reported that the amount of heroin in the area “has either remained the same or has slightly increased during the past six months.”

Evidence suggests there is an entire drug-smuggling operation in Youngstown. Last year, the FBI Violent Crimes Task Force issued fifteen arrest warrants for suspected drug dealers in the area. Also last year, a “drug trafficking organization operating in Mahoning County” was taken down. A locally-based criminal gang called the Vic Boys is the most likely culprit. Ohio is in the middle of a heroin epidemic.

Ohio is by no means the only state with a heroin problem. The entire country faces a serious threat. The Centers for Disease Control reports “The United States is experiencing an epidemic of drug overdose (poisoning) deaths.” It just happens that Ohio is where Mr. Bickerstaff-Clark lives, and is also one of the states affected the most. Still, regardless of where it happens, children of addicts are the true victims. Remember, for instance, the Ohio couple who recently passed out in their car from heroin overdoses, the woman’s young son in the back seat.

Silent Victims

Parents die from heroin overdoses, leaving their children behind. This is a cold reality. Also, babies are born with heroin addictions due to their mothers’ abuse. Last year in Whitefield, New Hampshire, as reported by WMUR, Tanya Fleury’s granddaughter found her father (Tanya’s son) dead from an overdose. Told that her father was sick and went to heaven, the little girl said, “I’m not going to have my adventures with daddy anymore.” Often, the two would surf or play guitar.

Lieutenant Nicole Ledoux of the Manchester Police Department told WMUR that children are usually the callers-in of heroin overdoses. “Kids as young as 8 or 9 are calling us to say their parent or their guardian or caregiver is unconscious and unresponsive, and we come out, and we find out that the person is suffering from an overdose,” said Lt. Ledoux.

Earlier this month, in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, a seven-year-old girl spent an entire day trying to wake her parents up. The next day she went to school, and upon being dropped off afterward, she told the bus driver about how she couldn’t wake her parents up. Police later found both parents dead from heroin overdoses. Also inside the house were three other children, aged 5 years, 3 years, and 9 months. All four children are now heroin orphans. Allegheny County, where McKeesport is located, suffered 422 opioid-related deaths last year, a new record for the county.

Take a look at Huntington, West Virginia, where one in ten babies born at Cabell Huntington Hospital suffer from drug withdrawal, usually from heroin and other opiates. The national average is one in 150, still a number far too high. The drug-addicted babies shake, vomit, and scream inconsolably. The symptoms can last months. Usually the hospital has room for 12 babies, but numbers haven’t been that low in years.

One out of every four people who live in Huntington has a heroin (or other opiate) addiction. Lieutenant David McClure of the local police “has grown accustomed to drug overdoses,” and “his crew responds daily to such calls.” What exactly is he accustomed to seeing? “Moms passed out with their kids still seat-belted. Dads sprawled on floors, their toddlers within an arm’s reach of heroin.”

The story of Maycie Nielsen is hard to forget. She was four years old when her parents started doing heroin. Her sister was nine and her little brother was two. Early on, her parents would physically fight, use heroin in the open, call the cops on one another, and generally create chaos for the children. Eventually her grandmother took her in, as her mother was arrested and her father a homeless junkie. She spent her childhood wondering where her father was and with her mother in jail.

This last example truly shows how bad the heroin epidemic can be for children. In January of this year, the seven-month-old child of Wesley and Mary Ann Landers was a patient at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. Upon visiting one day, the parents went into the bathroom of their child’s hospital room together, and proceeded to shoot heroin. Both of them overdosed. Mary Ann died, and Wesley was rendered unconscious when medical staff opened the locked door. Narcan saved his life.

Wesley was found with a needle in his arm, two on the bathroom sink, and a loaded gun in his pants pocket. He faces drug possession and concealed weapon charges. The child went into the hospital with two parents, and left with one. Also, that child will someday have to face the fact that his or her mother died just a few feet away.

More than the Loss of a Parent

Obviously, losing a parent is one of the toughest things any child ever has to endure. With nearly 80 people dying from heroin a day, this is happening too often. However, there are countless other ways parental drug abuse negatively affects children.

The National Survey on Drug Use and Health revealed that 2.2 million children in this country have at least one parent dependent on illicit drugs. According to the Children’s Bureau, “Parental substance use can affect parenting, prenatal development, and early childhood and adolescent development.” Furthermore, parental drug use can lead to a lack of proper nutrition, a lack of supervision, and a lack of nurturing, even neglect. Oftentimes, affected families experience mental illness, are victims of domestic violence, or suffer from unemployment.

The Children’s Bureau offers a wealth more of information regarding children of addicts. The following are typical outcomes for children with drug-abusing parents:

• Poor cognitive and/or social development
• Depression and/or anxiety
• Mental health issues
• Physical health issues
• Substance abuse
• High stress
• Difficulties concentrating and learning
• Difficulty controlling responses to stress
• Difficulty forming trusting relationships

In the case of Brenden Bickerstaff-Clark and his 8-year-old boy, a parent was lost at the merciless hands of heroin. That is a worst-case-scenario. As a parent, simply doing drugs already puts your child at much greater risk for the above outcomes. However, even children without parents are being affected by the heroin epidemic as well.

Heroin Affects Foster Children

Parental substance abuse is “a major reason for the growing number of children in foster care,” according to Pew Charitable Trusts. In Ohio’s Clermont County, over 50% of children placed in foster care have at least one parent addicted to heroin. When case workers investigate claims, whether they be of abuse, neglect, malnutrition, etc., “What we’re finding more and more is that the parents are addicted to opiates. And more often than not, it’s heroin,” said Timothy Dick, assistant director of child protective services in the county.

Dealing with the same issue, the state of Indiana recently had to hire 113 additional caseworkers to keep up. One-third of children in foster care in the state of Vermont have parents who abuse heroin. Last year, the number of US children in the foster care system reached an all-time high of 415,000. Nancy Young, director of the National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare, talked about how it’s not entirely clear just how many child welfare cases involve parental drug abuse. She said that she suspects most of the cases do. This is also “what all the caseworkers and judges are saying,” according to Young.

In Conclusion

Maybe you think that Brenden Bickerstaff-Clark posting the video of telling his son that his mother had died was helpful. Maybe you think that he went too far. Either way, it cannot be argued that Brenden’s son is not alone. Using related statistics, it’s safe to assume that every single day at least one child loses a parent to heroin. Bickerstaff-Clark included a caption with his video, explaining his actions. Whether you agree with his method or not, it’s difficult to disagree with his words:

“THIS FOR ANY AND EVERY ADDICT WITH CHILDREN. TODAY I HAD TO TELL MY 8 YEAR OLD SON THAT HIS MOMMY DIED FROM A DRUG OVERDOSE LAST NIGHT. THIS IS THE REALIZATION AND REALITY OF OUR DISEASE. DONT LET THIS DISEASE HAVE TO MAKE SOMEONE TELL YOUR CHILD THAT YOUR DEAD BECAUSE OF DRUGS. THIS WAS ONE OF THE HARDEST THINGS IVE EVER HAD TO DO. MY SON HAS NO MOTHER BECAUSE OF HEROIN… KINDA HARD TO HEAR BUT U CAN HEAR WHAT WE’RE SAYING.
PLEASE GET HELP SO OUR CHILDREN DONT HAVE TO SUFFER. THIS WASNT STAGED. THIS WAS REAL. I HAD SOMEONE RECORD THIS SO ADDICTS WITH CHILDREN CAN SEE THE SERIOUSNES OF OUR EPIDEMIC. I AM A RECOVERING ADDICT MYSELF WITH 94 DAYS CLEAN TODAY… PLEASE SHARE N MAYBE HELP SAVE A CHILDS PARENTS LIFE.”

For those that remember the television commercial, it turns out if your brain is an egg, the idea of drugs being a hot frying pan isn’t so far off.

Abusing drugs of any kind affects brain functions we use every day to live. Some effects on the brain are temporary, such as a hangover from alcohol, but >some are permanent and irreversible, such as Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome, which can cause muscular paralysis and/or amnesia in alcoholics. Every drug, not just alcohol, affects the brain; it is just important to note that any amount of any drug also affects the brain. However, before we can understand what happens to our brains on drugs, we need to understand what happens in our brains without drugs.

What does my brain do?

The human brain is an unimaginably complex organ that functions more efficiently than any computer ever built. To actually answer the question of what a brain does would take a mountain of essays. However, regarding the brain and drug use, a simplified version will do.

The brain is comprised of 100 billion nerve cells called neurons. Essentially, there are releasing neurons and receiving neurons. The releasing neurons disperse chemicals called neurotransmitters, which carry messages all around the body. These ‘messages’ include anything from blinking our eyelids to solving a math problem. Receiving neurons have landing pads for neurotransmitters, and once they land, the message is ‘unlocked’ and carried out by the body.

Basically, the brain is a communications center that functions as the command post for the entire body. Brain cells communicate, and we live. When actions are performed that are conducive to survival, such as eating, sleeping, having sex, etc., the brain rewards us by releasing >dopamine, or sometimes serotonin. These are the two neurotransmitters responsible for happiness. This is called the reward system, and is crucial to our survival.

What do the drugs do?

Drug abuse alters the way the brain communicates, especially regarding the reward system. Drugs force the brain to produce up to ten times the normal amount of dopamine. The brain therefore believes something good has happened, and will crave a repeat of the dopamine flow. More and more will be needed to get dopamine levels back to normal, resulting in higher tolerance.

Also, the activities that create regular amounts of dopamine, such as eating or having sex, become less important to the brain than drug abuse, which creates abnormal amounts. The end result is addiction, because the brain tells the body it needs the extra dopamine.

The Vicious Cycle

You’ve never done hard drugs. One night, you use heroin, and extremely high levels of dopamine are released. The next night, you use the same amount as before, but don’t get quite as high. You double up your dose to feel the same effect. Already, you have a higher tolerance. The next night, you need even more. By the time the week is over, you realize you haven’t eaten or slept. Your brain has replaced the dopamine it receives from normal functions with the dopamine it receives from the drug. Within a week, you’re addicted. Now, on top of needing it like you need sleep, you need more every time.

The worst part of this vicious cycle is not actually what happens to your brain on the drugs, but what happens to your brain when you’re not on them but addicted to them. Once addicted, your brain will produce less dopamine than usual for normal events. For instance, a good meal and a nap may not do anything emotionally for an addict. This can cause severe depression. Consider this quote from drugabuse.gov:

“Just as we turn down the volume on a radio that is too loud, the brain adjusts to the overwhelming surges in dopamine (and other neurotransmitters) by producing less dopamine or by reducing the number of receptors that can receive signals. As a result, dopamine’s impact on the reward circuit of the brain of someone who abuses drugs can become abnormally low, and that person’s ability to experience any pleasure is reduced.”

The bottom line is that drugs affect your brain in such a way that they become the only means by which an addict can feel pleasure. At that point, your brain might as well be a frying egg.

For patients needing drug and alcohol treatment, outpatient rehab and inpatient rehab can provide an essential level of care to achieve long-term recovery. But how do you know which type of program you or a loved one would best benefit from? Both types of treatment have distinctions which make them more or less appropriate for a patient’s needs, depending on the patient’s level and length of addiction.

What is Inpatient Rehab?

Inpatient treatment lasts a minimum of 28 days. You voluntarily enter a safe, secure facility in which intensive drug and alcohol treatment is the cornerstone of your daily activities. Often, people who have attempted outpatient treatment but have ultimately relapsed back into drug and alcohol use, or have found outpatient treatment difficult to complete, achieve success in an inpatient program.

People who require detoxification services due to concerns about withdrawal also benefit from inpatient rehab, as detox services can be included as a part of inpatient treatment. After detox (if necessary), patients undergo an intensive, daily drug or alcohol treatment regimen to learn about the disease of addiction in a supportive, immersive environment.

Inpatient rehab programs are safe, structured environments in which you are removed from stressful circumstances that promote or fuel the urge to use. Because negatively influencing factors are removed from your daily experience, participation in inpatient treatment can begin to work on building life skills that had been interfered with due to addiction. Because of this intensive level of care, inpatient rehab is ideal for people who have unsuccessfully attempted to overcome addiction in outpatient rehab programs, or for people who have identified that they need drug or alcohol treatment and want to “do it right” the first time. As previously stated, the level of care necessary for you should be determined by an in-person assessment with a qualified medical or counseling professional. Most often, people who have attempted outpatient treatment without success do require inpatient care, but some people who have not yet undergone outpatient treatment may not require this high level of care.

Some people are wary about voluntarily beginning an inpatient drug or alcohol treatment program because of the intensity, but inpatient programs are highly emotionally supportive and focus on helping the whole body and mind through treatment. For this reason, many inpatient treatment centers encourage family participation, including family education programs and weekend programs. In addition to immediate family, people benefit from having a “therapeutic community” in inpatient – a community of patients who support one another through treatment by encouraging others to stay on task. In addition to the other differentiators of long-term inpatient care, it is this camaraderie gained through empathy and shared experience that often helps you overcome addiction while completing drug or alcohol treatment.

What is Outpatient Rehab?

Outpatient Rehab provides you with more freedom. Outpatient drug and alcohol treatment programs share many similarities with inpatient, but in a differently structured environment. Outpatient rehab provides you with more freedom of movement which allows you to maintain a regular commitment to family, work, and educational responsibilities. Because of the ability to go home after a daily or evening program, you are able to have a greater level of privacy and anonymity. You do not need to explain a prolonged absence to friends, coworkers, or family members.

Unlike inpatient rehab, you are not provided with the safe, secure environment that isolates you from negatively influencing factors. You return to your own environments after outpatient drug or alcohol treatment, and must voluntarily abstain from drug or alcohol use, which requires a greater amount of diligence. However, the benefit of this is that outpatient rehab (like inpatient rehab) provide a support network for patients in the form of official support groups, individual counseling, and family counseling so that you are never alone in your recovery. You are provided with a strong support network of non-using peers and sponsors. Outpatient drug and alcohol treatment requires a component of group therapy and support groups like NA and AA, which provide a new, positive element of social change in your life and facilitates long-term recovery.

Like inpatient rehab, outpatient rehab also focuses on family support and involvement, and an immediately positive element of outpatient rehab is that you can automatically apply the lessons learned from outpatient treatment programs to your daily experiences.

Advantages of Inpatient Rehab

Inpatient rehab requires a 28 day stay. The actual length of a typical stay depends on your diagnosis, needs, situation and insurance coverage.

5 Pros & Cons of Inpatient Rehab

Pros:

• You receive 24-hour supervision by trained staff and therapists; you are never alone while battling your addiction.
• You are part of a community – other residents in the facility are also overcoming their addictions.
• You are in a program that provides an intense level of care – individuals who have tried to battle addiction previously may a more intense setting.
• Being in a residential setting, more time each day is focused on recovery, through group and individual counseling settings, as well as other treatment exercises.
• You do not have the distractions of daily life activities/worries while in treatment.

Cons:

• You are not free to come and go and you please
• You are in a structured environment that dictates when you get up in the morning, when you eat, when you have counseling sessions and when you have free-time. For many, though this seems like a “con” it is actually one of the best components of residential/inpatient treatment.
• Arrangements for child care will need to be made while you are in treatment.
• Often, you will need to take a leave from your job to participate in residential treatment.
• Many insurers will only cover outpatient rehab.

5 Pros & Cons of Outpatient Rehab

Pros:

• Outpatient rehab is structured so you can continue many of your daily activities such as work, caring for children etc.
• Counseling sessions are often offered in the evenings and sometimes even on weekends.
• You can apply what you learn in treatment to your real life setting and start making changes immediately.
• Many outpatient rehab programs includes family sessions, to help your support network better understand the challenges you face.
• Outpatient rehab is considered a more affordable treatment option and is generally covered by insurance.

Cons:

• You risk being exposed to the same influences, risks and triggers in your life that pushed you towards drug or alcohol.
• You may still have access to drugs/alcohol.
• Daily life distractions could keep you from focusing on recovery.
• Access to your counselor is more limited than in a residential/inpatient facility.
• Many residential clients develop bonds with other people in treatment that later become part of their sober support network. In outpatient rehab, you do not spend as much time with others in treatment, which makes building the foundation of this support network more challenging.

There are many pros and cons to rehab facilities. The right facility for you depends on many factors. It is possible to make changes before you become dependent on drugs and/or alcohol. Many people change their relationship with drugs and/or alcohol before it is too late.

A variety of health and treatment professionals can help you to stop using drugs / alcohol. Treatment professionals help you evaluate your problems with drugs or alcohol and gain an understanding of where you are in the disease. What are the symptoms you are experiencing? How has drugs and alcohol use affected your life? Then they help you make choices about the goals you want to accomplish in terms of quitting and remaining sober. Armed with a treatment plan, you are much better able to choose among the options.

People who want to stop using choose among the available treatment options to find an approach that is right for them. The right approach will give you the knowledge and support you need to meet your goals and to set new goals during recovery. Treatment will help you and your family and loved ones recover from a disease that has damaged their daily lives and their hopes for the future. The right approach will restore the hope you may have lost to the disease of drugs and/or alcoholism.

Health professionals who treat any type of disease—cancer, AIDS, arthritis, diabetes— will attest to the importance of hope in the recovery process. When a person’s hope is restored, so is the motivation to act, to make ongoing choices to fight the disease and to do what is necessary to recover.

Recovery is an Ongoing Process

Recovery from addiction is an ongoing process because there is no cure. The treatments and support that you choose now may later be too much or too little. The goal is to find what works now, and to educate yourself about all the options available, so that if you need more help in the future, or less help, you can find the treatments and supports that are right for you.

To think that you have to recover from addiction on your own with no help represents the distorted thinking that is a well-known symptom of addiction. In recovery from addiction, support comes in many forms. Family physicians, psychiatrists and psychologists, counselors, self-help groups and other organizations are just a few of the supports available that will help educate you about addiction and provide the level of support you need.

You and your medical or counseling professional are best equipped to know which type of treatment is ideal for your situation. Be honest with yourself about how independently dedicated you can be in an outpatient rehab program. Do you feel like the temptations to use based on daily stresses, friends and acquaintances, or lack of social support would be an issue in successfully completing outpatient rehab? Have you tried and been unsuccessful time and time again at stopping your drug or alcohol use by yourself or in outpatient rehab? Are you physically addicted to drugs or alcohol and absolutely require a medical detox prior to receiving treatment services? When you speak with a specialist about voluntarily entering drug and alcohol treatment, talk about your personal circumstances in order to figure out which aspects of inpatient or outpatient rehab programs would best suit you. Outpatient and residential drug and alcohol treatment programs both have life-changing benefits, and understanding which program will best help you achieve long-term recovery is one of the first steps toward becoming sober.

An addiction can strike a person when they least expect it, as they’re trying to handle an increase in their workload, childcare or child-rearing, mental health issues, family issues, or for no reason whatsoever. It often begins innocently — trying to relieve the stress of everyday life, or just to try something new. Before the person knows it, they’re turning to the drug or alcohol as a way of coping with any negative feelings or stress in their lives. They may find they need more and more of the drug or drink in order to gain the same benefits from it. Efforts to scale back or to stop altogether are difficult or next-to-impossible.

Drug addiction and alcohol addiction is usually not easily overcome on one’s own. Most people who face an addiction to a substance or alcohol need additional help. At the onset of your treatment, you’ll have to figure out what path works best for you and your needs.