Drug addiction is one of the social menaces and in most people, what starts off as a result of peer pressure and trying to be cool ends up affecting lives significantly. It is not just social, but also affects financial, physical, emotional, and social well-being. The small periods of happiness given by the drug is followed by months and years of torment.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has identified that drug addiction causes chemical and structural changes in the brain, leading to dangerous and self-destructive behaviours. The brain s response to stimulus like pleasure, joy, happiness, and pain are altered with constant drug abuse. For instance, the neurotransmitter called dopamine, which makes one feel good, is usually produced by the brain in small amounts. However, drugs increase this level to 2 to 10 times more, making the person feel extremely high and happy. Since the body is unable to reach the highest level of happiness on its own, the dependency on these drugs to feel good increases.

Repeated use of the drugs leads to increased dependency, wherein the brain refuses to feel good without reaching those high levels of dopamine. The issue is mostly seen in teenagers and young adults but can be seen in any age group.

October 2 is recognised as National Anti-Drug Addiction Day and nationwide campaigns and drives are done to help people overcome addiction. One of the main reasons a drive this size is required is because of the social stigma attached to the problem. Most families shun away from recognising it as a problem that can be easily treated, and so the affected person is sucked deeper into the problem.

Overcoming addiction: One of the main success factors for treating addiction is for the affected person to recognise that he or she is addicted and needs to get rid of the problem.

    There are national toll-free helplines that are set up, which can guide through the whole program. This way, if required, anonymity is maintained and support for overcoming addiction is increased.
    It involves a group effort involving the affected person, family and friends, medical and clinical personnel, and counsellors in some cases.
    Cognitive behavioural therapy: The person is made conscious of the change in behaviour and the way drugs affect it. Healthier patterns to be happy and joyful are discussed.
    In most cases, the underlying reason for reaching out to drugs needs to be addressed also to prevent relapse.
    Group therapies where the person makes friends who have faced similar issues and overcome the problem. This increases their accountability and commitment to getting rid of the problem.

Drug abuse is a national social menace and needs more free admittance and management.

National Anti-Drug Addiction Day - Overcoming Addiction

Reducing, limiting or stopping the intake of alcohol can be a bumpy road. Impossible as it may seem, it is possible to recover from alcoholism with proper care and support. Recovery being a gradual process, denial often plays a spoilsport. The first step is to accept that alcohol abuse is occurring and take the necessary steps to remedy it. 

Here is a list of a few steps that psychologists suggest can get rid of alcoholism:

Doing a cost-benefit analysis: The first thing a psychologist suggest is to do a cost-benefit analysis. For instance, the benefits of drinking could be having fun, a possible way to relax, forgetting about the problem at hand etc. On the other hand, the benefits of not drinking could be a better state of physical and mental well-being, improving relationships, having more time and energy to lead a healthy life etc. Similarly, the cost of drinking could be problems in relationships, depression, anxiousness, poor performance at work etc. The cost of not drinking, on the other hand, could be finding other solutions to deal with problems, losing drinking buddies, taking up more responsibilities etc.
Setting goals: The next step is to set goals pertaining to giving up alcohol for good. It is important to be realistic while doing this. The goal should be specific and precise in nature. For instance, the goal could be writing the date of quitting alcohol in a personal diary or something such as drinking a certain amount of alcohol during weekdays and weekends etc. It is important to announce or share the goal with dear ones. It helps to reduce temptations and avoid bad influences.
Cutting back drinking or quitting at one go: The next step is to work towards the goal. Once the goal is set, it must be adhered to. Keeping a personal diary to measure everyday drinking goes a long way in quantifying and ultimately limiting it. Instead of going out and drinking with buddies, drinking at home could help curb alcohol intake. Drinking slowly is also helpful when trying to quit alcohol.
Get sober safely: While some people can give up drinking over-night, some need medical and psychological assistance to quit. Either way, it makes sense to seek expert advice while quitting alcohol. Suddenly quitting alcohol can result in withdrawal symptoms. Nausea, headache, anxiety, sweating, shaking, elevated heartbeat etc. are some of the withdrawal symptoms. It is possible to counter these symptoms medically.
Change in lifestyle: While the body gets used to an absence of alcohol, it is necessary that certain lifestyle changes are made. For instance, daily exercise, building a good support network, developing a new interest, eating healthy food, meditation etc. helps a person to quickly get used to life without alcohol.

De- Addiction - 5 Things Your Psychiatrist Will Suggest!

Alcohol, tobacco and drugs; these are some of the most common substances that people can get addicted to. Getting addicted is easy but to get rid of your habit is hard. 

Here are a few things that could help:

Set a date: Addicts who tell themselves that they will quit tomorrow often never end up doing so. Set a date for yourself when you will have your last smoke and drink. Ideally, you should set this date a few weeks from the day you decide to give up your bad habits to allow yourself to be mentally prepared.
Find new friends: Peep pressure is one of the most common reasons for an addiction to begin. Hence, the first thing to do when you are trying to give up a bad habit is to stay away from the people you associate with that habit and make new friends.
Hold yourself accountable to someone: While you can give in to yourself, it is harder to make excuses for doing something when you are being held accountable by someone else. Find a mentor or a friend who will be there for you and who will  sponsor  your deaddiction.
Find your weak spots: Every habit is triggered by certain factors. If you have decided to try and give up a bad habit, identify the factors that trigger it and avoid them. For example, your morning cup of coffee may trigger the need for a cigarette. By replacing coffee with juice, you can make your morning a little easier.
Take up a new hobby: A hobby is a great way to distract yourself from cravings. Crossword puzzles and Sudoku are great as indoor hobbies while swimming is an excellent outdoor hobby. You could even try gardening or crafts.
Exercise: One of the many benefits of exercising is that it can help boost endorphins and make you feel happier and thus less likely to crave cigarettes of alcohol. Aim for at least half an hours exercise each day.
Maintain a journal: Some days are good and some days are bad. To give yourself a balanced view of your deaddiction process, maintain a journal. Write down your achievements as well as your pitfalls and be proud of what you have achieved for yourself.
Help someone else: The best way to learn something is to teach it to someone else. Similarly, with addiction, the best way to be strong and give up a bad habit is to help someone else do it. This way, you are forced to be a good example and give up the habit yourself.
Ask for help: Do not be so proud as to not be able to ask for help when you need it. Remember, it is better to appear weak and ask for help rather than go back to your addiction.
Don t give up: Relapses are common but they do not have to be the end of your efforts. If you do have a bad day and have a few drags of smoke or maybe a drink, tell yourself that it s ok. Identify the reasons why you gave in to yourself and start afresh from the next morning.

Addiction - 10 Sure Shot Ways To Deal With It!

Addiction for physical intimacy can result from a lot of reasons, while the scientific community still does not pinpoint this as a disease, an increasing number of individuals are being identified who are suffering from an addiction to sex. While there is no quick fix to it, Ayurveda has ways that can address sex addiction and fix it for good:

Food is essential: There should be razor sharp focus on eating. Sattvik Food such as curd, milk, bread, wheat, rice, sugar, milk is some of the best food items to curb sex addiction. Fruits such as apples, bananas, grapes, mangoes and pomegranates play rich dividends in checking sex addiction. Popular meal preparation such as Havishya Annam and Charu are extremely helpful in curtailing sex addiction.
Food to avoid: In Ayurveda food items such as meat, eggs, fish are considered as detrimental as far as sex health is concerned. They tend to increase sex addiction. The meat of buffalo, sheep or goat increases sex drive in an individual.
Breathing exercise: Pranayama or slow breathing is another excellent way to reduce sex addiction. This is slow release and intake of oxygen. An expert supervision is required when it is performed for the first time.
Working out: Daily jogging, running, working out or simply walking will go a long way in ensuring that an individual cut down his sex addiction over a period. Working out helps to profoundly sweat and helps the organ perform better. Not to mention, it lifts a person s mood and installs loads of positive energy.
Avoid addiction: Any addiction is it smoking, drinking, substance, drugs or marijuana can be extremely detrimental. External stimulus not only increases sex addiction but proves to be hazardous for the body over the long term.
Stay hydrated: Remaining hydrated throughout the day is important. Drinking water, fruit juice, and other non-sweet drinks prove to be very handy in cutting down sex addiction. However, it should be ensured to refrain from drinking carbonated drinks. They increase fat in the body and make a person lethargic.
Quick meditation: While meditation sounds daunting at times, it is not that difficult to do it. Sitting down in a quiet place and counting numbers from 1 to 100 is also a form of meditation. The idea is to concentrate and keep the focus for a stretch of time. Meditation greatly helps a person to curb sex addiction by keeping the mind focused.
Ayurvedic tonics: Ayurvedic items such as ashwagandha, Brahmi, and turmeric can help to reduce sex addiction.

Sexual Addiction - 8 Things That Can Help Control It!

Addiction not only includes physical things we consume, such as drugs or alcohol, but also includes virtually anything, such abstract things as gambling to seemingly harmless products, such as chocolate, etc. In other words, addiction may refer to a substance dependence (e. G. Drug addiction) or behavioral addiction (e. G. Gambling addiction).

Causes

There is a link between the repeated uses of an addictive substance and how the human brain experience pleasure, its use has a nice reward, leading to further and more frequent use. The addictive substance, be it nicotine, alcohol or some drug actually causes physical changes in some nerve cells in the brain. After a while, the user of the potentially addictive substance does not get the same pleasure and has to increase the dose, as his/her body's tolerance to it increases. Eventually, the user no longer experiences pleasure from the substance and takes it simply to prevent withdrawal symptoms taking the substance just makes them feel normal. When tolerance increases, the risk of addiction is much greater.

Signs and symptoms

A person starts to show symptoms when a person takes the substance, such as nicotine, alcohol etc. And has given a serious attempt to stop, but is unable to do so because of the withdrawal symptoms. The body of an addict will go in withdrawal state when once the level of the substance abused is below a certain level. When a person goes in withdrawal state it will show signs, such as craving, bouts of moodiness, bad temper, poor focus, extreme temperament, poor focus, continuous feeling of depression, emptiness, frustration, anger, bitterness and resentment. Apart from these the addict will also display symptoms such as increased appetite, insomnia, constipation, and diarrhea. Withdrawal caused by some substances can also trigger signs like violence, seizures, hallucination, sweating and trembling, etc. However, the addiction continues despite health problem awareness. An addicted person commonly feels they need their drug in order to deal with their problems.

Investigation of addiction

Blood test is advised to determine whether the substance is still in the blood (whether the substance has been taken recently). Dsm criteria for substance dependence that is a patient diagnosed with substance dependence (an addiction) must meet criteria laid out in the dsm (diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders), a manual published by the american psychiatric association.

What you can do?

Acknowledge the problem and consult for help from an expert. Family members must be supportive in creating a congenial environment for the addicted person.

Role of homeopathy in management of addiction

The first step for the addicted person is to acknowledge that there is a substance dependency problem (addiction problem). The next step is to get help. In most of the world there are several support groups and professional services available. Treatment options for addiction depend on several factors, including what type of substance it is and how it affects the patients. Typically, treatment includes a combination of inpatient and outpatient programs, counselling (psychotherapy), self-help groups, pairing with individual sponsors, and medication.

Talking of medication, homoeopathy definitely has a major role to play in the de-addiction journey of a'patient. Over the years it has been seen that homeopathy has produced tremendous results in such cases. People have approached for quitting alcohol, smoking, drugs, etc. And majority of them have been wonderfully helped by homoeopathy. Those who haven't achieved desirable results have either lacked willingness or conviction on their own part, or have had a non-congenial and non-co-operative environment at home and work place. For any de-addiction plan to be successful for a patient these 2 factors are the most important. A willing person with a co-operative and supportive environment is much more receptive and responsive to the medical treatment.

The commonest attacking area for any addictive substance is the central nervous system (cns). The substance inhibits the release of neurotransmitters, which are responsible for carrying nerve impulses. Once these neurotransmitters are inhibited in their normal functioning, a person develops delayed nervous responses and irregular nerve impulses leading to addiction. It is a vicious circle. So, as the centre of attack is the cns, a medical system that boosts and strengthens the cns would automatically prove beneficial in such dreadful cases. Homoeopathy is that very medical science! the homoeopathic medicines are absorbed through the nerve root endings of the tongue and directly hit the cns. There are some very powerful homoeopathic medicines, which have the ability to shake up the cns and work in a normal manner as it is used to be. These homoeopathic medicines, thus have the ability to develop control and also the power to abstain from the substance in later stages of the treatment.

But the first and foremost attempt is made to manage the withdrawal symptoms. It is the fear of the withdrawal symptoms only that a patient may lose conviction and confidence in him and give in to the indulgence once again. This is where the role of family and friends also comes in. When the struggle of 1 man becomes fight for the whole team; chances are very high of coming out victorious. There are brilliant medicines in homoeopathic science, which can help the person in managing and fighting with the withdrawal symptoms with ease. Medicines like nux vomica, kali phos, arsenic album, coffea cruda, aconite, gelsemium, argentum nitricum, ipecac, acid sulphurosum, caladium, daphna indica, quercus, etc. Have proved to be extremely effective in helping a person wean off completely of the addictive substances.

Mind the mind

Over the past two issues, we took up the burning problem of addiction as a mental illness, explored its, nature and probable causes that go into the making of an addict. The current issue is aimed at spreading awareness about the available evidence based psychological treatments for de-addiction.

1. Psychotherapy: also called as'talk therapy, is aimed at helping the patient to understand the link between their thoughts, feelings and behaviour so that the maladaptive ones can be replaced with more adaptive and productive processes. Interventions in terms of cognitive behaviour therapy (cbt), motivation enhancement therapy (met) and behaviour therapy are efficient in the treatment of addiction behaviour.

2. Craving control: use of certain medicines and behavioural techniques can help a person deal with the intense feelings of craving when it seems too much to bear. It gives a sense of greater control to the person over the substance, which in turn motivates him/her to stay away from using the substance. Many people report that they tend to continue the abuse the substance since they are unable to handle the period of intense craving, which can come all of a sudden.

3. Relapse prevention: arguably it is the most important component of de-addiction program. Leaving the substance is not that hard, but staying away from it is the most difficult part as reported by many patients with addiction. To ensure that the person stays clean and healthy without the substance, they are taught some techniques like asking for help whenever they feel the need to do the substance or staying away from potentially, dangerous situations, like going to party where alcohol is available. With therapy, the individual gains more confidence in his/her own abilities rather than depending on the substance for facing life situations. In addition to this, they also start enjoying their life without the substance. Both the patient and his/her family play an important part in this process hence they are educated about it and are advised regarding appropriate ways of ensuring sobriety for the patient.

4. Alcoholics anonymous (aa): it is a self-hellp group in which ex-alcoholics come together and share their experiences, for instance how they got into drinking, how it affected their life and now how they are maintaining their sobriety. These are mostly weekly sessions and have been found to be very effective in supporting the recovery of alcoholics to stay motivated and be clean without the use of alcohol. Similar to aa, there is na (narcotics anonymous for drug addicts) and al-anon (for the family members and friends of problem drinkers).

5. Yoga and exercise: a healthy daily routine with yoga or regular exercise promotes feelings of general well-being and ensures healthy mind and body. It detoxifies the body faster and even helps in recovering from the damage caused due to excessive substance use.

6. Social skill training: an important aspect for being away from drugs/alcohol is the ability to say no to such offers from others. Assertive behaviour, healthy communication pattern and good problem solving ability are skills that are taught to assist the person to stay healthy without feeling the need to take the substance.

One of the simplest, yet very powerful principles of staying healthy is'one day at a time! instead of making any long-term plans for staying sober, which might seem over-whelming and extremely difficult, just plan for that very day and decide to be clean without the substance.

Addiction: Signs and Symptoms

Are you confused about whether you are a sex addict or not? Well, loving to have sex and being a sex addict are two completely different things and if you want to know the difference then you must look out for the signs of sex addiction.

Signs of Sex Addiction

One of the common signs of sex addiction is the urge to masturbate at most times. And it means literally at all times. If you find yourself doing it before going out to work, after lunch or even before sleep, then you might be a sex addict.
If you feel a constant crisis in your life, this could also be a symbol of being a sex addict. If you are constantly changing your sex partners and still find yourself in a crisis, then something is really not ok.
Thirdly, if you care only about yourself when it comes to sex, it is another sign that you are a sex addict. You might be a caring person in other cases, but when it comes to sex, you tend to become selfish and start exploiting others.
If you are having sex without the consent of your partner and do not think about the consequences attached with it, it is a sign that you are a sex addict.
How Can You Deal With Sex Addiction?
Sex addiction might seem impossible to deal with but there are ways which can help you out.

The first step towards dealing with sex addiction is that you should know the difference between healthy and unhealthy sex. You should be able to differentiate between the both.
Avoid the places that can trigger your addiction towards sex. You are the only person who will know your triggers. If it is a bar or a pub, then avoid going to those places, instead go on a dinner with your loved ones.
Try engaging in activities that interest you as this can help you get over the urge to have sex. These will also help you stay active and be more productive.
Cutting ties with contacts that help you fulfill your sexual desires can be a great way to manage sex addiction.
Always remember that your loved ones are always there for you. Confide in a close friend regarding your addiction and he or she will help you out. Sex addiction is not hard to overcome if you have the willpower to do so.
If the above-mentioned tips do not help, seek assistance from a professional.

Sex Addiction Symptoms - How Can They Be Dealt With?

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