Dual Diagnosis and Eating Disorder Treatment

It’s not uncommon for many of us coming into rehab to be dual diagnosed. For me, I was battling both addiction and alcoholism along with an eating disorder. Sometimes dealing with the secondary issues can be a lot trickier than dealing with addiction. For me, getting clean was a no-brainer. My life was insane and using drugs was not and is not an option. My recovery in regards to addiction has been very simple, very black and white. I just don’t use. Things with my eating disorder, however, have been a lot more challenging. It’s an issue I have had to deal with during and after adolescent treatment. I have often felt discouraged and frustrated when my E.D. issues resurface during challenging times in my adolescent recovery. I sometimes wonder if I will ever have a totally “normal” relationship to food. I haven’t actively binged and purged, and I haven’t actively restricted since I went to treatment, but I have certainly gotten “weird” with food from time to time. I think my friends and family have also been frustrated and made nervous by the fact that my progress has been much slower in this area of my life. There have been many more stops and starts but progress is being made, however slowly. In treatment, I learned the beginning tools to get on the road to recovery from my eating disorder, and I continue to use them years later. That strong foundation is what keeps me striving for freedom and happiness today. Every day isn’t perfect, but I am clean and sober and as long as I have that, I am free to keep growing.

Staying Clean After Teen Drug Rehab

Sometimes being clean is painful. I got clean really young in an adolescent drug treatment program, and have stayed clean since. My life has grown and I have a wonderful existence thanks to being sober. I have all kinds of opportunities that I never had when I was using, like going to college or keeping a job. It gets painful when you stay clean and other people don’t. It gets really painful when some people don’t make it.
My friend died of an overdose this week. When I got sent away to treatment, I had to cut myself off from my using friends. It was really hard, and they didn’t understand why I couldn’t talk to them anymore. I just couldn’t. I couldn’t be around people when they were using. It was too hard for me. After I had been clean awhile, some of my friends checked out some AA or NA meetings with me. I got really excited that we would all be clean together and have fun. A few of my friends stayed clean for a bit, and then would go back to using. I had had such a strong foundation in teen drug treatment that I knew I couldn’t “dabble” in using again. I think that if I use again, I will die.
My friend died this week. She overdosed and died. She was 18. Sometimes I wonder why I stay clean and others don’t. I wonder how I didn’t die when I was using and why others do. I wonder what I could have done to help my friend and I know that I did what I could. I just feel really sad. I feel really angry with drug addiction. I know that I don’t have to use over the feelings I’m having, and that the only thing I can do is to stay clean and try to help other teens see that they can stay clean too. I’m really going to miss my friend. She was an amazing person who really struggled with addiction. I know her death was an accident, and that she didn’t believe she might die from this. I wish addiction didn’t exist, and that this wouldn’t happen to people, but it does. So I just stay clean, and stay close to my support group in Hartford Connecticut like I learned in treatment. I just feel really sad today. Please contact us for teen drug and alcohol rehab if you or a loved one needs help.

The Scholastic Academy at Visions

The Scholastic Academy at Visions, a day school, provided my son with safe and sober learning environment to meet his individual needs which consisted of addiction and behavioral problems, he was previously unable to function in a mainstream environment. The Scholastic Academy created a setting which was conducive to his emotional growth. A conventional school setting had too many social increased stressors like his old "friends".

I'm proud to say that this fall he will be starting his senior year at Newport Harbor Day. None of this would have been possible if Visions hadn't furnished an environment which continues to enable students to stay grounded and keep perspective in the face of adversity.

Click here to contact us about The Scholastic Academy at Visions

Christopher Kennedy Lawford's Moments of Clarity

Please join Visions Adolescent Treatment Center at South Coast Medical Center June 11, 2009. Christopher Kennedy Lawford will be presenting, Moments of Clarity, his latest book filled of spiritual epiphanies enabling those that had them to move from addiction to recovery. Moments of Clarity was released in January 2009, and quickly hit the New York Times best sellers list. Christopher was born into political and movie royalty. Lawford successfully navigated these two worlds as an actor, author, and advocate. However, before his successes, Lawford battled a drug and alcohol addiction for much of his young life. Sober for more than 22 years, he shares his personal story of addiction with others in hopes of making a difference.

Please come educate yourself and support teen drug treatment

Click her For more information on this Laguna Beach event

Symptoms of Oxycontin Opiate Abuse, From a Former Opiate Abuser

Symptoms of Oxycontin Opiate Abuse, from a former opiate abuser:
I often read through information on addiction, including symptoms of addiction and think that someone should really expand on some things, so I’m going to address some of the things I, a former opiate abuser, consider telltale signs of opiate dependence or abuse. remember the opiate family is large, it includes heroin, Oxycontin, dilaudid, vicodin, hydrocodone, codeine, cough syrups and other pain killers...

-Nodding out, or being “on the nod“. This is when the user is so intoxicated they can’t keep their eyes open. Their head will literally nod forward as they go back and forth between being nodded out to jerking awake. If your teen is sitting straight up, asleep, they probably aren’t “just tired”. I don’t think anyone sleeps like that.

-Pinned eyes. Lizard paint. These terms explain how small pupils get when a person is under the influence of opiates. It’s freaky. Also, when someone is coming down from an opiate high, or is in withdrawal, their pupils tend to get really big. I used to try to blame this on my antidepressants, but opiates are the only drug I can think of that do this.

-Itchiness. Opiates usually make you itchy, especially the face, for some reason. Someone under the influence of opiates may seem to absentmindedly rub their face a lot, or scratch themselves elsewhere. Symptom lists seem to leave this one out a lot, but this combined with a couple of other factors helps me to peg an opiate user pretty quickly.

-Being cold when it is not cold. Especially when a user is “sick” (beginning withdrawal), they will get super cold. You can usually spot an opiate user because they are the one wearing a sweater when no one else is. When I was using opiates and I was sick, no amount of clothing could keep me warm.

-Sleepy, or not sleepy. Haha I know this one sounds weird, but when a user is high, they might sleep a lot- like, at really inappropriate times. Being in withdrawal makes you not be able to sleep.

-Stomach problems. If your teen suddenly loses their appetite or seems to be having a lot of stomach trouble, you may have an opiate user. (Or an eating disorder…see previous post on those symptoms.) The rush from an opiate high can often make one vomit. Withdrawal from opiates can make you vomit. I remember a lot of vomiting. If anyone had “food poisoning” as much as I claimed when I was using, all of Los Angeles should have been shut down. Also, withdrawal gives you really bad diarrhea. So glamorous.

-Runny nose. Withdrawal makes your nose run. Again, very glamorous.

-Other symptoms of withdrawal, in my experience, are muscle and back pains, cramping, sleeplessness, irritability, panic attacks, crying, hurting…ugh it was gross. Withdrawal sucks. It should be enough to keep sane people from using again, but often perpetuates use with addicts. At the end, I kept using because I didn’t want to get sick. This is especially dangerous because “chipping” (using and then quitting and then using and then quitting etc) messes with your tolerance and one can easily overdose. And die. It’s a big deal. Because withdrawal from opiates can be such a difficult and painful thing, I think it’s a really good idea to do it in a safe a supervised place, like residential treatment. When I had tried to quit cold turkey on my own, I never made it past two days because I couldn’t stand the withdrawal symptoms. I will admit I am quite the crybaby when it comes to pain, which I’ll admit is weird coming from an ex-cutter/IV drug user. I “kicked” opiates in a safe environment under a doctor’s care, and once I was safely detoxed from the drugs, was able to begin my real recovery process. I hope some of these “insider tips” help. Opiate dependence is a very serious issue; opiates kill people. If you think your teen is struggling with Oxycontin-opiate addiction, don’t hesitate to contact us today.

Teen Suicide Risk Increases

Teen suicide risks increase when a depressed teen drinks. Really? At first I wasn’t really surprised to read this, but the numbers are actually quite staggering: A new study has reported that suicide risk rose 68% in teens who drank when they were depressed and who had contemplated suicide before. The risk increased threefold in those who had never contemplated suicide before. Suicide is the number three killer of teens in the US, and recognizing and respecting the link between alcohol abuse and suicide may help lower this number in the future.

Alcohol abuse in teens can contribute to depression, creating more of a need for alcohol. As the effects wear off or become harder to obtain, teens may feel more and more depressed. As dependence grows, so does hopelessness, loneliness, fear, and isolation- many of the same feelings that lead teens to attempt suicide. No one should underestimate the emotional devastation that alcohol can wreak on a young person’s life. If you are a teen struggling with addiction or the parent of a teen suffering from substance or alcohol abuse, don’t give up. Help exists and recovery is possible.

Please contact us if your teen is suffering from depression

Teen Drug Abuse vs. Sports

“I have nothing better to do…!” a phrase uttered by the many of teen students struggling to maintain with the day-to-day pressures of high school. This, a phrase I heard uttered a total of 6 times in less than 2 hours. In short, the conversation consisted of one of my softball players and a best friend discussing the use of marijuana. My player seemed a bit irritated by the fact that her friend had showed up to watch her play “high”. The conversation was casual and playful banter was thrown back and forth between the two. One would tease, “pothead” while the other stated things like “chicken” and “goodie- goodie”. Later after the game, my players began talking about their own history with marijuana and alcohol. Some admitted to drinking rarely while others admitted to never drinking at all. Then I came to my own conclusions about why, this past weekend I spent an exhausting 20+ hours watching, coaching, and participating in a girl’s adolescent softball league that organizes teams ages 8 to 18. In talking with several of the girls who range from 14 – 17 years old, I realized that several of them were partaking in more than just softball as an extra-curricular activity. On top of a full class load, some were cheerleaders, soccer players, band members, volunteers, employees, volleyball players, ASB members, and so on. Each activity requiring more time, attention, and commitment then a typical 9AM to 5PM work day. In an average week, our softball program alone requires 4-week night practices ranging from 2 to 3 hours and at minimum of 2 Saturday games, each 2 hours in length with an hour of pre-game warm-up. When asking them how they managed, their general response was, “it’s hard but it keeps us busy and out of trouble.” We discussed what they meant by “trouble” and to me a surprising number of responses pertained to drug and alcohol use. They all expressed concern over the general peer-pressures associated with high school including drugs, alcohol, sex, relationships, and popularity. Most of them felt that it were easier to avoid these peer-pressures when they were able to give a validated excuse such as softball. In fact, many of them stated that if given more time to attend high school social events they felt they would want to experiment with drugs and alcohol because it was “the thing to do”. As they spoke I remembered my own high school experience and how easy it was for me to get through without using. But I also remember that I too, was highly involved in several activities for those same reasons. I found it interesting that many of them chose to stay busy as a means of also staying sober or “out of trouble”. They expressed that they did not need or desire “down time” because in the small town, they feared that “trouble” was the only other option. The idea that teen addiction is a result of boredom (among other reasons) is in fact true in the case of many of the players I work with day to day. In essence, they each made it clear that staying busy was one of the easiest ways to maintain to stay away from peer-pressure. They also discussed how structured programs were even more effective because it required mental and physical stability, which did not allow for the idea of drug and alcohol abuse.

Progression Towards Teen Addiction

Progression

Addiction can be described a progressive disease. Most times we don’t recognize when our use turns into abuse which turns into full fledge addiction.

We usually start out in the “Experimental stage” which includes short-term use, not repetitive, motivated by wanting a new experience. An example of this is a teenager trying something with a friend. This would include anything less than ten uses. “Ritual” use includes using at special occasions such as weddings or birthdays. “Social” use pertains to voluntary use in-group settings, such as at a party. This includes using more than ten times. “Situational” use is patterned, stress relieving use, motivated by achieving a particular feeling, such as using every Saturday night. “Intensified” use is when we use because it is necessary to cope, changes in relationships occur, there are some negative consequences and using every day.

How I Got Excited About Life

So I just celebrated two years of sobriety two days ago and it feels amazing. I can’t even put into words how grateful I am for my life today. Two years ago, my life revolved around getting that next high. To be quite honest, life was miserable. Today, I can honestly say that I am excited about my life.

Today, instead of being a slave to my addiction, I get to devote my life to helping other people find the happiness that I have found in recovery. I get to come to workat a teen treatment center and be a role model to teens struggling with drug and alcohol problems that are just like I was. I get to show them that it is possible to get clean at a young age and have an awesome life.

I look at life in a totally new perspective than ever before. I try to view everything as an opportunity for change rather than an obstacle or a tedious task. I get to appreciate everything in my life, even the simple things like the trees and clean water. I never even thought about those things. I took everything in life for granted. I always wanted everything handed to me on a silver platter. And, no matter what was handed to me, I was never happy. Nothing was ever enough. I now realize that everything in my life is a gift. And, without my sobriety I probably would have lost everything that I have.

Anyway, I am just so grateful for all the gifts that I have received through recovery. I am excited about life today. I have never been excited about life. I never knew a happiness like I have today. Life is truly beautiful.

Elizabeth M

I Quit Smoking Cigarettes

I quit smoking cigarettes after inhaling them for 14 years. I miss them every day and I probably think of them every other minute at the moment. It is a challenge and one that I didn’t even anticipate making. One day I basically hit my bottom with cigarettes. My body felt like it was starting to shut down. I would get headaches everyday from smoking, which then made my body tense, which then gave me no motivation or oxygen circulation, which then the list goes on and on. The bottom line is, every part of my being was starting to get affected by this disease of addiction.

Working at a teen treatment center that deals with addiction has been a blessing for me. I am aware that any addiction has an underlying psychological motivation. For me, to let go of cigarettes is painful for it feels as if I am letting go of the love of my life. I understand this sounds silly and yet this is what the young adults at teen treatment centers with drug and alcohol addiction feel as well. It is strange. It is strange to love something so harmful towards us. It’s strange to be ok with poisoning ourselves for so long and then one day decide that it’s not ok to do that anymore. The thing is I would never stop smoking if my body could handle it. And yet as a responsible adult I have to be aware of the choices I make in life. I am not even angry that I have to stop, I am only extremely sad that I can no longer continue.

Anonymous

Learning How to Have Fun

Learning how to have fun in sobriety is probably one of the most important things I’ve had to learn over the last 32 months. I started drinking as a pre-teen at age 12 and as nobody ever intervened I quickly progressed into using every other drug available. My drinking and using continued for 15 years until I got sober at age 27. As you can imagine, every idea that I had of what fun was involved drinking and using.

Based on my experience, when teens begin drinking and using at such a young age, we don’t develop a strong sense of what we like (or like to do). Everything that I did as a teenager (and well into adulthood) involved drinking alcohol and using drugs, so in getting sober, one of the most frightening thoughts (for me) was that I would never have fun again. As it turns out, that thought couldn’t have been farther from the truth.

Thankfully, the drug treatment program that I went through incorporated “mandatory fun” as part of the program. We had to go out with the group every week to learn how to have fun in sobriety…to learn that fun is possible without the use of mind altering substances…and necessary. Not having had any healthy or positive hobbies up to that point, it took some time (and trial and error) for me to learn how to have fun and what things I like to do. Interestingly enough, there were some hobbies that I had developed as a teenager (such as writing and photography) that I still enjoyed, it just became a matter of learning to enjoy them in a sober state. There are many things that I’ve since learned that I like (which I never would have imagined liking before).

Looking back into my active addiction as a teenager, the less I remembered about any given day or night is how I determined the amount of fun I had (the less I remembered, the more fun I must have had….obviously!) My ideas about fun now, in sobriety, are much different. I enjoy being present for each moment. The fun of everything is here in the moment!

Working In teen Treatment

I have been working at Visions Adolescent Treatment Center for about one and half years. I began my career as a Program Aide at the residential facility, and am now a Classroom Supervisor at the intensive outpatient program. Visions has helped me learn much about teen addiction and the teen recovery process in both types of treatment setting.

At the residential treatment program my job was to supervise the teens, help them self-administer medicine, and assist them with daily activities (i.e. school work, lunch etc.) I would be with the teens at every waking moment… literally. It was very enjoyable yet stressful at times. Sometimes they showed lack of respect toward authority. However, for the most part they are all great kids. After talking with them, and learning much about teen addiction I began to understand their lack of respect and rebellious actions. To some of them we were “adopted parents” for lack of better words. Thus, we were the vectors for the kids anger. I suppose I would be on edge too if I lived in house with the 10 other teens, and had someone telling me what I could and could not do at all times. I began to further understand and respect then as time went on. I left the Visions residential program with a clear picture what it was like to live at teen treatment centers, and a almost clear view of what it is like to be a teen addict.

Currently, I work at one of the Visions teen intensive outpatient programs as a Classroom Supervisor. Here my job is to make sure the kids are working on things they are supposed to be and not looking at inappropriate things on-line, helping then with school work, and disciplining as necessary. I thoroughly enjoy working here, because I get to interact with the kids more. Here they have more freedom, and are able to live a more “normal” life, meaning they get to live at home, drink coffee, go on dates, etc. Generally speaking, they are in better moods here. Also, they appear more “real” here, and not doing/saying things just to escape the clutches is inpatient. I love seeing the kids grow and progress in the their recovery.

Being a witness to both sides of teen treatment centers has given me much insight and respect for teens who are suffering/recovering from teen drug addiction. I cannot imagine being addicted drugs as a teenager. The kids have given me a window into that world. Furthermore, the staff at Visions Adolescent Treatment Center are all great roll models for the kids, and 99.9% of the time calm, cool and collected dealing with any issues. I am pleased and honored to be working for such a remarkable establishment.