The latest in celebrity gossip is sometimes old news in new packaging—yet another celebrity is found to have entered rehab and come out just to be arrested again, and sent back to rehab again. Lohan, Olsen twins, Winehouse, Spears the list goes on. It seems that not a day goes by in the calendar when some famous guy/girl is not arrested for drug or alcohol abuse. Not a day goes by without news of someone famous going into rehab. Seems like entertainment and addiction have intermingled, like a snake constricting its prey. But this goes for famous folks with money. What about us normal beings with limited resources?

A serious addiction to anything might spell disastrous consequences. What are headlines to people may be nightmarish if it happens to us. When drug and alcohol addiction starts to choke your life and takes away the sunshine from your heart and soul it is time to get up and demand some real treatment to get back to your life. It is time for the best addiction treatment not empty promises.

The most widely used method in drug and alcohol rehab is to use drugs to beat drugs, like using poison to combat poison. The usage of these drugs is highly regulated and administered under clinically regulated circumstances. The drugs are administered to help meet with effects of drug withdrawal. There is another natural and effective way that cleans the bodily systems off of drug and alcohol. The method also combats behavioral and psychological changes—rendering positive behavior and helping the addicted person to lead a free and happy life.

This method is a holistic drug addiction treatment program that treats the person as a whole—including the reasons for addiction, process of thinking, ways of addiction, and chemical changes in the body. The program aims at a step by step detoxification of the body and thus enables the abuser to get over his/her addictions and communicate with others. The person on completion of the therapy can then return to the society as a contributing and responsible citizen. Sounds too good to be true? But if you have slipped into the bottomless abyss of addiction, and drugs and alcohol are throttling your neck making it hard to breathe and affecting your personal and social life, then why not give this a try? They are not promising empty words but they are promising rehabilitation.

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Question by Danyel: What type of education would I need to become an RN at a substance abuse detox facility?
I am currently going to school for pre-health with a nursing concentration, until I have the requirements to apply for nursing. I would like to be able to work as an RN in a substance abuse facility. I was wondering if anyone could give me any advise as to how to go about doing this? I do not know if I will need to specialize in a certain area in order to do so or not? If anyone could help me out in regards to what to do education wise I would really appreciate it! Thanks!

Best answer:

Answer by MeMeMe
Hi,

First off, good for you for wanting to work in addiction treatment! I’m an addictions counselor and have been working in mental health (mostly suicide prevention) for 7 years and we certainly need more qualified RNs in the field. So I think you will have an easy time finding work once you’re finished with school.

As for your question… To become an RN, you need to go to nursing school. Although I’m sure you already know this. As for specializing in addiction treatment, I don’t believe there are any additional requirements, but it would be good if you have experience working with addicts or at least a greater knowledge of treating clients with addiction. So I would suggest trying to get an internship of some sort with a treatment center in your area. They may not let you do much while you’re in school, but you will be able to put it on your resume. You can learn a lot from observing how things work in treatment. The other suggestion I have would be to take some extra classes that focus on substance abuse. Drug addicts and alcoholics face a variety of special issues separate from the “normal” population you would be working with in a hospital. Most community colleges and some universities now offer programs where you can learn more about these issues. I don’t know where you live, but you may want to start looking for college programs titled “Addictions Counseling” or “Addictions Studies.” Classes you may want to take would be any type of pharmacology, a bloodborne pathogens/infectious disease class, and even alternative treatments to addiction classes. It could also help to take a few classes for addictions counselors like group therapy, individual therapy, or something similar. These will definitely help you in the future in terms of communicating with your clients.

The most important thing I would think an RN working in addiction should have to be educated about is prescription drugs of abuse. Normally when I do an intake on a client coming into treatment, they have been medically prescribed multiple addictive drugs that only contribute to and exacerbate their disease (addiction). Usually these include opiate painkillers, benzodiazepines, and other sedatives and tranquilizers. I had a client once who was on NINE different benzos which she had been on for years, all prescribed by doctors for things like insomnia, anxiety, and even hypothyroidism. This is so egregious and disgusting to me! They were killing her. She obviously had to be medically detoxed for risk of seizures and death from her meds. And needless to say, after being evaluated by our MD, she didn’t NEED any of the pills.

Anyway, I’m rambling. Just excited to see someone wanting to help in the field of addiction treatment. It is rare these days, it seems. But what a satisfying and rewarding job. Good luck to you!!!

What do you think? Answer below!

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The community-based addiction centers are normally furnished with the aim of re establishing and strengthening the connection of the addicted person with his family and the community at large. They utilize different types of treatment methods which include ayurveda, allopathy, naturopathy, homeopathy and yoga augmented with several other types of psycho therapies to enhance the determination of quitting drugs in the patient. These techniques also help in motivating the addict for a better and addiction free future. It also helps him to regain control over his situation. These centers offer treatment for various types of additions which range from cocaine abuse, heroin abuse, alcohol addition to methadone addiction etc.

There are several different training programs provided by these community based centers. For successful rehabilitation, an addict should seek for an appropriate treatment program from the variety of programs on offer, to provide him with favorable results. The involvement of family and friends offers better and positive effect on the treatment. For encouraging these initiatives, community based centers also organize various camps and rallies at regular intervals in the community they are associated with. These camps provide all the primary care including counseling, medication awareness and seminar meetings for the addicts. These meetings provide addicts with knowledge on how to stay away from drug addiction, how to lead their life normally and achieve freedom from addiction.

These addiction centers involve focused people who were addicts themselves or have experience of dealing with addicts in the past. Thus they are equipped with better and more effective solutions for the circumstances that might lead to this problem. These former addicts also provide the patients with better solutions on the situations they may be going through. However, unlike professional treatment centers they may not have specialized teams for a particular type of addiction. One major advantage is that they have emergency services where they, guide, support and also offer in detoxification programs in emergency situations.

The main objectives of community based addiction centers include sensitizing community people against addiction, involving other community members in the awareness campaigns and integrating this program in general community tasks. They also try to encourage people, especially youngsters to apply their skills for the welfare of the community against the addiction problem. They engage themselves in providing the services in various social setups which includes educational institutions, local health clinics, private household etc.

However, as these are organized by non-profit organizations, therefore the services provided are limited to the availability of funds in the organizations hands. Unlike other professional treatment clinics, they might not be fully equipped with all the tools and resources required for the treatment. However they are a welcomed idea for low income addicts seeking rehabilitation. The government is also trying to improve these programs by associating linking them with voluntary organizations that help to enh

Alcohol addiction is a progressive disease which can prove fatal without the proper treatment of the core causes. Alcoholism’s symptoms can be quite evident when a person has physical withdrawal symptoms, noticeable cravings, a lack of control when around the substance, becoming physically dependent, and gaining an increased tolerance through frequent usage.

Sometimes will power is not enough to get to the point of recovery from alcohol dependence as there are many personal battles that can become unbearable for the addict. Professional assistance is often necessary to help the addict recover from substance abuse completely and with lasting positive effects.

There are many rehab centers which offer various alcohol addiction treatment programs, including intervention services, detoxification protocols, one on one counseling sessions , therapy, and medication. The initial stages of recovery include alcohol intervention programs during which the core problems of the patient is sought and analyzed. This is followed by the detoxification process which eliminates the most toxic substances from the addict’s body.

Counseling and group therapy are used to help the patient deal with emotional and mental aspects of addiction. Any treatment regiment involves both physical body and psychological side of treatment. The medication stage involves improving the physical health of the patient by prescribing medication.

Alcohol addiction treatment centers employ health and addiction specialists to address the needs of the patient. The rehab center offers in patient programs, individual support, exercise, and clinical facilities for the full care of the individual in order to facilitate a quick recovery.

With so many addiction treatments available, the addict should be able to find one cautiously planned to efficiently improve the person’s health physically and psychologically for a more productive and alcohol-free life.