Women and Psychological Addiction to Alcohol

Alcoholism is a physical and psychological condition. Excessive alcohol consumption causes spikes of dopamine levels in the brain. This gives the drinker the euphoric sensation associated with drunkenness and also masks any underlying psychological conditions. Anyone facing the following emotional issues may be at an increased risk of developing an addiction to alcohol:

• Anxiety disorders
• Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)
• Eating disorders
• Depression
• Borderline personality disorders
• Behavioral or “process” addictions (sex, stealing, gambling, shopping, cutting)

When the emotional core of the brain senses psychological relief, it will use every emotional tool it has to keep that relief coming. Cravings, obsession and panic attacks are all common results of psychological addiction. This addiction is more powerful than rational thought or will. Once a woman has become addicted to alcohol, she will require professional help to get clean.

Alcoholism Symptoms Unique to Women

Although the science behind alcoholism is the same for men or women, the following social and environmental factors can be unique for women:

• Having a “drinking problem” is often more culturally acceptable for men than women. Women may be less willing to endure the social judgment they fear comes with treatment.
• Many women endure extremely intense schedules and provide care for children or grandchildren. They may fear letting others down, if they admit to their problem with alcohol.
• Women may be unable to admit themselves that they have a problem with alcohol.
• Monthly hormonal cycles can be extreme for some women, and they may turn to alcohol as a coping mechanism.
• Women have a lower tolerance for alcohol and can develop a problem more quickly, even if they drink as few as two or three drinks per day.

Help for Alcoholic Women Today

If you are concerned about your use of alcohol or are worried about a friend, sister or other family member, please call our toll-free helpline today. Our counselors are ready to answer any question you may about the unique challenges that face women who drink too much. The call is completely confidential and free, so you have nothing to lose. There are excellent recovery resources available, if you know where to look. Call today, and let our recovery counselors get you on the road to freedom from alcohol addiction.

The Costs and Benefits of Addiction Rehabilitation

Many employers, families and even insurance companies recognize the high value of comprehensive rehab services. The likelihood of long-term recovery is significantly increased when an addict receives inpatient treatment. This reduces a person’s risk of the following complications:

• Overdose
• Brain damage
• Personal injury
• Coma
• Organ failure
• Various cancers
• Liability for accidents caused while driving while impaired

These problems can cost employers and their insurance companies much more money in the long run if they refuse to cover addiction treatment the first time around. Most employers realize that a clean and sober workforce is more productive than one with drug addicts, so the investment in the health of their staff pays big dividends. Most states require employers to allow patients the time necessary for addiction treatment. Some even offer company-supported aftercare.

But, even in those rare cases when insurance isn’t available, or it won’t fully cover necessary treatment, families are discovering that rehab is worth the investment. Without rehab the odds of an addict getting and staying clean are slim.

Is Addiction Rehabilitation Worth the Cost?

Quitting drugs or alcohol without professional help can be extremely difficult, because the disease has both physical and psychological components. Many people may endure detox to break the physical addiction, but they ignore the psychological aspect of addiction, which greatly contributes to relapse. Most intoxicating substances replace natural chemicals in the brain. When an addict stops taking a substance her body will react harshly with withdrawal symptoms. The best rehab programs can relieve many of the worst withdrawal symptoms as they help the addict through detox.

But, rehab facilities also offer comprehensive psychological rehab with the treatment plan. Psychological addiction can take months or even years to overcome. The extended time and focused attention offered by inpatient treatment gives people time to learn, grow and heal in a comfortable and nurturing environment.

Help with Insurance for Rehabilitation

Our counselors are standing by and are ready to help you navigate your options for treatment. We will even call your insurance company for you and confirm the exact coverage you can receive. We can connect you with the best rehab program for your specific needs. Make sure that you get the help you need, and the help that you deserve. Call our 24 hour, toll-free helpline now for instant, professional support.

Common Fears about Entering Rehabilitation

You may be hesitant to enter rehab because it’s a new environment with different daily habits and complete strangers. You don’t know what to expect, so you may have reservations. Will you fit in? Will it work? Will entering treatments be worth it? These are all normal reactions that many addicts experience. However, the answer is yes: you will fit in, treatment will work, and rehab will be worth it if you put in the effort. When you seek out empathetic peers, you’ll find friends. When you attend the counseling sessions and group meetings, you’ll learn ways to prevent relapse. When you actively participate in treatment, you’ll find reasons to stay sober.

How Guilt Keeps Addicts from Rehabilitation

For some addicts, entering rehab is not an option because guilt tells them that they don’t deserve help. People who suffer from guilt are torn by the thought that they brought their addiction on themselves. Perhaps you’ve fought drug abuse for so long that can’t remember what sobriety feels like. If you’re letting guilt prevent you from entering treatments, know that addiction is a process. You didn’t want to become addicted, but you did and now you don’t want to stop. Addiction is not your fault, just the choices you made to become addicted. There are ways to involve your loved ones in your recovery, and they can help you find the strength to quit.

Using Drugs to Cope with Emotional Issues

If you take drugs to deal with problems, you may have an underlying mental health issue. Drug addicts often experience depression and anxiety that, if left untreated, can perpetuate addiction. In rehab you’ll learn how to manage any mental health disorders you may have. Therapy can teach you to adapt to stressful situations without relying on drugs.

Fears about Losing Friends after Rehab

The people you hang out with while using drugs may have once been your friends, but if those people refuse to support your recovery, then you do not need them holding you back. Maybe your drug-using friends were using you. If they simply say you as the supplier, buyer or person who wouldn’t rat them out, you should not be worried about losing those people. People who enable your addiction do not have your best interest in mind.

However, if you believe your relationship with another addict is genuine, then what could set a better example than entering rehab yourself? If you can get help, so can they. Do what’s best for yourself and those around you—get treatment for the addiction that is controlling you.

Help Quitting Drugs

Our phone counselors are waiting 24 hours a day to answer our toll-free helpline. When you call, you can learn about addiction treatment options and how your insurance may cover the costs of rehab. You have nothing to lose and nothing but sobriety to gain.

Crisis Stage of Addiction

A person at the crisis stage of addiction realizes that if they don’t get help, their life is at risk. Many people in crisis do not often think clearly. During this stage it is necessary to get assistance from an addiction professional who understands this stage and can help guide you through it. During this stage, you are struggling with withdrawal symptoms as well as a great deal of fear and uncertainty. Seeking help from a professional who can minimize your withdrawal symptoms and give you a sense of support and comfort during this time is very important.

Exploratory Stage of Addiction Recovery

Once you have gone through the crisis stage of addiction and you have detoxed, you are ready to explore your addiction with a focus on understanding what led you to where you are today. An addiction recovery counselor has the skills and training to help you uncover these underlying issues and start healing yourself. This can be a very painful process, as you have hidden many of these issues for years, but it is a necessary stage that will help you increase awareness of your personal needs for lasting recovery.

Rebuilding Stage after Addiction Rehabilitation

Once you have a better understanding of yourself, your addiction and your recovery, you can start rebuilding. You will rebuild your physical body with nutritious food, exercise, and sufficient sleep. You will rebuild your emotional self with counseling, stress-relieving activities, and group interactions. You can rebuild your spiritual self by recommitting to your belief system. You can also rebuild your life skills to allow you to be successful when you return to everyday life.

Transition Stage during Addiction Recovery

Leaving an intensive rehab program and taking those first steps on your own can be very frightening and put you at risk for falling back on old patterns and habits. During this transitional stage between treatment and everyday life you need support to understand and address the risks that you may encounter, learning how to avoid those risks or work around them, and having a recovery plan in place that you can rely on to guide you. The counselor that you would use at this stage may not be the person who helped you during any of the other stages and may not use the same counseling strategies, but he or she will be focused on helping you feel stronger about living a life free from your addiction.

Get Help Finding Counseling for Drug Addiction

There is a wide variety of counseling options for drug addiction, and one of these is right for you. Don’t let this stage of recovery overwhelm you. Call our toll-free helpline, and let our counselors talk with you, assess your situation and match you with the best treatment for you. We are here 24 hours a day, so please call now.

Understanding Drug Addiction

One of the first things you can do to help an addicted coworker is learn about the major aspects and effects of addiction. There are many misunderstandings about how addiction happens and how it is treated. Taking the time to learn about this disease and how it can be conquered will make a significant difference in your ability to offer real help.

Addiction has both mental and physical aspects. Many people are familiar with withdrawal symptoms suffered by drug addicts as they detox. This is because the substance they are abusing is replacing naturally occurring chemicals that the brain uses to manage pain, stress, emotions and more. The body must rebalance and readjust to functioning without the presence of the drug, and withdrawal symptoms accompany this readjustment.

The majority of addicts suffer from at least one co-occurring psychological disorder. The euphoric high brought on by the drug abuse provides temporary relief from mental health symptoms. Drugs provide significant relief to the pleasure or reward center of the brain. This is the same part of the brain that drives most human behavior and emotional functions such as the following:

• Anxiety management
• Impulse control
• The ability to feel happy, sad or excited
• Fear response
• The forming of habits

How to Talk to Your Coworker about Your Concerns

Individuals need to decide that they are ready to get help before their behavior will change, but if you are able to carefully and respectfully talk with them about their drug use, you can be a source of support and encouragement. Consider doing the following when talking with your coworker:

• Ask about how often they party or use drugs
• Ask how long they can go without using drugs before they start to think about it again
• Share any personal struggles you have had with lifestyle choices or habits
• Make sure they know that you are ready to help however you can

If your coworker’s addiction is affecting your ability to perform your job, you may need to take the issue to your company’s HR department. Most businesses understand that helping their employees find freedom from addiction improves worker morale and productivity.

Addiction Help Is Available

If you would like advice on how to talk about addiction with a coworker, please call our toll-free helpline. We are here 24 hours a day, so call and learn how you can take action and make a positive change.

Factors that Can Affect Withdrawal Symptoms

When a narcotic drug is used in larger doses than prescribed or is used for a long period of time, addiction can easily develop. Those who take narcotic pain relievers under a doctor’s supervision can also experience some level of withdrawal when the drug use is stopped, which is why patients with chronic pain conditions are often weaned off painkillers slowly. When drug use is halted abruptly, painful and dangerous withdrawal symptoms can occur. The intensity and length of the withdrawal symptoms often depends on the length and type of drug use. Men and women are equally susceptible to experiencing drug withdrawal symptoms. The type of withdrawal symptoms that a user experiences can also depend on his mental state, overall health and genetic predisposition to depression and other forms of mental illness.

Types of Withdrawal Symptoms

Withdrawal symptoms are often split into two categories: physical symptoms and emotional symptoms. Physical withdrawal symptoms can include the following:

• Flu-like symptoms
• Hallucinations
• Heart palpitations
• Difficulty breathing
• Chills
• Tremors

Emotional withdrawal symptoms may begin as mild depression and can escalate to violent mood swings, anxiety, and thoughts of suicide. Both physical and emotional withdrawal symptoms often dissipate over time but they can be uncomfortable and life-threatening if not accompanied by a program of medically supervised detox.

Addiction Withdrawal and Medically Supervised Detox

The safest way to deal with withdrawal symptoms from drug dependence or addiction is often through a medically supervised detox program. This often consists of a doctor gradually reducing the amount of pain medication used by a patient and is offered at many drug rehab facilities as the first step on the road to recovery. During the detox period, the patient’s health is monitored 24 hours a day while his body rids itself of the drug toxins. Medically supervised detox programs can also offer medications to help ease the severity of the symptoms. This process can take several days, but once the recovering addict‘s body is rid of the drug’s toxins, he can enter a program of counseling and therapy to begin his journey toward lasting recovery.

Help for Drug Addiction and Withdrawal

If you or a loved one suffers from an addiction, please call our toll-free helpline now. Our counselors are available 24 hours a day to answer your questions about addiction and withdrawal and to help you find the best treatment options for your situation. Please call now.

Benefits of Gender-Specific Addiction Treatment

Recovery is a fragile and emotionally vulnerable process. Some people are more comfortable when not exposed to members of the opposite sex. Separation by gender increases their ability to share candidly in group discussions. The avoidance of flirtations and romantic entanglements is also a welcome relief for many recovering addicts. While personal preference and comfort is an important part of rehab, gender-specific rehab is also able to address issues such as the following:

• Men and women often abuse substances and become addicts for different reasons
• Men tend to have more moral support from friends and family than women do
• Women tend to struggle with self-esteem issues more than men

Therapeutic elements of gender-specific addiction rehab can be customized to optimally treat each group.

The Best Addiction Rehabilitation Facilities

The most effective gender-specific addiction recovery programs develop customized treatment plans for each patient based on his or her specific needs. The following therapeutic elements have proven effective for recovering addicts:

• Personal counseling
• Participation in support group meetings
• Spiritual care
• Education
• Participation in healthy diversions
• Gender-specific activities
• Nutritional support

These programs are offered in an environment that is relaxing, health-building and comfortable. The inpatient recovery process can take from one month to considerably longer after which patients engage in ongoing aftercare through meetings, counseling, education and personal sobriety coaching.

Help Finding Gender-Specific Addiction Rehabilitation

If you are seeking gender-specific rehab or have other specific needs you would like met by a recovery program, please call our toll-free helpline. Our addiction counselors can answer any questions you have about treatment and can connect you with gender-specific and specialized rehab programs that are designed to meet your exact needs and situation. We are here 24 hours a day, so please call now and learn more about the options available to you.

Aspects of Psychological Addiction

Most intoxicating substances replace naturally occurring chemicals in the body. This can result in a physical addiction since the user will need a constant supply of the chemical in order to function properly. If that supply is withheld, the user may experience several painful withdrawal symptoms.

The psychological aspects of addiction can be just as powerful as the physical. Addiction can directly impact the same section of the brain that manages some critical psychological functions, including the following:

• Memory
• Impulse control
• Emotional regulation
• Behavior formation and habits

This part of the brain can also be affected by psychological disorders related to anxiety, personality, compulsions and trauma. Drug and alcohol use may provide some short-term relief for symptoms of these underlying conditions. The brain will begin to crave that relief and will often use psychological tools to persuade the user to maintain the disease. Some of the symptoms of psychological addiction include the following:

• Defensiveness when approached about addictive behaviors
• Denial about the addiction being a problem
• Justification of continued substance abuse
• Explosive emotional outbursts
• Abusive behavior
• Depression

The power of a psychological addiction can often prevent a user from admitting to himself or others that he has a problem and needs help to find recovery.

Addiction and Co-Occurring Disorders

Many addicts suffer from a co-occurring psychological disorder. Some of the most common underlying conditions include the following:

• Depression
• Anxiety disorders
• Borderline personality disorders
• Obsessive-compulsive disorders
• Schizophrenia
• Eating disorders
• Post-traumatic stress disorder

Even relatively mild conditions can be strong enough to fuel an addiction. These conditions may be the result of genetic factors or they may be connected to childhood abuse or neglect. In many cases, substance abuse can cause psychological disorders that then drive the user to continue the addiction. These cycles of addition can be difficult to recover from without professional help.

Diagnosis and Treatment for Addiction

The first step in successful treatment is often an accurate and thorough diagnosis of all aspects of a addict’s disease, including co-occurring disorders. With the proper diagnosis, treatment professionals can create customized treatment plans for each individual patient based on his specific needs. Through counseling, support group meetings and education, a recovering addict can realize many of the following benefits:

• Improved physical health
• Restored relationships
• Financial peace
• Improved work or school performance
• Freedom from legal concerns and the fear of getting caught
• Improved self-respect

Finding Addiction Treatment Help

If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction, please call our toll-free helpline today. Our counselors are standing by 24 hours a day to answer your questions, to connect you with the professionals that can give you an accurate diagnosis and to help you find the best treatment options for your needs. Call today.

The 12-Step Treatment Model

Many addiction treatment programs incorporate the 12-step model pioneered by Alcoholics Anonymous in 1935. This model has a proven record of success and is widely used. One of the most important aspects of the 12-step model is the belief in a higher power. AA and other 12-step groups are non-denominational and do not espouse one religion over another. These programs do not require adherence to a particular faith, but calling on a higher power to give you strength to overcome your addiction is one of the critical components of these programs.

The original guiding principles of Alcoholics Anonymous, what have come to be known as the 12 steps, make repeated references to “God as we understand Him,” as indicated by the following steps:

2, we came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity
3, we made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him
5, we admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs
6, we were entirely ready to have God remove these defects of character
7, we humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings
11, we sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out

If these principles fit with your ideas about God, religion and spirituality, and if you are prepared to call on God as a primary agent of recovery, then a 12-step program may be an effective way to achieve recovery from your addiction.

Help Finding Treatment that Incorporates Your Religious Beliefs

Our staff of drug treatment professionals can help you to explore all the treatment options available to you. They can help you find the method that best fits your needs, your situation and your outlook on life. If you would like help finding treatment, call us. Our helpline is toll free and we are available 24 hours a day.

Multiple Sessions Are Needed to Develop a Relationship with Your Therapist

The first session with a new therapist is usually an introduction and an assessment. The therapist will determine what you want to get out of treatment and will ask basic questions about your life, your addiction and your personal background. You will get to know your therapist during this first session. Ask questions about how they approach addiction recovery and what they think may benefit you. If for any reason you are not comfortable with a therapist, find a new therapist. Everyone is different, and different therapy styles suit different people. A patient-therapist relationship will develop as you learn to open up more over time.

A Therapist Will Help You Maintain Addiction Recovery over Time

A therapist is trained to help you uncover mental health issues and feelings that you may be repressing. These underlying issues often contribute to addiction and relapse. Therapy is not only meant to help you uncover problems and feelings but help you implement changes to improve your quality of life. This can only be done if a therapist can monitor your progress after you begin making changes due to their advice.

Acceptance and commitment therapy will help you uncover emotions from past experiences that you may be avoiding or coping with in negative ways such as drug abuse. You will work on changing negative thought patterns and building self-esteem and acceptance, and your therapist will help you find positive ways to process emotions.

In Cognitive Behavioral Therapy a therapist will discuss how you react to conflict and difficult emotions. A person may become irrationally upset or angry in certain situations and may turn to alcohol to avoid dealing with these emotions. The focus in behavioral therapy is on becoming aware of how your actions affect your mood and making changes that will benefit you and the relationships in your life.

Learn More about Addiction Therapy

If you are struggling with drug abuse or addiction, therapy is a large part of recovery. We can answer your questions about addiction counseling and treatment. Call our 24 hour toll-free helpline, as our counselors are always available to help you find the therapy options that are right for you.