Month: July 2023

What Happens to My Pet If I Go to Rehab?

young man hanging out with his dog at the rehab center

What Happens to My Pet If I Go to Rehab?

Going to rehab can be an important step in getting your life back on track. Substance use disorder treatment can give you the tools to get clean and sober, to cope with cravings in the future, and to manage the underlying causes of substance abuse so that you don’t need drugs or alcohol to cope with life. At the same time, for many of us, stepping away from responsibilities like jobs, homes, and pets can be challenging.

If you have a pet and you live alone, that can be especially pressing. What does happen to your pet when you go to rehab? Depending on your situation, there are multiple options and all of them have different pros and cons. This article will discuss what those are and will help you to make a decision.

Leaving a Pet with a Friend or Family Member

Even if friends and family members aren’t particularly happy with you as a person, they are unlikely to ignore a request to help care for a pet while you’re gone. If your friends and family can be trusted with your pet, this can be the most affordable option. However, it is understandably not an option for everyone. For example, if you’re not on speaking terms with anyone, if those people aren’t trustworthy around pets, or if they have too much on their plate already, you may not have this option.

Another option here is to try to break up the work across several friends. For example, your pet stays with one person for a week and then someone else picks them up, and so on. This means less constant work for someone who may not want a pet for 30-90 days. However, this option also means the most stress for your pet.

Paying For Professional Kennel Care

Professional kennel care means taking your pet to a professional pet boarding center and leaving them there for the duration of the stay. This option can be expensive. For example, pet boarding rates average about $500 per month. This does mean your pet will stay in a professional care center with someone to watch them, take them out, and offer play or walking.

Unfortunately, most professional care is available for dogs and cats. If you have a bird, you’ll probably have to seek out and travel to a professional center. This can mean added hassle and expense, which means the option isn’t for everyone.

If you do have a dog or a cat and you want to ensure that your pet gets the best possible care without you having to worry about anything, paying a professional kennel to care for your pet is a great option.

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Pet Sitters

Pet sitters are friends, family, or professional sitters who come and stay at your home for the duration of your treatment. Pet sitters may also drop by to exercise, play with, and feed your pet. This second option is the cheapest. For example, it may cost from about $20 per day to have someone walk and feed a dog. That still costs more than many kennels. However, it reduces the amount of stress your pet is under and is suitable for smaller mammals and fish.

Pet sitters will need access to your home, which means getting them keys, organizing when they will be there, and ensuring they have everything they need to provide for your pet while you are away. Often, that means choosing pet sitters who are licensed and bonded or choosing people you know. In each case, it will require organization and ensuring that you trust the person in question to continue doing the job while you are gone.

Choosing a Pet-Friendly Rehab

Pet-friendly rehab centers like 10-Acre Ranch allow you to simply bring your pets with you when you get treatment. This option offers the most peace of mind, because you know what care your pet is getting because you see them every day. In addition, the rehab center offers daily pet care, so you don’t have to watch or mind your pet while going to therapy or treatment. Plus, many therapies can work very well with having a pet, which means that your pet can actually take part in your recovery with you.

Pet-friendly rehab centers vary in offering from establishments that allow you to have a pet in your room to establishments that offer kenneling and care for your pet during the day, which you can access when not in treatment. In most cases, you should be able to keep your pet in your room – although that will be at the discretion of your roommate as well.

In addition, keeping your pet with you at rehab usually doesn’t cost more than going by yourself- although you may have to pay a small fee for boarding your pet and you may have to pay for pet-food acquired by the rehab center – as it’s unlikely you’ll be allowed to go shopping on your own.

Making a Choice

There are plenty of care options for people with pets who need to go to rehab. However, choosing an option normally depends on your situation. For most of us, keeping our pets with us in a pet-friendly rehab center is the best option because it reduces worry and stress. On the other hand, if your rehab center doesn’t allow pets, you’ll want to prioritize for either affordability, reduced stress for your pet, or professional care. Depending on which you choose, family care, kennel care, or a pet sitter may be the best option.

Going to rehab is important for your health and well-being. Luckily, having pets doesn’t have to get in the way. Often, you can just bring your pet with you and enjoy the company of your companion while you work to improve yourself and your health.

If you’re looking for a pet-friendly rehab, 10-Acre ranch offers substance use disorder treatment in a setting where you can bring your pets. However, it’s always important to get in touch and discuss your needs upfront. Good luck going into treatment.

What is Evidence Based Addiction Treatment?

What is Evidence Based Addiction Treatment?

In 2020, some 4.1 million people (or 1.5% of the population received substance abuse treatment across an estimated 16,000 treatment facilities in the U.S. Those facilities offer a wealth of options, ranging from 12-step and Christian-based treatment to rigorous evidence-based treatment and therapy built around research and long-term outcomes. That wide variety of choice means you’ll have options to choose from, to select a type of therapy that works for you or your loved one’s lifestyle, beliefs, and preferences. However, it also means you may want to learn what those treatments actually mean and how they work.

One of the most pressing questions is “what is evidence-based” therapy. This term is typically used to reference a standard of quality, which means that methods have been researched and proven to be effective in achieving recovery. This gives you more assurance that the program will actually help you to recover – although results almost always depend on your mindset and motivation.

What Does Evidence-Based Mean?

Evidence-based is a term that means research has been done and has produced evidence that the treatment has a positive effect. However, the term doesn’t say anything about the quality or scientific rigorousness of the study.

For example, LSD was used for years to treat mental health patients based on a study of just four people. On the other hand, CBT is now used to treat substance use disorders based on studies containing thousands of test subjects.

Evidence-based can also mean that a program is based on results from the program. This means that the term can be abused. For example, if 2% of the total patient population go on to graduate into recovery, evidence shows that the program works. For this reason, “evidence” based isn’t good enough and you’ll always want to ask about completion rates, recovery rates, etc. However, even those can be difficult to use as a proof of efficacy, because treatment centers conduct their own research based on factors like program completion rates, sobriety in the months immediately following treatment, and alumni interviews at follow-up points of 6 months or a year.

Evidence-Based vs Research-Based

You’ll also often see terms like “research based” or “science-based” instead of evidence based. Here, terminology can be confusing because it may be used interchangeably. This means that it’s highly likely there is no difference between the evidence-based and research-based claim.

However, a good “research based” program would use a treatment method after initial studies have shown potential efficacy, followed up on how that treatment efficacy lasts, and followed up to understand which parts of the treatment helped and why to work on building a better program.

Unfortunately, you won’t know which a rehab center means unless you start asking questions. Or, if you do your own investigation into the treatment methods they use to see how well studied they are.

Here, most therapeutic interventions are well-studied and well-tested. In addition, any medication assisted program is actually regulated by the government, meaning that it is very well tested and proven. On the other hand, there are many complementary therapies, spiritual programs, and holistic programs that are not based on rigorous research at all.

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Do You Need an Evidence-Based Program?

Eventually, most studies show that any treatment is better than no treatment at all. Attending a 12-step program like AA or NA still gives you social accountability and motivation – which can empower you to quit and stay clean and sober. However, looking for and finding a scientifically tested and proven treatment option may improve your chances of recovery. For example:

Has this treatment method been tested on many people and been proven effective at a high level?
What is the program graduation rate?
What is the recovery rate at 6 months? A year? 5 years?
How much follow-up treatment is needed to achieve those success rates?
Are there rigorous and objective controls in place to ensure the quality of data from a study?

Evidence based treatment should be tested for:

Safety
Efficacy
Long-term results

That’s important for ensuring that you can easily move into treatment without questioning the treatment itself.

Eventually, most people looking for treatment don’t have the scientific expertise to determine if a treatment method is science-based. You also shouldn’t have to. However, looking for evidence-based treatments can help you to ensure that your program is based on research and evidence of success.

Choosing a Treatment Center

There’s no one best option for treatment for everyone. In fact, the best treatment programs are those that are tailored to the individual, updated as the individual progresses through treatment, and adapted to meet specific needs. However, some of the following include evidence-based treatment methods you can look for:

Medication-Assisted Treatment – Pharmacological interventions including acamprosate, buprenorphine, disulfiram, LAAM, methadone, and naltrexone.
Individual and group counseling
Interventions
Cognitive behavioral therapy
Motivational enhancement therapy
Multi-dimensional family therapy
Couples behavioral therapy
Family strategic therapy
Contingency management therapy
Relapse prevention therapy
12-step facilitation treatment
Problem-service matching for customized treatment

Other forms of behavioral therapy such as DBT and EMDR may have research-based and evidence-based claims as well. Many treatment centers also offer complementary therapy. However, this means that the treatment is added on to the primary treatment and will not, on its own, help you to get clean and sober. Instead, it may improve or enhance the primary therapy. They are almost always based on small scale studies rather than larger studies – which means they are not suitable primary treatments.

If you’re worried about the efficacy of treatment, there’s a lot to navigate. With over 16,000 treatment centers in the United States, there’s also a lot to choose from. Here, it’s important to take into account that CBT, family therapy, behavioral therapy, and medication-assisted treatments are the most proven treatment methods for recovering from a substance use disorder. However, counseling, 12-step, and other types of therapy can also be extremely effective – especially when used in conjunction with CBT. In addition, the best programs typically tailor their treatment to the individual, so you tackle your individual problems and overcome specific behaviors or issues. It can be extremely difficult to independently verify the efficacy of any therapy offered by a treatment center, however, asking about what methodology is used, how programs are built, and what you can expect in terms of treatment, counseling, and therapy, will put you on the right track to figuring out if the center uses evidence-based treatment or not.

If you or your loved-one struggles from alcoholism or other substance abuse please contact us today and speak with one of our experienced and professional intake advisors about our detox, partial hospitalization, and residential treatment programs. 10 Acre Ranch also has specialty tracks like our pet friendly drug rehab and couples substance abuse treatment programs. We’re here to help you recover.

How to Tell if Someone is on Meth

thoughful man struggling from meth addiction

How to Tell if Someone is on Meth

If you expect that a loved one is abusing methamphetamine, it can be difficult to verify. For example, most people won’t be truthful if you attempt to sit down and have a conversation. Instead, drug abusers lie, throw back accusations, and use deception, even to the point of deceiving themselves. Yet, some 2.5 million Americans use methamphetamine, and an estimated 1.6 million of those are addicted to the drug. With almost 1 in 100 Americans using meth, it’s not unlikely that your suspicions of drug abuse are founded on something – so you can look for symptoms and take steps to get your loved one help.

Importantly, if your loved one is abusing drugs, it’s important to be gentle, non-judgmental, and caring. That starts with your investigation into whether they’re using or not. Your loved one should always be treated as a person with an illness, not someone making bad decisions or someone deliberately doing the wrong thing. The more you use judgment and anger, the more likely it is that you’ll have trouble getting them into treatment.

In most cases, you can start with three basic things. Looking for symptoms of your loved one being high, looking at long-term side-effects of meth, and looking for paraphernalia and other signs of drug abuse.

Symptoms of Being High

Methamphetamine is a stimulant which rapidly acts on the body, resulting in increases in energy, alertness, motivation, and mania. Normally, these symptoms last for about 12 hours or more, with a defined “manic” period followed by a crash. Initially, people act like they are suddenly excited and full of energy, are agitated, breathe more heavily, and may have dilated pupils. These symptoms can kick in within 15 minutes of taking a dose and can result in a period of being agitated and energetic that lasts up to 36 hours. Afterwards, people tend to crash, sleeping for tens of hours at a time and sometimes for a full 24-hour period.

That after-effect or “Crash” also often comes with cold and flu symptoms like redness around the eyes, runny nose, fatigue, and depression. They might be unable to sleep, but while being tired. And, that will happen cyclically, every time they use and crash.

Of course, people with manic disorders tend to have similar symptoms, minus the cold and flu symptoms. That’s also problematic considering people with bipolar disorders tend to struggle with substance abuse. So, it can be much harder to notice methamphetamine use in someone who already has manic episodes.

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Understand the Symptoms of Long-Term Meth Abuse

The longer your loved one uses methamphetamine, the more noticeable the side-effects will be. Methamphetamine has a significant effect on users, with an estimated 18% of all users and up to 70% of regular users suffering from psychotic episodes and psychosis. Unfortunately, longer-term symptoms can be difficult to notice, because they often happen gradually. People don’t go from one state to the next but instead gradually slide into being worse and worse. You might look up one day to realize that your loved one is doing really badly, even if you’ve been seeing them every day.

That’s a natural result of being around someone everyday and gradual change. You just get used to it. But, if you notice the following symptoms affecting your loved one, they are symptoms of meth use.

They have difficulty feeling happy or showing happiness at things they used to like. They might just not be excited for anything or they might be “meh” at everything. This is known as emotional blunting and happens when serotonin and dopamine channels are overloaded and the brain stops or reduces producing both.
They have out of character periods of depression, which might last for weeks at a time. That’s especially true if the first few days of this always come with cold and flu symptoms. However, this could also be a symptom of bipolar disorder or depression.
They struggle to sleep or maintain a healthy sleeping schedule. For example, they might sleep for several days at a time and then not sleep for several days.
They start to show physical symptoms of meth use such as tooth decay, muscle tics, or jumps.
They start to be paranoid or irrational behavior and may think people are out to get them, may take hunches to extremes, and may jump at every shadow.
They might start to be more manipulative, even showing completely different personality traits. For example, they might deliberately lash out and try to hurt you. They might also deliberately try to manipulate you to feel bad so you stop asking questions. They might guilt trip you, lash out, or use righteous anger to make you feel bad. And while those reactions and behaviors can be justifiable in some circumstances, in others, they are not. People who are abusing methamphetamine will likely to start to use them indiscriminately to get what they want.
They lose a significant and worrying amount of weight, to the point where they look unhealthy. They might also lose hair and teeth if they lose enough weight. This can be difficult to tell, especially if they were overweight, but sudden and rapid weight loss without dramatically changing diet and exercise is unlikely without an illness or drug abuse.
They show symptoms of psychosis like hallucinations, talking about things that aren’t there, having trouble telling what’s real or not, itching or scratching at things crawling on their skin, having irrational beliefs, etc.
They show increases in aggression and irritability and may lash out at even small provocations.
They have memory problems and might not be able to clearly put an event together, even if it was a day or two ago.
They “tweak” or stay awake for extremely long periods, sometimes as long as 2 weeks, with agitated and jerky movement, extreme irrationality, and difficulty functioning.

Methamphetamine can be subtle in small doses. However, heavy abusers often change so drastically, physically and psychologically, that the people who love them barely recognize them. They can become aggressive, mean, paranoid, manipulative, and irritable. They might have memory problems, they might not show love or excitement for anything, and they might even look completely different. But, when that happens, your loved one is very obviously and very heavily addicted to meth.

Physical Signs

There are always going to be non-health and behavior related signs of drug use. Here, you can actively look for some of the following:

Paraphernalia such as glass pipes
Needles
Ropes or hoses
Unexplained blood
They constantly run out of money or things happen that require money
They manipulate you to get money
Things go missing or are stollen

If you find drug use paraphernalia, it’s a pretty strong sign your loved one is using. That’s true even if they deny it or say that their friend was using and they did not.

Getting Help

Millions of Americans use stimulants like methamphetamine. Unfortunately, these drugs are never safe and run high risks of physical and psychological harm, with up to 70% of methamphetamine users experiencing significant psychosis. The sooner you quit, the less likely you are to have lifelong side effects and problems.

Unfortunately, it can be extremely difficult to talk someone into going to treatment and therapy. That can take time, building trust that you really want to help. And, it can mean convincing that person that life is better without meth. Good luck getting your loved one into treatment.

Signs of Substance Use in Your Loved One

Signs of Substance Use in Your Loved One

If you suspect your loved one is abusing drugs or alcohol, it’s unfortunately common. In 2021, some 46.3 million Americans qualified for a diagnosis for a substance use disorder, or 16.5% of the population. Of those, some 29.5 million had an alcohol use disorder and 24 million had a drug use disorder or a drug use and alcohol use disorder. But, it means that 4 out of every 25 people have a substance use disorder, and that means that one in two Americans knows someone with a drug or alcohol use disorder.

Recognizing the signs and symptoms of substance abuse is one of the first steps to getting your loved one treatment and help. However, those signs can vary from person to person. In addition, people often try to hide drug abuse and use. In some cases, your loved one may be high functioning or show very few outward signs of substance abuse – but may have no money, unexplainable absences, and deteriorating health.

People use substances to cope with life, stress, and pain. Getting help is about getting treatment and improving quality of life. Hopefully, recognizing these signs in your loved one makes it easier for you to throw out a lifeline and help them get their life back.

Constant Stress and Mood Swings

People who abuse drugs and alcohol are not generally chipper and happy when they are not using. Instead, they’ll be stressed, paranoid, irritable, and may have significant mood swings. That’s in part because of the change in hormones and neurotransmitters in the brain because substance abuse changes how the brain regulates chemicals like dopamine, serotonin, and opioids. Substance abuse makes you feel good in the moment, but tired, hungover, and cranky.

If your loved one is having mood swings they didn’t used to have, it could be a sign of increased stress or a mental health disorder. But, if that’s paired with substance use, it might just be a hangover.

Changes in Behavior

People who regularly abuse substances get very adept at hiding their effects. That’s especially true as they increase tolerance and the drugs or alcohol have less effect. However, if they’re binging on any substance, you should be able to tell. For example, someone with an alcohol use disorder may loosen up, they may have more trouble articulating thought or words, they may act dizzy or woozy, they may act in an exaggerated fashion, etc. And, if they’re using other drugs, there will be other signs. For example, pain pill and opioid abuse typically results in longer periods of lethargy or increased sleeping – sometimes even passing out on a couch or acting extremely fatigued.

That is the same story if they constantly have withdrawal symptoms. For example, someone without a hay fever diagnosis should not have constant puffy eyes and runny nose or a cough. And hay fever does not come with fever and excessive sweating.

Manipulative Behavior

If your loved one is lying, stealing, or manipulating others into giving them money or breaks from their responsibilities, it’s a good sign that something is wrong. Someone who frequently needs larger sums of money for no reason or for similar reasons like frequent car accidents, not being able to make the rent for unexplained reasons, etc., are being suspicious. People who frequently ask for money, who steal valuables, or who manipulate others into paying for things may be using their own money for substance abuse.

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Unexplained Disappearances

People who abuse substances need time to use those substances and that often means taking hours or even days out of their week. Some will use on their own in a room, others will go out to meet people to use with. This symptom is less visible with alcohol use disorder, because many people have no problems drinking around friends and family. However, they may get blackout drunk or may be unable to remember conversations where you thought they were sober.

Waste and Trash

It’s often relatively easy to find waste and trash from drug or alcohol abuse. For example, most alcohol requires buying bottles, which means receipts, bottles or cans, etc. If your loved one is drinking a lot, they are hiding bottles somewhere and sneaking them out of the house. That’s especially important if you find things like very strong alcohol that you wouldn’t normally buy. People hide bottles behind couches, in the bottom of the trash can, in garages, and under their beds – although some may simply make sure they do their drinking outside of the home.

Drug paraphernalia is also relatively easy to spot and typically includes pill containers, small pipes, burnt tinfoil, spoons, pipes, etc.,

These will vary significantly depending on what kinds of substances your loved one is using. But, if you suspect they are, taking time to look for signs is a good idea.

Lying

If you know your loved one has been using or drinking and ask them about it, and they lie or show guilt, it’s usually a bad sign. For example, if your loved one has a prescription for pain medication and they start hiding usage or lying about it, it’s a good sign that something has gone wrong. Similarly, if someone always underexaggerates how much they’ve had to drink, even though you know they’ve had more, it’s a sign that they might have a problem.

People who have a good relationship with substances do not try to hide drinking or using. They also won’t show or react with guilt when asked about those substances.

Getting Help

If your loved one is struggling with drug or alcohol abuse, it’s important to reach out and get help. Substance abuse is bad at any level, simply because it causes stress to mental and physical health, resulting in permanent damage to the liver and the gut, and what can be permanent damage to the way the brain functions. The more substances someone uses, the worse the effects are. A substance use disorder or addiction means that person has lost control over their substance abuse and will seek out substances regardless of their impact on social, career, or personal life. People become addicted for different reasons, but there is always a way to treat that addiction.

A rehab center can help your loved one to recover by treating the addiction and its symptoms and then treating the underlying causes of that addiction. People use to mask pain, to destress, to fit in, to hide mental health problems, and to feel good. Modern treatment includes behavioral therapy like CBT to help uncover behaviors that contribute to needing medication and to help people build new and better coping mechanisms, social behavior, and to improve their life – so they don’t need drugs or alcohol.