Should a Drug Counselor Also Be a Recovering Addict?

Posted by Tony Bylsma on April 14, 2011 under How to Help a Drug Addict | Be the First to Comment

I have long heard it said that only an ex-addict can counselingeffectively help another addict through recovery. I know that is not so because I have know many talented counselors who had never abused drugs. But sometimes the extra dimension of having personally experienced addiction can provide insight that cannot be taught.

The problems of overcoming addiction are something only one who has overcome them can completely understand. Others can study addiction, work with addicts and even live with addicts and begin to see what the effects of addiction to drugs or alcohol are. But there is a vast difference between truly and fully knowing something and merely knowing about something. The addiction scholars can study for years and never completely understand the life of the addict.

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The Crystal Meth Trap

Posted by Tony Bylsma on April 9, 2011 under How to Help a Drug Addict | Be the First to Comment

As with many other Amphetamines, methamphetamine can be snorted, smoked, injected, and eaten. Ice, methamphetamineHow it is introduced into the body has a lot to do with how hard and fast the effects take place and, to a degree, how damaging the drug is with each use. It can even effect how quickly the abuser becomes addicted.

First Date

Smoking the drug or injecting it intravenously, the user experiences an intense “rush” that lasts only a few minutes and is described as extremely pleasurable. The initial effects of meth can last from a few minutes to a half hour, until the body becomes more tolerant to the drug’s influence and the rush becomes less intense. But the effects of the drug are not over at that point.

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Signs of Heroin Use, Abuse and Addiction

Posted by Tony Bylsma on April 7, 2011 under Effective Drug Detox Rehab | 2 Comments to Read

Treatment for heroin addiction or addiction to any other opiate is more effective the earlier in the addicts drug abuse “career” it can occur. So the ability to spot the trouble early is of major importance. Luckily, signs and symptoms of heroin addiction or some of the most obvious of any drug. Below are some of the more easily spotted red flags which can signify the abuse of opiates.

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