Treatment Resources – Alcohol Abuse Symptoms. Help for You and for a Loved One

We do not offer PHP, IOP, or outpatient level of care at this time. Depending on the extent of secondary behavioral disorders such as addiction we can first help assess your condition and thereafter guide you to suitable treatment options.

Treatment Resources For Addiction

Am I An Addict?

Everything starts with a question. Am I an Addict? Only you can answer this question. If you can’t stop using drugs or drinking alcohol even if you want to, or if the urge to use drugs or drink is too strong to control, even if you know the substance is causing harm, then you might be addicted. To simplify, an addict is an individual whose life is controlled by drugs.

Maybe you admit you have a problem with drugs. However, you don’t consider yourself an addict.  Society has preconceived notions about what an addict is. There is nothing shameful about being an addict once you begin to take positive actions.

If you can identify your problems, you may be able to identify the solutions. If you are an addict you must first admit that you have a problem with drugs before any progress can be made toward recovery.  Addiction is a disease, which, without recovery, ends in jails, institutions, and death. Can addiction be treated successfully?  Yes, addiction is a treatable disease.

According to the University of Pennsylvania Health System [1], 70 percent of alcoholics who stay engaged in treatment for a least one year achieve lifelong sobriety. With drugs, it’s between 50 to 60 percent. Those numbers are much better than for other similar diseases requiring consistent life-long treatment. Addiction takes our pride, self‑esteem, family, loved ones, and even our desire to live. If you have not reached this point in your addiction, you don’t have to. If you need help, all go got to do is ask. I hope this article: “. Am I an Addict? ” answers the question that may have been bothering you for so long.

Help for You

Addiction is a disease that tells you that you haven’t got a problem. You are the only one who can’t see it. You become divided from your friends from your family and most of all, from reality. And it takes so long that it’s difficult to tell when the problem started.

Yes, there is help available for you. Ready to deal with your alcohol or drug abuse problem?  One small step is worth more than a thousand steps planned.  Don’t keep delaying the act of asking for help. Finding the courage to speak with an addiction professional may be the first most significant step on your journey to recovery.

Helping yourself takes courage. Courage isn’t having the strength to go on – it is going on when you don’t have strength. Even at your lowest point of discouragement, you can still find the strength to overcome addiction, as long as you take actionable steps to achieve this goal. Learn more about Help for You.

Help for a Loved One

Getting someone to admit that they have a problem and that they need to accept help is rarely a smooth and quick process. Persistence is key.

Getting a loved one to agree to accept help and finding support services for all family members is the first step toward healing for the addicted person and the entire family.

When the person suffering from addiction is reluctant to seek help, sometimes family members, friends, and associates come together out of concern and love to confront the person.

Learn How to Support a Person You Love while they embark on the road to recovery:

• You can help support your loved one’s recovery
• Family intervention can start the healing process
• Starting to get your loved one the help they need

Read through the article Help a Loved One.

Alcohol Abuse Information

The first step toward recovery from alcoholism is the recognition that a problem exists.  Once the person breaks through denial and admits to having a problem, a range of treatment options become available.

Alcohol Abuse Symptoms:

• Worrying about where your next drink is coming from and planning social, family and work events around alcohol.

• Spending a lot of time drinking, getting alcohol or recovering from alcohol use

• Feeling a strong craving or urge to drink alcohol and finding it hard to stop once you start.

• Wanting to cut down on how much you drink or making unsuccessful attempts to do so.

• Using alcohol in situations where it’s not safe, such as when driving or swimming

• Waking up and drinking – or feeling the need to have a drink in the morning.

• Suffering from withdrawal symptoms, such as sweating, shaking and nausea, which stop once you drink alcohol.

Visit the article Alcohol Abuse and learn more about its signs and symptoms, and its short-term and long-term effects.

Drug Abuse Information

Just remember that drug addiction is treatable. There may not be a cure to this relentless disease yet, but many medical professionals are confident to one day achieve that. Drug abuse is a complex disease.  It is identified by intense and, at times, uncontrollable drug craving, along with compulsive drug seeking and use that persist even in the face of devastating results.

Learn more about the most commonly abused drugs and their effects. Just visit Drug Abuse Information.

Substance Abuse or Experimentation?

Four Stages of Substance Abuse

Stage 1: Drug Experimentation

Experimentation among adults can occur when changing or expanding social groups or getting a new job with a new work culture that might accept or encourage drug use.

Stage 2: Regular Use

At this stage, substance use is more common. Individuals may not use it daily. However, there may be a foreseen pattern. For example: using every weekend. Also, individuals may use under the same set of circumstances, such as when bored, lonely, or stressed.

Stage 3: Risky Use

At this stage, the user begins to suffer emotional, physical, legal, or social problems. For example, adults may drink and drive or have problems at work or in their relationships. Teenagers may have bad grades, behavioral problems, a significant change in friends, motor vehicle crashes, or speeding tickets.

Stage 4: Drug Addiction and Chemical Dependencies

At this stage, substance use is out of control and compulsive. Addiction is a medical condition involving physical changes and psychological from repeated heavy alcohol use, other drugs, or both. The primary symptoms of addiction are uncontrollable alcohol or other drug cravings, seeking, and use.

Read the article “ Substance Abuse or Experimentation? “ and you may be able to answer if you or your loved one is in the experimentation stage or in the substance abuse stage.

Find the Help You Need

Inpatient medical detox and residential primary addiction treatment may be available at our affiliated facility at Level Up West Palm Beach Rehab. For some primary behavioral health treatment clients, medical detox and or addiction rehab may be required first.  If you have a co-occurring severe substance abuse diagnosis, please contact us prior to beginning inpatient mental health therapy. Treatment services may vary. Please call us to learn which treatment options are most suited for your individual needs.