Can Food Help Treat Addictions?

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Nutritional therapy can greatly increase the effectiveness of drug abuse treatment programs. It turns out, eating healthy can really help people who are recovering from addiction feel better, both mentally and physically. Combined with regular exercise and strength training, proper nutrition is an essential component of a successful recovery plan. As these efforts will greatly improve the physical health of the patients, they also help train the mind to act in it’s own self interest by developing healthy habits to replace the old, unhealthy ones.

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How do I know if my teenager is on drugs?

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A very telltale sign of drug use is sudden and abrupt changes in behavior. Many American kids will go through rapid shifts in behavior as they approach early adolescence and puberty. This is a natural part of their physical and cognitive development. However, if your teen is abusing drugs or alcohol, the changes you notice are probably going to be much different than your typical ‘growing pains’. Some changes you notice may lean towards outright self-destructive behavior, anger and depression. These will only become amplified with further substance abuse, so you will want to get help for your child quickly.

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The Opioid Crisis: How The Sackler Family Made Billions, While America Became Addicted to Oxycontin.

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Internal Purdue memos sought to sell higher doses of the drugs over long periods of time. This obviously made the company more money, while the higher doses also increased the likelihood of their patients to develop an addiction. Many internal emails have proven that the Sackler family cared only about their sales numbers, not the safety of the patients who were taking the drugs.
While the Sackler family was pushing blame onto people who helplessly became addicted to their drugs, they raked in billions and billions of dollars. The family fortune is said to have exceeded $13 billion dollars at the end of 2018.

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Recovery: Setting Goals for 2018

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With the New Year upon us, many people in recovery are undoubtedly considering what they’d like to accomplish in the upcoming 365 days. While “future tripping” is frowned upon in recovery, that doesn’t mean you can’t set goals. In fact, writing down a few things that you hope to alter, amend, or add to your life is healthy as long as one is realistic about what you wish to bring to fruition.

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Those who work a program of recovery learn right away that they can no longer have illusions of control. They realize that trying to play God did not have the intended outcome. We must keep in mind that letting go, and allowing one’s “higher power” to preside over the course of your life is a vital component of achieving lasting recovery. We only have the power to make choices and hopefully our decisions today are conducive to addiction recovery.

Your life today consists of doing the next right thing, which you accomplish by being open and honest with not only ourselves but with others too. It’s often said that most anything is possible in recovery, and individuals find that things are made possible through living by the principles of recovery. With that in mind, if there are things you would like to see changed or bring into your life, just keep attending meetings and following directions. Good things happen in the lives of people who stay the course.

Realistic Resolutions In Recovery

Just to be clear, working a program doesn’t mean that your higher power will grant everything you want. However, if you set goals for yourself and go about achieving them by honest means, there is an excellent chance you will see your dreams realized. While people who have been around for a while might set more ambitious goals than someone in early recovery, the vehicle used for progress in one’s life is the same.

If you are in early recovery, maybe you’d like to have cravings disappear. Even though everyone’s desire to use drugs or alcohol dissipates at different times, those who continue to do the work eventually find that their sporadic insatiable urges to use wane. Every time you resist the yearning to get high or drunk, it gets easier. At first, it’s a mental battle; down the road, however, you just brush the yen to use off your shoulder. People in their first year of recovery may have had to resist scores of times in 2017; if you keep doing what you’re doing, you might find it occurs less or not at all in the coming year. Please keep in mind that cravings are normal, not acting on them is progress, and that is a remarkable achievement. A realistic resolution in early recovery is endeavoring to not act on cravings and praying that they one day will be nonexistent.

Resolve to Help Newcomers

Individuals who’ve been around a bit longer might consider talking to more newcomers a goal for 2018. In the hustle of everyday life, we can lose sight of the importance of newcomers, and how vital it is to support their recovery. When we reach out to people who are fresh in recovery, we strengthen our recovery.

Everyone in the program was a newcomer at one point. People introduced themselves to you and made you feel less alone. They invited you to be a part of something life-changing and lent their support to you. Now that you have been around a bit, perhaps you might consider asking a newcomer if they need a ride home or to the meeting. In 2018, consider making it a point to introduce yourself to a newcomer at every meeting you attend. Such a selfless resolution will have a positive effect on your program; you never know what will come from relationships you foster in the program.

Whatever you decide via resolutions, please be realistic about them and emphasize the importance of having one’s motives in the right place. If you do, it will have a positive effect on your life. All of us at 10 Acre Ranch would like to wish you and your loved ones a safe and sober New Year’s Eve and a productive 2018 in recovery.

Addiction Recovery in The Music Industry

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With each year that passes, it seems like another talented musician falls victim to addiction and other forms of mental illness. For some people that may feel commonplace; after all, genius is often accompanied by psychological turmoil. On the other hand, most of the general public is shocked when they learn about the passing of a beloved musician. Who can forget the confusion in many people’s mind upon learning of Prince’s death last year, a megastar who was known to rail against substance use and abuse only for Prince to die of a fentanyl overdose!

What we imagine the lives of celebrities to be like is usually miles off the mark. All of us are accustomed to thinking that fame, fortune, and success are impervious to despair; we say to ourselves, ‘how can a person who has everything throw it all away for a high.’ A line of thinking that just goes to show the paradox of addiction; the disease does not care who you are, how many friends you have, and what your financial standing is presently. Everyone has some level of propensity to get caught up in the cycle of substance use when the factors and conditions are just right.

With the year coming to a close, we should all consider the number of people who seemingly had everything, but still could not escape the consequences of untreated mental illness. Some of you were probably saddened to learn of Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell’s suicide after struggling with addiction. A short time later Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington followed suit. Just last month, Lil Peep, a young rapper with a promising future ahead of him died of an overdose, he was 21.

Addiction Doesn’t Need to Be The End

It might come as a surprise to learn that there are some mental health resources available for musicians. In fact, it’s not uncommon for meetings of recovery to take place backstage before a concert. The Recording Academy’s charity MusiCares, helps people in the industry get assistance for mental health conditions, such as addiction. The foundation has helped struggling artists get into treatment, and in some cases covers the cost.

“I actually used MusiCares’ Musicians Assistance Program to get sober,” MusiCares board chairman, Michael McDonald, tells Billboard. “They provided two group therapy sessions a week. Eighteen years later, I’m sober.”

It’s also worth pointing out that a significant number of famous musicians have given up drugs and alcohol, adopting a path of addiction recovery. Including, but not limited to Trent Reznor, Billy Joel, Elton John, Flea and Anthony Kiedis of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pete Townshend, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Smokey Robinson, U2 bassist Adam Clayton, Billy Idol, Slash, and the late David Bowie. The list goes on, but you get the idea; recording artists can recover from mental illness, too.

“During the past 13 years, the organization [MusiCares] has provided close to $10 million in ­assistance to nearly 3,000 people in need of help,” said Harold Owens, who assists The Recording Academy’s MusiCares ­foundation address ­substance abuse, addiction and ­recovery in the industry.

You Are Eligible for Addiction Recovery

Alcohol and substance use disorder can affect the lives of anyone, and we can say the same for recovery. It’s sad to learn that the disease wins from time to time, but the list of musicians above is testament that working a program of recovery saves people’s lives. If you are a male struggling with addiction, musician or not, please contact 10 Acre Ranch. We can assist you in realizing your dream of recovery.

Alcohol Use Disorder Treatment, Not Jail

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If you are an alcoholic or are in recovery from alcohol use disorder, you are probably familiar with the “drunk tank.” For those of you who are not familiar with a cold cell at 3 AM, we’ll take a moment to explain. Drinking alcohol is not illegal in any amount; however, drinking too much alcohol in public and behind the wheel is a threat to personal and public safety. When a person who has over-imbibed comes face-to-face with the Law, the net result is usually a stay in the drunk tank. Drunk people go into holding cells at police stations until they sober up, the definition of sober varies by state and country.

In the field of addiction medicine, naturally we are averse to imprisonment for substance use of any kind. If you drive drunk, it makes sense that you do some time in jail to stress the point that you put your life and the lives of others at risk. Heavy fines usually help in cementing the point in one’s skull, but more times than not drunk drivers are repeat offenders—especially alcoholics. Hopefully, one’s DUI ends up being the catalyst that brings about change and lasting recovery; for that to occur, treatment is the best course.

Setting aside DUIs, those who drink too much and find themselves behind bars have the opportunity to sober up and reflect on making better decisions in the future. However, the drunk tank isn’t necessarily the safest place to promote circumspection.

Drunk Tanks Put People At Risk

Alcohol poisoning is a frequent recurrence among heavy drinkers, a condition that can be lethal. Whenever somebody crosses a threshold based on each person’s unique factors (i.e., tolerance and body weight), they are at risk of severe health consequences. Those who do not receive medical supervision can quickly lose their lives. What’s more, the symptoms of alcohol poisoning vary from case-to-case, meaning a police officer is probably ill-equipped to spot the signs. Merely throwing someone in the drunk tank for a brief lesson in civility is a slippery slope.

Last year, Corey Rogers (41) died in a Halifax, Canada, drunk tank, CBC News reports. Rodgers’ mother decided to make it her mission to end the practice of drunk tanks, examining various policies and procedures. Jeannette Rogers’ (Corey Rogers’s mother) cause has the support of addiction recovery and street health workers.

“People who are highly intoxicated don’t belong in jail,” said Rogers, a retired psychiatric nurse.

In other parts of Canada, police bring intoxicated people to “sobering centers,” according to the article. Once there, people high on drugs can get assessments, shelter, food, and access to other services. Law enforcement should opt to release a drunk person to a sober adult or a treatment center, before resorting to drunk tanks, said Archie Kaiser, a law professor at Dalhousie University.

Alcohol Use Disorder Treatment

If alcohol use has led to legal difficulties, it’s possible that you have an alcohol use disorder. Treatment is the most efficient way of breaking the cycle of addiction and learning how to work a program of recovery. Please contact 10 Acre Ranch for a free consultation.