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May082017May112017

The First 90 Days on the Path to Recovery

Articles, Education, Treatment, Understanding Addiction

Congratulations You Have Done It!

If you have recently completed treatment for a substance use disorder, the path to recovery is now open to you. The first 90 days are the most important for preventing a relapse, so this guide has been written to help you on your new found journey.

No doubt you are feeling a little nervous and wondering what lies ahead, but hopefully you are also feeling determined and strong. The first 90 days after recovery are always the hardest. Research published in the “Psychology of Addictive Behaviours” discovered that the risk of relapse was at its highest within this period of time. However, the study also found that those in recovery who continued with some sort of treatment in these first 90 days had a much higher chance of maintaining their recovery for a full year.

Although the early stages of recovery can be challenging, there are techniques and tips you can use to help make it through this initial period. Getting support from loved ones and friends, taking up new hobbies and continuing with some form of treatment will make the process easier.

Below are some suggestions to help you during the initial 90 day recovery period.

Clean Home

Make sure that before you arrive home someone has cleaned the house of any alcohol, drugs or any paraphernalia relating to your addiction. Everything should be removed that may serve as a trigger and risk a relapse.

Follow a Schedule

Keep yourself on track by following a schedule. This should include the time you wake up, your meal times, any appointments with doctors or therapists, exercise time and any other obligations. It is important to leave yourself enough time to relax, mediate or pursue your hobbies. Keeping yourself busy and following a structure will ensure there is less time to relapse.

Don’t Go it Alone

Spending too much time by yourself may result in you worrying about things such as your future, finances, or whether your recovery is really going to last. Being alone can also make it harder to resist cravings so always surround yourself with the people who are offering you support.

Look After Yourself

Addiction can have gruelling effects on the body and it will take time to get yourself healthy and back to 100%. Even detoxification will affect the body, so you need to give it time to heal. To increase the time it takes to heal you should ensure that you exercise regularly and follow a healthy eating plan. Also make sure that you get at least 7 hours sleep at night.

Continue Treatment

As mentioned previously, a study that was published in the Psychology of Addictive Behaviors found that those in recovery that continue treatment in the initial 90 days increased their odds of completing a full year without taking any substances. Continuing therapy, or joining a twelve step program can give you a real boost in the first 90 days.

Celebrate Your Success

Each day that you continue on your path to recovery is cause for celebration. Every single therapy appointment you go to, every time you have a glass of water instead of reaching for the harder stuff, every choice that you make that prevents a relapse is a fantastic milestone.

No matter how small you treat yourself for reaching new milestones, do something to recognise the success. Always be kind to yourself. This is very hard work after all!

May052017Feb132020

Problem Drinking in Seniors – Risk factors

Articles, Education, Understanding Addiction, United States

A research team at the University of Georgia have reported In the American Geriatrics Society Journal that seniors (1600 individuals aged 57-85) with chronic health issues as well as depression, were at a much higher risk of developing an alcohol problem.

It is believed that this research is the first time a link has been identified between chronic health problems, with depression, and problem drinking seniors.

The researchers found that seniors who have numerous health conditions as well as depression, were actually 5 times more likely to develop a drinking problem when compared to seniors with numerous health conditions and no depression. The summary of this discussion, which can be found here, stated:

“’These findings suggest that effective training in screening and referral for mental health and alcohol use issues for health care providers of older adults may better serve the approximate 4 million older adults who currently experience problem drinking in the U.S.,’ said Orion Mowbray, assistant professor at the UGA School of Social Work and lead author of the study.”

When you add these findings to the fact that often seniors will usually develop a greater sensitivity to the effects of alcohol as they get older, and also they are often taking many different types of prescription medications for their health conditions that have a risk of reacting adversely when combined with alcohol, it is very important for seniors, and of course, those that care for them, to watch their drinking intake and exercise caution.

The findings in the study suggest that effective training can be put in place for health care providers when screening and referring older adults for mental health or alcohol use issues. This may better serve the 4 million seniors who currently experience drinking problems in the US.

There is sufficient evidence that suggest even a brief intervention delivered by health care providers can have a positive effect on reducing problem drinking amongst seniors.

May022017Apr252025

Biotech Industry Challenged Wearable Alcohol Biosenser

Articles, Education

Most alcohol studies are reliant on the participants to self-report how often and how much they drink, which at times, can result in undependable data. Biomarkers based on indicators in bodily fluids, including blood, are objective measures of the use of alcohol. Biomarkers can work in different ways; firstly they can detect toxic effects that alcohol can have over a prolonged period on bodily organs and body chemistry, indirectly indicating alcohol abuse. Other biomarkers can measure directly if a person has been drinking recently by measuring alcohol components in the body after it has metabolized.

Biomarkers have many uses, including objectively showing that a person has abstained from drinking alcohol, as well as screening for possible alcohol related issues in people who are not providing accurate self-reports.

However, there are some limitations to using these biomarkers. Certain biomarkers are not as accurate when it comes to certain groups; for instance, younger individuals and women. It is also often difficult to interpret how much and how long someone has been drinking. Because of these limitations it is often advised that biomarkers and a self-report be used in conjunction with one another.

But what if there was a tool available that could provide perfectly accurate data about an individual’s drinking habits?

This is what the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) is hoping for and is once again challenging the biotech community to develop a wearable device that can measure the amount of alcohol in the blood in near real-time. Previously the community was challenged to develop a device which uses technology to detect alcohol released through the skin, but this time they are being pushed to come up with a device which is able to measure a person’s alcohol blood level by checking the actual concentration levels in the blood or the interstitial fluid which surrounds the body’s cells.

As with the previous competition, the biosensor device is to be designed so that it can measure alcohol levels in a non-invasive way. The creators of the winning prototype will receive $200,000 through Challenge.gov. The creators of the device which comes in 2^nd place will receive $100,000.

“Our first Challenge was a huge success. The winning devices made important strides in improving transdermal alcohol sensing,” says NIAAA Director George F. Koob, Ph.D.

Back in May 2016, NIAAA announced the first winner of their competition. This was won by BACtrack with its Skyn prototype – a wrist wearing device that could detect blood alcohol levels by using a fuel-cell technology. This technology is similar to what police use in their road side breathalysers. In 2^nd place was MILO Inc who designed a device using disposable cartridges to continuously track alcohol levels.

“We have learned that there is real interest in the private sector around wearable alcohol biosensors, and that innovation using distinct means of alcohol detection is on the horizon,” says M. Katherine Jung, Ph.D., Director of NIAAA’s Division of Metabolism and Health Effects, and co-leader of the competition.

The new challenge encourages innovation and some creative solutions could include the adaption and miniaturization of certain technologies such as wave technology or spectroscopy.

“We want to continue to harness the power of the private sector, because if alcohol biosensors become a part of the ‘wearable toolbox,’ then tangible new opportunities will become available that can profoundly affect the field of alcohol research,” says Dr. Jung.

In addition to a biosensors potential for professionals and researchers, the devices could also become a tool for consumers who wish to track their alcohol consumption and personal drinking patterns.

Submissions for the competition have to be in by May 15^th, 2017 and must include a working prototype

Details about the competition are posted at https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/research/challenge-prize and https://www.challenge.gov/challenge/wearable-alcohol-biosensor/. For more information, please email NIAAAChallengePrize@mail.nih.gov.

Apr302017May042017

Fighting Addiction By Being Selfless

Articles, Australia, International, Understanding Addiction

Addicts are usually very selfish beings. Not that anyone can hold that against them, really. It is, after all, a byproduct of their condition. Addiction can make anyone suffer from severe tunnel vision and inability to empathize. How to regain the ability to be selfless and caring for someone else but yourself? By slowly chipping away at the self-imposed shackles of selfishness most addicts have chained themselves up with.

But how? How do you get out of the routine of caring only for yourself?

To begin, it is important to remember that addicts generally being selfish do not make them bad people. As a rule of thumb, anyway. There are always exceptions of course, but we are talking about the overwhelming majority here.

Midbrain once again is at the front and center of today’s topic. It dominates so many addiction related issues for a very good reason. Without repeating ourselves too much from our previous article, midbrain governs impulsive satisfaction of urges, desires, and needs. Since addiction and drug use in general hyper-stimulates this particular part of our brain, it has a proverbial monopoly on blood supply. This allows for midbrain and its urge satisfying functions to dominate the addict’s behavior.

Selfishness as a character trait becomes more and more prominent in the addict as the time passes and the disease takes hold. This can cause the addict to distance themselves from people they used to love and care for. It can turn a social and loving person into a social outcast and a pariah.

Service as a tool for recovery

What does one do when a scale is lopsided? You must add to the short side until equilibrium is restored. Sounds simple, and in theory, it really is, however when it comes to applying this idea in real life, various obstacles begin to appear.

Selfless acts, generosity and community service contribute to addicts recovery because it stimulates entirely different part of the brain, specifically, the frontal cortex. This is where the brain considers and processes wisdom, calculated thought, pre-meditated actions, and empathy. Stimulating this area of the brain with acts of kindness and selflessness the addict is able to control his impulsive urges of the midbrain, which would make him act selfishly and without a solid scale of values.

The aforementioned obstacles that make this process so hard are the resilience of our brain. It can be both a blessing and a curse at times. For an addict to become addicted, this resilience is broken down with help of drugs and various addictive substances. Changing the way your brain operates without such “help” is much harder than one might think.

It takes many years of rigorous training by doing community work, helping people move their home and generally helping others out in one way or another, for the brain to accept this kind of behavior as the norm.

Speaking of norms in brain activity in the context of addiction is almost silly. There is no such thing really, knowing how different each and every one of us is. If you present a situation to 100 people, you will witness 100 different ways of dealing with said situation. Sure, there will be similarities, but ultimately for one human being to deal with a challenge or an obstacle in an identical way as someone else is practically impossible. Our individual way of thought is as unique as our DNA sequence or fingerprints.

It is highly recommended and encouraged in most self-respecting rehabs to do some kind of selfless act every day, as little and insignificant as it may be. Help someone with carrying something heavy, lend them a needed item for a while. Even just complimenting someone on their appearance or actions goes a long way towards addiction recovery. Every little bit counts.

Be selfless. Be kind. Be considerate. Sounds easy enough, but for an addict to reach a point in their lives where this kind of attitude comes naturally is a huge stepping stone towards recovery. One stepping stone of many, but every one of them counts.

Apr302017May022017

Hardest Skill To Learn – Patience

Articles, Australia, International, Understanding Addiction

Patience is a skill that addicts generally lack. They may have had a firm grasp on the concept of patience at some time in the past, but with addiction, that skill just slowly disappeared. Waiting and giving things time to progress is a concept that is altogether alien to a veteran addict. How can it be any other way, considering that he needs that next bump just to survive, or at least he believes he does. Continue reading “Hardest Skill To Learn – Patience” →