Addiction related information and news from Solace

Marijuana is the most commonly used recreational drug (World Drug Report, 2015) but there has been very little evidence on what it is like being a user of marijuana who is in recovery. This brings upon the question of “what are the effects of heavy users who have abused drugs before who have currently quit using?

Questions answered by the psychologist specializing in addiction treatment Premkumar Shanmugam in this interview

The last thing you want is a parrot invading your poppy fields and eating your poppy! That is, if you are an opium farmer from India…

Imagine this: the lord of death has arrived and is in a mood to award you a boon. It tells you, “Dear…, your time in the world is up. But given that I am on a high, I am letting you live. But death will come to you nonetheless. You can either die by overdose of opioids or by a motor vehicle crash. The choice is yours!” And the deity simply disappears.

I was reading a Time magazine post about how Kay Warren, an American woman, fought drug use in her family. It is a horrible tale. Her younger brother fell prey to heroin addiction and pretty much lost everything. Then it took tons and tons of forgiveness, love and courage by that family to reclaim his life. He was virtually dragged back from hell leaving a trail of destruction and awe.

It has been a while since I last had a chance to sit down and put some thoughts together….

Addiction treatment and care, even as it helps to find the rhythm of your life, always runs the risk you going back to the state of chaos. It has a name: relapse. And at Solace Asia, it has a solution; it has a phrase: The Solace Continuum.

Drug addiction is a formidable foe. Needing an often-illegal substance just as much as you need food or water is not a nice thing, to say the least. Some addicts abuse one drug while some abuse numerous. The case is generally classified as polysubstance addiction when the number of simultaneously abused substances reaches three or more. Sounds like a sticky situation, right?

On Friday 06th of April 2018, Solace Sabah celebrated its 4th year in operation since its establishment.

“The damage caused by substance abuse may appear to be severe and have significant impact; however, it can be reversed through a proper and structured diet.” -Cathaline Tangau (Solace Nutritionist)

Drug addiction is present in most, if not all societies and cultures. In the Middle East specifically addiction has been on a sharp rise.

As part of our efforts to expand our scope of treatment, a Solace representative office is currently being established in the capital of the United Arab Emirates,

Held at the Jumeirah Emirates Towers in Dubai, UAE, the Erada International Addiction Conference (EIA) takes place on the 2nd & 3rd of March 2018.

Loneliness is a common emotion, albeit an unpleasant one. Although many factors can cause a feeling of loneliness, it is most commonly attributed to the simple state of being alone or isolated, especially for prolonged periods of time. The feeling may also be amplified when someone finds themselves alone at times which people generally spend together, such as Christmas or Valentine’s day. Sounds sad, doesn’t it? Being alone on Valentine’s day? Well, it doesn’t have to be.

There's a drug that's capable of changing humans to become crocodiles or zombies. It's cheaper and easier to produce than Heroin.

Drugs and alcohol take some time to exit the body's system. Detoxification is a necessary step in becoming alcohol and drug-free.

Like institutionalised racism and sexism, many LGBTQs suffer from legalised "heterosexism". It is no wonder that the ratio for substance abuse between non-LGBTQs and LGBTQs has been reported as 3:10.

There's an imperative need to recognise ways in which women can be treated for addiction. In treating women, it's important to realize that gender, relations with family and friends; play an important role.

For the narcissist, the world revolves around the self. Everything and everyone around them serve only one purpose: to please the narcissist.

Drug Addiction in Malaysia has had an incremental history in spite of desperate measures by the government to prevent such things from happening. The ubiquity and pervasiveness of drugs has been due to the small time drug dealers who operate in the private spaces of the young due to having access to easier means of communication such as the ability to be online and connected through mobile and computing devices.

What can we expect of our recovery? Can we expect a big house, lots of money, a successful career or all of these at once? Maybe, maybe not – that all depends on how much effort we are willing to work the basics of recovery.

Drugs can be purchased just about anywhere and by any means. It is not simply sold by scrawny, suspicious, dirty-looking street-peddlers, as the old cliché would depict them as; but ubiquitously.

The Drug Issue in Southeast Asia: The Latest Updates from the Golden Triangle.

Sports gambling is a form of betting on sports events. The higher the stakes, the greater the high. It has the potential to become an addiction.

Other addictions are easier to detect than gambling because there are many fallacies and myths, which keep problem gamblers at ease with their addiction.

Addicts do not suffer from an addiction to drugs, alcohol, nor behavioural addiction. These are merely symptoms of a life denied of acceptance. What's fundamentally at the root of addiction is a lack or denial of acceptance.

Growing up in an alcoholic home, will leave alcoholic children in roles that would cause a life of pain.

Welcome back to learning about the masks we wear in addiction. This article is part 2 of a 2-part series on "Addictive Coping Mechanisms: The masks we wear."

Alcohol Use Disorder or AUD is a problem. Anyone with a drinking problem who meets 2 out of the 11 question criteria of AUD will be diagnosed as AUD. This can range from mild binge drinking to severe alcoholism. In all this, binge drinking is a defining symptom of this illness.

Pressure here refers to any stimuli that pushed the addict towards an addiction. It could be that a family member or friend was abusing substances, and steered the addict towards it. Or it could be the absence of care provided by loved ones who were not aware of what was happening to their loved ones.

Everyone uses masks to entertain their various roles in society. The masks people wear can be equated to the many hats we wear for the roles we play.

Codependency is an addiction to others. It is a relationship addiction. In the beginning, it was used only in reference to loved ones of alcoholics or drug addicts.

It's not just addicts who dream about being emotionally sober. It's everyone's dream to be able to be calm in stressful situations. Yet, for the addict, such transformations to higher levels of emotional well-being is a must.

Character Defects Or Flaws - A comprehensive list of the major defects. One of the main reasons why addicts suffer in recovery is due to their character flaws.

The Matrix model is an integrative model for treating drugs. The model helps to treat drug addiction such as cocaine and methamphetamines. The Matrix model was invented by Dr. Richard Rawson.

Central nervous system or CNS depressants are chemicals that slow down brain activity.

Addiction is a disease of perception. This is ever more so apparent with pathological gambling.

Drugs can be purchased just about anywhere and by any means. It is not simply sold by scrawny, suspicious, dirty-looking street-peddlers, as the old cliché would depict them as.

Introducing the interloper, “Nicotine”, the substitute addiction deserving of no attention in the recovery cart.

There are a number of treatment options available for Binge Eaters to overcome the problem of binge eating.

Hash or hashish is a drug made from the same substance as marijuana. It contains THC (delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol). As a result of that, it has acute addictive and withdrawal effects.

Survivors of trauma will thus suffer from post-traumatic stress illness (PTSI). PTSI is a comorbidity among addicts. This means that addicts could be suffering PTSI alongside addiction.

The NHS (National Health Services) in the U.K. has noted that some herbal remedies may be unsafe for your health.

Youths in the Middle East, face a mental health crisis. But, local attitudes towards mental health are scornful and judgmental. This is due to the conservative nature of Middle Eastern states.

In seeking that "high", cocaine use develops into an addiction due to tolerance. The damage results when cocaine replaces everything in life. At this point, the addict will need treatment to recover from cocaine addiction.

Tramadol functions as an opioid analgesic. It's a painkiller. It releases opioids such as endorphins into the user. Dependency to the drug can cause lifelong addiction.

Addiction doesn’t just happen in a vacuum or one day you just become addicted without any precursor. We became addicted because of… certain traits we have as addicts, which may have been inherited from our ancestors, or were predisposed to in our genetic make-up.

Evidence-based treatment or practices (EBTs/EBPs) are treatments that have been researched academically. They have been scientifically proven effective and replicated by more than one investigation or study.

A sober companion is somebody who is watching the addict when he/she is not in treatment.

Is sexual addiction an illness worthy of any diagnosis? In the field of mental health, it is still a controversial issue.

Recovery is about dispatching or sending the ego off. This will involve learning to be humble and patient with the self and others. It means replacing a life of fear for a life of love.

In recovery, we learn how to overcome barriers to communication. It's like learning how to talk once again.

There are a number of reasons for ceasing the smoking habit, notably wanting to live a drug-free existence.

Some people are motivated by their inner resources, whilst others find outside inspiration to tag them along to the next part of their lives.

Resentment is to feel a feeling again. Anger kept long enough breeds resentment. It’s the obsession of an angry moment repeated time without number.

A Sober Living setting is supposed to provide those who have left treatment with adequate structure, social support, and stability to face the world outside the walls of the rehab facility.

A dopamine agonist is a compound that activates dopamine receptors in the absence of that receptor’s physiological transmitter.

You have the same issues on pain with the necessity for relief, like the rest of humanity. How do clinicians go about prescribing drugs to recovering addicts? How do we also overcome this controversy so that you can live pain-free?

Delirium Tremens (DT) is a state of hallucinating, sweating unusual amounts (diaphoresis), fast heartbeat (tachycardia), hyperthermia, hypertension and agitation as a result of abstaining from alcohol over a period of time.

Working out, going to the gym, pumping iron, yoga, Tai-Chi, martial arts, going for a run, a walk, crossfit classes, sports of any kind: take your pick!

It is therapy based on associating unpleasant feelings or consequences with a particular pleasurable behavior, which has been deemed undesirable.

Xanax is the trade name for the drug, “Alprazolam”, which is one of the drugs categorically known as Benzodiazepines.

Is addiction caused by drug abuse? Is it caused by behaviors gone out of hand? Not so!

Gaming addiction is a legitimate illness as it contains within it the neurochemistry of addiction.

Writing a daily journal is one fine way of being honest and transparent. In early recovery, there could be many reasons why you would not want to open up to others due to fear, shame, anger, and sadness.

Recovery is a period of experimenting what works well for an individual. These experiments take on many forms; one of which is the alcoholic retreating to non-alcoholic beverages to soothe the sorrows of “not drinking”.

The word “Quaaludes”, which is a brand name for Methaqualone is a portmanteau for the phrase “quiet interlude”.

Many in early recovery relapse over the inability to deal with anxiety as and when it arises.

Giving up drugs does not necessarily mean giving up smoking – The Perspective of Smokers in Recovery.

Hepatitis means inflammation of the liver and alcoholic hepatitis is a liver disorder caused by the overconsumption of alcohol.

Solace Sabah explains what is PAWS and how it affects one in Recovery.

To teach and empower students of Sri Emas International School to make a choice and a difference.

Religions predispose people to codependence due to its theology, dogma, and organizational structure. Yet, once people can make the decision to be fruitful, honest, loving, and caring over the demands of their respective religions, their practice of religion, may in fact, ennoble them to be better human beings.

Facts Every Recovering Addict Needs to Know: “Stinking thinking” is a colloquial term for cognitive distortions. They are a set of negative thoughts and beliefs about a particular situation, which in the long run makes life unmanageable without some kind of panacea.

The widespread use of the serenity prayer can be found in all 12-step programs. One would find that meetings usually start with the prayer and end with it.

Meth, Crack Cocaine, Marijuana, and eating disorders have also contributed to oral illnesses. Tooth decay, gingivitis, and other chronic oral infections await the unwary addict in recovery. This is because dental illnesses may still pervade long after sobriety is achieved.

Rock bottom is said to be the pit of despair, in which devastation is so total that the only way is up and out of it.

Dry drunk is a condition wherein someone who has been sober from either alcohol, drugs, or other addictions are no longer enthused by their recovery.