More than Just a Revamp

A complete renovation and improvement..

Technology is always changing. Alcohol and drug abuse trends are always changing. Alcohol and drug rehab treatment programs need to keep up with those trends, and thus, are always changing...

What must a quality drug rehab and alcohol treatment center do to keep up with the dynamic world we live in, full of billions of people and millions of web surfers?—Answer questions, provide quality and up to date information, constantly update, utilize interactive mediums like social media, photos, videos, chat systems, search engines, etc.

We have done exactly that! Recognized the changes and updated our website to accommodate people of all demographics.

We've implemented a user friendly interface, including a search bar so users can find the exact information they are seeking much faster than before. We have linked our home website to our social world where people have a sense of ownership and connection with each other and with us. We have provided multiple ways to contact us directly in case our website doesn’t answer all the questions you may have, or to give you options in seeking the alcohol and drug addiction treatment you need for yourself or a loved one.

Find out what our past clients are saying about us with dozens of testimonials and Google Places reviews. Keep up with our blogs and subscribe to the RSS feed to get them sent straight to you. Or stop by to find resources like Alcoholics Anonymous and Al-Anon Family Groups in one easy-to-find location.

After weeks of brainstorming, developing, designing, and applying, the new "www.TheRecoveryPlace.net" has arrived and we are excited to share this valuable source with you! Please take a look and tell us what you think—it’s a source for you, so we want your feedback.


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Life Long Effects of Alcohol Abuse

Impaired judgment, loss of employment, domestic violence are just a few of the many consequences associated with alcoholism and alcohol abuse. Alcohol has been an integral part of society and human civilization for thousands of years. About 2 billion people across the world consume alcoholic drinks; and while it is commonly associated with pleasure and sociability, its use has severe consequences.

According to James R. Milam, Ph.D., and Katherine Ketcham in Under the Influence—A Guide to the Myths and Realities of Alcoholism, Currently, there are over 76 million people who suffer from alcohol abuse disorders. Alcohol abuse can have adverse social and economic effects on the individual drinker, the drinker’s immediate environment and society as a whole. People suffering from alcohol abuse or alcoholism have an increased risk of committing criminal offenses, such as child abuse, domestic violence, rape, burglary, and assault. You may lose your car, your job, your house, your spouse. You may neglect to fulfill all your responsibilities, or even get arrested for driving under the influence. These are just a few of the short term consequences associated with alcohol abuse or alcoholism.

Because these consequences don’t always seem long lasting, it sometimes leads to a sense of denial about the issue. “Oh, I’ll be fine. I’ll find a new job,” or “He only hits me when he’s drunk, everything is great otherwise.” Furthermore, many don’t take into the account the long term effects that have been going on seemingly unnoticed and will affect them for the rest of their lives. Some of the long-term effects of alcohol abuse are:

• Heart Failure: Heart failure is a major cause of death from alcohol abuse and alcoholism with some symptoms of alcoholic cardiomyopathy, or heart disease, being heart palpitations and labored or difficult breathing. High blood pressure is another common condition among untreated alcoholics and a contributor to heart failure.

• Fatty Liver: Whenever alcohol is in the body, the liver uses it for fuel rather than the more difficult and time consuming fat, thus letting the fat build up in the liver. As the fat accumulates, it begins to crowd the highly specialized liver cells, many of which die. This condition, called fatty infiltration of the liver or alcohol liver disease, is where as more and more liver cells are injured, the fatty deposits enlarge, causing the liver to swell.

• Cirrhosis of the liver: As the alcoholic continues to drink, so many liver cells get destroyed to the point where scar tissue begins to form. This condition has a profound effect on the alcoholic’s behavior and emotions. The toxic alcoholic is confused, his thought process jumbled and rambling, and memory and judgment muddled. Even his balance and equilibrium may be affected. If the drinking continues and scar tissue begins to form, the blood vessels will be gradually choked off and the liver cells will sicken and die until the formerly mighty and complex factory of the liver is reduced to a decrepit, fragile structure clogged with poisons, wastes, and dead cells; incapable of sustaining life.

• Gastrointestinal Disorders: Milam and Ketcham in Under the Influence, explain that alcohol sabotages the protective system designed to prevent the stomach from digesting itself by assaulting the fat and protein layer of the membranes and weakening the tight links between the cells that make up this barrier. Digestive juices may now leak through the cells and onto the membranes. This leads to the lining of the stomach becoming seriously inflamed, a condition known as gastritis. Gastritis can be severe enough to cause bleeding, and its symptoms include indigestion, bloating, nausea, headache, and abnormal increase or decrease in appetite.

• Respiratory Tract Disease: In general, alcoholism causes damage to the lungs by interfering with the body’s normal defense mechanisms. This thereby makes the alcoholic susceptible to respiratory infection and injury. The interference with normal functioning can lead to infections, tuberculosis, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and lung abscess. The acute inflammation or infection of the lungs, pneumonia, is a frequent cause of death for late stage alcoholics.

• Cancer: Also in Under the Influence, while alcohol isn't a widely accepted cancer-causing agent, there are strong indications that large amounts of alcohol taken over a prolonged period of time definitely contribute to or aggravate cancers throughout the body. Alcoholics appear to have an increased risk of head and neck, esophageal, lung and liver cancers.

• Pancreatitis: Large and continuous does of alcohol injure the pancreas, causing it to activate and release certain digestive enzymes which, in turn, aggravate the inflammation of this vital gland located behind the stomach and the liver. Pancreatitis is characterized by severe pain in the upper abdomen, often radiating to the back and lower chest, nausea, vomiting, and constipation.

• Malnutrition: All alcoholics suffer from malnutrition to some degree. Large doses of alcohol interfere with digestion and passage of nutrients from the intestines into the bloodstream. Without adequate nutrients, the cells, already weakened by long exposures to alcohol’s toxic effects, are not able to create bone, tissue, blood, or energy. The sick and injured cells thus don’t have the resources to repair themselves, and damage continues to go unchecked.

These long-term life threatening effects often get overlooked in comparison to short term consequences. Alcoholism is a progressive disease and one of the most difficult obstacles is getting an alcoholic to admit that they have a problem. Alcoholics are able to drink more and more each day which further contributes to these long term effects as well as the short term ones.

See the signs in your loved one before it’s too late and help them get the care and alcohol abuse treatment they need and deserve.


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Relieving Stress with Alcohol May Increase Stress Later

“I don’t drink every night; I’m just having fun with my friends!” or “We’re celebrating tonight, so let’s go big!” or “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas!”

Have you ever said or thought any of those statements?

When you can’t immediately see the negative consequences that go along with your actions, it is very easy to make the leap to “if nothing bad is happening now while I’m young, then my actions won’t cause any negative consequences in the future as well…right?”

Wrong. In regards to alcohol abuse and binge drinking during adolescence, the exact opposite has proven to be true.

Binge drinking is defined as consuming more than four or five drinks in a single session. According to Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 36 percent of youths between the ages of 18 to 20 reported at least one binge-drinking episode during the past 30 days. The majority of college students are between the ages of 18 and 20, and with finals right around the corner, many will turn to binge drinking as a way to let loose and try to take away from all the stress final papers and tests bring. However, many don’t realize that while they may feel as if they are relieving stress now, in reality they may be shaping themselves up for even more stress among other negative consequences in adulthood, as a result of binge drinking.

The findings from a study done by researchers from the Loyola School of Medicine, suggest that alcohol exposure during puberty permanently alters the system by which the brain triggers the body to produce stress hormones. In essence, exposing young people to alcohol could permanently disrupt connections in the brain that are normally formed during puberty and are necessary to ensure healthy adult brain function.

In addition, teenage binge drinking has also been linked to damage to one’s prospective memory. Prospective memory is the cognitive ability to remember to carry out an activity at some future point in time. For example, you use your prospective memory when you remember to pay your rent on the first of the month. Imagine forgetting to pay your rent on time and getting evicted from your house or apartment. How horrible would that be?

And it doesn’t stop there; these examples are only two on a long list of ways in which binge drinking as an adolescent can affect you well into adulthood. Other negative consequences that may occur in adulthood as a result of binge drinking include:

An increased risk of anxiety
An increased risk of depression
An increased risk of stroke or heart-related death in men with high blood pressure
An increased risk in developing alcoholism
Face social exclusion as adults
Find themselves with a string of criminal convictions in adulthood
An increase in the risk for hemorrhagic stroke

When you reach for the bottle the night you finish your finals take a minute to think about your future.


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Drug Rehab and Alcohol Treatment Center Smoking Bans

Can smoking cigarettes during your drug rehab and alcohol treatment determine whether you have recovery success or not? Rehab centers are beginning to think so.

Recently, a new tobacco-free policy was instituted at an Ohio women’s drug abuse treatment center. While tobacco-free treatment facilities began in New Jersey during the 1990’s, this treatment center was the first in Ohio to go tobacco free. Tobacco-free facilities have begun to make their way to other parts of the country as well.

Now did banning smoking really make a difference at the treatment center in Ohio? Yes…just not in the way they were expecting.

In a study done during the first few months after the tobacco-free policy was instituted, it was found that both smokers and non-smokers alike were more likely to leave treatment early. The researchers also found that the percentage of patients who completed their program at the women’s center decreased from 70 to 42 percent. The success rate wasn’t the only thing that dropped, the average number of days that patients remained in the program dropped from 61 to 48 days. Those are both pretty substantial decreases in just a few months.

Drug rehab and alcohol treatment facilities have generally tended to allow patients to smoke because many believe that treating someone for smoking in addition to other substance abuse is just too difficult and will likely end in failure. In addition many facilities fear that simply, banning smoking will cause them to lose business. The other train of thought is that since many patients use cigarettes as a crutch to help them cope while trying to defeat other addictions, their smoking could pose to be just as much of a problem.

Gretchen Hammond, who works for Amethyst Inc. in Ohio stated, “You behave very similarly with a cigarette as you would with any drug. For example, if I’m having a bad day I’ll try to smoke it away verses talking to someone or going to therapy and working on the problem.”

Now which train of thought is better? There is no definite answer yet. The results from the previously mentioned study in Ohio, don’t necessarily mean that treatment centers shouldn’t try and implement smoking bans, but rather shine a light on the challenges that are associated with implementing a new policy which goes against years and years of conventional thinking.

Have you ever tried to change an extremely stubborn friend’s mind? It’s hard isn’t it? With no definite answer, the question remains, to ban smoking in treatment centers or to not ban smoking?


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THE 40 DAY CHALLENGE

Catholics around the world are observing this particular Wednesday, March 9th, 2011, as Ash Wednesday. As many of us know, Ash Wednesday marks the starting point for the Catholic tradition Lent–a time of sacrifice for Jesus.  Lent is traditionally 40 days long, starting on Ash Wednesday and ending on Easter, where those participating in the tradition sacrifice something from their daily lives for the entire period. Common ‘sacrifices’ include meat, coffee (caffeine), or alcohol. 

Certainly, Lent is not a tradition everyone partakes in, as it is from Catholic origin, but the idea behind it is something we can all relate too. 

We all have our vices… Some more obvious than others, and all of which we could probably ‘sacrifice’ in becoming a better person. 

Many of you have spent the last few months challenging your will power and strength. Now in recovery from alcohol and drug addiction you can continue to test yourself and become the best version of you. 

I would like to challenge all of you to 40 days of sacrifice, even if it’s as little as cutting back on a daily “cuppa joe,” and then tell us about it. What are you giving up? What’s the hardest thing about giving it up and what have you put in place of those habits? Maybe instead of watching TV you've taken up reading and instead of fast food you’ve planned out your home cooked meals.  Either way, challenge yourself. 

As humans we are constantly growing—dare to flourish in the inevitable growth. 

View Original Post, The 40 Day Challenge 

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ALL FOR ONE AND ONE FOR ALL

The National Institutes of Health Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has researched and documented what The Recovery Place knows, and has addressed, from the beginning:

Addiction is a family disease!

Comprehensive alcohol and drug rehab programs must support family members just as fully as the addict or alcoholic is being supported.  The Recovery Place exceeds the support most rehab programs offer.  

“Our commitment to including the family leads to higher levels of success for our clients and instills hope and guidance to the families that support them,” emphasizes Pamela Hand, Program Director at TRP. 


“The Recovery Place weekly family contacts, the weekly family support group, and the quarterly family weekend,” explains Pamela, “help to develop strong awareness and support for the client and their family.”  


At The Recovery Place this support starts from first contact and continues after discharge.  It is available whether family members live near TRPs alcohol and drug rehab center or in a far distant state.  


Weekly contact can take place via phone or internet, if loved ones are too distant to come to our Fort Lauderdale location.   We know that the more support we can provide family members, the better the chance of family recovery from the stress and problems that addiction causes both short-term and long term. 



View Original Post, All For One and One For All

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