Drug abuse refers to the availing of a drug for purposes which the drugs are not intended to, or using a drug in excessive quantities. Drug addiction is a state of physical and psychological dependence on a drug. The physical addiction is often characterized by the presence of tolerance, such as needing more and more of the drug to achieve the same effect, and withdrawal symptoms that disappear when further medication is taken.

Almost all sorts of different drugs can be abused, including illegal drugs, such as heroin or cannabis, prescription medicines such as tranquilizers or painkillers and other medications that can be availed off the supermarket shelf, such as cough syrups or herbal concoctions.

Natural Therapies

Diet alterations:

The first step of detoxification is to stop any further induction of alcohol into the addict’s body. Once the alcohol intake ceases, it will also expedite the effect of other healing therapies in getting the individual rid of his or her drinking habit. A prohibition on further intake of alcohol should be accompanied by organic diet consisting of vegetables and fruits. They will aid the detoxification process by removing toxins from inside the body. Also, intake of refined sugar should be minimized, which will result in a balancing of sugar and blood chemistry.

Physical work:

Physical exercises such as Yoga, Pilates, and other forms of exercise will also help in the removal of toxins from the body. Physical exercise also helps in the formation of a strong connection between the body and the mind. This is important so that the individual realizes the harm of drinking excessive alcohol and will work towards getting rid of this habit.

Proper water intake:

Individuals suffering from alcohol addiction are advised to drink as many as eight glasses of water every day in an effort to keep their bodies adequately hydrated. Drinking plenty of water also helps to remove the toxins from the alcohol addict’s body and aids in the proper functioning of the body as a whole.

Vitamin intake:

In the process of alcohol detoxification the individual may suffer from some nutrition-related deficiencies. Therefore, it is imperative that the individual takes vitamin pills to avoid those deficiencies and to build up the strength of his her body.

Homeopathic Opium –

This herb is effective for minor hangouts, or sudden spells of dizziness or floating, and should be taken in the morning after.

Passion Flower –

This herb can be taken as a tea or in a tincture; it also works as a bit of a depressant, though it has a mild narcotic effect.

Valerian –

Valerian can be taken as a tea or in a tincture, this herb is from where Valium was derived from, and acts as a good sedative. It is also calms the nerves while in the process of detoxifying.

ScullCap –

This herbal concoction can be taken as a tincture or a tea, and is effective for calming the nerves, nervous headaches & associated.

Natural Remedies

Natural alcoholism remedies are gaining immense popularity today. This is mainly because they have the ability to produce the same effects as allopathic medicines in terms of easing the withdrawal symptoms, without the side-effects. That means that natural remedies can be taken for longer durations and in higher doses if required. This has been translating into an increasing number of people finally being able to kick the habit!

Knowing the signs of addiction can make it possible for parents to get their children into addiction treatment, like drug rehab. mental.healthguru.com

What’s the difference between an alcoholic and a heavy drinker? I have a friend who is an alcoholism counselor here in the good ole USA, who says that if you have to ask the question, you are probably in trouble.Is this a question that has been lurking at the back of your mind lately? If so, here are some facts that might interest you.

Most people don’t think about such things. In fact a stunning 48% of the adult American population drinks zero, zip, nada, or at most has a glass of champagne at a wedding or a spiked eggnog at the annual office Christmas party just to be polite. Of those who do drink, the majority drink moderately or occasionally. The dirty little secret of the American liquor industry is that 10% of the drinkers account for 70% of alcohol sales, and those are the folks who drink early and often and never in moderation.

Now, we Americans are a pretty puritanical lot, but the point is that most people do not abuse alcohol and therefore never give any thought to whether or not they are drinking too much. They simply know they are not.It’s just a small percentage that has anything to worry about and an even smaller percentage that ends up dead or in rehab.

The High School and College Crowd

The statistics are a bit different for the high school and college crowd. Young people between the ages of 16 and 24 drink more than anybody else and are big binge drinkers( a binge being defined as downing more than five drinks in one sitting) This is the time of life for beer bongs and Saturday night keggers, but most people calm down once they are out in the real workaday world and jobs, marriage and children tend to sober them up. Only a few keep on partying into their thirties and beyond– and at some point, these few start to worry that maybe their drinking is getting out of hand and maybe, just maybe, it is.

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A Test for Alcoholism

So what is the difference between a heavy drinker and an alcoholic? The answer seems to lie in the dynamics of addiction. It’s a long way from getting soused every Saturday night to skid row, but it is a clear path and a downward spiral and as we all know, alcoholism is a progressive illness. Once you are addicted, there is no place to go but down. Addiction, both physical and psychological, is about loss of control. If, in your secret heart of hearts you have ever feared that your drinking might be getting ahead of you , here are a couple of things you might want to ask yourself.

Have you ever sworn you would not drink and then ended up with a drink in your hand?
Have you ever sat down to have just one beer and ended up drunk?
Has anyone–either at work or a family member, ever commented negatively on your drinking?
Do you assume that everybody drinks and that most people get drunk and that people who don’t are no fun to be around?
Do you ever try to hide how much you drink( as in do you ever take those trash cans full of empty’s to the dump rather than leave them for the regular collection or do you ever buy your booze at more than one liquor store so that the owners won’t think you drink too much?)
Do you drink: every day, alone, or in the morning?
Does the idea of having to live without alcohol seem scary?
Do you physically crave a drink at a certain time of day and get irritable if you can’t have one?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you could well be in trouble. Just for the record, moderate drinking is officially defined as: 2 drinks a night for a man, one for a woman and binge drinking is defined as more than five drinks at one sitting. If you spill more than that on Saturday night, or have a family member who does, have a look at the video above and the links at the bottom of this article for a quick overview of the basics on alcoholism.

Think you can quit anytime you want but just like to drink to unwind ? You can prove it to yourself and to the world by taking a little test. I urge you to try the following experiment if you are concerned about your drinking. It is a surefire way to separate the folks who just like to party, from those who are truly abusing alcohol and are on their way to serious abuse and physical addiction. If you have the guts to take on this experiment honestly and with an open mind, you might find out something very interesting about yourself. Wouldn’t it be nice to know one way or the other so you could stop worrying?

The Alcoholism Experiment

For the next week have no alcohol except for one five ounce glass of wine with dinner. If you don’t like wine with your dinner, you can have one 12 oz bottle of beer instead. If you prefer spirits to wine or beer, you can substitute a one and one half ounce shot of whiskey before dinner for the wine or beer but…. you can choose only one of these three options, and once you’ve chosen you must stick with your choice. You can’t change around and have beer one night, wine the next etc. Also, you cannot skip a night or have nothing one night and two beers the next etc. Just FYI a five oz. glass of wine, a 12 oz glass of beer and a 1 and 1/2 shot of whiskey all have the same amount of alcohol so whatever you choose, you will be getting the same amount of alcohol, it’s just a question of what appeals to you. Follow these directions exactly– only one drink of whatever you choose for one entire week.

And that folks, is the way you can tell a heavy drinker from an alcoholic. It’s a useful test that separates the sheep from the goats very handily. Those who are in even the early stages of addiction will not be able to pass the test. Those who really can take it or leave it will have no problem. What do you think. Want to give it a try, or does the very idea put a meat hook in your tum tum?

Cheers and here’s mud in your eye.:-)

Links to Alcoholism Resources
Alcoholism Recovery – LoveToKnow Recovery
How recovery from alcoholism begins and what it is like from the alcoholic’s perspective
Alcohol Research and Statistics
Reference materials and data tables on the effects alcohol, alcoholism, drunk driving, health issues and more.
Teenage Alcohol Statistics
Statistics on alcohol use by teenagers and youth. Data from studies show that alcohol is, by far, the most abused drug by teenagers which leads to death, impaired brain development and myriad social problems.

Question by crushabitrollituptakeahit: Teenage Alcoholism? Is it possible?
Hi im 15 and i find i drink more than i should maybe. i at least have 1 – 1/2 cups of strong alcohol (37-40%) a day. I don’t drink cause i technically need it. i drink to feel more comfortable. i don’t know if this is a problem or not. i think i could stop but its more convenient to continue in my opinion. (btw, i get the alcohol from my parents liquor cabnit). Thanks!
1. yes i have had blackouts
2. no not really. but when its available yes
3. idk

Best answer:

Answer by Betty
Possible? Yes it is. Being an “alcoholic” does not mean you need it. It simply means you are addicted to it. And yes, alcoholics will say the same thing you just said: they drink to feel more comfortable. Are you addicted? Only you can answer that question.

1) Have you ever had a blackout?
2) Do you ever think about or talk about drinking when you are sober?
3) Could you stop drinking, right now, for the rest of your life and be 100% OK with that?

If you answered yes to the first two questions and no to the last question, there is a good probability that you are addicted.

What do you think? Answer below!

After spending numerous amount of years with teenagers I can’t remember a time when there has not been at least one teen who has flirted with the idea of suicide. It seems there is always a teen struggling with suicide and even the extremes of cutting themselves or some sort of self mutilation.

Because of this I decided to take a look at how drug addiction can lead to teen suicide.

Something that we don’t think of is the connection between teen drug abuse and suicide. There are some studies that would suggest that teens who use drugs regularly are more likely to consider suicide as well as to act upon their thoughts. According to the American Psychiatric Association, many teens suffer from depression.

When a teen is living in this world of depression it is not unlikely that they would find a means of “self-medicate” with drugs in order to avoid exposing themselves to their friends or adults. As we know through years of dealing with teens and their drug abuse that the use of drugs does not alleviate the problems, but instead, usually aggravate them, leaving the teen with a feeling of helplessness and hopelessness. This places them at greater risk for suicide attempts.

From my own personal experience and watching the decisions that teens make while they are abusing drugs, we see that the use of drugs will cloud their judgment, and lower their natural survival instinct. Drug use affects the chemical balance of the brain, intensifying feelings of sadness, depression and loneliness. In an article I wrote on teen withdrawal we can see just having to deal with the withdrawal from the drug, and intense feelings of crashing profoundly affect the young person’s mind and mood. While these factors exist in adult addicts, they are more intensified in the young adult and teen, particularly due to his dependency upon adults.

Something we do not understand nor think of when it comes to the progression of usage of drugs among teenagers is that they have a readily supply of tools that could either help them commit suicide or even lead to an untimely death. Overdosing is one of the easiest and most common methods of suicide.

Did you know that suicide is the third leading cause of death amongst young people from the ages of fifteen to twenty-four.

The one thing we are noticing is that teens, especially today, are under a tremendous amount of pressure. Caught in the crossroads between childhood and adulthood, teens are filled with conflicts about themselves, their identity, and their place in the world. It is not uncommon for teens today battle between peer pressure and performance placed upon them from society and even at times parents to perform and do so perfectly all the time.

These factors, coupled with their perception that the adult world doesn’t or can’t, understand their angst, leave them vulnerable and isolated. These factors contribute to both addiction and suicidal intention, both of which also feed on the other.

I have been told that some of the methods for treating a teen with suicidal intentions are very similar to treating teens with addictions. Some have said that most of the root causes are quite similar. The most important thing for an adult to provide the teen, is an avenue of communication. I have an article “8 tips to get your teen hearing you again” that will help you communicate with your teen.

Something that we know to be true is that communication between a teen and their parents is vital to any type of recovery. Teens need to feel as though they have someone they can turn too and express their feelings and problems. He or she need to feel that they are not isolated. There are people who care about them. They are not the only one who is struggling with these problems. This of course is only the first step. If a teen is suicidal they need to receive professional guidance.

Here are some suicide facts you should be aware of:

A teen that has lost a friend to suicide is at higher risk for depression, delinquency and drug abuse. (Estimates by the American Association of Suicidology place this risk at three times that of the average teen.)
Studies reveal that a family member of a loved one who has committed suicide is at up to 5 times the risk for suicide themselves.
Suicide facts indicate that thousands of children and adolescents are affected by a suicide each year.
Emotional distress of child survivors of suicide may go unnoticed if they do not have a chance to share their pain.
We can all help in suicide prevention by learning about statistics, suicide rates and teen suicide.
There is no timetable for recovery, suicide survivors are forever changed by the tragedy.

In the first portion of this series I talked about the danger of living in a co-dependant relationship with your teenager who is using drugs. In this part of the series I want to talk a little about what that relationship looks like and how it plays out in the family when you have a teenager who is using drugs.

Some may not even know that they are in a co-dependant relationship with their teenagers who are using drugs. For instance I’m the leader in a recovery program. When we were starting the recovery program a man approached me to let me know how he responded to the use of drugs with his own teenager.

He told me that he would make his home a safe environment for his teenager and their friends to come and hang out and get it out of their system. Keep in mind this was a leader in the local church and was telling me this as we were promoting a Celebrate Recovery program.

As I stated in the first series, co-dependency is actually a learned behavior. You can actually pass it down from one generation to another, constantly teaching those that you raise how to function and live in a co-dependant relationship. This man was teaching his son how to not only live in a co-dependant relationship but how to raise his own kids in a co-dependant relationship.

The first thing you need to do is ask yourself…am I living in denial?

I cannot tell you how many parents live in denial when it comes to their teenagers drug use. Even when they know it is going on they will slip into co-dependant relationships with their teenagers and allow them to continue on the path of destruction.

We do this in all kinds of ways, but the truth is that we are living in denial.
We make an excuse for our child no matter what.
We blame others for their behavior.
We change teachers at school because they don’t understand our child.
We blame Johnny down the street for my child/s actions.
We say it is only a joint or a drink but nothing serious.

Folks that is denial, you are living in denial to the fact that your child has a problem. If you are ever going to help your child you must first face and admit your denial. God says in Jeremiah 6:14 (TLB), “You can’t heal a wound by saying it’s not there!”

Hiding our feelings, living in denial, freezes our emotions and binds us. Understanding and feeling our feelings is where we find freedom. Second Peter 2:19 (GNB) tells us: “They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of destructive habits-for a man is a slave of anything that has conquered him.”

There is a saying, “we are as sick as our secrets.” We cannot help our teenagers who are abusing drugs grow until we are ready to step out of our denial into the truth. The Bible says, “They cried to the Lord in their troubles, and he rescued them! He led them from the darkness and shadow of death and snapped their chains” (Psalm 107:13-14, TLB).

We have the false belief that denial protects us from our pain. In reality, denial allows our pain to fester and grow and to turn into shame and guilt. Denial extends your hurt. It multiplies your problems. Truth, like surgery, may hurt for a while, but it cures. God promises us in Jeremiah 30:17 (TLB), “I will give you back your health again and heal your wounds.”

Question by scooooby: I need articles on teenage drug abuse?
I’m doing a project in school where I have to talk about the issues of drug abuse in teens. I have to find articles on the problems of addiction, social life, and health issues relating to the drug usage. It must be a minimum of 3 pages long (per article). Thanks!

Best answer:

Answer by C J
Please look at this website www.settingcaptivesfree.com
There is help here. Free online courses on a number of issues.

“And you shall know the truth, and the truth will set you Free”
(John 8:32)

God bless.

Give your answer to this question below!