Signs That Your Son is Using Cocaine

shutterstock_189155579-300x200.jpg

Maybe you have noticed something unusual in your son’s behavior or you have found unusual items in his room or among his possessions. Your observations have led you to  become concerned that he is using cocaine, but when you confront him directly he denies any and all drug use. Your parental instincts tell you that

Being a Man Means Admitting When You Screwed Up

shutterstock_391247260-300x300.jpg

History is replete with examples of men who have proven the aphorism that “the cover-up is worse than the crime.” It may be out of vogue in popular culture to discuss how a person can achieve or improve a level of  “manliness”, but admitting and taking ownership of mistakes is a hallmark of maturity and

Equine Therapy Helps Get Your Feet on the Ground

shutterstock_133669322-300x200.jpg

Animals have been incorporated into therapies for a variety of conditions. Therapy dogs, for example, are common in senior citizen centers, nursing homes, and hospitals, where they are used to brighten the days of patients confined to their beds or hospital rooms for extended treatments. The use of horses in equine therapy is currently a

Alcoholism Withdrawal Symptoms

shutterstock_127773470-300x195.jpg

    Alcohol normally depresses a person’s central nervous system. When a person consumes large amounts of alcohol for a longer period of time, his brain and central nervous system adjust and rewire themselves to speed up and to accommodate that excessive alcohol consumption. When that consumption suddenly ends, the alcoholic’s central nervous system reacts

How Methadone is Used to Treat Heroin Addiction

shutterstock_192285152-300x199.jpg

Individuals who are addicted to heroin and other opiate products, including oxycodone, will experience severe and often-dangerous physical and psychological withdrawal symptoms when they stop using these drugs. Those symptoms are cited as a primary reason for relapses when heroin addicts are in rehab. Methadone is used to ease the worst of those symptoms and

Putting a Stop to Your Self-Harm

shutterstock_272924318-300x200.jpg

In their hard rock song, Hurt, the Nine Inch Nails sing the lyric “I hurt myself today, to see if I still feel. I focus on the pain, the only thing that’s real.” This lyric accurately depicts self-harm as a mechanism to cope with numbness and buried pain. If you have adopted this coping mechanism

How Meditation can Reduce your Anxiety

shutterstock_291703166-300x212.jpg

Anxiety feeds on our concerns for what we don’t know and can’t control. In life, there are many things we don’t know, uncertainties that haunt or beguile us. This sense of worry about the future or things beyond our immediate control is what vexes so many that contend with anxiety. Things like giving a speech,

An Introduction to a Traditional 12-Step Addiction Recovery Program

shutterstock_153019130-300x199.jpg

Traditional 12-step addiction recovery programs have been endorsed by numerous public health organizations, including the U.S. National Institute of Health, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the American Psychiatric Association, and the U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs, as a cost effective approach to addiction treatment and recovery. They have been proven effective to

What Is Going Through An Addict’s Mind?

shutterstock_340384811-300x200.jpg

Individuals who are fortunate not to suffer from drug addiction or alcoholism will have a difficult time in understanding the mind and thought processes of a drug addict or alcoholic. It will seem apparent to everyone, including a substance abuser, that drugs and alcohol are harming every aspect of the addict’s or alcoholic’s life, including