Treating Soldiers With PTSD and Addiction

photo of psychologist and a soldier with PTSD

It is a well known fact that experiencing trauma can have a serious impact on the course of one’s life. A severe accident, or the loss of a loved one can scar people in seemingly ineluctable ways. If you have ever experienced such trauma, then you know firsthand the scars the event can leave with you, possibly even post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). An insidious mental illness that if left untreated can lead people to engage in self-destructive behavior. The paradox is such behaviors often take the form of self-medicating with drugs and alcohol, which initially can alleviate some of the symptoms of the disorder, but actually make the symptoms worse in the long run. What’s more, self-medicating can also lead to addiction, and what one finds themselves with is a co-occurring disorder—otherwise known as a dual diagnosis.

Symptoms of PTSD can include:

  • Reliving the event (also called re-experiencing symptoms).
  • Avoiding situations that remind you of the event.
  • Having more negative beliefs and feelings.
  • Feeling keyed up (also called hyperarousal).

PTSD In The Military

While the condition can develop in anyone who experiences trauma, most people you probably associate post-traumatic stress with is the military. Young men and women who go off to fight in armed conflict witness and experience first-hand the horrors of war. In the field of battle even the survivors are victims. After nearly two decades of continuous involvement in the Middle East there are thousands of military personnel who have come home from Afghanistan and Iraq changed.

Ideally, such people would have access to the best treatment money could buy. That is, effective methods of therapy and medication that can counter the symptoms and even repair some of the damage. Unfortunately, the Veterans Administration (VA) isn’t always on top of treating affected personnel, which means many service men and women take to calming their symptoms with substances. In many cases, it is a choice that leads to a dishonorable discharge, which can actually cut individuals off from receiving VA benefits. Therefore, upsetting one’s prospects for obtaining a good job after the military

A new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that during a four-year period, almost two-thirds of the 91,764 U.S. troops kicked out of the military for misconduct had received a diagnosis for post-traumatic stress, The Washington Post reports. The GAO is urging the Defense Department to do a better job at ensuring commanders consider medical conditions like PTSD when determining how to handle misconduct cases.

Treating Mental Illness – PTSD and Addiction

It is quite common for people with any form of mental illness to suffer from addiction as well. Which condition comes first is not as important as treating both disorders at the same time. Failure to do so usually results in an inability to recovery. At 10 Acre Ranch, we understand that drugs and alcohol can prolong a cycle of avoidance and delay treatment. For more than 25 years, we have treated many clients who courageously served overseas, who self-medicated their PTSD with drugs and alcohol. By addressing both the addiction and the co-occurring disorder they could get back on their feet and lead a fulfilling life.

If you or a loved one is struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder, and self-medicates, please contact us today. Recovery is possible.

Social Model of Addiction Recovery

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If you are in recovery from addiction or if you are still actively using drugs or alcohol, you are acutely aware of the fact that the disease is typified by solitude. While active users may be accompanied by others spiraling towards a similar bottom, the reality is that you are in fact alone. Nobody is going to support you in any fashion, short of maybe some friends and family members who could be enabling your destructive behavior. Perhaps you are still using and happen to be in a romantic relationship, if so there is good chance that it is unhealthy due to its codependent nature.

The point is that meaningful relationships in active addiction are virtually nonexistent. Even when you are around others, you are in every way alone. Conversely, in active recovery meaningful relationships are in abundance. The social model of addiction recovery centers around relying upon one another for support. It is such relationships that in many ways give you reasons to stay the course, you are there for others and they are there for you.

The road to addiction and beyond is a lonely road, the path to recovery involves walking side by side with others, as equals. It is often said recovery cannot be achieved on one’s own, only with the help of others. And there is plenty of evidence to support such claims.

The Social Model of Addiction Recovery

Isolation for addicts and alcoholics is a destructive behavior. In recovery, much emphasis is placed on getting out of one’s comfort zone and working hard to embrace the power of the group and its lifesaving qualities. At 10 Acre Ranch, we instill in our clients the power of the group. We know if you are feeling down others can assist you in getting back up, and vice versa.

In treatment, you and the other clients take part in groups that become the model for how you will sustain recovery upon discharge via 12 Step recovery. On multiple nights a week, clients are taken to various meetings to see and participate in a program of recovery that has helped countless individuals find a new way of living since the 1930’s.

One learns that a sponsor is not a boss or a parent, but rather a friend who can guide you through the Steps and can give you suggestions for overcoming situations that, left to one’s own devices, could lead to relapse. It isn’t a secret that people with substance use disorders don’t respond well to orders and commands, which is why the social model is so effective. In recovery we are all equals, there is no hierarchy. Through such a format, people can learn what a healthy relationship looks like, they can learn the value of open and honest lines of interpersonal communication.

Recovering Without Distraction

At our Southern California treatment facility, we understand that in early recovery distractions can be counterproductive. The greatest distraction for men is without a doubt the fairer sex. Once the drugs and alcohol are out of your system, people often remember what a sex drive is. How appealing being in the company of women is after years, decades even, of being in a fog. One of the most common routes to relapse in early recovery is without a doubt romantic attachments.

Being in a home surrounded by other males, gives you time to form lasting bonds with other men. It is not uncommon for men who go through treatment together to be friends for the rest of their lives, even if they reside in opposite ends of the country.

If you are still in the grips of addiction, we hope that you will contact us as soon as possible. We can help you break the cycle of addiction and give you the tools necessary for living a life in recovery. Please take a moment to watch a short video below:

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Addiction In America – War In Mexico

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Much of the news these days is focused on the Middle East, with ISIS taking front and center as being many Americans’ biggest concern. We have all seen the devastation in Syria on television and on the front pages. The death toll is staggering. While every one of us should feel disturbed by the carnage caused by this civil war being fought overseas, it is important to remember that the drugs being used and abused by Americans also come with a heavy price.

People die in this country every day from addiction, both from overdoses and the damage done by years of abuse. But, we would be wise to remember that the drugs that feed the fire of the United States’ insatiable drug habit, come to us by a bloody road. The clear majority of illegal drugs used today in this country arrive via Central America—particularly through Mexico.

At any given time, or in any given year, several Mexican drug cartels vie for the power to fuel the fire of addiction raging just north of the border. And negotiations usually take the form of gunfire, not peaceful talks. As a result, a global survey has revealed that after Syria, Mexico has become the second deadliest conflict area in the world.

A War for Drugs

In 2016, there were 23,000 intentional homicides in Mexico. The smaller central American countries have not been left unscathed either, with 16,000 having been killed during the same time in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. But it is important to remember that the deaths are not always the result of one cartel or gang fighting another, in each of the aforementioned countries the military has been tasked with fighting the war against transnational drug trafficking. And the cartels themselves have military grade weapons.

“The death toll in Mexico’s conflict surpasses those for Afghanistan and Somalia. This is even more surprising, considering that the conflict deaths are nearly all attributable to small arms. Mexico is a conflict marked by the absence of artillery, tanks or combat aviation,” said John Chipman, International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) chief executive and director-general, in the statement.

The cartels, to be sure, are not going anywhere as long as there is demand. There are millions of Americans with untreated addiction. Each year, those same people spend billions of dollars to maintain the very habit that is, in fact, killing them. Billions of dollars which are destined to line the pockets of cartel bosses south of the border.

Every time a particular cartel or boss, like Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, is taken down there is always someone else to fill the void.

Treating Addiction is The Best Weapon

Encouraging people to seek help for addiction not only helps individuals, it helps society. Not just ours. Thousands of innocent Mexicans, with zero affiliation to the cartels, have lost their lives just because of proximity. By ending the stigma of addiction more people will begin to see that recovery is possible, that treatment does work. For too long substance use been viewed as a crime, and that the solution to the problem was incarceration. We know that wars on drugs have little effect on addiction rates, but on the other hand treatment has a huge effect.

If you or a loved one is battling an alcohol or substance use disorder, please contact 10 Acre Ranch today. We can help break the cycle of addiction, and start you down the most important road of life.

Fentanyl and Carfentanil Taking Lives

Book with fentanyl and test tubes

It would seem that we all live in an era where the drugs of our parents’ generation do not hold the same appeal. That is not to say that people no longer use cocaine, marijuana, speed and heroin (especially heroin); but rather, that the environment has changed dramatically and we live in a time when synthetic drugs are seemingly the biggest threat—at least with respect to posterity. Over the last decade, give or take, the media has flooded America with horror story after horror story, centered on synthetic analogs that are literally killing people.

First, it is important to make clear that the greatest problem regarding drug use today is centered around the American opioid addiction epidemic. A crisis of epic proportions that arose from what can only be called reckless overprescribing of prescription opioid painkillers. For nearly two decades both individual states and the Federal government have been reeling to find a way to reign in the scourge of opioid addiction that resulted from prescribing opioids for all things considered painful, whether that be a stubbed toe or back pain.

What started with pills prescribed legally, morphed into an even greater problem when crackdowns made it harder for already addicted Americans to acquire painkillers from a doctor. Such people did what any addict would do, looked to the black market for relief. A marketplace with zero-oversight and few concerns about patient wellbeing. Many pill abusers found that they could save money and actually achieve a greater high by making the switch to heroin. Thinking that prescription painkillers and heroin were both opioids, what’s the difference? The answer to which is, a lot!

Opioid Mystery Bags

Is it true that people die every day from prescription opioid overdoses? Yes. However, many of the overdose deaths today are the result of using heroin, and it isn’t just the heroin that is killing people. But rather what is mixed into the heroin, unbeknownst to users, in order to boost potency. For a number of years now, people have been dying of overdoses on heroin that is mixed with an extremely powerful synthetic opioid narcotic. One that is often resistant to the life-saving effects of the overdose reversal drug naloxone—sold under the brand name Narcan.

You may already have guessed that the synthetic being referred to is fentanyl. A drug commonly used in hospital settings for surgery and traumatic injuries which is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. The ingredients to make fentanyl can be acquired with relative ease from Chinese laboratories, and shipped overseas to cartels in Mexico. From there, the drug which causes severe respiratory depression is either stamped into pills disguised as other drugs (i.e. OxyContin) or it is mixed in with batches of heroin. Either way, by the time the fentanyl reaches people with opioid use disorder in the U.S., there is little way of knowing what is being consumed.

To make matters even worse, there are stronger analgesics also finding their way into the hands of American drug addicts, once again without their knowledge of the drugs’ presence. Interestingly, the more powerful drugs are analogs of fentanyl, but were never intended for human use.

Gray Death: A Fentanyl Admixture

In Alabama, Georgia and Ohio there has been a spate of deaths linked to dangerous opioid admixture, fittingly referred to as “Gray Death.” It was given the moniker because it looks like concrete mix, and causes overdose, the Associated Press reports. It is usually a mixture of heroin, fentanyl and carfentanil — an analog of fentanyl 10,000 times more potent than morphine, often used to tranquilize large animals like elephants. Sometimes another obscure synthetic opioid called U-47700, which has been associated with dozens of deaths, is added to the bags.

“Gray death is one of the scariest combinations that I have ever seen in nearly 20 years of forensic chemistry drug analysis,” Deneen Kilcrease, manager of the chemistry section at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

If you are actively abusing opioids, these combinations of drugs should be cause for concern. Around one hundred people die every day in this country just from abusing heroin on its own and prescription opioids. If you add something that includes elephant tranquilizers into the mix, then the stakes suddenly get much higher. If you think that you are buying heroin, there is no way of knowing until it’s too late. If you think that just because a pill has an OC stamped on the side and it is therefore OxyContin, it could in fact be something entirely different.

At 10 Acre Ranch, we strongly encourage you to consider reaching out for help. Entering substance use disorder treatment will end the risk of a fatal overdose and prevent the often slow death of active addiction. We can help you break the cycle and show you how to live a fulfilling life in recovery. Please contact us today.

Study: Beat Stress By Looking on the Bright Side

a photo of a stressed man

Unfortunately, stress is inevitable – from failed relationships to family conflicts to financial trouble — and uncontrolled stress can have a serious impact on your health and your new sober life.

But how do you calm yourself down after a stressful encounter or situation? Could it really be as simple as thinking happy thoughts?

According to a recent stress study, published in Nature Human Behavior, reminiscing about happy times can help shut down your body’s stress response. Acute stress compromises the neural circuitry that’s involved in emotion regulation.

Researchers Mauricio Delgado and Megan Speer from Rutgers University stressed out 134 study participants by having them submerge their hands into cold ice water. One group was instructing to spend the time thinking about a positive experience, like a past family trip to Disneyland, while the others thought about something mundane (like getting luggage and packing for the trip).

The group who recalled happy memories  felt better and the expected rise in their levels of the stress hormone cortisol was only 15 percent.

“Engagement of cortical regions previously linked to emotion regulatory functions may be significant for enhancing or sustaining pleasant feelings during positive reminiscence, thus dampening the physiological stress response,” the researchers concluded.

Indeed, learning to calm down physiologically soon after a stressful event has been shown to make you healthier (both physically and psychologically) over the long term. And, it’s certainly an important skill to cultivate in order to achieve lasting sobriety. Developing healthy stress relievers improves wellbeing and hastens recovery success, according to past studies.

Managing Stress at 10 Acre Ranch
Stress comes from a number of places, and is different for everyone. During our group therapy, members cultivate healthy coping habits to identify high-risk situations and manage stress more constructively. To learn more, call today: 877-228-4679.

Are You Eating the Salty Six?

photo of different foods, salty foods

On average, Americans eat more than 3,400 milligrams of sodium each day, which is more than double the ideal amount of 1,500 mg per day.

What’s more, over 75 percent of that sodium comes from processed, prepackaged and restaurant foods – not from the salt shaker, according to the American Heart Association (AHA). That’s why it’s important to read labels closely.

Sticking to a low sodium diet will help you maintain a healthy blood pressure and reduce your risk of heart attack, heart failure, stroke, kidney disease, osteoporosis, and stomach cancer. Plus, you’ll feel less bloated and may even experience fewer headaches.

As part of a heart-healthy diet, the AHA recommends watching out for what they call the “salty six,” or the surprising foods that add the most sodium to your diet.

  • Cold cuts and cured meats: Deli or pre-packaged turkey can have as much as 1,050 milligrams of sodium per serving!
  • Pizza: One slice may have up to 760 milligrams of sodium! 
  • Canned soups and vegetables: Anything in a can could be a potential sodium bomb; one cup of canned chicken noodle soup can have up to 940 milligrams of sodium. 
  • Breads and rolls: Even though bread doesn’t always taste salty, one piece can have as much as 230 milligrams of sodium. If you have toast for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch, and a roll with dinner … well, you do the math! 
  • Chicken nuggets: Just 3 ounces of frozen and breaded nuggets (about the size of the palm of your hand) can add up to nearly 600 milligrams of sodium. 
  • Burritos and tacos: Two teaspoons of packaged taco seasoning can have 411 mg of sodium.

Nutritional Guidance at 10 Acre Ranch
wide range of supportive programs are offered at the Ranch, including nutritional counseling and meal preparation. Learn more about how our customized residential and outpatient programs can help you live a healthy and addiction-free life! Call today: 877-228-4679.