South Florida Addiction Therpaies Blog

Art Therapy to Aid in Addiction

June 25, 2017

Creativity is like a balm for the fretful mind. It’s a healthy way to escape from and handle stress and an excellent way to explore your feelings, especially surrounding addiction and negative emotions. Even the simple act of coloring can make you feel more positive and relaxed, and that’s good for everyone, no matter where you’re starting.

In the realm of recovery, drug rehab centers are quickly realizing the benefit of specific art therapies like these within treatment.

Vision Boards

A vision board is a piece of Bristol board, cardboard, canvas, or pin board that contains the patient’s hopes, dreams, and goals, either in general life or in recovery. It serves as a reminder of what they’re working toward and what can be possible if patients stay on the path. Colorful, fun, humorous, and inspirational additions are highly encouraged, as are items like self-directed love notes, encouragement, tips, and beloved or treasured items.

Some patients keep two vision boards—the first for their recovery and the second for general life. This is a fantastic way to keep chips and ribbons where you can see them easily each day.

Personal Masks

Note: Because the process of taking a facial cast can be somewhat restrictive, this one may not be appropriate for particularly sensitive patients. Be sure to discuss the process first.

This project takes a bit more effort but can help addicts to uncover hidden emotions about themselves. It starts with taking a mold of the patient’s face with plaster gauze or air-drying clay. Lay the plaster gauze or clay in strips over the face, molding it to the patient’s unique features. Once the entire face is covered, carefully lift it off and allow it to dry.

Next, the patient draws a line down the middle of the mask. On the left side, they paint, draw, or decorate the face to represent who they were before they became addicted to drugs. On the right side is the person they became after addiction or how they see themselves in recovery.

The end result creates an excellent discussion point for a therapist and the patient that touches on everything from self-esteem to negative self-talk.

Dancing/Acting

For patients in recovery who love to dance, move, and express themselves physically, dancing or acting out skits can be an amazing way to channel positive and negative emotions. This can come in many forms; some facilities host free movement dance sessions in which patients are encouraged to express their emotions through dance, while others use the power of roleplay to inspire group growth via skits.

Patients can also use dancing to improve mood, boost motivation, and let go of stressors before turning to substances. If you’re a Grey’s Anatomy fan, you’ll recognize this best as Meredith’s “dance it out” moments. Research does show that even just a few minutes of dancing can boost endorphins and make us feel better about ourselves!

Addiction is one of the most common problems facing American citizens today. If you’re struggling, know that there’s no shame in reaching out for help. No one can handle addiction and recovery entirely on their own, no matter how minor or serious the addiction. Call Florida Coast Recovery today to get started on your personal growth path.

Understanding Breathalyzers: The How, Why, and What

May 26, 2017

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), every two minutes a person is injured in a drunk driving accident. If that’s not powerful enough for you, consider that drunk driving is still the leading cause of death among teenagers.

With staggering statistics like that, it’s no wonder that police departments across the country are cracking down on drunk driving and using breathalyzers to confirm their suspicions. Penalties are steep for those convicted and can include a significant fine, loss of license, prison, or a court-ordered alcohol detox program.

There are a few tests the police use to assess sobriety—walking a straight line, saying the alphabet backward—but they are often not accurate and do not assess alcohol intoxication or the amount of blood alcohol concentration (BAC).

Blood alcohol concentration is best determined by a blood or urine test, which is not practical to issue at a traffic stop, so law enforcement uses a simple and easy-to-administer breathalyzer test. Breathalyzers test breath alcohol content.

How Does a Breathalyzer Work?

Alcohol breath-testing devices use the amount of alcohol in exhaled breath to calculate the amount of alcohol in a person’s blood or their BAC.
Alcohol consumed by a person goes into the mouth, throat, stomach, and small intestine into the bloodstream.
As the blood goes through the system, the lungs oxygenate it and the alcohol is carried to the brain and lungs, where it can be exhaled through the breath.
A breathalyzer measures how much alcohol is in a person’s breath by using the measurement to approximate how much alcohol in a person’s oxygenated blood or BAC.

While it all sounds like a complicated process, take note that BAC can be measured within minutes of a first drink and reaches its highest levels about an hour after drinking. To be considered legally drunk in most states, your BAC cannot be over 0.08 percent.

Studies on impaired driving conducted by the NHTSA found that a person is substantially impaired at this level and should not be driving. There are no hard and fast rules about how many drinks it takes to get you there. There are many factors involved, including age, weight, type of drink, emotional state, and how much food you have consumed.

There is never a good reason to drink and drive. The stakes are simply too high for you, for someone you love, or to anyone else on the road. If fines and prison aren’t enough to make you rethink drinking and driving, a lifetime of guilt knowing that you hurt or maybe killed someone should.

At Florida Coast Recovery, we understand alcohol addiction. If you are struggling, can’t stop drinking, and need help, call us today at 1-954-990-7101 to learn more about our alcohol detox center in South Florida. Our multidisciplinary approach can help get you on your way to recovery and a life free from addiction.

Sources

Combatting Addiction with Music Therapy

April 25, 2017

“Where words fail, music speaks,” Hans Christian Andersen is quoted as saying. We all know that music speaks to us, that it is a form of self-expression and can change a mood or evoke an emotion like words never can. One simple song can convey to others how you feel or even change your mood. It is why music therapy should be a vital part of your drug and alcohol treatment plan that science and clinical research supports.

Music therapy is an established health practice where music is used as to address the physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs of a person. According to the American Music Therapy Association, it also provides an avenue for communication that can be helpful when an individual cannot express themselves in words. Because addiction is an unconscious way of coping with negative emotions, music therapy helps to identify those feelings and manage them in a more productive manner.

Music therapy provides the opportunity to interact with music through playing an instrument, listening, dancing, singing, and, perhaps, even writing songs or lyrics regardless of a past musical background. Studies have shown that drumming provides relaxation and can be useful for patients who have experienced repeated relapses, and movement to music is associated with a decrease in anxiety, depression, anger, and stress.

In fact, further research has shown that playing an instrument or listening to music can engage the reward systems in the brain—the same systems that are enacted during drug use.

Other Benefits of Music Therapy Include:

Improving working memory and brain function
Boosting mindfulness and self-awareness
Improving social skills
Enhancing problem-solving and coping skills
Increasing positivity
Relieving stress
Reducing muscle tension

Another great benefit of music therapy is it works for people of all ages. The songs and style of music may be different, but there is something for everyone. It is also a powerful tool to help attract someone you know who is struggling with addiction to seek help. Music therapy, especially during the early part of treatment, can help with the immense emotional highs and lows of withdrawals an addict experiences.

At Florida Coast Recovery, our beautiful drug and alcohol detox center located in South Florida offers music therapy as well as a number of other therapies to give you or someone you love the best chance of recovery from drug and alcohol addiction. It’s our multi-disciplinary approach which includes holistic therapy to addiction and treatment that allows us to help individuals achieve and maintain a life of serenity.

We are here for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Call us today at 877-251-6570 to learn more about music therapy or our other treatment plans and find out how we can help you live your best possible life.

Sources

The Role Self-Esteem Plays in Drug Addiction

April 7, 2017

There’s a series of commercials on television that end with “because you are worth it.” It’s that company’s way of telling you that you deserve the best, and that means buying their product. What if you don’t feel like your worth it, and that you’re just not good enough to purchase their product or have anything good come your way?

That’s what having low self-esteem looks like, and it can lead to far worse problems. In fact, there is a link between low self-esteem and drug addiction. It’s that feeling of worthlessness that can have you turning to drugs as an escape. Eventually, it can all spin out of control and, ultimately, require a drug rehabilitation program to overcome it.

Self-esteem is the means by which a person evaluates themselves concerning how much confidence and happiness they have in their own life. Low self-esteem centers around the emotional and psychological belief that one will fail at everything, so there is no point in even trying. It’s a far cry from having a lack of confidence which places doubt in one’s ability to meet a challenge where the outcome doesn’t matter.

The cause of low self-esteem can be attributed to child abuse; lack of love and support from parents; intense criticisms from parents, teachers, and others; issues with body image; and that constant feeling of not belonging. These traumatic experiences stay with a person their whole life and slowly erode away at one’s self-esteem and cause long term damage.

Low self-esteem is a devastating condition and is characterized by the following signs:

Negative view of life
Takes criticism too personally
Can’t take compliments
Trust issues―even to those who show kindness and friendship
Fear of taking risks
Feelings of being unloved and unlovable
Indecisive―letting others make decisions
Fear of being ridiculed

Drug addiction can occur at any time for any number of reasons, but low self-esteem is one of the most common. It, unfortunately, makes for a perfect scenario. The feelings of shame, guilt, and unworthiness drive a person to find ways to numb those feelings, so they turn to drugs.

The initial high the drugs offers is a relief, albeit a temporary one, and a quest ensues to sustain that feeling, so they end up using more and more drugs. The increase in usage and knowing that what you are doing is wrong only makes you feel worse, thus lowering your self-esteem even more and leaving you with a serious drug habit. It’s a vicious cycle.

The good news is there is hope. With therapy, you can raise your self-esteem and learn to replace that inner critical voice with a more positive one and, in turn, that can lead to recovery from drug addiction. If you are—or a loved one is—suffering from low self-esteem and have turned to drugs but are looking to start a more sober and happier life, call Florida Coast Recovery at 954-990-7101today. Don’t wait another day to “be worth it.”

Sources:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/heartache-hope/201306/low-self-esteema-disposition-can-lead-addiction
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3905528/

Are Rave Drugs a New Threat to Our Young Adults?

March 7, 2017

Rave drugs are not necessarily a new type of drug but, rather, common party-type drugs teens and young adults are tempted to take, especially during rave festivals. They include:

Ecstasy (Molly/MDMA)
GHB
LSD
Methamphetamines
Ketamine

Rave festivals are meant to be fun and enjoyable events. Event-goers often have a carefree and relaxed mood. They are willing to share illegal drugs with others, and, when others are asked if they want to join in, are hesitant to decline since everyone else is experimenting with various drugs.

Most raves provide access to onsite medical responders, so part of the mentality young people have, behind experimenting with drugs, is if something does go wrong there is help onsite and the risks of trying something are reduced. Unfortunately, even with onsite medical responders, fatalities still occur and have claimed the lives of many rave-goers.

According to many emergency room doctors in the Los Angeles area, which has several big rave events each year, teenagers and young adults really have no idea what they are taking or experimenting with, let alone how the drugs are going to affect their body and what reactions they might experience.

For instance, Ecstasy is easily accessible at rave events, yet there is no way to tell what is actually in the Ecstasy. It could be mixed with cocaine, methamphetamines, or other drugs, which alters its effects on the body.

Complicating matters, some young adults have the misconception and belief that if they take “pure” Ecstasy it is safer than Ecstasy which has been diluted with other drugs. This is not the case, and “pure” Ecstasy is just as dangerous.

One of the common side effects of taking Ecstasy is an increase in body temperature, reaching a fever-like state for a prolonged period of time. Increased temperatures from Ecstasy can cause comas, brain damage, seizures, and death. Many people who experience seizures and/or comas rarely recover, and most end up dying within a short period of time.

Another problem with increased body temperatures is they will cause the body’s organs to fail. Basically, prolonged temperatures of 107 to 109 degrees Fahrenheit, typical with Ecstasy use, cause the organs to shut down. Young adults who have died from Ecstasy had body temperatures in this range.

Ecstasy use also causes the user to feel thirsty, so they will consume large amounts of water, often provided for free at rave festivals. As water intake increases, the body’s sodium levels drop greatly and can trigger seizures where the brain is not getting oxygen, and it leads to a coma.

Aside from Ecstasy usage, rave-goers tend to experiment with other drugs simultaneously, further increasing the risks of dangerous side effects, which are compounded for each type of drug taken.

With the rave festival season just right around the corner, it is important for teens and young adults to increase their awareness about the risks of rave drugs to avoid becoming another statistic. If you or someone you care about is struggling with drugs or alcohol, help is available through our drug and alcohol treatment programs, here at Florida Coast Recovery. Call us at 1-954-990-7101 for more information today.

Source

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-why-some-er-doctors-want-to-end-raves-in-los-angeles-county-20150810-story.html

How to Cope and Deal with Drug and Alcohol Addictions

February 4, 2017

Whether you are the person dealing with a loved one with an addiction to drugs or alcohol or the individual with the addiction, there are several things you need to know in order to properly cope, deal with, and face the addiction in a positive manner.

Never set unrealistic expectations for the addict. You might try to entice the addict to quit by demanding they should do it if they really loved you or setting some other such condition. This never works long-term because the addiction is often much stronger. A better response is to let the addict know you love them and, together, are willing to help them face their addiction.
Never participate in drug and alcohol treatment programs just to stop friends and family from nagging you about your addiction. If you are simply “going through the motions” for someone else, chances are you will relapse. In order for you to overcome your addiction, you must first want to stop and be willing to make changes in your lifestyle.
Avoid believing you can stop on your own without any help. Some people think they can stop using whenever they want to and do not need help from friends, family, or a drug and alcohol detox center. There is much more to recovery than simply stopping and, while you might initially be successful, eventually, you may find yourself returning to your addiction.
Never blame oneself for setbacks on the road to recovery. It is not uncommon for a recovering addict to slip up and have minor setbacks. Accept this and move on, without blaming yourself, because you have no control over an addict’s behavior, and, as an addict, overcoming your addiction is an ongoing struggle.

Do not expect the addiction is “cured” after being released from rehab. Addictions are not something that can be cured and, instead, require ongoing treatment and support. Often they also require making major changes to prior lifestyles in order to establish a new, sober life.
Do select a rehab program that is longer than 30 days. 30 days is simply not enough time to fully recover from an addiction. Addictions are developed over time, and it takes time to recover and rebuild one’s life. Treatment programs could involve a combination of inpatient and outpatient care for at least 90 days to 6 months or longer.
Do seek counseling to help rebuild relationships. When one member of a family suffers from an addiction, it can damage the relationship between spouses, as well as between parents and children. Counseling can be beneficial for learning how to discuss the addiction and how it has affected the family, and to provide guidance on reintegrating the loved one back into the family without making them feel judged for their addiction.

If you are trying to cope or deal with a loved one suffering from an addiction, or are an addict that is ready to take the first steps to recovery, Florida Coast Recovery is here to help. Call us at 1-954-990-7101 today!

Addiction way out problem sign. Prevention and cure addiction problem concept.

Healthy Foods to Help Detox Your Body after Drug and Alcohol Rehab

January 2, 2017

It can be difficult for a recovering teenager or young adult to admit they have a drug or alcohol addiction. Even harder is taking steps to regain your sobriety through programs available at our South Florida detox center. Even after completing a rehab program, you will still have many daily challenges to overcome—among those, developing healthy eating habits.

During your addiction period, it is not uncommon for the body to not get the proper nutrition it required. Depending upon the substance, it will affect the body in different ways. Some drugs suppress the appetite, so you may have been only eating one small meal a day.

Other drugs can result in overeating sugary, salty, and fatty foods, even though you were not really hungry. Yet other addictions can lead to various side effects after eating, like vomiting, stomach cramps, diarrhea, and so on, so that you may have given up eating food entirely just to avoid these.

Regardless of what prior eating habits you had, after taking the steps on the path to recovery you need to develop new eating habits. For teens and young adults leading a new sober lifestyle, it can be difficult, especially with the temptation of fast food chains. Do not despair and think your only healthy food options are going to be salads and veggies, as there is a wide array of foods to choose from. You will surely find something you enjoy.

Proteins

Your body will need plenty of proteins to help repair the damage caused by your addiction. Proteins come in a wide array of options, including:

Tofu
Tempeh
Seitan
Beans
Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP)
Nuts
Seeds
Fish
Meat
Eggs

Just remember to choose lean cuts of meats and good nuts like peanuts and almonds. There is now a big selection of plant-based proteins found in most grocery stores.

Healthy Oils

The body will also need healthy oils, like the Omega-3s found in fish. If you do not like fish, then other options are to use olive oil in place of butter or margarine, eat ground flax seeds or chia seeds, or take an Omega-3 supplement.

Dietary Fiber

Fiber is found in a wide range of fruits and vegetables, as well as in whole grains, and are vital to help repair any damage to the gastrointestinal and digestive systems. Choose your favorites and make them a part of your meals, sandwiches, or snacks.

Foods to Avoid

There are certain foods you will want to definitely avoid after rehab treatment, as they could prevent the body from getting the nutrition it needs, including caffeine, artificial ingredients, fried and fatty foods, and processed sugars.

Adjusting to a new and healthy diet is not something that should be done drastically. Rather, you want to slowly make adjustments to your eating habits once you have been sober for at least a month. It is okay to make small changes during the first 30-days, but, essentially, your focus should be on staying sober. For assistance and support in leading a healthy and sober lifestyle, do not hesitate to call Florida Coast Recovery at 1-954-990-7101 now!

How to Talk to Your Friends and Family About Your New Sober Life

December 3, 2016

Dealing with a drug or alcohol addiction is an ongoing struggle. It can be difficult for your friends and family to realize there is much more to your recovery beyond completing a drug and alcohol treatment program.

Some people mistakenly assume you successfully completed the program, so you are cured. However, that is not the case, as your commitment to leading a sober life has just begun.

When speaking to your family and friends about your sobriety, it is important to do what is best for you and your particular situation. In some cases, this might mean finding new friends and social activities to enjoy where you will not be tempted to fall back into old habits. To help you adjust to your new lifestyle, let’s take a look at some common issues that can arise after rehab.

Dealing with “Triggers” – Every addict has certain “triggers” that could potentially lead to a relapse. Learn to recognize yours so you can share them with your friends and family, as they probably do not know what they are because they do vary. By sharing this information, it will allow them to make adjustments to be more accommodating to your new lifestyle.
Set Boundaries in Regards to Your Sobriety – You will most likely have some family members and friends who will monitor you constantly to ensure you remain sober. It is perfectly acceptable to tell them to stop—because remaining sober is something you have to do on your own. If they cannot respect this decision, then it might be in your best interests to remove them from your life for the time being.
Stress the Importance of a Substance-Free Environments – Your friends and family might not understand how vital it is to your ongoing recovery, especially during the first 3 to 6 months after rehab, to avoid social settings and environments that could lead to a relapse. Let them know you can still have fun, hang out, and participate in social activities—just that these activities need to be free from temptations while you build your confidence and resolve to remain sober.

Explain the Need to Change Old Habits – Often, after rehab treatment, you will need the support of others, like from a sponsor and support groups, who understand where you are and what struggles you are facing on a daily basis. Let your family and friends know, while you appreciate their support, it is essential you reevaluate your lifestyle and make necessary changes to lead a sober life.
Cut Loose of Family and Friends Who Judge and Criticize – Some people in your life may find it difficult to remain silent and share their criticisms about your sobriety, like blaming you for losing their “drinking” buddy. It is okay to tell these people you no longer want to associate with them if they cannot learn to respect your new lifestyle and be patient with you.

Leading a sober life is challenging, but you are not alone. If you are ready to take the first steps or need support maintaining your sobriety, do not hesitate to contact Florida Coast Recovery at 1-954-990-7101 today!

Category: Addiction Therapies

Vision Boards

Personal Masks

Dancing/Acting

How Does a Breathalyzer Work?

Other Benefits of Music Therapy Include: