NOVEMBER 2020 | VOLUME 9 | ISSUE 11 IN MEMORY OF STEVEN THE PUBLIC ANGUISH OF ERIC CLAPTON By Maxim W. Furek, MA, CADC, ICADC UNTREATED MENTAL ILLNESS MAY REPEATEDLY TRIGGER RELAPSE TO SUBSTANCE USE By Raafea Malik, MD THE FIRE EXTINGUISHER - A STIGMATIZINGDEPRESSION LANGUAGE- AND ADDICTION CHANGING THE BREAKTHROUGH RELAPSE PREVENTION Stephen M. Lange, Ph.D. By Brad Haber, LCSW, CAP WAY WE TALK ABOUT SUBSTANCE USE 2 www.thesoberworld.com A LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER Dear Readers, I welcome you to The Sober World magazine. The Sober World is an and be accountable for staying clean. informative award winning global magazine that’s designed to help Many times a Criminal Attorney will try to work out a deal with the court parents and families who have loved ones struggling with addiction. We to allow your child or loved one to seek treatment as an alternative to are a FREE online e-magazine reaching people globally in their search jail. I know how overwhelming this period can be for you and I urge for information about Drug and Alcohol Abuse. every parent or relative of an addict to get some help for yourself. There Our monthly magazine is available for free on our website at are many groups that can help you. There is Al-Anon, Alateen (for www.thesoberworld.com or you can have it come to your inbox each teenagers), Families Anonymous, Nar-Anon and more. This is a disease month by signing up on our website. that affects the whole family, not just the parents. Drug addiction has reached epidemic proportions throughout the country Addiction knows no race or religion; it affects the wealthy as well as the and is steadily increasing. It is being described as “the biggest man- poor, the highly educated, old, young-IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE. made epidemic” in the United States. More people are dying from drug This magazine is dedicated to my son Steven who graduated with overdoses than from any other cause of injury death, including traffic top honors from University of Central Florida. He graduated with accidents, falls or guns. a degree in Psychology, and was going for his Masters in Applied Many Petty thefts are drug related, as the addicts need for drugs causes Behavioral Therapy. He was a highly intelligent, sensitive young man them to take desperate measures in order to have the ability to buy their who helped many people get their lives on the right course. He could drugs. The availability of prescription narcotics is overwhelming; as have accomplished whatever he set his mind out to do. Unfortunately, parents our hands are tied. after graduating from college he tried a drug that was offered to him not Purdue Pharma, the company that manufactures Oxycontin generated realizing how addictive it was and the power it would have over him. $3.1 BILLION in revenue in 2010? Scary isn’t it? My son was 7 months clean when he relapsed and died of a drug Addiction is a disease but there is a terrible stigma attached to it. As overdose. I hope this magazine helps you find the right treatment for family members affected by this disease, we are often too ashamed to your loved one. They have a disease and like all diseases, you try to find speak to anyone about our loved ones addiction, feeling that we will be the best care suited for their needs. They need help. judged. We try to pass it off as a passing phase in their lives, and some Deaths from prescription drug overdose have been called the “silent people hide their head in the sand until it becomes very apparent such epidemic” for years. There is approximately one American dying every as through an arrest, getting thrown out of school or even worse an 17 minutes from an accidental prescription drug overdose. Please don’t overdose, that we realize the true extent of their addiction. allow your loved one to become a statistic. I hope you have found this If you are experiencing any of the above, this may be your opportunity to magazine helpful. save your child or loved one’s life. They are more apt to listen to you now We are on Face Book at www.facebook.com/TheSoberWorld/ or than they were before, when whatever you said may have fallen on deaf Twitter at www.twitter.com/thesoberworld, and ears. This is the point where you know your loved one needs help, but you don’t know where to begin. LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/patricia-rosen-95521051/ or www.linkedin.com/groups/6694001/ I have compiled this informative magazine to try to take that fear and anxiety away from you and let you know there are many options to Website: www.thesoberworld.com choose from. Sincerely, There are Psychologists and Psychiatrists that specialize in treating people with addictions. There are Education Consultants that will work PublisherPatricia with you to figure out what your loved ones needs are and come up [email protected] with the best plan for them. There are Interventionists who will hold an intervention and try to convince your loved one that they need help. There are detox centers that provide medical supervision to help them through the withdrawal process, There are Transport Services that will scoop up your resistant loved one (under the age of 18 yrs. old) and bring them to the facility you For Advertising opportunities on our website have chosen. There are long term Residential Programs (sometimes a or to submit articles, year and longer) as well as short term programs (30-90 days), there are please contact Patricia Therapeutic Boarding Schools, Wilderness programs, Extended Living at 561-910-1943 or [email protected]. and there are Sober Living Housing where they can work, go to meetings To Advertise, Call 561-910-1943 3 UNTREATED MENTAL ILLNESS MAY REPEATEDLY TRIGGER RELAPSE TO SUBSTANCE USE By Raafea Malik, MD It’s not uncommon to find that individuals suffering with substance addictions also often have other mental health problems, such as depression or anxiety. It’s not always clear which came first, but both need to be treated in order to provide the best scenario for recovery. It’s vital to treat both issues simultaneously and to educate individuals about their mental health and their addiction. Untreated, mental illness may repeatedly trigger relapse to substance use. Our team has the tools to diagnose and treat patients for both their addiction and the underlying and interwoven mental health issues that often accompany addiction. This is called dual disorder treatment. The good news is that dual disorders are treatable. About 80% of patients with addictions have psychiatric symptoms in addition to their addiction which makes them use drugs to treat their psychiatric symptoms. Common mental health disorders coupled with substance use disorders include: anxiety disorders, depressive symptoms, bipolar spectrum disorders, attention- deficit disorder, psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder, PTSD associated with traumas, and chronic pain conditions. Some individuals use drugs to numb psychological pain, such as depression, anxiety and trauma. Drugs create a sense of happiness, euphoria and calmness as well as a sense of numbness. Drugs also relieve actual physical pain due to their effect on the peripheral pain pathways. People also use drugs because they want to maintain the artificial sense of happiness and also because the withdrawal symptoms from the drugs can be very uncomfortable and they have to keep using the drug(s) to prevent the withdrawal symptoms. Untreated symptoms of mental illness may repeatedly trigger relapse to substance use. Relapse indicates a return to prior, old Medication-assisted treatment such as Suboxone and Vivitrol can behavior. Relapse is often part of a learning curve for individuals stop the cravings for drugs and alcohol, allowing the individual to who are trying to learn new, healthier behaviors and skills, to take stay focused on their recovery plan. care of themselves differently and maintain sobriety. Verbal therapy counseling (psychotherapy) is also necessary to Post-treatment withdrawal symptoms may also de-stabilize help individuals learn new, healthier behaviors and skills, and to individuals in sobriety, causing increased stress and may trigger take care of themselves differently, and also to learn coping skills cravings/thoughts about drinking/drugging to reduce temporary to deal with underlying depression, anxiety, trauma and other discomfort. mental health problems, instead of turning to drugs and alcohol to numb their psychological pain. Treating addiction and mental health is not a one-size-fits-all solution. In treatment, clients find a range of care, as well as the One client told to me: “Treatment has taught me how recognize understanding and nonjudgmental care to help them develop my symptoms of depression early on, and not turn to drugs when coping skills and alternative behaviors and find a new path to a I was feeling upset or down. Instead, I learned some practical healthier future. When a patient is able to recognize warning signs skills to use that helped me change my thoughts and to view my and help themselves, they can more successfully avoid relapsing. situation in a more positive light. My positive thoughts created positive feelings, and also prevented my drug behaviors. Now I’m It takes courage to seek help for addiction. living a drug-free and happy life – the life I deserve.” Lifelong sobriety can be maintained by using effective coping and Raafea F. Malik, MD is the Medical Director for The Changing relapse prevention skills and also with the support of a 12-step Pointe Addiction Treatment Center at CenterPointe Hospital.