Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Montana Drug Rehabilitation

The Narcotics Anonymous program has some questions for users to help them assess if they have a drug problem. Some of these are: Do you ever use alone? Have you ever stolen money to obtain drugs? Does the thought of running out of drugs terrify you?

These are just a few of the questions but if you can answer yes to those you may want to consider getting help. We have listed a few possible choices for drug rehab in Montana here. If you don't see a center that will work for you please visit 4DrugRehab for a more comprehensive list.

Gateway Community Services - Located in Great Falls, this is a substance abuse treatment center that specializes in the treatment of adolescents, pregnant/postpartum women, women, DUI/DWI offenders and more. For more information please call 1-406-727-2512.

Rimrock Foundation - This is a treatment center in Billings for those with mental health issues as well as substance abuse problems. They treat adolescents, women who are pregnant/postpartum, and women in general. They offer beds for those with children. For more information please call 1-800-227-3953.

Lake County Chemical Dependency Program - Substance abuse treatment center in Polson. Serves men, women, adolescents, DUI/DWI offenders and criminal justice clients. Please call 1-406-250-0121 for more information.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Southern California Drug Rehabilitation Centers

Here we will list a few of the available drug rehabilitation centers in the Southern California area. If you do not see one that fits your needs or is not in your are please visit our page at 4DrugRehab.

ABC Recovery Center Inc. - Offers a substance abuse program for pregnant children and women who are mothers. Patient rooms have extra beds for the patients children. Also offering treatment for men. Acts as a halfway house, drug treatment center, and long-term and short-term residential treatment programs. Patients self pay and financial assistance is available. Located in Indio. Please call 1-760-342-6616 for more information.

Aegis Medical Systems Inc. - Treatment for mental health/substance abuse patients. Offers programs for pregnant/post-partum mothers as well as criminal justice clients. Foreign language support, hearing impairment support, detoxification, methadone maintenance, and services are outpatient. Payment is on a sliding scale that is income based. Please call 1-800-821-0775. Located in Oxnard.

Freedom House - A residential substance abuse treatment program. Offers a sliding payment schedule and financial assistance. Please call 1-619-542-0452 for more information on admission and the financial assistance. Program is located in San Diego.

Diversified Counseling Service, Inc. - With a primary focus in substance abuse treatment and a special program for criminal justice clients this is a great facility in Anaheim. For more information please call 1-714-758-9920.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Washington Drug Rehabilitation

This post is to give you a few ideas of where to turn for drug rehabilitation services in the state of Washington. If you don't find what you need in this brief list please visit out site 4DrugRehab.

Addictive Behavior Center Inc. - In Bellevue this treatment center offers outpatient substance abuse treatment. Treats DUI/DWI offenders. Spanish speaking help and private pay as well as insurance payments are taken. For more information please call 1-425-646-4000.

Colonial Clinic - Based in Spokane this is a substance abuse and detoxification center. Offers special programs for DUI/DWI offenders. Accepts private pay and private health insurance. Call 1-509-327-9831 for more information.

Gig Harbor Counseling - An outpatient substance treatment center for men and women including those with DUI/DWI offenses. They have a sliding fee scale that is income based. To get more information please call 1-800-562-1240.

Evergreen Manor, Inc. - A Seattle based drug treatment center. Focuses on patients with ongoing mental health needs as well as substance abuse. For more information and other locations please call 1-206-223-3644.

Chemical Dependency Treatment Program DVAMC - In Walla Walla this program focuses on drug treatment services and helping those with recurring and co-occurring mental health needs. Provides inpatient and outpatient detoxification, and drug treatment. They offer private pay and insurance billing. Please call 1-509-525-5200 x22671.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Oregon Drug Treatment

In this post we will provide information on drug rehabilitation centers throughout Oregon, mainly in the largest cities. If you don't find an area that you are looking for please visit our site at 4DrugRehab.

Portland area:

  • Portland Alternative Healthcare - Focuses on mental health and substance abuse issues including detoxification. They do accept insurance and Medicaid and the fees are based on income level and other factors.
  • Portland Metro Treatment Center - This drug treatment facility treats drug addiction, detoxification and has methadone treatment as well as maintenance.
Eugene area:
  • Eugene Center for Family Development - This is an outpatient substance abuse program with an emphasis on mental health. Most payment forms are accepted.
  • White Bird Clinic - This is an outpatient drug rehab/mental health clinic for substance abuse and detoxification. Payment is based on a sliding fee schedule. Insurance is accepted.
Medford area:
  • Alcoholics Anonymous -110 E 6th St, Medford - (541) 773-4848

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Effects of Alcohol on the Brain

We have all most likely seen how alcohol affects the brain. Things like difficulty walking, blurred vision, slurred speech, memory issues, and slower reaction times. These are completely different issues than when someone drinks heavily over a long period of time.

Studies have shown that drinking can cause brain damage and memory problems that are lasting. Some of these problems cause people to need constant care. What isn't for sure it how much drinking it takes to have these problems. It varies from person to person, how much they drink and how often, the age that the drinking began, age, weight, gender, genetic factors, and the person's overall health.

Memory issues and blackouts are real problems for people who drink. Memory impairment increases with each drink that an individual has. There are many people who will drink and the following day not recall every detail of the time that they were intoxicated. Along those lines are blackouts. These are more serious because people literally can't remember what happened in a certain span of time while they were intoxicated. While equal numbers of men and women report that they have experienced black outs studies find that women are more prone to blackouts. The reason for this is believed to be because of the difference in how men and women metabolize alcohol.

Because of the difference in how women metabolize alcohol they are at a greater risk of all medical consequences that are alcohol related. We also know that a developing brain of a younger person (teens who drink) is at greater risk of having medical consequences because of underage drinking.

If you or someone you know has a problem with drinking please get them help from a rehabilitation center as soon as possible.

*Information taken from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Underage Drinking

Underage drinking is a huge concern in our world today. It isn't just a matter of teens having a drink or two, they tend to drink to excess (having more than six drinks on a single occasion). According to DontServeTeens.gov 8 percent of eighth graders, 16 percent of 10th graders and 24 percent of seniors say that they have been binge drinking in recent history. Most of these teens say that they have drank like this in the past 30 days. Teen alcohol abuse is very real and we all need to do our part to prevent and discourage this behavior.

Teens who drink tend to have a variety of other problems including: other drug abuse, increased school absences, behavior problems, problems with peers, increased homicide and suicide rates, mental effects that are permanent, more accidents in and outside of automobiles, effects on growth and sexual development, and more illness overall. These are just a few of the problems that come with underage drinking.

The National Institutes of Health give the following advice for preventing underage drinking:

Schools:
  1. Provide information on drinking and drug use that is age appropriate
  2. Help teens develop social, personal and other skills to resist the pressure to drink
  3. Skills training
  4. Using interactive teaching methods
  5. Getting family and community involved in education
  6. Being sensitive to cultural differences

Families:

  1. Create strong relationships within the family
  2. Positive reinforcement
  3. Good communication skills including listening and understanding
  4. Helping teens learn how to solve problems effectively
  5. Parent need to monitor their children of all ages and be involved in what they are doing

If you or someone you love has a problem with alcohol abuse please seek help from a rehabilitation center today.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Effects of LSD

LSD (Lysergic acid diethylamide) is a psychedelic drug that has many effects on the user. Here we will discuss briefly those effects and what they can do to the user. Studies show that LSD use is most often experimental or limited to a few uses. Research indicates that long term use of LSD is unlikely as well as uncommon. This is most likely due to the ill effects that users have from LSD.

Effects of LSD are:

Visual effects when eyes are both closed and open
Loss of sense of time (or distortion)
Fever
Hypothermia
High blood pressure
High blood sugar
Sweating
Pupil dilation
Sleeplessness
Tremors
Nausea
Weakness
Numbness
Hallucinations which vary from user to user and vary in each use

The psychological effects of LSD are mainly the hallucinations. Users have reported seeing bright colors, geometric shapes that "crawl", different visuals that look like waves or ripples, and more. Other effects are loss of sense of self (or as some describe "death of ego"), and morphing objects.

If the user of LSD is not in a relaxed, comfortable place with an open mindset they are more likely to have a "bad trip". There is no guarantee of what kind of experience someone will have when they use LSD but these factors have been shown to play a role in determining the kind of experience the user has.

If you or someone you love shows signs of LSD or drug abuse of any kind be sure to get help at a drug rehabilitation center as soon as possible. Drug addiction is very difficult to overcome and requires professional help.

Friday, September 4, 2009

Gateway Drugs

Although nicotine and alcohol are by all means legal in the United States studies have found that the use of such substances leads to a greater risk of trying illicit drugs. There is a theory that states that nicotine, alcohol and marijuana are gateway drugs that lead to the use of what are considered hard core drugs.

There is a debate even among the scientific community about whether or not the use of these substances actually constitutes a "gateway" to further drug use. However, there are statistics that clarify the role these behaviors play in teens and what drugs they will go on to use.

The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University states that teens ages 12 to 17 that smoke tobacco, drink alcohol or do marijuana during this age group are 17 times more likely to use harder substances (illicit illegal drugs).

A University of Pittsburgh study shows that marijuana is not necessarily a gateway drug. In fact the findings of the University show that what our government has recommended for drug prevention may not really be helping at all.

So how then do parents know what to do to help their teens and younger children stay away from drugs rather than deal with rehabilitation after the fact? One key factor is to talk straight to your kids. Don't water it down, don't skirt around the issue of drug and alcohol abuse. Be up front and very direct. It helps if you give facts. NIDA has a website just to help parents, teens and teachers with information on the science behind drug and alcohol addiction and they share real stories of what has become of some people. This is a huge eye opener for kids, they respond to things that are matter of fact and unemotional. They need to know that they are cared about but you also need to appeal to their logical side. Presenting facts is just the way to do this.

The bottom line is that an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure! If you or someone you need has a drug problem please seek out a drug rehabilitation center as soon as possible.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Forms of LSD

LSD (Lysergic Acid Diathylamide) is a psychoactive hallucinogenic drug that has over 80 street names. Among those LSD names are: LSD acid, trips, blotters, microdots, sugar cubes, hits, green dragon, red dragon, blue heaven, blue cheer, Big D, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, lime acid, black tabs, chocolate chip, peace tablets, paper acid, sugar lumps, brown dots, blue microdots and more.

LSD was actually thought to be safe in the 1930's. People enjoyed side effects like hallucinations that were colorful and vivid, enhanced creativity, mood elevation, a sense of insight and clarity. However, with the "positive" comes the negative side effects. These include: no depth or time perception, changes in sexual patterns, bad or scary trips, psychosis, schizophrenia, severe depression, delusions, and flashbacks. These hallucinations from LSD can last up to 12 hours and the flashbacks can haunt people for years and years after the use of the drug.

LSD is generally ingested orally. Most commonly sold in the form of blotter paper and sometimes coated on sugar cubes. However, it is made in a crystal form, liquid form, gelatin squares, capsules and rarely but sometimes in pill form.

The blotter paper has become popular because of the art that is put into the paper. The squares of paper are small. This method of ingestion takes about 15 to 30 minutes to take full effect where the user goes on a drug induced "trip". "Trips" can be good and some can be bad. The user never knows what they will get when they try to the drug.

If you or someone you know regularly uses LSD please get help at a drug rehabilitation center as soon as possible.