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Seeking Substance Abuse Treatment Options In the Sacramento Region

esidential treatment in either a detox or rehab facility can be the difference between life and death for many people. In Sacramento, most of the facilities are based on the social model of recovery. In this atmosphere, the addict or alcoholic is supervised 24/7 and closely monitored during the first 24 hours. Government funding is available for some residential treatment programs, but there are also several that accept private payment including personal check, cashier’s check, cash, credit, or traveller’s checks.

Drug or alcohol detox is the first step in the treatment process for anyone entering a residential program. A contracted physician will review the client’s medical and use history and prescribe the appropriate detox medications. These medications will ease the pain of withdrawal and reduce or prevent many of the symptoms of withdrawal like body aches, the shakes, night sweats, vomiting, and even a depressed mental state. Closely monitoring the of the client in the social model detox program during the initial stages of withdrawal is critical. For many the symptoms of withdrawal can be overwhelming causing them to relapse before they have even been given the chance of getting clean and sober. Going back to using or drinking during this initial critical stage is oftentimes seen as the easier path, but this only prolones the vicious cycle of addiction.

After the initial detox phase of someone’s journey to sobriety, many people will choose to continue their treatment in a longer term program. Treatment for addiction and substance abuse in an inpatient setting is much more structured than most social model detox programs. There are scheduled activities like one-on-one counseling, group therapy, exercise, journaling, and recovery planning. Inpatient treatment can last 30, 60, 90 days or even longer.

An intensive outpatient program is another option for treatment after a stay in a residential detox program. In an outpatient alcohol and drug counseling program, the addict or alcoholic will work with one or more counselors to develop a plan for long term sobriety. Activities will include things like anger management, sobriety maintenance, and recovery planning. In the social model format of counseling, everything will be done based on the 12 steps of recovery and most of the treatment will be designed to get people knowledgable about and interested in the 12 step fellowship.

The opportunity to ease back into normal life provided by the outpatient addiction counseling can be critical for many people. Leaving an inpatient program, whether that be detox only or a longer form of residential treatment, can be stressful for many addicts and alcoholics. The substance abuse counselor in an outpatient program can keep the client’s mind focused on their recovery and reduce the stress that normal everyday life causes. The individual’s needs determine the frequency of care necessary in the outpatient counseling program. For some as little as one day per week will be sufficient for them to maintain their sobriety after treatment, but for other addicts and alcoholics 5 days per week may be required for a time after leaving treatment if they are to maintain their sobriety.

Some addicts or alcoholics may try to avoid inpatient treatment completely. Either they refuse to put their life on hold while they seek help for the chemical dependency, or they are in denial about the intensity of their addiction. An outpatient addiction counseling program is an attractive alternative to inpatient treatment. For some of these people the outpatient program is sufficient to get them headed in the right direction, but for many others outpatient substance abuse counseling is only a way for them to please loved ones, employers, or the courts. In the end, their addiction or dependency on drugs or alcohol ends up being too strong to be handled by outpatient addiction treatment, and they eventually end up in residential treatment.

Pathways Recovery provides several options for people seeking addiction or substance abuse treatment or counseling. For many people they will need to check themselves into our Sacramento Rehab program, but for others they may choose to seek help through our Outpatient Drug Counseling In Sacramento.

Clug Drugs

Most young (or young at heart) adults that are into the club scene are familiar with substances commonly referred to as “club drugs”.  These include drugs like MDMA , Rohypnol, GHB, and Ketamine which are generally attractive to club goers for their low cost and the intoxicating high that can intensify the clubbing experience.  Street names for club drugs include XTC, X (MDMA), Special K, Vitamin K (Ketamine), soap (GHB), and roofies (Rohypnol).
Most of these drugs are central nervous system depressants, and a couple of them (GHB and Rohypnol) have become famous as date rape drugs or more recently in movies like The Hangover.  GHB in combination with other drugs can cause nausea, breathing difficulites, and even comas (not to mention overdoses and death).
Ketamine (AKA “special K” or “vitamin K”) was developed as an anasthetic for both human and animal use, however, about 90% of the Ketamine currently produced and sold legally in the United States is intended for veterinary use.  It can be injected or snorted and can cause dream-like states and hallucinations.  In higher doses, users can experience delirium, amnesia, impaired motor function, high blood pressure, depression, and potentially fatal respiratory issues.
Rohypnol is not approved in the United States for any legal purposes, but it began showing up in the 1990’s for illicit uses.  It is in the class of drugs known as benzodiazepines and when mixed with alcohol it can incapacitate victims and prevent them from resisting sexual assault (hence the term date-rape drug).  Because it is a colorless, tasteless, and odorless liquid it can easily be mixed in someone’s drink and produce a state of aterograde amnesia where the individual may not remember events (like a sexual assault) they experienced while under the effects of the drug.
MDMA, more commonly known as ecstasy, is a synthetic, psychoactive drug chemically similar to the stimulant methamphetamine and the hallucinogen mescaline.  Other street names for MDMA include XTC and the “hug drug.”   Because MDMA can interfere with the body’s ability to break it down, or metabolise it, potentially toxic levels of the drug can quickly be reached by repeated short interval usage.  This can result in extremely elevated body temperature resulting in liver, kidney, and cardiovascular system failure (more commonly referred to as death).
While the euphoric effects of these chemicals is undeniable, the jury is still out on the proper treatment related to their usage.  Unlike other substances of addiction, a person using club drugs is most often doing so in a social setting with many others using the same, or similar, drugs.  Being part of that group gives the user a sense of belonging that they may not feel anywhere else in their life.  Until the damaging effects of their drug usage reaches a point that outweighs the perceived social benefits, the person may not feel a need to give up their lifestyle.

Related Links:
http://www.drugstrategies.org/detroit/detroit12.html
http://www.addiction-help-line.com/club_drugs.html
http://www.nida.nih.gov/Infofacts/clubdrugs.html

Invictus-A Great Recovery Movie

The title of the movie is based on a poem written in the 19th century by William Enerst Henley. The poem goes like this:

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

Written from a hospital bed while Henley was recovering from the amputation of his leg below the knee, the poem is about taking charge of one’s own destiny and overcoming the obstacles that life presents you with. According to the movie Invictus, Nelson Mandel recited this poem everyday for almost 30 years while confined to a prison cell no bigger than a closet by the white South African government.
The movie takes place soon after Nelson Mandela is elected president of the post-apartheid South Africa, and it describes how President Mandela used the South Aftican rugby team’s quest for the 1995 World Cup as a vehicle for reunification.
How is it a great recovery movie? Well, the greatest line in the movie in my mind is when Matt Damon’s character, the South African team captain, is asked by his wife what he is thinking the night before the championship game. Obviously this being the biggest game of his career you would think he would be thinking about the game the next day. Instead he tells his wife, “I’m wondering how you spend 30 years in a prison cell and come out willing to forgive the people that put you there.” Who knows if this discussion happened in real life, but if you consider it you can see that Nelson Mandela was a man who held no resentments against his white oppressors because he saw that having hatred and resentment in his heart would only continue the culture of separation that he had fought his whole life against.
As someone once told me, having a resentment is like taking the poison yourself and hoping the other person dies. So, if we could use the example set in this movie by Nelson Mandela we could see that forgiveness is the right path to take if we want to heal. As for who wins the championship match, I’ll let you see the movie…..

Judgement

When we’re heavy into our addiction and even in early recovery, our judgement is definitely clouded-if it exists at all.  Most often the only judgement we have is of ourselves, and this is usually the harshest.  This tends to trap us and stall any effort we are making at getting better because the shame and guilt we feel over our past makes us feel unworthy of getting better. 
Because our clouded judgement has probably spilled over to all aspects of our lives, we have probably also caused a great deal of damage to our relationships, financial well-being, and physical health.  So our sense of self-worth and wellness has probably been devastated.
The point at which the judgement of ourselves has caused us to pile on so much shame and guilt that we can’t stand it any longer is usually the point at which we decide to make some changes, but this decision to change may not necessarily even be a conscious one.  In some regards, it is probably an instinct of survival because our standard solution isn’t making our life any better, and the pain of living the way we have been becomes greater than the fear of making some changes.
To make the changes necessary requires us to let go of many of our past beliefs, including how we feel about ourselves.  It is only by separating our true self from our addicted self that we will be able to let go of the shame, guilt and judgement that we of our past behaviors.  In Drop The Rock the authors discuss the impact that negative, self-defeating feelings can have on recovery.  Once we have moved past these old ways of thinking and dropped these “rocks” we can move forward into the “sunlight of the spirit”.
Related Links:

http://alcoholismandgrace.wordpress.com/2009/11/29/healing-linked-to-forgiveness-and-humility/
http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/alcoholism-12-step-support/135253-drop-rock.html
http://sunlightofthespirit.org/
http://whatmesober.com/2009/11/26/remarks-on-the-way-we-view-alcohol-and-drug-use/

Are You Ready?

Forcing someone into a treatment program when they are not ready usually ends up with less than the desired results. While others around the person exhibiting addictive behavior may see the destructive path that they are on, the denial associated with addiction usually prevents the person of concern from seeing the problems that their lifestyle is creating. Understanding the stages of readiness to change can be very helpful for loved ones hoping to get someone to change their destructive behavior.
Readiness to change involves 5 stages which describe a person’s willingness or motivation level to make a change in their life. The range starts with the precontemplation stage. In this stage, the person isn’t thinking at all about making changes to their lifestyle. The denial and dull thinking associated with the person’s drinking or using is masking all of the problems that their addiction is causing. So, they see no need to make any changes to their life.
The second stage of readiness is contemplation. In this stage the person is becoming aware of the problems that their addiction is causing and their shield of denial is weakening. They may begin to talk about quitting drinking or using drugs, but at this stage the discussion about quitting their destructive behavior is all in the future tense.
Stage 3 involves actually making commitments to make changes. The discussion changes from “I might” to “I will.” This stage is referred to as preparation.
When the subject takes action to make changes in their life, like going into a detox or long term recovery program, they have moved into stage 4.
If they continue to do maintenance activities for at least 6 months after receiving treatment then they have moved into stage 5 of the stages-of-change model. While not a guarantee that the changes made will stick forever, the old adage “actions speak louder than words” is a good indicator of the future. So continued maintenance even after the initial 6 months will be a good indicator of a positive future.
For some people with addictions there is even a sixth step in their change model known as transcendence. When someone has reached this stage, returning to their old habits seems abnormal or even weird.
Understanding where someone is in their readiness to make a positive change to their life can make getting them the help they need a much smoother process. If your loved one is still in the precontemplation stage, then they are not ready to seek treatment. So, nudging them toward stage 2 by making them aware of the problems their addiction is causing may be more productive than forcing them into treatment.

For more information on this subject check out any of the following links:
http://www.addictioninfo.org/articles/11/1/Stages-of-Change-Model/Page1.html
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb6378/is_4_70/ai_n32149977/
http://www.uri.edu/research/cprc/TTM/StagesOfChange.htm