Where There Is Life There Is Hope!

1. Where There Is Life There Is Hope!

2. Synopsis i. 4 Most common Crack Addiction Symptoms ii. 3 Common Myths about Crack Addiction iii. An Overview of Hydromorphone Abuse iv. What Is Alcohol Abuse? v. Alcohol Abuse – Causes, Signs and Treatment vi. How Effective Is Alcohol Or Drug Addiction Treatment? vii. Getting Your Facts Straight On Alcohol Abuse, Alcohol Dependence and Alcoholism viii. Life After Rehab: How to Live a Normal Life Post Addiction Treatment

3. 4 Most common Crack Addiction Symptoms • Red Eyes and Dilated Pupils • One of the most common and easily noticeable signs of crack addiction include dilated pupils and red eyes. The pupils are dilated due to a nervous system stimulant which is present in the crack. Therefore, when the person uses the drug, their people dilate and increase in size. It may also result in bloodshot eyes and cause extreme irritation, in some cases. • Depression • Another uncontrollable side effect of crack abuse is depression. Using crack results in increased dopamine levels in the user’s brain. Dopamine is a chemical which elevates the mood of a person and causes the high which people get by using crack. However, once the effect of drug wears off, the level of dopamine levels will be washed-out. This may, consequently, result in severe depression and fatigue. • Mood Swings • Smoking crack can make a person feeling happier and more confident, which can be quite overwhelming. However, these good feelings come with consequences. The high that results from crack are short-lived, and after the effect is worn out, a user may experience sadness, fatigue, and irritation. The effects are often noticeable to the people around them. • Hyperactivity • Using crack makes the person increasingly active, and they may experience difficulty in staying still. Moreover, they may talk quickly and compelled to talk more than usual. This can be difficult for the addict to hide and may create awkwardness, especially when there are many people around the addict.

4. 3 Common Myths about Crack Addiction • Cocaine addicts can quit whenever they want • Most people presume that a person who is suffering from cocaine addiction is able to quit this habit whenever they want. Contrary to this popular belief, a cocaine addict does not make a conscious choice to continue using it. • Addiction to cocaine is a moral failure • Although it is true to some extent, however, it is not the case with every drug addict. Many people are introduced to cocaine against their will or at a very young age. It does not mean that it is their moral failure, but the problem is circumstantial. Most people unwillingly try this drug, perhaps due to peer pressure or the environment and gets hooked to it. Some people have a higher tendency of resistance, but other may be unable to resist the urge once they are addicted to cocaine. • Friends or family cannot help • This myth is the most dangerous one because it prevents many people from helping their family member or friend who is suffering from cocaine addiction. People must understand that while the drug user may be helpless against the addiction, but loved ones can always help them recover from the addiction.

5. An Overview of Hydromorphone Abuse • Effects of the drug • Hydromorphone is several times stronger than morphine. When used, it causes drowsiness and euphoria, and, depending on the dose it can also cause respiratory depression because it has a direct effect on the respiratory center in the central nervous system. In some cases, this drug causes itching and it can cause severe nausea, up to vomiting. Hydromorphone slows the motility of the gastrointestinal tract, which is associated with an increase in the tone of smooth muscles, and as a result, constipation may occur. • If you take a high dose of the drug, a cardiac attack might occur and a severe respiratory depression begins which can lead to suffocation. Without medical assistance, cardiac arrest can also cause death. • Dependence and consequences • Dependence on hydromorphone, as well as on other opioid preparations, develops quite quickly and is very difficult to quit. The most terrible variant of the development of addiction is the use of a drug by insertion into a vein. This method of taking the drug threatens very terrible health problems. • Repeated use of syringes by several people significantly increases the risk of contracting serious infectious diseases, as well as the spread of AIDS.

6. What Is Alcohol Abuse? • If a person is drinking too much alcohol in one go or too frequently in the week then they have an alcohol abuse problem, which might harm the person’s relationships, health, work and legal issues. Also, this can interfere with a person’s functionality and productivity at the workplace, or in other parts of a person’s life. • Alcohol abuse can eventually result in alcohol dependency and alcoholism while consuming large quantities of alcohol in a single sitting can cause alcohol poisoning. A person should always drink in moderation. A female should consume no more than one drink per day, while a man should consume no more than two drinks in one day. One drink, in this case, equals to: • 1.5 ounces of liquor (such as rum, whisky, and tequila) • 5 ounces of wine • 12 ounces of beer

7. Alcohol Abuse – Causes, Signs and Treatment • What are the causes of alcohol abuse? • There are a number of reasons why people might abuse alcohol including social pressure, stress, anxiety, depression, loneliness, tension, unhappiness, self-doubt, family history, and as a coping mechanism. • How can doctors diagnose alcohol abuse? • The frequent consumption of alcohol hinders or interferes with the person’s responsibilities at school, work, and home. • The frequent consumption of alcohol puts the person abusing alcohol or others at risk of accidents or in other forms of physical danger (such as driving or operating machinery under the influence, consuming alcohol during pregnancy, consuming alcohol with drugs). • The person abusing alcohol lands into legal trouble due to alcohol consumption (such as drunk driving). • The relationships of the person abusing alcohol are severely affected. • Which is the best treatment for alcohol abuse? • There are many forms of treatment available to treat alcohol abuse. Each treatment has a different effect on each patient. However, there is one definite factor – the sooner a person receives treatment, the quicker they will recover. • Behavioural therapy is an effective form of treatment for alcohol abuse, which may include counselling sessions, support groups, or both. Also, the doctor might prescribe some medications to treat alcohol abuse. The function of these medications is to help a person curb their drinking.

8. How Effective Is Alcohol Or Drug Addiction Treatment? • There Is No Magic Formula Who Get Things Fix Right Away! • Only a licensed alcohol and drug counselor can turn things in your favor and make you recover from your situation as s/he has to thoroughly diagnose and evaluate your drug or alcohol addiction-level and come up with an effective treatment plan. One thing to keep in mind is, there is no direct method or magic formula that can cure your drug or alcohol addiction right away. Typically, the treatment takes a lot of time and may get you in a troublesome situation, only to get you out of the crisis. • Healthcare Provides You A Recovery Path—Follow It As Prescribed! • Since the goal of treatment is to return you to live a normal life, you need to help yourself and work tirelessly with your recovery counselor who will eventually make things easier for you to recover from the menace. Simply put, your healthcare or recovery counselor can only provide you with a direction, you can make your life better by following his or her prescribed method. Or else, your addiction situation will lead you into a disaster, costing you both your health and wealth. • Addiction Treatment via Evidence-Based Approaches! • There is a wide continuum of evidence-based approaches to treating addiction, out of which two are most prominent that include behavioral therapy or contingency management. Generally, healthcare or recovery counselors use a combination of these approaches, which means treatment via medication plus therapy depending on the patient’s individual needs and limitations that have long known to produce desirable outcomes. In short, “Drug, alcohol, or behavioral treatment can include behavioral therapies, medications, or both.”

9. Getting Your Facts Straight On Alcohol Abuse, Alcohol Dependence and Alcoholism • Alcohol abuse, alcohol dependence and alcoholism share many symptoms and signs which makes it hard to identify between the three, yet all of them are separate conditions. However, alcohol abuse can lead to alcoholism due to the increase in alcohol tolerance levels, which is why AUD is considered a severe and distorted form of alcohol abuse. Alcohol dependency is a severe form of alcoholism, which is why not only does it exhibit the characteristics of alcohol abuse, but it also showcases other symptoms. • Alcohol abuse is a relatively milder drinking problem that can be curbed by the patient himself/herself even without professional help. Alcoholism has different forms, the treatment of which can only be determined after identifying the severity of the issue. Alcohol dependency, on the other hand, is a serious issue that cannot be treated without professional help or medication, and in some cases even requires being admitted to rehab. • The main similarities between the three alcohol-related issues are their symptoms and in some case their causes. There are three major causes of alcohol abuse, alcoholism and alcoholism – family history and genetics, a stressful lifestyle that can result in a person using alcohol as a coping mechanism, and lastly to feel enjoyment and happiness.

10. Life After Rehab: How to Live a Normal Life Post Addiction Treatment • Make a Post-Treatment Addiction Plan • Whether you are reaching at the end your treatment or you are returning home after a successful rehab, you need to develop a post-treatment addiction plan in order to recover fully and get back the life you once had lived happily. This post-treatment plan eradicates the chances of using drugs or alcohol again. So, connecting with a reliable support, including friends, family, healthcare professionals can help create an effective recovery plan that further helps you practice a healthy lifestyle. • Follow a Prescribed Code of Conduct Post-Addiction Treatment • The people that are close to you can understand you better and help you recover from your ill health as they feel and care for you. Besides recovery support services, you also need to take care of yourself and maintain a healthy yet balanced lifestyle post-addiction treatment by following a general code of conduct after the treatment under the supervision of trained healthcare professionals. That may include individual or group counseling or therapy, medication, drug testing and feedback, phone follow-ups followed by recovery checkups etc.

11. Life After Rehab: How to Live a Normal Life Post Addiction Treatment • Recognize and Manage Triggers • It is important to understand the situation that can trigger cravings for behavioral, drug, or alcohol dependency. So, you need to recognize and manage triggers and avoid them at any costs if you expect your recovery phase to go smoothly. Trust me, fighting against all the odds or the addiction can make you normal and help you live a stress-free life after your post-treatment. • Always Be Ready If Relapse Occurs • Well, you need to understand that relapse doesn’t mean your addiction treatment has failed to address your health issues. Rather, relapse is much more common after several years into the recovery and people can fall prey to drugs and alcohol all over again. However, you should, by then, must have learned the art of controlling yourself from abusing drugs or substances. If you can’t manage recovery on your own, consider rehiring the same rehab centre that had previously successfully got you out of danger.

12. For more details, please visit: https://canadianaddictionrehab.ca/ 5th and 7th Floors 1235 Bay St. Toronto, ON Phone: 1-855-655-3636 Email: info@canadianaddictionrehab.ca