Prescription Drug Commercials Are Bombarding the Airwaves

Lately I have been overwhelmed by the number of prescription drug commercials that are bombarding the airwaves. It seems like there is a pill for everything, and while the ads aren't necessarily for medications like Vicodin or Demerol, they definitely reflect our culture's increasingly relaxed attitude about medicating everything. I absolutely recognize the need for medication in certain cases. In recovery, sometimes medication can help when dealing with severe emotional challenges. For instance, if you can't get out of bed to get to a alcoholics anonymous meeting because of crippling depression, then meetings aren't going to help. I suppose I am just concerned about our country's casual attitude towards pills, because it is similar to the attitude I had when I was using. Just woke up? Take a pill. Stubbed your toe? Take a pill. Feeling upset? Take a pill. Going to work/school/bed? Take a pill. Heck, take a handful.
When I went to adolescent drug treatment, I was suddenly faced with having to deal with things clean. My pill addiction made me want to use every time I had an uncomfortable moment. It was hard to do new things without having that veil of intoxication separating me from the world. The new feelings I experienced made me feel like I was crazy, but as I sat through them, they became less foreign. I felt sad, and happy, and angry and upset. I didn't know what to do with my feelings. This is usually why I used. I had never put in the work to learn how to have acceptance, self-honesty, and hope. Working with the medical staff, I was able to sort out what feelings were actually detrimental to my ability to function, and which ones I was simply uncomfortable having. As I have stayed clean, a lot of those feelings have gotten better. I have learned to be patient with myself, and to not panic when I have a feeling. I can call my sponsor, or do some journaling, talk to a friend, or go for a walk. My feelings don't govern my decisions today. I am free from my teen prescription medication addiction because today I know that sometimes there aren't quick and easy answers to everything. Sometimes I have to do some uncomfortable work on myself. While this new process denies me the instant gratification of getting high with pills, the long term results are of a quality that are deeply gratifying. If your teen is struggling with a pill addiction, there isn't a quick fix, but there is help that can last a lifetime. Click here and contact us today.

Setting Healthy Boundaries

A big part of the adolescent recovery process is setting healthy boundaries. It’s hard for a teen who is trying to be accepted by their peers to say no to temptations. Before getting clean and sober, young addicts have very few, if any, healthy boundaries. Their lives are chaotic, and they are most likely engaging in risky behaviors, abusive, co-dependent relationships, manipulating, lying, stealing, and are devoid of any real self-respect. It takes a certain amount of courage as a teenager to tell someone that they are crossing your boundary. You have to know yourself well enough to have clear boundaries and you have to know that you have a right to protect and defend yourself. What are boundaries? Boundaries are limitations we set for our selves. In recovery, we learn to break down the walls and establish boundaries that protect us from others and from ourselves.

The first kind of boundary to consider is physical. This means, how close can you get to me before I feel uncomfortable? For different people, this boundary varies depending on how well you know some and what kind of personal space feels right. For both men and women this is important when dating. As adolescents, it’s very important to maintain healthy sexual boundaries. “No means NO!”

Other boundaries include emotional and spiritual boundaries. What makes you uncomfortable to discuss with others that could trigger unpleasant memories or relapse, for example. You may not want to talk politics or religion with your family at the table on Thanksgiving when you recall the heated arguments from years past. You shouldn’t tell “war stories” that glorify meth. binges to someone trying to kick a nasty speed habit.

Many teens break boundaries when they form new relationships. They think that they are in love, but they really have little or no boundaries. They lose themselves in their boyfriend or girlfriend. These kinds of relationships are often co-dependent and tend to become abusive because there is a constant fear of separation.

The sooner teens start learning about boundaries the better. As they grow and mature, they will be happier people because they will have healthier relationships. The key to having good boundaries is to be consistent and clear when setting them. Using “I feel” statements may sound corny, but they really work. Don’t be afraid to ask someone before you act if you are breaking their boundary. You take the guesswork out of it and if are offended that you asked, they probably don’t have good boundaries.

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Teen Drug Rehab

My friend recently pointed out to me that she had gone to the beach for the first time sober and that it was really weird for her. I totally understood. Part of getting sober means building new associations with people and places. In early recovery, I let people, places, and things trigger me- which means they made me want to use. I learned that I had a choice in what I let trigger me. It was all about perception and my willingness to change. Teen drug rehab helped me gain new experiences sober that helped me rebuild my perception of places. Because we were able to participate in recreational outings in, I learned that it was possible to have fun sober and I was able to go to the movies for the first time sober and with a group of other sober people. When we went to AA and NA meetings in different areas like Newport Beach, I learned to associate places with meeting locations rather than places I used to use drugs.
Treatment also helped me build new associations with my family and feelings about things. While I used to slip right into the role of the black sheep when around my family, in teen drug treatment we worked to change our dynamic and work on what was challenging us as a family. I had to take a lot of personal responsibility in how I treated my family. I also learned positive ways to deal with my feelings. Instead of letting a feeling make me use drugs or drink alcohol, I learned to write or talk about my feelings, or do something like take a walk or draw a picture. Adolescent drug treatment in Malibu gave me the opportunity to rebuild my life, and it started with rebuilding how I perceived the world. My fresh outlook on life has helped me change my life for the good. If your teen is struggling with substance abuse, Contact us today and help them find a new outlook on life.

Adolescent Drug Treatment in Manhattan Beach

A 20-year study has concluded that abstinence from alcohol rather than controlled drinking has proven to be the most beneficial method of recovery for alcoholics. It makes sense to me. When I first entered adolescent drug rehab, it made sense to me that I should probably stop using drugs, but alcohol? I wasn’t even old enough to drink legally. I wondered what I would do when I went to college, or turned 21, or got married. What would I drink on New Year’s Eve? How would I ever have a normal life? Some of my friends and family shared similar concerns. Not even a glass of wine at dinner? None of Nana's famous eggnog? The decision to remain completely abstinent from alcohol and drugs was made after I realized in adolescent drug treatment that it didn’t matter what the substance was. If everything was taken away from me, I got creative and abused over-the-counter medications and inhalants that I could find around the house. If left to my own devices, I found myself taking heroin and nearly dying.

Understanding the root of my addiction helps me to make the decision to remain abstinent one day at a time. I know that if I were to drink, all of the work I’ve done will go out the window, and let me tell you- that work was painful and difficult, so I’m not going to just toss my progress away! It is rare that I encounter a situation where I feel like I wish I was drinking. In my age group now, my peers in Manhattan Beach still like to binge drink, and that never looks good to me. I don’t want to puke on my shoes anymore, you know? In day to day life, I feel proud of my teen recovery. I don’t tell everyone I know about it. Many people think that maybe what I went through was just a phase and that I’m being dramatic. It doesn’t matter what they think. I learned in teen drug treatment to put my recovery first, no matter what. I have watched peers relapse and end up worse than when they started, and I don’t want to trade the life I have now for a life of shame, guilt, and puking on my shoes.

I don’t worry anymore about what my life will be like without alcohol. I worry about what it would be like with alcohol. I continue to take the steps to protect my sobriety that I learned in adolescent rehab. I stay connected with my support group. I attend 12-step meetings. I don’t spend an unnecessary amount of time around alcohol and I don’t hang out with people who are using drugs. Sometimes these decisions make me feel awkward, but I can deal with awkward. I will take awkward any day over the despair and hopelessness I felt when I was drinking and using. Teen drug and alcohol treatment gave me an opportunity to honestly look at the destructive force drugs and alcohol were in my life, and showed me a new way to live, one day at a time.

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