How do you stop addictions
SAMHSA’s National Helpline | SAMHSA
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SAMHSA’s National Helpline is a free, confidential, 24/7, 365-day-a-year treatment referral and information service (in English and Spanish) for individuals and families facing mental and/or substance use disorders.
Also visit the online treatment locator.
SAMHSA’s National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357) (also known as the Treatment Referral Routing Service), or TTY: 1-800-487-4889 is a confidential, free, 24-hour-a-day, 365-day-a-year, information service, in English and Spanish, for individuals and family members facing mental and/or substance use disorders.
This service provides referrals to local treatment facilities, support groups, and community-based organizations.
Also visit the online treatment locator, or send your zip code via text message: 435748 (HELP4U) to find help near you. Read more about the HELP4U text messaging service.
The service is open 24/7, 365 days a year.
English and Spanish are available if you select the option to speak with a national representative. Currently, the 435748 (HELP4U) text messaging service is only available in English.
In 2020, the Helpline received 833,598 calls. This is a 27 percent increase from 2019, when the Helpline received a total of 656,953 calls for the year.
The referral service is free of charge. If you have no insurance or are underinsured, we will refer you to your state office, which is responsible for state-funded treatment programs. In addition, we can often refer you to facilities that charge on a sliding fee scale or accept Medicare or Medicaid.
If you have health insurance, you are encouraged to contact your insurer for a list of participating health care providers and facilities.
The service is confidential. We will not ask you for any personal information. We may ask for your zip code or other pertinent geographic information in order to track calls being routed to other offices or to accurately identify the local resources appropriate to your needs.
No, we do not provide counseling. Trained information specialists answer calls, transfer callers to state services or other appropriate intake centers in their states, and connect them with local assistance and support.
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Suggested Resources
What Is Substance Abuse Treatment? A Booklet for Families
Created for family members of people with alcohol abuse or drug abuse problems. Answers questions about substance abuse, its symptoms, different types of treatment, and recovery.
Addresses concerns of children of parents with substance use/abuse problems.It's Not Your Fault (NACoA) (PDF | 12 KB)
Assures teens with parents who abuse alcohol or drugs that, "It's not your fault!" and that they are not alone. Encourages teens to seek emotional support from other adults, school counselors, and youth support groups such as Alateen, and provides a resource list.After an Attempt: A Guide for Taking Care of Your Family Member After Treatment in the Emergency Department
Aids family members in coping with the aftermath of a relative's suicide attempt. Describes the emergency department treatment process, lists questions to ask about follow-up treatment, and describes how to reduce risk and ensure safety at home.Family Therapy Can Help: For People in Recovery From Mental Illness or Addiction
Explores the role of family therapy in recovery from mental illness or substance abuse. Explains how family therapy sessions are run and who conducts them, describes a typical session, and provides information on its effectiveness in recovery.
For additional resources, please visit the SAMHSA Store.
Last Updated: 08/30/2022
10 Ways ANYONE Can Stop Addiction Now
If you are struggling with addiction, know that addiction is a treatable disease, not a moral failing.
Substance use disorders (SUDs) create changes in the brain, leading to a compulsion to use drugs or alcohol. It is a chronic mental health condition; however, sobriety is possible with the proper treatment and support.
Olympia House Rehab provides patients with individualized addiction treatment tailored to their long-term goals and mental health concerns.
Contact us today if you are seeking help, or review our list below for tips you can use to help stop addiction.
1. Admit There Is A Problem
The hardest part to recovery is admitting you have an addiction. Substance use disorders affect the brain causing it to look for excuses and justifications to keep using.
Admitting a problem shows you have the courage to face your addiction and its underlying causes.
There are several places to turn to for help; however, having a solid support system is essential in any treatment approach you choose. If you are not ready to turn to friends or family, consider talking to a therapist, doctor, or rehab facility.
2. Reflect On Your Addiction
Take time to reflect on what is important to you, how addiction has negatively affected you, and how your life will improve with sobriety.
The easiest way to reflect effectively is to keep a daily journal. With a journal, you can help yourself start a plan to stop addiction to help identify patterns, triggers, goals, and motivators.
3. Seek Professional Support
The residential treatment program at Olympia House Rehab offers a peaceful, structured environment to begin the drug and alcohol recovery process. Our 24-hour staff is trained in various treatment options to provide the most individualized, effective treatment program for each resident.
Residential treatment options include:
- Individual Therapy
- Group Therapy
- Family Therapy
- Peer Support Groups
- Chemical Dependency Counseling
- Detox and Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT)
Another valuable support line is SAMHSA’s National Helpline which is a free, confidential, 24/7, 365-day-a-year treatment referral and information service (in English and Spanish) for individuals and families facing mental and substance use disorders.
Their number is (800) 662-HELP (4357) or you may call our local rehab center at (888) 795-1965 today.
4. Appreciate The Benefits of Sobriety
Sober living allows you to regain the positive aspects of your life. At Olympia House Rehab, we address co-occurring disorders such as depression and anxiety that can impact addiction.
By actively treating these aspects, people in recovery often find themselves enjoying:
- A greater sense of freedom
- Improved mental and physical health
- Better financial stability
- Healthier relationships with friends and family
- More time to spend on what truly matters to them
5. Evidence-Based Care
Our Clinical Director Dr. Senadhi Parakrama, Psy.D. believes in using all the best evidence-based tools at his disposal.
In a recent article by Treatment Magazine, Dr. Senadhi discusses his medical model of evidence-based treatments at Olympia House Rehab.
6. Identify Your Triggers
A trigger is something that causes an emotional reaction based on experience. With addiction, a trigger can often cause a powerful urge to use again.
Some common triggers include:
- Stress
- Uncomfortable Emotions
- Environmental Cues
- Social Isolation
- Mental or Physical Illness
Once we can identify these triggers, we can manage them by developing healthy coping skills.
7. Change Your Environment
When you quit drugs or alcohol but continue with the same routines or habits, the chances of relapsing are much higher. Support your recovery by avoiding people, places, and situations that trigger your urge to use.
Many changes will happen during recovery, including:
- The way you deal with stress
- Who you spend time with
- What you do in your free time
8.
Exercise“There is no depression buster as effective for me than exercise,” says mental health advocate Therese J. Borchard. Not only will you improve your overall health and well-being while working up a sweat, but you’ll also feel endorphins being released naturally.
Engaging in some form of exercise is often one of the best tips on how to stop addictions.
In addition to being a great distraction, exercise can help:
- Restore healthy brain functioning
- Reduce stress and tension
- Improve sleep
- Minimize cravings
- Enhance self-esteem
9. Accept The Past
It is natural to feel guilty or shameful for your addiction, past behavior, or past actions. As you move forward in your recovery, it is important to deal with these emotions by making amends with yourself and others.
After we accept the past, we can provide ourselves with the opportunity for change in the future. Each person who leaves Olympia House Rehab is asked to create an aftercare plan to outline their goals for recovery and the future.
They are also invited to continue their journey with us by attending free tune-ups.
10. Call For Help
Recovery takes time, motivation, and support. It can be challenging; however, the benefits of seeking help and beginning the journey far outweigh the risks of continued substance use.
Our addiction recovery center in Northern California has a full staff of qualified professionals to answer any questions or concerns you may have and discuss the best treatment options available. Call (888) 795-1965 now.
Periscope as the new social addiction you need to know about
Success Ideas / Secrets of success
Over the past day, I heard the word Periscope 15 times. It got me thinking about why people are so passionate about it.
"Periscope" is a new application created by the developers of Twitter that allows you to share something with the whole world using video broadcast.
How it works
Let's start with how you can watch the live video.
When you open the program, you will come across a map of the world. It is possible to watch broadcasts in real time, or those that have been recorded over the past twenty-four hours. Choose any point on Earth and see if there are Periscope users. You stop your attention on one video that interests you, and you can watch what a certain person is doing a thousand kilometers from you or on a nearby street. If you like what's happening, you can like it. If you want to ask a question or just speak - write in the comments. nine0008 What to do if you yourself want to share with the world Starting your own broadcast, you must decide on its name. It is possible to both allow and prohibit determining your location. You also have the right to make the broadcast private, that is, limit the number of people who can watch you. And that's it, it's up to you. You have to decide what exactly you want to share with people.
One of the top speakers on Periscope has about 500,000 subscribers. This huge number of people are waiting for her online.
But why do people generally subscribe and watch? nine0003
6 reasons why Periscope is so popular
• Human curiosity
It's our nature. We want to know how they live in the same New York. Is it such an ideal city, as we are told. How do people live in my city? Maybe my friends are doing something interesting and showing it to others?• It's good where we are not
Somewhere out there, far away, someone lives better than us. He has a bigger apartment, a newer car, a prettier wife, and so on. In America people are richer, but in Europe they are nicer. nine0017 • There are always those who are worse than us. The opposite of the above reason. We love to look both at a better world and to convince ourselves that there are those who are much worse off. In short, increase your self-esteem at the expense of others.• Am I worse?
Everyone enjoys and I will. As soon as a new trend appears, there will be those who will blindly follow it.•
Periscope Advertising is a great way to advertise.
For example, send friends to your new cafe, they talk about a recently opened cool place in the city and you're done: you already have potential customers. nine0017 • We love attention We love attention. We are pleased that someone in the comments will write about our beautiful appearance or pleasant voice. It is flattering to know that a person who lives almost on the other side of the world spends time looking at who you are and what you do. Can we wait for the emergence of a new term "periscope mania"?
Increasingly, in cafes, at school, on the street, in public transport, you can see people filming themselves.Imagine you call a friend you haven't seen in a while to propose a meeting. And he refuses you, because he promised his subscribers to tell about his work or show the apartment. Or he agrees, and then you spend most of the evening staring at the camera on his phone. nine0002 Many medical professionals talk seriously about the dependence on computer games and on the Internet in general.
With the advent of social networks (and Periscope belongs to this category of applications), we feel the need to prove and show everyone what a good life we have. At the same time, forgetting that chasing popularity, illusory recognition and happiness on the Internet, we lose it all in our real life. And this does not mean that programs of this kind only bring us harm - they are not. It's just that some people forget to prioritize correctly, and this is largely true of today's youth. nine0003 Sometimes putting your phone away is not the same as saying goodbye to it forever. Similarly, shooting a broadcast with friends or alone, in your spare time, is not the same as disappearing into Periscope for hours or even days. Find this very balance, the golden mean - then you will take the best of life in the twenty-first century.
Discuss this article
Why are we nearsighted? - BBC News Ukraine
- David Robson
- BBC Future
Myopia, or nearsightedness, is one of the most common visual defects.
But do we have a good idea of its causes and methods of treatment? The correspondent of BBC Future was looking for the answer to this question.
Image copyright Unsplash
When I was a teenager, my eyesight began to fail and I started wearing glasses. Thin glass quickly gave way to heavy lenses. "What is the reason?" - I asked my optometrist, squinting at the table with letters. He prescribed me regular glasses and answered in the same way: it's about genes and the habit of reading a lot. nine0003
I had no reason to doubt his words. If you are nearsighted, then your ophthalmologist most likely said the same thing. However, the results of recent studies suggest that experts could be very wrong.
In today's world, there are many other factors that lead to visual impairment. And by following a few simple tips, our children may be able to avoid the unenviable fate of their bespectacled parents.
I have never really believed that poor eyesight is due primarily to genetic causes.
Without glasses, I can't tell a bulldog from a rhinoceros. So how did my ancient ancestors manage to survive in a world full of danger and predators? And myopia, meanwhile, has become epidemic: 30-40% of the population of Europe and the United States need glasses, and in some Asian countries this figure reaches 90%. If the "myopia gene" really exists, then it seems to have successfully passed the filter of many thousands of years of evolution - contrary to common sense.
Ask the Eskimos
The answer to this question could have been obtained half a century ago, based on the results of studies of the Eskimos living in northern Canada. In their older generation, myopia was practically not observed, but from 10 to 25% of children of this generation already needed glasses.
"Genetic factors are not able to give such a result," says Nina Jacobsen from Glostrup University Hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark. At the junction of these generations, the Eskimos began to gradually move from their traditional way of hunting and fishing to a Western lifestyle.
And this, with a much greater degree of probability, could cause a massive deterioration in vision. nine0003
Nearsightedness is an industrial disease," says Ian Flitcroft of the University Children's Hospital in Dublin, Ireland. Genes may determine the predisposition to visual impairments, but these defects begin to appear with changes in the environment.
Photo by Unspalsh
One of the factors could be the spread of literacy and education: mass myopia is often explained precisely by this. At first glance, it seems to be true - one has only to look at the gleaming glasses of students at a university lecture or scientific conference, and the conclusion seems obvious. However, studies show that this dependence far less pronounced than previously thought.
"The more we studied this question, analyzing the amount of reading our subjects, the less we saw the relationship," notes Flitcroft. A large study of children in the U.
S. state of Ohio showed no correlation between myopia and reading at all, but Jacobsen says it cannot be completely ruled out.
- Why being outdoors will improve your child's vision
Recently, many scientists are inclined to believe that visual acuity is negatively affected primarily by long-term indoor exposure, and not by reading. Studies conducted in Europe, Australia and Asia have repeatedly shown that people who are often outdoors are much less prone to myopia than homebodies. nine0003
What is the reason? It is believed that sunlight has a beneficial effect on the eyes. For example, Scott Reed of the Queensland University of Technology in Australia gave a group of schoolchildren a wristwatch that recorded their movements and the intensity of sunlight every 30 seconds for two weeks.
Children with good eyesight were no more active than schoolchildren who wore glasses - that is, regular exercise and good physical condition do not seem to affect visual acuity.
But between the duration of exposure to the sun and eye health, a direct relationship was revealed. Bright sunlight is thousands of times more intense than artificial light (although our eyes are pretty good at smoothing out that much of a difference), and the more time children spent in the sun, the less glasses they needed
Image copyright Unsplash
Perhaps this is due to the fact that exposure to sunlight in the body produces vitamin D, which has a beneficial effect on the immune and nervous systems and, possibly, vision. There is also a more popular theory: sunlight stimulates the production of dopamine directly in the eyes. Nearsightedness is often caused by an enlarged eyeball, making it harder for the lens to focus on the retina. Dopamine seems to slow down this process and keep the eyes in good shape. nine0003
A color question
Another possible explanation has to do with the color spectrum. Green and blue light waves usually focus on the anterior surface of the retina, while red light waves focus on the back.
Artificial light tends to be redder than the sun in its color temperature, and this can be confusing to the eye. "The brain tells the eyes that they are focusing at the wrong point, and to compensate for this effect, the eyeball grows," explains Chi Luu from the University of Melbourne. He found experimentally that chickens reared under red light were more prone to myopia than those raised under blue or green light. nine0003
- Scientists: by 2050 there will be three times as many blind people in the world
Flitcroft believes that the main problem lies in the abundance of surrounding objects that clog our field of vision. Take a look around and you will understand what he means. “When you look at your laptop screen, everything behind the screen is out of focus,” says the scientist. “And when you look from the computer to the wall clock, the picture changes dramatically: the clock is in focus, and things that are close to you, look blurry.
" nine0003
If you stop looking at one object, a blur appears around it, and this disrupts the feedback process between the eye and the brain. Outside enclosed spaces, objects are usually located at a greater distance from the observer - due to this, there are fewer blurry areas in the field of view, and the eyes develop more harmoniously.
Image copyright Thinkstock
Let's hope that this kind of research is not only of academic interest and will ultimately help us develop new treatments. For example, Luu is trying to organize a clinical experiment in which nearsighted children will be provided with blue light bulbs. nine0003
The specialist hopes that these lamps will not only slow down the deterioration of vision, but also improve: in the course of the experiment on chickens mentioned above, he found that a few hours of blue light a day neutralize the damage caused by red light and allow chickens to get rid of myopia .
Accidental discovery
According to Flitcroft, contact lenses are undergoing promising trials to make images at the periphery of the visual field less blurry.
He also believes in the potential of atropine eye drops. This substance, as has long been known, slows down the processes leading to an increase in the eyeball and to myopia. nine0003
But it has unpleasant side effects: atropine causes a strong dilation of the pupils, and under its influence the patient sees iridescent halos around light sources. For this reason, experts initially refused to use it, but recently, quite by accident, it turned out that the therapeutic effect of atropine does not disappear when it is used in a hundred times lower doses. At this dosage, side effects should be minimal, and as a result of this discovery, physicians are again interested in the possible clinical use of atropine. nine0003
- "I lost my sight due to contact lenses"
But for now, Flitcroft strongly advises against believing in "magic" treatments. For example, there is a common misconception that wearing glasses impairs vision, but in practice it turns out that this is speculation.
I can attest this myself with regret: after reading the rather controversial book "Improving Vision Without Glasses", I decided to try this method on myself in the hope of getting rid of glasses, but in the end, after three years, I was forced to wear lenses twice as strong as before. nine0003
"Many people believe that glasses make their eyesight worse, but they don't," says Flitcroft.
Image credit: Thinkstock
If you want to do something right now instead of waiting for a breakthrough in ophthalmology, then try to convince children to play more outside - according to most experts, it definitely won't do any harm .
An experiment conducted in Taiwanese schools gave rather positive results. "If a person exists in his natural environment, that is, outside the premises, he does not develop myopia," notes Flitcroft. "Playing outside can only be beneficial." nine0003
I wish I knew about this when I was young.
