Narconon Center Blog

1-800-468-6933

What Is Lost With Prescription Drug Addiction

The mental and emotional toll addiction takes on an individual and a family is devastating. Here are some of the key things a person can lose when they end up trapped by addiction.

1.    Freedom-This is just someone’s physical freedom. Drugs trap an individual and they become unable to enjoy life without them. One addict describes prescription addiction as “a trap she could not get out of.”

2.    Respect-When an individual becomes addicted to drugs they tend to say or do things that are out of character. Many times the person ends up doing things that cause others to lose respect for them and for the person to lose respect for themselves.

3.    Family-An ex-addiction once said, “Through my addiction, I lost my family. And when you lose years and your kids are grown, you can’t get that time back.” Addiction creates a barrier between the addict and family members. Trust is broken that can take years to rebuild.

4.    Productivity- According to the National Institutes of Health alcohol and drug abuse cost the economy $246 billion. Productivity is not just lost in the workplace with addiction but in all areas of life.

5.    Home- A housewife that was hooked on prescriptions once said that her house was a mess, bills unpaid and her life was in shambles. This is when she realized she really needed to get help for her addiction. Once a person gets hooked all other responsibilities go down the drain.

6.    Self Respect-Many addicts will stop respecting themselves and others and choose drugs over everything else in life. It takes someone down a path they never thought they would go down.

7.    Friends-The people who care will eventually isolate the addicted person so that they are not negatively affected by the addiction anymore. One high school student reported he stopped spending time with his lifelong friend after the friend started smoking marijuana daily and stopped being interested in anything else. It is very difficult for a person to watch someone throw everything away in life that they would like to achieve.

8.    Dreams-These are goals for the future. What someone wants or strives to get. Drugs strip away goals and destroy dreams. Things that the individual sets out to achieve are put on hold or totally thrown away.

Prescription addiction causes loss not just for the addict but for friends, family, the community and society as a whole.

Narconon successfully handles this type of addiction with a 70% success rate for permanent recovery. For more information on prescription drug addiction call Narconon today at 800-468-6933.

Drying Out From Prescription Addiction

One method of handling prescription addiction is to withdrawal or “dry out” from the drugs.  For many this is in the state of a medical detox where they wind down with substitute drugs or just stop “cold turkey” and experience withdrawal symptoms for several days.

The drying out process is short but the most difficult step is what happens after this. Left unhandled, the person will crave drugs and those cravings are a catalyst to relapse.

When a person consumes the drug, the body recognizes it as a poison and fights to get rid of it. The unfortunate matter is that the body cannot get rid of the entire drug without a more comprehensive detox. Tiny drug residuals are left behind and bond to the fatty tissues of your body.  One can really only achieve complete drug withdrawal through a detox program that will get rid of all drug residuals that are left behind once the drug has been consumed. This will enable a person to no longer experience physical drug cravings.

This is done by sweating out the residues in a dry heat sauna. This program would also use a very strict vitamin regimen, plenty of water and a healthy diet. A doctor’s approval would be needed to enroll in the detox to begin with.

Once this is complete the individual will need to address the mental and emotional aspects of their addiction. Without handling these issues a person can experience ‘emotional triggers’ on a daily basis. These triggers will take over a person’s mind and basically coax a person into using the drug. It will be very tough for a person to continue to stay drug free unless they handle these triggers.

Handling the mental aspect of the problem is learning how to deal with daily life problems once again without turning to prescriptions. With these types of drugs it can be very easy to relapse because they are very available for users. But the idea is to receive treatment by doing the above so one is not left without skills to solve the problem of addiction.

For more information on detox or prescription addiction or for help, call Narconon today at 800-468-6933.

Narconon Warns Kids, Parents about Dangers of Inhalants

Narconon, drug rehab and prevention facility to help educate as many people as possible about the dangers of inhalant abuse in observance of National Inhalants and Poisons Awareness Week.

March 20-26 is National Inhalants and Poisons Awareness Week, and Narconon wants to help prevent inhalant abuse and associated effects by educating parents and kids.  The annual observance is sponsored by the National Inhalant Prevention Coalition.

According to the latest National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), there were roughly 600,000 people in America aged 12 or older who had used inhalants during the past month. Inhalants are often chemicals that are typically found in an average household, including fumes from air dusters, spray paints, paint thinners, cleaners and other chemicals.

Awareness and prevention efforts to appear to be working, as the rates of inhalant abuse amount youth between the ages of 12 and 17 have declined each year from 2006-2009. Narconon prevention programs include inhalants as part of the curriculum.

The National Inhalant Prevention website says that 1 in 5 kids try inhalants by the time they reach eighth grade, and that “huffing,” as it is often called, can cause brain damage even in the first use.

On the treatment side, more than 1,000 people each year list inhalants as their primary substance of abuse. For those seeking treatment at Narconon, they participate in a body cleaning process that helps to eliminate the stored toxic residues form the chemicals that have been inhaled.

If you would like a Narconon drug prevention specialist to speak to your school or organization, or if you have a loved one in need of rehabilitation, contact Narconon Arrowhead today at 800-468-6933.

Narconon Appears On Missouri Television Program

Drug prevention specialist appears on local program to cover crime and healthcare concerns related to drug addiction.

Midwest –According to NIDA (National Institute on Drug Abuse) drug abuse costs the United States economy over $600 billion dollars annually in increased health care costs, crime, and lost productivity. In addition, data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) show that 12.2 percent of more than 14 million arrests in 2008 were for drug violations, the most common arrest crime category.

It is clear that drugs produce many negative consequences on society as a whole. Recently the Midwest has been the effect of this devastating problem with both Missouri and Kansas experiencing an increase in drug abuse throughout both states. Right now Oxy Contin is the number one drug of choice in Kansas and in Missouri.  Investigations are currently ongoing with the oxycodone and hydrocodone problems in the area.

One local television station in Missouri saw the devastation that drugs were causing to the local area and needed help. The station reached out to a successful treatment program located in Oklahoma, Narconon Arrowhead, who sent a drug prevention specialist to the station for a taped series to educate the community on the negative consequences of addiction.

The first series that Narconon participated in was on how drugs compound the crime factor in the United States. The second segment was on health and safety in the workplace.  In both segments the Narconon representative was able to offer solutions to those affected by or currently struggling with addiction.

“There was so much information on drugs and the workplace that was unknown,” says John Bitinas, Narconon Drug Prevention Specialist. “Many people in the Midwest need help and through arming ourselves with education we are raising our responsibility to better our workplace and our community.”

This is the first of many live and pre-produced media interviews that Narconon will be doing as part of an education campaign across the Midwest.
For more information on Narconon drug education or the Narconon program call 800-468-6933 or log onto www.narcononcenter.com.