Treatment Cave

According to the American College of Preventative Medicine, the Misuse and Abuse of Prescription Drugs is Epidemic. The past two decades have witnessed an expansion of pain medication use, especially opioid use for patients who have chronic noncancer pain. 7 million people abuse/misuse prescription drugs every month; pain relievers = 5.3 million. We live in "a pill for every ill” culture. Nonmedical use of Prescription drugs is the defining drug problem of the new century. The increase in diversion of prescription drugs is fueled by: Increased advertising and advocacy  Easy access and availability  Stronger motivations to get high (such as to deal with problems, or work harder and longer) Safety perception that prescription drugs are less harmful than illicit street drugs  Normalization of abuse of prescription drugs in teen culture  Limited liability  Lack of education  High street value  Pain Pill Patients Opioids are the most abused drugs in the ...

12 Step Meeting Makers Make It! Once you have completed your in-patient addiction treatment at English Mountain Recovery your recovery program is not over. Recovery is a life long event but completed one day at a time. Over the years we have seen that our most successful clients commit to and attend 12 step meetings on a regular basis. The first thing you will want to do when you return home from treatment, is to go online and check out the available 12 step meetings in your area. Bookmark that page, or better yet print it out. Most AA's pre-schedule their meetings conveniently around work or school schedules. Get a Home-Group Meeting People who have long term sobriety more thank likely are a member of a home-group. A home-group is a meeting you can join and should attend on a very regular basis. Overtime this group will become like family to you, as you get to know people on a personal level. I have attended a 12 step noon meeting for as long as I can remember. In the beginni...

When we stop drinking alcohol or using drugs we can easily, without warning - replace that addiction with sugar. Satisfying ourselves with a little sugar instead of our previous addiction is easy to justify. The problem is that alcohol and drug addiction share common characteristics with how the body reacts to sugar. How Does Sugar Affect the Brain? Web MD wrote: Sugar gives you a rush, messes with your mind, and always leaves you wanting more - and now researchers are calling for the government to regulate the sweet stuff like a drug. Sounds pretty much just like our former addiction. Is sugar worse for you than, say, cocaine? According to a 2012 article in the journal Nature, it's a toxic substance that should be regulated like tobacco and alcohol. Researchers point to studies that show that too much sugar (both in the form of natural sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup) not only makes us fat, it also wreaks havoc on our liver, mucks up our metabolism, impairs brain function, ...

The thinking about geriatrics in Chinese medicine has been dominated by Kidney deficiency for centuries. As Kidney-Jing declines as we age, the clinical approach to the treatment of the elderly has been based largely on tonifying the Kidneys. However, modern diseases of the elderly that account for 90% of mortality (cancer, heart disease and stroke) are characterized by Fullness. Quite simply, we do not die of Kidney deficiency but of Phlegm, Blood stasis and Internal Wind. The most common pathogenic factors (and those leading to serious diseases) are: Phlegm Blood stasis Internal Wind Apart from the major diseases of the elderly such as cancer, stroke and heart disease, very many symptoms and signs that occur in old age are caused by Phlegm and/or Blood stasis. The following is a partial list. GERIATRIC SYMPTOMS/SIGNS •Otosclerosis: Phlegm/Blood stasis •Cataract: Phlegm •Macular degeneration (vascular, lack of blood nourishment): Blood stasis •Dry eyes: may be due to Blood stasis •Alz...

1. Attend 12 Step Meetings Most 12 step groups hold additional meetings during the holidays and sober parties. Keep your 12 step meeting schedule handy on your phone and make a plan. Remember - nothing ensures continuous sobriety better than one alcoholic talking to another alcoholic. 2. Remove Expectations During this time of year, we can place a lot of expectations on others as well as ourselves. Remember the Alcoholics Anonymous slogan, "easy does it". Relax and take the pressure off yourself and those around you. Enjoy the season! 3. Start A New Holiday Tradition Why not start a new tradition and host your own sober holiday event? Invite your sober friends over and have them bring their favorite dish. Before you eat read a paragraph from the Big Book and let everyone share. Nothing breaks the ice better than a meeting! 4. Don't Go to Slippery Places There is an old saying in Alcoholics Anonymous - Don't go to the barber shop unless you want to get a haircut!...

Step Two of the Alcoholics Anonymous 12 Step Program is: "Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity." Excerpt from the A.A. Twelve Steps & Twelve Traditions "When we encountered A.A., the fallacy of our defiance was revealed. At no time had we asked what God's will was for us; instead we had been telling Him what it ought to be. No man, we saw, could believe in God and defy Him, too. Belief meant reliance, not defiance. In A.A. we saw the fruits of this belief: men and women spared from alcohol's final catastrophe. We saw them meet and transcend their other pains and trials. We saw them calmly accept impossible situations, seeking neither to run nor to recriminate. This was not only faith; it was faith that worked under all conditions. We soon concluded that whatever price in humility we must pay, we would pay." PDF Download Step Two in its entirety. Humility - A Cornerstone of Successful Recovery Humility is not th...

Fox News reported that- Steve Sarkisian sued the University of Southern California on Monday, alleging the school breached the football coach's contract and discriminated against him on the basis of a disability -- namely alcoholism -- when it fired him this fall. According to Fox News, Sarkisian claims he should have been allowed to seek treatment for alcoholism while keeping his job. The lawsuit describes Sarkisian's descent into alcohol dependency in steady detail, citing the extraordinary stress of the USC job combined with his wife's decision to file for divorce earlier this year. Sarkisian was an assistant coach at USC under coach Pete Carroll during the 2000s, and he returned to the school as head coach in December 2013 after five years at Washington. Sarkisian's behavior was first scrutinized last August when he slurred his words and used profanity in a speech at a preseason pep rally. He claims he was affected by two light beers and two prescription medicatio...