Question by Meghan W.: General addiction support?
I have what I believe to be an addiction, but it does not fall into the regular “groups” (Drugs, Alcohol, Sex/Porn, etc). Are there any general addiction support groups where I could seek peer aid?

Best answer:

Answer by kim s
It’s kinda hard to help if we don’t know what the addiction is. But there might be a support group for it. Maybe try googling it instead.

Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!

Health Beat: New group offers help for addiction
The circle is a one-hour, weekly support group meeting for those with addiction and family and friends who are affected. Though it is not a treatment program, it will offer resources and information to help develop a recovery process. The circle will … Read more on The Daily News of Newburyport

Equine Therapy for Recovering Addicts
Howell described how she had to lose almost everything before she reached out for help. Her journey to recovery led her to Philadelphia and Dr. Alan Summers who runs a successful Step #13 Program for the Enhanced Treatment of Addiction. She is clean … Read more on Cape May County Herald (press release)

What Happened To One Marine Who Fought In Fallujah When He Came Home
Wold's addiction to OxyContin became so obvious the Marines placed him in the Substance Abuse and Rehabilitation Program for intensive inpatient therapy. When he failed to successfully complete the program, he was put in the medical hold unit of the … Read more on Business Insider Australia

Health Briefs for Jan. 8, 2014
Caregivers Support: The Ingalls Center for Outpatient Rehabilitation hosts a monthly caregivers support group to help caregivers connect with others, share ideas, problem solve and receive support to get through the rough times. The free program meets … Read more on SouthtownStar

Treatment groups step up to fill the gap as ADDS is shutting down
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Autism family support group
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Three Reasons to Leave: Abuse, Addiction, and Affairs
However, once someone knows that they have an addiction, they are responsible for picking themselves up, getting treatment, avoiding people, places, and things associated with their addiction, and working a program of recovery involving therapy … Read more on GoodTherapy.org (blog)

Compassionate Release Programs Have New Guidelines For Letting People …
ProPublica reports that in prison, “she saw her children every week, completed a parenting class, took college courses, and graduated from a drug rehab program.” Barnes received a response 15 months later … The Bureau of Prisons general counsel and … Read more on Bustle

Question by Liza Shevchuk: Natural Remedies For Brain Damage After Drug Abuse?
My older brother has done many drugs from about 16-21. Its been a year since his last use, and he’s been having some serious problems. He has high anxiety and he’s been having frequent episodes of “weird” (as he calls it) feelings. He doesn’t label it as feeling sick. During these episodes he feels jittery, emotional (even cry’s sometimes) out of control, his heart rate goes up. This also causes him to have insomnia. Maybe they’re panic attacks, but the thing is, what triggers it? This occurs randomly on a normal day. We believe its typical withdrawal symptoms, because he abused quite a few drugs. (Marijuana, cigarettes, ecstasy, crystal meth, shrooms, hookah, cocaine, inhalants, “uppers” (as he calls them))
He has gone to see his doctor several times to get treatment, and his doctor said he has migraines.
-____-
He prescribed him anti depressants and that didn’t help my brother AT ALL.
He does this herbal drop treatment (echinacea, other oils, etc) That help him sleep.
Now we’re trying to find him herbal remedies that would help repair his brain damage from all of the abuse he has done to it.
Thank you very much.

Best answer:

Answer by jannsody
I’m not sure that there will be repairing of the brain damage (presuming that he has that as I’m not a medical doctor :), but researchers believe that the brain is very “plastic” and may form new nerve pathways to *help* compensate for the injured areas.

With regard to inhalant use, my friend actually has a severe Brain Injury from huffing at the age of 12, now in her 30s. The chemicals in products used for huffing are actual *poisons* that were never meant to go through the bloodstream.

Please be *very* careful with herbal supplements or “remedies” (e.g., echinacea, ginkgo biloba, chamomile) as they can result in side effects and/or drug (medication) interactions. It’s best to check with a licensed pharmacist before taking any of them. Not everything that is “natural” is safe 😉

Regarding the panic attacks, some people have generalized anxiety (to know specific event) or other types of anxiety. The antidepressants may help to lessen the intensity and/or frequency of the anxiety symptoms. Such medications tend to take about 6-8 weeks before possibly noticing results. A caveat (warning) is that some antidepressants may cause insomnia (trouble getting to and/or staying asleep). However, there are medications that one may take to help counteract the insomnia.

Even though benzo’s (e.g., ativan, valium, xanax, klonopin) may be prescribed to help with sleep, they’re not always recommended as a medication due to their physical addictiveness. (Some withdrawal symptoms from benzo’s may include seizures, psychosis/mental break from reality, or even death.) Some psychiatrists (it’s best to get medication for mental health issues from a board-certified psychiatrist as opposed to “just” a family doctor) prescribe seroquel (or other medications), which is classified as an antipsychotic but in smaller dosages may help with sleep.

You’d mentioned that he’s gone to the doctor several times, and I’m wondering if he’s gone to a neurologist which is medical dr who can help rule out disorders of the nervous system – brain, spinal cord, nerves. I’m just thinking that to help “cover all the bases” (not trying to give false hope though, know what I mean).

I’m not sure that he’d still be going through withdrawal symptoms a year after stopping the drugs, but it’s a good idea to ask a doctor about that as well.

Pertaining to the anxiety, please show him this government site which may have some local counseling agencies: http://findtreatment.samhsa.gov/ and can click the second link. Then one can click “near you” on the left-hand side of the page under “find facilities” and can type one’s city and state of residence into search. Their toll-free 24/7 referral helpline: 1-800-662-HELP (4357). Just an fyi that the first link is for those looking for substance abuse counseling/treatment, and that may be an option if he’s still “using” or having cravings for substances.

A 12-step program, such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), may have some local support groups. The only requirement is having a desire to get sober. One may attend an “open” AA meeting if there is no drinking problem: http://www.aa.org

This site has some common mottos pertaining to those 12-step programs, including “One day at a time”, “First things first” and “People, places and things”: http://www.royy.com/toolsofrecovery.html

Al-Anon is a 12-step program for the *friends and family* of the problem drinker, but one may attend an “open” Al-Anon meeting if the loved one doesn’t have a drinking problem: http://www.al-anon.alateen.org

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Question by Christina: What do you think about methadone as a treatment for heroin addiction?
Alot of people look down on iy, bu its been proved to work better than the 12 step groups and the like. If you agree its good why? If you don’t why?

Best answer:

Answer by Sick of Butt-Hurt People
“bu its been proved to work better than the 12 step groups and the like.”

Please provide evidence for this assumption.

Methadone is good for pregnant women trying to stop IV Heroin Use, what can lead to all sorts of contaminants entering the bloodstream and adversely effecting the fetus and Methadone is great for people that, basically, have to either go on it or continue activities that will result in their immediate death…

But in the long term, “maintenance” therapy does nothing but prolong the suffering of the Addicts.

Addiction is a horrific biological and mental illness that has nothing to do with the Substance or even the Actions because “Addiction” is defined as the inability to stop doing something despite mounting consequences.

Withdrawal doesn’t have anything to do with addiction.
“Only Doing It Once And A While” has nothing to do with addiction.

People that are profoundly addicted to meth/speed only do it 2 or 3 times a week and they use their delusions of “Control” to make the claim that they’re not hurting themselves… The same is said for heroin addicts.

They are on an opiate that is MORE addictive and hard to get off of than Heroin and just because they have doctors giving the opiates to them doesn’t make it any less of a “Problem”.

By giving Methadone or even Maintenance Heroin does nothing but allow the problem to continue.

By allowing the problem to continue, you are harming the addict and, more importantly, the family, friends, and culture of the addict.

An impaired parent is an abusive and abandoning parent… As the child of an addict, I think that the children of these people should be removed from their custody immediately or, if possible, get them to consent to sterilization as they do with:

? Project Prevention – Children Requiring a Caring Community
http://www.projectprevention.org/

If you can’t care for yourself, you are unable to care for others… period… end of story. Addiction does nothing but cause damage to the brain development of the offspring and cause their own addiction biology to activate at an early age and the children then go on to perpetuate the generational transmission of trauma onto THEIR kids, leading to the next generation of homeless, impoverished, victimized addicts.

By telling people they can just “Coast” on maintenance therapy, you’re telling them that they’re “Better” when they’re not… It’s a quick and temporary fix that will still almost always lead back to relapse, cross addiction, etc.

Since it isn’t legal to just put addicts down for the good of everyone around them, the way we put down rabid dogs that can’t be trained to not try to bite, we have no choice other than to get these people to do as little harm as possible to EVERYONE ELSE and this means long term TREATMENT that includes supervised withdrawal, mental health treatment, and a structured environment that will train their brain to not seek drugs as a coping mechanism.

Maintenance Therapy should be nothing more than a temporary crutch as a part of a much greater treatment program, which includes 12-Step among other types of therapy and treatment.

Suicide would be the best thing that a heroin addict could do for themselves, their children, their family, their friends, and the whole human species. It’s the only way to both stop the suffering of the addict and the way that they do nothing but cause harm to anyone they are in contact with.

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Amphetamine addiction overtakes alcohol and heroin
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De Blasio's Daughter Admits Battling Alcohol, Drug Addiction
The 19-year-old daughter of Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio admitted in a YouTube video released on Christmas Eve that she sought treatment for alcohol and drug addiction after years of also battling depression. Andrew Siff reports. De Blasio's Daughter Admits. Read more on NBC New York

A Pill to Cure Addiction?
Support groups like Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous only work in a fraction of alcoholics and addicts, according to Michael Fingerhood, who heads Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine's division of chemical dependency. The few … Read more on Wall Street Journal