Women with drug addictions are more likely than men to suffer physical and mental health issues.  This is especially true when they inject drugs like heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine.  Because they need to tend to these physical and mental health problems, they may delay entering alcohol and drug treatment.

Treatment centers that provide integrated behavioral healthcare include services for women with existing medical needs and co-occurring mental health disorders.  A continuum of care for mental health, HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C, Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs), and even smoking cessation removes any reason for delaying drug treatment.  But most people don’t realize that some treatment centers provide these services.

Drug abuse among women tends to move more rapidly to drug addiction than with men.  A need is created rather quickly, and there are usually willing drug suppliers among men.  So, on average, women will use more drugs and build tolerances more quickly.  This is not a reason, but a reality.  

What a woman will do for drugs depends on the woman, and how strong her addiction is.  Some will stop before modifying their value system to match negative behaviors.  Unfortunately, though, many will do at least one thing they once swore they never would.  It can create a cycle where drugs are used to mask shame, and further negative and risky behavior may be necessary to get more drugs.

If the cycle of drug addiction leads to injection as a method of use, a whole new set of mental and physical ailments are risked.  The drug itself may have an impact on mental health, and mental trauma can come to women who are victimized or suffer anxiety and depression.  And sharing needles and unsafe sex both transmit HIV, Hepatitis C, and STDs.

Of equal importance to women’s health is tobacco use.  Illicit drug users are almost 5 times more likely to smoke cigarettes than those not engaging in drug abuse.  The body suffers more when it needs to battle both drug addiction and tobacco use.  When individuals want to quit smoking, it is best for them to have available resources and support to do so.

Tarzana Treatment Centers in Los Angeles provides medical care and mental health services for all of the issues mentioned above, including women-only treatment in Long Beach for those who qualify and smoking cessation assistance.  

We are committed to integrated behavioral healthcare in alcohol and drug treatment.  If you or a loved one needs help with drug addiction or alcohol dependence, please call us now at 800-996-1051 or contact us here.

Southern California Locations for Alcohol and Drug Treatment
Tarzana Treatment Centers has locations all over Southern California in Los Angeles County. Other than our central location in Tarzana, we have facilities in Lancaster in the Antelope Valley, Long Beach, and in Northridge and Reseda in the San Fernando Valley.

Alcohol and drug treatment centers are generally abstinence based.  While it is most popular to promote abstinence in treatment, there are many who reason that harm reduction strategies should be used more often than they currently are.  Although abstinence is the goal in treatment for those suffering from drug addiction, harm reduction is a viable, short-term solution for severe cases.

Treatment modalities usually follow the principles of recovery from 12 Step and similar programs.  They commonly believe that recovery begins with abstinence, meaning that use of all drugs stops.  The premise is that individuals must be clear-headed when they embark on the road to recovery.  Otherwise they will not be honest and thorough in times of self-evaluation.

Harm reduction strategies generally allow individuals to continue using their drug of choice, or a replacement drug like Methadone.  For heroin users, as an example, needle exchanges are meant to reduce transmission of diseases between users.  And Methadone maintenance provides them with the opiate relief the body craves at a safe level.  

Both abstinence and harm reduction have positive and negative results.  Each approach benefits the lives drug addicts whether they achieve full recovery or simply avoid disease.  Sadly, the nature of addiction leads many who enter treatment into relapse, and compels many addicts using harm reduction to further abuse.  But both approaches can lead drug addicts to recovery when they want it.

Medication Assisted Treatment is a third solution.  The use of non-narcotic medications like Vivitrol to reduce opiate cravings may be a solution for individuals who use heroin, prescription drugs, or Methadone and are unable to achieve long-term abstinence.  This form of treatment has the promise of bringing together the abstinence and harm reduction advocates.

Tarzana Treatment Centers in Los Angeles provides medication assisted treatment as part of our commitment to integrated behavioral healthcare in alcohol and drug treatment.  If you or a loved one needs help with alcohol dependence or drug addiction, please call us now at 800-996-1051 or contact us here.

Southern California Locations for Alcohol and Drug Treatment
Tarzana Treatment Centers has locations all over Southern California in Los Angeles County. Other than our central location in Tarzana, we have facilities in Lancaster in the Antelope Valley, Long Beach, and in Northridge and Reseda in the San Fernando Valley.

Addiction counseling serves several purposes in drug treatment.  Simplified, it first provides guidance to patients in how to live without drugs, followed by being a resource for aftercare to treatment.  Online drug counseling can benefit patients by delivering these services to them in their homes.

Addiction counselors must always have information at their fingertips, ready to provide it when needed by a patient.  As a guide they can offer writing assignments or educational materials, and as a resource provide a list of sober living homes or medical facilities.  Without a computer a sufficient variety of material would be cumbersome and hard to organize, especially in Southern California.

It is both time-saving and critical that addiction counselors save resources in a computer address book and on their browsers.  Anyone who has been a counselor knows that when a patient agrees to enter sober living for aftercare, time is of the essence.  So the information must be retrieved quickly so the patient can make immediate plans and commit to them.

Online drug treatment adds a benefit for counselors with knowledge in technology.  Individual and group counseling sessions can be conducted over secure links.  Counselors can send files to patients during sessions, as well as receive them.  Patients can also go back and review sessions after completion, unlike live sessions that are finished when they’re finished.

Tarzana Treatment Centers in Los Angeles has been diligent in our efforts to maintain the highest technological standards available.  By staying up to date with the latest hardware and software, and maintaining exacting standards to comply with HIPAA laws, we are always ready to offer the latest forms of treatment to our patients.  We plan to use our technology to provide online treatment to many of our patients in the near future.

Tarzana Treatment Centers in Los Angeles provides addiction counseling during medical detoxification as part of our commitment to integrated behavioral healthcare in alcohol and drug treatment.  If you or a loved one needs help with drug addiction or alcohol dependence, please call us now at 800-996-1051 or contact us here.

Southern California Locations for Alcohol and Drug Treatment
Tarzana Treatment Centers has locations all over Southern California in Los Angeles County. Other than our central location in Tarzana, we have facilities in Lancaster in the Antelope Valley, Long Beach, and in Northridge and Reseda in the San Fernando Valley.

Some individuals who need drug treatment have responsibilities in life, such as work or family, which take the option of residential treatment away from them.  Or they may not require the controlled setting that residential treatment provides.  Outpatient treatment is a valid option for these individuals.

Advancements in technology and treatment methodologies have also made another option available to these patients.  They can access treatment from home using their computers.  This gives patients the opportunity to receive the treatment they need, and save on travel time and fuel.  All of this can be done with no loss of quality in treatment.

One unique benefit that comes with online drug treatment, or telemedicine, is the ability for patients to review counseling sessions after they occur.  Patients in drug treatment sometimes miss important comments in groups and individual sessions because there is so much to be learned.  Reviews of the sessions can be an extra tool for preventing relapse during treatment.

Online drug treatment can begin with an outpatient medical detoxification program, if necessary.  It adds accountability for the patient.  Drug detox requires a certain amount of supervision even with the mildest cases.  So if outpatient drug treatment is needed, home-based treatment over the internet is a viable option.

Tarzana Treatment Centers in Los Angeles provides outpatient services as part of our commitment to integrated behavioral healthcare in alcohol and drug treatment.  If you or a loved one needs help for drug addiction or alcoholism, please call us now at 800-996-1051 or contact us here.

Southern California Locations for Alcohol and Drug Treatment
Tarzana Treatment Centers has locations all over Southern California in Los Angeles County. Other than our central location in Tarzana, we have facilities in Lancaster in the Antelope Valley, Long Beach, and in Northridge and Reseda in the San Fernando Valley.

Tarzana Treatment Centers in Los Angeles greatly appreciates the many patient testimonials we receive.  In the interest of confidentiality and patient privacy, we go to great lengths before posting them for public viewing, so we couldn’t possibly show all of them.  Sometimes former patients will make their relationship with us public, which gives us a chance to show the positive results of the work we do.

The Daily Sundial of California State University, Northridge, posted an article about a former patient of Tarzana Treatment Centers.  While his name and picture are used the story, we will not.  The story is very informative about how he deals with being HIV positive, and his struggles with drug addiction.

In a follow-up interview with us, though, he expressed a desire to paint a clearer picture of his life in recovery and experience with Tarzana Treatment Centers.  His joy lies in recovery and he would like people to know that he does not dwell in the past, but instead uses his experiences to help others.

His hopeful optimism was evident when he spoke of the status of the relationship he has with his children.  While it is still in the rebuilding phase, and may be for some time, they are as open to moving forward and having dad back in their lives.  He shares daily conversations with them through text messages, and a phone call when possible, since they live out of state.

Future goals for this man in recovery include educating the HIV positive as well as non-positive population, and help to remove the stigma surrounding the disease.  He is currently studying Health Education at CSUN, and speaks for Positively Speaking.  He also works with the Tarzana Treatment Centers Community Advisory Board.

Staying active toward his goals proves to help in his own recovery from drug addiction.  He is an example of how positive behavior contributes to long-term recovery.  Due to the circumstances of his life, he is currently on disability and looks forward to the day that he can get back to work and get off of government assistance.  He is always looking forward.

While success in recovery greatly depends on an individual’s motivation, alcohol and drug treatment is often needed to encourage it or for that which is lacking.  For this patient, his motivation came from being tired of chasing a habit.  Knowing the problems his addiction had caused in his life led him to a desperate desire for help.  

Tarzana Treatment Centers was eager, as always, to make available everything he needed to get back on his feet and begin a new life.  “Tarzana Treatment Centers is amazing!” is all he could say to describe our part in his recovery.  He spoke highly of Charlon Davison, saying she was “perfect” when it came to leading him gently towards recovery and taking care of his new health needs.

We wish all of our former patients well, and continued recovery.  This gentleman is a fine example of how recovering individuals contribute positively to society, and are true assets.  Seeing former patients turn a downward spiraling life around makes all of our work worthwhile.

Tarzana Treatment Centers in Los Angeles provides a wide range of HIV services as part of our commitment to integrated behavioral healthcare in alcohol and drug treatment.  If you or a loved one are HIV positive and need help with alcoholism or drug addiction, please call us now at 800-996-1051 or contact us here.

Southern California Locations for Alcohol and Drug Treatment
Tarzana Treatment Centers has locations all over Southern California in Los Angeles County. Other than our central location in Tarzana, we have facilities in Lancaster in the Antelope Valley, Long Beach, and in Northridge and Reseda in the San Fernando Valley.

Tarzana Treatment Centers in Los Angeles is committed to providing integrated behavioral healthcare in alcohol and drug treatment.  This means that when patients enter treatment in one of our facilities, they will have access to the many other healthcare services we offer.  And more access to services from one provider means better outcomes in alcohol and drug treatment.

A recent report by California State University, Long Beach, Department of Criminal Justice to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation highlighted that we are truly committed to success in treatment.  The study paid close attention to several details in substance abuse treatment, and noted specifically how we help patients with special needs.

In particular, Tarzana Treatment Centers understands the importance in making all levels of mental health treatment available to our patients with co-occurring disorders.  We were noted in the report as being “…the most capable program to address co-occurring disorders statewide.  The program is efficient, organized, and well-run despite the fact that they serve some of the most high-needs clients in the state.”

Our alcohol and drug treatment program is also recognized as providing the highest level of care in HIV Services, as mentioned in the report.  These services include education, specialized primary care, housing, and mental health services, among many others.  Patients can be referred to services as early as their first day in our medical detoxification unit.

We are continually enhancing and expanding programs so that patients can count on us for the services they need.  As drug use trends change, drug treatment modules must be altered and added.  It was stated twice in the report that we have an answer to the rise in methamphetamine addiction rates.
 
Cognitive deficits that result from methamphetamine addiction can last up to two years after use is stopped.  While the disease of addiction has many constants where treatment is concerned, meth users need to re-learn memory skills and may require visual cues.  We assess patients entering methamphetamine treatment for needs in these areas and treat accordingly.

Another example in this area that was not on the report is the recent changes in teen drug use trends.  Teen prescription drug abuse is rapidly growing.  At the same time, perceptions among adolescents that these drugs risk little harm are on the rise.  

Tarzana Treatment Centers takes steps to slow these trends through treatment, family groups, and education.  Our expertise in prescription drug detox has proven to be valuable as demand has increased for adolescent drug detox.  The ability to provide both medical detoxification and youth alcohol and drug treatment improves outcomes for long-term recovery.

If you or a loved one needs help with drug addiction or alcohol dependence, you can count on Tarzana Treatment Centers in Los Angeles to provide all of the services you need.  Our commitment to integrated behavioral healthcare goes far beyond what has been written in this article.  For more information, please call us now at 800-996-1051 or contact us here.

Southern California Locations for Alcohol and Drug Treatment
Tarzana Treatment Centers has locations all over Southern California in Los Angeles County. Other than our central location in Tarzana, we have facilities in Lancaster in the Antelope Valley, Long Beach, and in Northridge and Reseda in the San Fernando Valley.

Drug addiction is a complex term that has different meanings depending on who you ask. It is easier to answer the question “what is drug dependence”. Drug dependence refers to a state in which an individual uses a drug so frequently and consistently that it appears that it would be difficult for the person to get along without using the drug.

A physiological dependence implies that a person experiences physical symptoms of withdrawal. If a person spends a great deal of time and effort to get and use the drug, if they take more of the substance than he or she intended to, and they have tried to quit or cut down or control their use of substances without success, they meet the criteria for substance dependence. (Ksir, Hart and Ray: Drugs, Society and Human Behavior, 2006.)

In medical terminology, an addiction is a chronic neurobiological disorder that has genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors and is characterized by at least one of the following: the continued use of a substance despite its negative effects on a person’s job, relationships and life, impaired control over the use of a drug (compulsive behavior), and using a drug for non-therapeutic purposes (i.e. craving the drug).

Deviant behavior is typically associated with addiction.  Most drug addicts will commit crimes on all levels in order to support their habits, from theft to prostitution, and some will even resort to murder.  An interesting note is that they tend to justify these behaviors to the point that they don’t even realize they are committing crimes.

How Tarzana Treatment Centers views addiction:
“We view addiction as a chronic, yet treatable, recurring disorder. Research indicates that both genetics and the environment can place an individual at risk for developing an addictive disorder, and having a co-occurring psychiatric disorder further increases this risk.

We are learning that the release of neurotransmitters to the reward center of the brain produces the euphoria associated with substance use, and that prolonged use can cause structural changes to parts of the brain, which may explain why addicts cannot return to occasional use even after long periods of abstinence. Many individuals with substance use disorders may require more than one episode of treatment, as is common with most chronic diseases.

There is overwhelming research evidence that shows that treatment does work, and that the length of time one stays in treatment and recovery activities is the best predictor of long-term positive outcomes. Also we view addiction as a disease that affects the whole family, and recognize that it is important to incorporate the family into treatment, in order to assist them with their own healing process.”

Tarzana Treatment Centers in Los Angeles provides treatment for drug addiction including medical detoxification for physical drug dependence.  If you or a loved one needs help with drug addiction, please call us now at 800-996-1051 or contact us here.

Southern California Locations for Alcohol and Drug Treatment
Tarzana Treatment Centers has locations all over Southern California in Los Angeles County. Other than our central location in Tarzana, we have facilities in Lancaster in the Antelope Valley, Long Beach, and in Northridge and Reseda in the San Fernando Valley.

A higher percentage of US veterans suffer from drug abuse and drug addiction than the whole of society.  This is because the war “theater” has an effect on armed personnel who face combat along with support staff who never do.  The stress of war can leave veterans who previously had no problems with alcohol or drugs surprised to find they suffer from addiction.

Prescription drug addiction is becoming a major problem for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.  Combat injured veterans use prescription drugs to relieve physical pain and emotional trauma they suffer.  Veterans who did not see combat may have had to cope with high stress situations, and will take medication to help overcome the trauma.  In each case, taking these drugs for legitimate reasons in the beginning may lead to addiction in the end.

Many US veterans return home choosing to self-medicate with illegal drugs.  They may fear repercussions for using illegal drugs, and probably don’t realize that they can get help for the trauma they suffered in combat along with drug treatment.  Sadly, these individuals usually end up in the criminal justice system, or worse, before they seek help on their own.

Tarzana Treatment Centers provides drug treatment through integrated behavioral healthcare specialized for US Veterans.  Mental health professionals are available to treat those who suffer from co-occurring substance abuse and post-combat issues.  So alternate forms of medication can be explored and the chance of relapse after prescription drug treatment can be minimized.  

The US Department of Defense (DoD) has placed a priority on minimizing drug abuse over the past generation.  The DoD has made an effort to help veterans discover when a problem exists and when to seek drug treatment.  Since it is difficult for an individual to see their own path to prescription drug addiction, basic information can be very helpful in getting to treatment.  A short section of a website dedicated to those aims follows.

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Some Service Members are prescribed pain medicine for very real problems, including pain from injuries. In this situation, it's more difficult to talk about "misusing" or "abusing" drugs, because the medication was prescribed for an actual medical reason. But taking more of the medication than prescribed can become a serious problem. Why? First of all, many pain medications are addictive, which makes it difficult to stop taking more than prescribed. Second, these medications affect mood and thinking. Some people use their prescription medications to numb themselves or escape from stress and painful feelings. The danger, though, is that these drugs can also lead to depression, trouble thinking clearly, confusion, and addiction. There is also a risk of overdose or death when painkillers are mixed with other drugs or alcohol.

Here are some pointers for determining when prescription drugs are being misused:

• More of the medication is taken than was prescribed.
• Instances of running out of the medication early.
• Using the medication for longer than it was prescribed.
• Taking the medication for some other reason than the reason that it was prescribed (for example: to get high; to feel better).

-- Source: http://www.afterdeployment.org/index2.php?cid=s108_0110&rcid=s108_0100#2d –

Tarzana Treatment Centers in Los Angeles makes a daily effort to find treatment news articles that we can share with our readers in the alcohol and drug treatment community.  The external content was found among other articles of equal informational and educational quality.

Southern California Locations for Alcohol and Drug Treatment
Tarzana Treatment Centers has locations all over Southern California in Los Angeles County and Orange County. Other than our central location in Tarzana, we have facilities in Lancaster in the Antelope Valley, Long Beach, in Northridge and Reseda in the San Fernando Valley, and in Santa Ana.

The term “drug detox” has more than one meaning in today’s society, which can cause confusion and real problems for those performing a web search.  In alcohol and drug treatment it is used to describe a safe and healthy way to avoid withdrawal symptoms through medical detoxification.  But it can also be defined as the means used to cleanse the body with the hope of passing a drug test.

The former will be discussed here.

Drug detox will occur any time a person ceases use of a drug.  Drugs are removed from the body at different rates depending on the drug and the metabolism of the individual.  But if that individual is addicted to a drug, therefore physically dependent, withdrawal symptoms will accompany the detox process.  In these cases, medical detoxification helps to minimize the effects of drug withdrawal and decreases the chances of relapse.

The drug addictions that most commonly require medical detoxification are heroin and other opiates, and prescription opioids and benzodiazepines.  The process begins with an assessment to determine a starting dose and treatment plan for each patient.  Doses are gradually tapered down each day in the drug detox center until the patient is drug free.

Detox is also available for methamphetamine addiction, although detox medications are not required to minimize withdrawal symptoms.  It is helpful, though, for medical and mental health professionals to monitor progress.

Tarzana Treatment Centers provides medical detoxification for adults and adolescents with any type of drug addiction.  Each patient is not only assessed and monitored by medical staff while in treatment, but is also assigned a primary addiction counselor who will guide them on the road to recovery.  Mental health professionals are available for those requiring ongoing therapy or medications.  Before detox treatment ends, patients are referred to residential or outpatient drug treatment for aftercare.

However defined, drug detox is good for the human body as long as the purpose is to remain abstinent from drugs.  If drugs are causing a problem in a person’s life, drug treatment is the solution.  And anyone with a drug addiction should seek medical detoxification.  Temporarily cleansing the body rarely results in a “clean” drug test, anyway.  

If you have questions about medical detoxification for a drug addiction, please call us at 800-996-1051 or contact us here.

Southern California Locations for Alcohol and Drug Treatment
Tarzana Treatment Centers has locations all over Southern California in Los Angeles County and Orange County. Other than our central location in Tarzana, we have facilities in Lancaster in the Antelope Valley, Long Beach, in Northridge and Reseda in the San Fernando Valley, and in Santa Ana.

Drug addiction affects all socio-economic classes and ethnicities.  With all we know about the disease, it is unfortunate that this fact continues to be ignored by the majority of the general population.  It is ignored because drug addiction has a stigma and unfortunate because good people get locked into a destructive cycle.

The faces of drug addiction are easily seen in the classic frame of “Skid Rows” in every major city.  The general term leads people to think of heroin, methamphetamines, cocaine, and other illegal drugs.  While these are all indeed a part of the problem, they should no longer be considered the major problem.  The effort to help these individuals needs to continue while more attention is paid elsewhere.

Prescription drug addiction has become a common issue at the workplace.  But two things keep it hidden from public view.  First, the drug addict is very secretive about needing a drug because it is considered a sign of weakness.  Second, if co-workers are aware of the drug use, they avoid confronting the addict because they don’t want to pry.

On the other side of stigma is marijuana addiction.  This drug has become more accepted in society, and therefore has lost much of the stigma attached to its use.  But it must be understood that social acceptance does not eliminate the fact that some individuals are addicted to marijuana, and more will addict to it.

As more people educate themselves about drug addiction, more addicts can get into drug detox and treatment and lives can be saved.  Drug addiction has the power to destroy the lives of those it affects and their loved ones.  

The following is from the National Institute on Drug Abuse website.  The full article, linked below, includes basic information about drug addiction.  

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What is drug addiction?

Addiction is a chronic, often relapsing brain disease that causes compulsive drug seeking and use despite harmful consequences to the individual who is addicted and to those around them. Drug addiction is a brain disease because the abuse of drugs leads to changes in the structure and function of the brain. Although it is true that for most people the initial decision to take drugs is voluntary, over time the changes in the brain caused by repeated drug abuse can affect a person’s self control and ability to make sound decisions, and at the same time send intense impulses to take drugs.

It is because of these changes in the brain that it is so challenging for a person who is addicted to stop abusing drugs. Fortunately, there are treatments that help people to counteract addiction’s powerful disruptive effects and regain control. Research shows that combining addiction treatment medications, if available, with behavioral therapy is the best way to ensure success for most patients. Treatment approaches that are tailored to each patient’s drug abuse patterns and any co-occurring medical, psychiatric, and social problems can lead to sustained recovery and a life without drug abuse.

Similar to other chronic, relapsing diseases, such as diabetes, asthma, or heart disease, drug addiction can be managed successfully. And, as with other chronic diseases, it is not uncommon for a person to relapse and begin abusing drugs again. Relapse, however, does not signal failure—rather, it indicates that treatment should be reinstated, adjusted, or that alternate treatment is needed to help the individual regain control and recover.

-- http://www.drugabuse.gov/Infofacts/understand.html --

Tarzana Treatment Centers in Los Angeles makes a daily effort to find treatment news articles that we can share with our readers in the alcohol and drug treatment community.  The external content was found among other articles of equal informational and educational quality.