Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation Programs and Addiction Treatment For Substance Abuse
Drug and Alcohol addictions continue to effect people from all walks of life. Many people believe that all drug and alcohol abusers are criminals or are morally weak. But, that simply is not the case. Whether one is a doctor, stay-at-home mom, lawyer, teacher, preacher, mill worker, teenager or even a child, drug and alcohol addictions respect no one. Addiction is a physiological dependence on something, meaning it is both physical and psychological in nature. Therefore, when one is addicted one literally needs whatever it is that feeds that addiction.
Education remains a key factor in fighting drug and alcohol dependencies. When people understand drug and alcohol abuse prevention becomes visible and effective. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) notes, a tremendous opportunity exists to effectively change the ways in which the public understands drug abuse and addiction because of the wealth of scientific data NIDA has amassed. NIDA further states that overcoming misconceptions and replacing ideology with scientific knowledge is the best hope for bridging the "great disconnect" - the gap between the public perception of drug abuse and addiction and the scientific facts.
In the mean time, it is necessary to facilitate assistance for the current drug and alcohol abusers. There are diverse options in treatment and rehabilitation programs. Those options include: 12-step programs; 12-step alternatives; programs, wilderness camps and schools for troubled teens with addictions; inpatient treatment program; day treatment; outpatient treatment; faith-based facilities; and holistic treatment.
The 12-step program, one of the most popular drug
and alcohol rehabilitation programs, originated for Alcoholics Anonymous,
but later versions were adapted for other addictions. The synopsis of the
12-step programs consists of:
1) Admit that we are powerless over drugs or
alcohol and that our lives have become unmanageable.
2) Come to believe that
a Power greater than ourselves can restore us to sanity.
3) Turn our will
and our lives over to the care of a Higher Power.
4) Make a searching and
fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5) Admit to a Higher Power, to ourselves
and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6) Be entirely
ready to have a Higher Power remove all these defects of character.
7) Humbly
ask a Higher Power to remove our shortcomings.
8) Make a list of all persons
we have harmed, and be willing to make amends to them all.
9) Make direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do
so would injure them or others.
10) Continue to take personal inventory and
when we are wrong promptly admit it.
11) Seek through prayer and meditation
to improve our conscious contact with a Higher Power, praying only for knowledge
of the Higher Power's will for us, and the power to carry that out.
12) Having
had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, try to carry this
message to other drug addicts or alcoholics, and to practice these principles
in all of our affairs.
In conclusion, drug and alcohol
abuse will be around as long as there are people, drugs and alcohol. One
must make a proactive choice to educate and understand these addictions so
that early intervention can be made as soon as abusers are identified. Ideally,
education and training would decline the statistics on addictive behavior,
but personal pleasure and the masking of personal problems through addiction
remain prevalent today. The substance abuse directory below provides valuable
resources for addiction and rehabilitation resources nationwide.