Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley – Creating a Real-World “Thriller Night”
As a writer and also a sort of addiction-ologist I cannot help but observe and reflect on the division of our nation as it pertains to Michael Jackson. The overarching question seems to be should we revere him or should we condemn him? Was he a Semi-God, or a monster? And the whole climate of confusion, as well as the depth of mourning, harks me back to the age of 9 and the death of Elvis Presley. I can remember foggily asking in those sad days…How could this be?
And I can see that it is a question we are all asking again.
And if you expanded this question it might sound something like this… “How could someone so talented, so gifted, so powerfully able to touch human beings have come to this?” And the very way that we were touched by Elvis Presley and later by Michael Jackson seems to indicate a depth of humanity in both that is starkly contradicted by their behavior.
So how do we reconcile this seeming contradiction? We look here and we look there. We split up and take sides. Demi-God-ers face off with Monster-ites. We argue amongst ourselves. Those who want to deny and forget the monstrosities condemn those who want to deny and forget the greatness of The King of Pop. And the same also happens in reverse.
Categories: Drug Abuse Tags: Addiction, Alcoholic, drug addict, Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, substance abuser
Understanding Alcohol Dehydration Or a Guide to the Hangover
Alcohol dehydration – also known as a hangover – is a familiar morning after treat for anyone who has ever had too much to drink. Without even considering any of the long-term negative effects of excessive alcohol intake, the impact of a hangover is enough proof of the fact that drinking too much is not healthy.
Alcohol is what’s known as a diuretic, which simply means that it causes an increase in urination. That means that the more alcohol a person drinks, the more they will feel the need to go to the bathroom. Need proof? Have a few beers. More urination means quicker water loss, and that is why we get dehydrated when we drink too much. And beer is not the only culprit. All alcoholic beverages have diuretic properties.
Besides boosting the desire to relieve ourselves, alcohol also depletes the body’s vital stores of vitamins and minerals. The lack of these important nutrients can send many body functions out of balance. This causes uncomfortable symptoms on multiple levels: headache, diarrhea, fatigue, nausea, irritability – all the basics of a hangover.
Categories: Drug Abuse Tags: alcohol, Alcohol dehydration, Alcoholic, Healthy, negative effects
Disturbing Alcohol Detox Symptoms
Alcohol detoxification or detox is really a painful experience when an alcoholic attempt to quit it before they undergo different process to managed the symptoms and be on the recovery period. This is difficult for the patients because they merely rely on alcohols, when the times come they are ready for the rehabilitation they can have a choice either they go in a rehabilitation center or in a hospital. If their cases are more severe then it will greatly depend on the symptoms and it will have more supervision than those who have lighter cases.
The period of detoxification will be burdensome for patients because they cannot go on without the influence of alcohol for a long time. With that patients experience withdrawal symptoms which can cause complications and it can also be the cause of someone’s death. That’s why alcohol detoxification should be undergo with enough supervision.
Categories: Drug Abuse Tags: Alcohol Detox, Alcohol detoxification, Alcoholic, Detox, Detoxification, Rehabilition center
Alcohol Abuse And A Bad Economy
For the past several months, the daily economic news has been grim. We hear about more job losses, foreclosures, home sales down, food prices soar, the stock market goes up and down. These are extraordinarily difficult times for everyone, and in some way everyone is affected by the situation. The never-ending stress taps into your energy and saps your strength; it tests your faith and leaves you confused. Families without the added stressors of alcohol or drugs will pull together; they will make some sacrifices as they grumble and complain, but in the end these families will more than likely survive the current economy.
What about the alcoholic? More importantly, what about the children living with an alcoholic? Research has confirmed that alcoholics lack coping skills. When faced with problems, the alcoholic will turn to the bottle. Most of us have seen the destructive dysfunction that results from alcohol or drug abuse. What happens when the alcoholic faces a job loss or pay cut, or loses the important health insurance? These situations exceed the “normal” stress of life and will most likely find the alcoholic turning to the bottle more often and in larger quantities.
Categories: Drug Abuse Tags: Alcoholic, Alcoholics, Drug Abuse, Health Insurance, Stressors of Alcohol, Stressors of Drugs
Stop Drinking Alcohol – Do You Want To?
Having a desire to stop drinking alcohol is actually the first and right step to quitting. In other words, there is no one in the whole world that can stop you from doing what you love doing. So, winning the battle against booze starts from within you. However, I need to let you know that your desire must be very strong and you must have a strong will as well. This is because a mere wish to quit drinking will not help you. You will always find yourself going back to your old way of life. And there is nothing anyone out there can do about that. Once you have a burning desire to stop drinking alcoholic drinks, the following tips will help quit.
One primary sign of a burning desire that wants to quit drinking is staying away from all kinds of alcoholic drinks. Also, it is useless telling everybody that you want to quit and you still have bottles of alcohol around you. This is a mere wish that will take you no where. You need to get rid of the bottles and stay away from your alcoholic friends. The latter is very important. Without telling them to go, you will still find yourself drinking.
Categories: Drug Abuse Tags: Alcoholic, kinds of alcoholic drinks, Quit drinking, stop drinking alcohol, stop drinking alcoholic drinks
What Are Short Term and Long Term Effects of Alcohol Abuse
Are you an alcoholic? When do you know you have become addicted?
Drinking alcohol excessively for a long period of time has a lot of risks to your health. The amount of alcohol you drink at a sitting and the extent of overall times you do this will determine the amount of damage done to your body.
If you are not a heavy drinker and only drink 1-2 drinks a sitting a couple of times a week, you would not be considered an alcoholic If your drinking becomes more and more each time and more often, and you continue this habit over a long period of time, you will eventually become addicted to alcohol. You increase your body tolerance each time you have a drink.
1. Your family life begins to crumble.
2. You become depressed.
3. Your anxiety will increasingly become worse.
4. You will be unable to sleep as well as you did before.
5. You start to lose your self esteem.
6. Your friends avoid you.
7. You have problems at work.
Categories: Drug Abuse Tags: addicted to alcohol, alcohol, Alcoholic, Drinking alcohol excessively, Health
What is Outpatient Alcohol Rehab?
Outpatient alcohol rehab can take on a variety of guises depending on the needs of the patient. For instance, for a young person who is having problems with self control when they are drunk, outpatient alcohol-rehab may be just about needing an appointment with an alcohol rehab therapist once every couple of months in order to deal with the issues that are arising through these problems. Another person may be attending outpatient alcohol rehabilitation because they have been an alcoholic for a long time; they have already gone through alcohol detox and an extensive stay in a clinic especially designed for inpatient alcohol rehab. For them outpatient alcohol rehab may be a regular occurrence for the rest of their lives.
Categories: Drug Abuse Tags: Alcohol Detox, alcohol rehab, alcohol rehab therapist, Alcoholic, Outpatient alcohol rehab, outpatient alcohol rehabilitation
Vitamins and the Addict
For many years now it has become more apparent that nutrition played an important role in the life of a drug addict, alcoholic, methadone patient or other that might be chemically imbalanced. Today many are looking for answers to help solve the problem of nutritional deficiencies in alcoholics, drug addicts and methadone treatment patients. This search was pioneered by a group of doctors who developed a vitamin mineral supplement to help people with drug problems. Today more people are paying attention to this problem with their clients whom are in treatment. In many cases it is being added to their treatment plans. The big problem then is what course of action needs to be taken to positively affect a change in their client’s health and nutrition.
Many times the course of action to address the problem is to tell the person to start taking a “good” vitamin. Maybe they tell them to go to a health food store and try some specific product that might give them some relief. This can be expensive road to follow, trying to find the right vitamin supplement for each case. Vitamin B in various forms is most often recommended for low energy but that is just one issue. Then people are told another product to help other issues (Something for this and something else for that.). The result is that there is no real change because the treatment is not complete. The problems persist and sometimes even worsen. The person gives up and becomes skeptic towards the benefit of health and nutritional supplements.
Categories: Drug Abuse Tags: Alcoholic, drug addict, Health, methadone patient, Nutrition, treatment plans, vitamin mineral supplement, vitamin supplement
Why Alcoholism?
I Thought I would share my thinking on how alcoholism gets started.
Some of us are born with a genetic make up that predisposes us to it. Anyone can have it. Some groups that are more susceptible than others are Scandanavians and American Indians. My kids are both. Just because the genes are there does not mean you will be an alcoholic, other things go into it.
Home Life is a big one. The attitudes, behaviors, perceptions, value systems at home while growing up can lead to need for escapism.
How we choose to escape makes a difference. Escaping in non-harmful ways is best especially if we later turn back to whatever the problem was we were getting relief from and figure out how we are going to healthfully and effectively deal with it. We will feel rewarded and self confident in ourselves . Unhealthy escapism will always include escaping but not coping later on. Not developing strategies to deal with any given situation or thing, this leads up back to escapism in a vicious cycle never growing from the experience.
Categories: Drug Abuse Tags: Alcoholic, Alcoholism, Drinking, drugging, escapism
Detox From Alcohol and the Therapist
Drug and alcohol detox is the process of stopping drinking and the subsequent withdrawal effects. It is these withdrawal effects from alcohol that make Alcoholic detox a difficult and sometimes traumatic experience for the alcoholic. Alcohol rehabilitation is another important step which takes place after the alcohol detox is finished. In both of these cases the alcohol detox therapist will play a major role. The effectiveness of some of these alcohol detox therapists will be much better than some of the others. A better understanding for the patient and his problems is one of the areas where good therapist’s thrive. Support and empathy are other elements of good therapy. Another sign of a good therapist is to be able to keep the patient focused on his or her goals, this is essential in the long-term treatment. Also in being able to use outside agencies to benefit the patient.
We are stuck in a bit of a rut at the moment with the supply of good therapists being very short. This has a lot to do with lack of money supply. Bad Alcoholic detox therapy, and bad therapists, are identified by not listening to and blaming the patient they can also be accused of being controlling and intrusive. They can also be accused of being distant psychologically and they have a tendency to avoid issues that they find unpleasant, often being only interested in themselves.
