Archive Author: Victory Center

Living with a prescription drug addict means a life of mood swings–a roller coaster ride which, without recovery intervention, can often lead to incarceration, or even death.

Approximately 6 million families are living with a prescription drug addict with a third of new addicts being 12 to 17 years old, an increase of 300% in the past ten years.

You may often think to yourself if you are in the middle of drug or alcohol abuse that you are on slippery slopes. Perhaps a loved one has said to you that they think that you are on very slippery slopes or you may feel that someone you know or love is on slippery slopes. Webster’s dictionary defines slippery slopes as a process or series of events that is hard to stop or control once it has begun and that usually leads to worse or more difficult things. Webster goes on to add that slippery slopes are also a course of action that seems to lead inevitably from one action or result to another with unintended consequences.

>My first exposure to Alcoholics Anonymous was through a detox/treatment center. I was somewhat shaky and my thoughts were a jumbled. I have very little recollection of my first meetings; however, I do remember thinking how the members of Alcoholics Anonymous expressed the thoughts and emotions that they felt while drinking. The shared the pain, the isolation, and the shame that came from a life riddled with alcoholism. What’s more, they spoke of the life they lived now. Free of alcoholism but yet so much more. The people I met in Alcoholics Anonymous had not only solved the drink problem, but they had recreated their lives. I wanted it. I was ready to check out, but through the experiences of men and women in Alcoholics Anonymous a glimmer of hope arose up in me.

When your alcoholic spouse finds recovery you may think you can finally exhale and all of your relationship problems are suddenly going to be solved, right? Unfortunately it isn’t quite as black and white. Your spouse is learning to live an entirely different lifestyle, one that involves a “game plan” for when the chaos of the cycle of addiction blocks him from thinking clearly. Your spouse will have setbacks along the way and the goal of sobriety may take much trial and error.

One of the benefits of sober monitoring is that they did random drug testing, required proof that she was attending 12 Step meetings (she had to get slips signed when she went to meetings), and they were in contact with her sponsor to ensure that she was working a program of recovery. Perhaps one of the most important aspects of sober monitoring for my daughter was the rapport she developed with her monitor. Every week she would check in with the same representative from the program, who asked her how she was doing and helped her to identify any difficulties she was having. It didn’t just seem like my daughter was flourishing in sobriety, I had proof that she was!

It takes a lot of work to change the thinking and behaviors that accompany the disease of alcoholism/addiction. The addict must commit and re-commit to do whatever it takes to stay clean and sober. When he is willing to accept treatment and attend Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings, the support of fellow addicts and his accountability to others increase the ability to remain sober. Nonetheless, it is a tremendous challenge in early recovery to assimilate AA meetings, a job, family, friends, paying bills and working with a sponsor. This is where the benefits of sober living programs make a tremendous difference in the quality of life for our recovering addict.

I never knew that my addiction followed any sort of pattern. Looking back, I see that it had a very distinct sequence of events. I went through the cycle of addiction time and time again.

The cycle of addiction can be described in a general way. No one addict or alcoholic is the same, but the general cycle of addiction is present in every case. I had always thought I used because of all the things external to me. That I used because of circumstances, feelings I didn’t want to feel, depression, anger, and anxiety.

Prescription drug abuse has become a very pervasive thread in our society. The use of these drugs is more accepted than that of illicit street drugs and often thought to be safer, but prescription drugs are just as dangerous and deadly. The reasons for the soaring prevalence prescription drug abuse can be based off of age, gender, and many other factors, but it is thought that high availability plays a huge part.

Alcohol withdrawal symptoms refers to the physiological and psychological effects one might endure after the cessation of drinking. What causes alcohol withdrawal symptoms is the consumption of alcohol in large quantities on a regular basis then quitting abruptly. The body becomes accustomed to having a certain amount of alcohol to function normally, so once drinking is discontinued the body has difficulty operating normally. Unless the body can obtain more alcohol, medical intervention is often necessary. Alcohol withdrawal can be very dangerous and even deadly.

There are many consequences that may come about as a result of drug abuse. There can be social, legal, financial, and physical and mental health consequences. The consequences of drug abuse may differ in intensity depending on how far the addiction has progressed and the type of drug being abused.

Often times, we make excuses to minimize or rationalize our consequences to tell ourselves that it is not “that bad” or we compare ourselves to the consequences we assume others have experienced. It is best not to compare ourselves to others, but instead to take an honest look at our own behaviors, life experiences, and the consequences we have personally suffered.