There comes a time that the addict tries to look for help. He looks for the aid of an expert to intoxicate him from the drug. Rehabilitation centers provide help to those who have substance use problems. They provide medical help as well as psychological and social reformation. However, rehabilitation may not be enough for the full recovery of the person. The patient should be prepared with the right values and abilities in facing the real world after rehabilitation.

Different groups that caters to different kinds of people that needs help offers spiritual enhancement and life skills program to people who wish to receive them. Anyone who is willing to modify and turn away from such addictions or someone who merely wants to help victims recover form the darkness they were in is very welcome to join the fellowship. Here, people help each other in recovering from their problems. The fellowship believes that the best people who could understand addicts are those who have been addicts themselves. Sympathy and compassion will never be enough. Someone who has experienced the dark side of drug would really understand the feeling of an addict and thus, would be able to give the right comfort and support.

Moreover, the fellowship uses the twelve-step program in helping the patients recover. This twelve-step program was first made by the alcoholics anonymous. This consists of twelve steps on how to deal with the addiction, emphasizing acceptance, surrender, and self-awareness. The twelve step program tries to impart that there is one very powerful being above us all, and that we should surrender all our weaknesses to Him and al will be well. Of course, man should do his best to become a better person and God will then do the rest.

Here is an example of the famous twelve-step program from Overeaters Anonymous:

1. We admitted we were powerless over our emotions — that our lives had become unmanageable.

2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.

9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

With the twelve-step program, individuals who have become victims of addiction are given optimism that it is not too late – that life does not end in addiction. In fact, it even opens a new entry, a new part in our lives in which we should live meaningfully.

In the 1970s, cocaine was expensive and considered a “status” drug. The beginnings of cheap crack increased the ease of access of this substance, and crack has become the drug of choice for many drug users, especially for inner-city disadvantaged youth. This has been the beginnings of the growing crack addiction. Crack’s convenience, ease of concealment, wide availability, and low cost has increased its use. The reality that crack is smoked rather than injected has added to its popularity.

The preconceived notion that drug addiction only happens on the street is largely false. It is not new to us that celebrities have their “shining moments” when it comes to substance abuse. They may look pleasant and very much happy in front of cameras, but their deepest secrets are yet to be exposed. A number of celebrities have already been into rehabilitation to fight their crack addiction, heroin, or even alcohol addiction.

Long before Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears hogged the headlines with their wild child antics, there was Drew Barrymore. At the age of nine, Drew was already smoking cigarettes. She was an alcoholic at 11, a marijuana smoker by 12, and a cocaine addict by 13. She went to rehab twice and even attempted suicide when she was 14. Right now, that is all in the past. Her wild child days behind her, Barrymore has grown into a sober, responsible and productive woman. Aside from starring in a slew of hits, she has also become a producer, forming the production company Flower Films with friend and partner Nancy Juvonen in 1995. Her company is responsible for hits like Charlie’s Angels and 50 First Dates. Quite a turnaround for a woman with a childhood as messed up as hers.

There are actually two sides to this Oprah-Winfrey-was-a-drug-addict story. On one hand, there’s the memorable TV moment in the 90s when she tearfully admitted in her own talk show that she had smoked crack cocaine while in her 20s, but never said anything about dependence on the drug or anything else. On the other hand, there’s the more recent allegation made in a tell-all book by a previous boyfriend that Oprah was in fact, a regular cocaine user in the 80s, and was in fact under the influence during her show tapings.

Right now, we can clearly see that Oprah Winfrey has triumphed over the use of cocaine. As of September 2008, Forbes has predicted Oprah to acquire wealth worth over $2.7 billion. CNN and Time Magazine called her “arguably the world’s most powerful woman”. She is quite the success story, sordid drug past or not.

Anyone of all walks of life could be a victim of crack addiction. Life is largely unpredictable. On a certain point we are having a good laugh with friends living the good life, the next time we know, we are shaking and craving for a drug we never thought we couldn’t seem to live without. People may be aware of the effects of drugs if abused, yet they still give in to curiosity, probably, or to pressure and thus end up living miserably. However, there is always hope for every addict in this world. Life doesn’t end in addiction. Giving up is ends life.

In Narcotics Anonymous, the only requirement is a desire to stop using drugs. Moreover, since it is group-oriented, each member tries to help each other. They meet regularly to help each other stay clean, clean which means a complete abstinence form all mood and mind altering substances. A non-profit organization, thus no fees are required to become a member.

Aside from rehabilitation centers, narcotics anonymous could be a good place to recover from drug addiction. Typically, addicts initially join narcotics anonymous after reaching a “bottom” in their life, a point at which life feels completely uncontrollable, characterized by “unemployability, dereliction and destruction” and centered around the getting and using and finding ways and means to get more drugs. Every Narcotics Anonymous member reaches a different bottom, which can be wherever the addict chooses to stop using. In practice, it is drug use and the intense consequences associated with its abuse that carry most addicts to their bottom many of them sliding along ‘this bottom’ for many years often never finding a way out.

Regular meetings are the basic unit of Narcotics Anonymous fellowship. Meetings are held in a array of places such as church meeting rooms, libraries, hospitals, community centers, parks, or any other place that can accommodate a meeting. “Open” and “closed” meetings are the two basic types of meetings practiced in Narcotics Anonymous.Anyone is welcome to attend an open meeting, while closed meetings are limited to addicts and to people who think they may have a problem with drugs.

Meeting formats vary, but often comprise time devoted to the reading aloud of Narcotics Anonymous literature regarding the matters implicated in living life clean which is written by and for members of Narcotics Anonymous. Many meetings also include an “open sharing” part, where anyone attending has the opportunity to share. There is usually no direct reaction throughout the ‘share’, thus only one person ever speaks at any given time during this portion of the meeting.

Each group has only one primary purpose that is to carry the message to the addict who still suffers. As a result, the newcomer is considered to be the most important person in any meeting. Hope is the essential message of Narcotics Anonymous. The one guarantee of narcotics anonymous is that an addict, any addict, can stop using drugs, drop the desire to use, and discover a new way of life. Through the twelve step program and the twelve traditions, the members are given hope for a new life worth living and fighting for.

Every individual has many potentials which translates to every life should not be put to waste. He or she may fail, as in becoming enslaved by worldly things such as drugs, but an individual is also skilled of standing up from the fall and looking forward once again. Thus, the Narcotics Anonymous, focusing on people who are victims of drug addiction, speaks to these people of how wonderful life still is and that addiction does not mean the end, it is just a middle stage for a new and better life.

Narcotics Anonymous are now based in different areas in the world. The organization is trying to make a difference. These organizations have but one message to get across, that in times of darkness, such as falling into the pit of drug addiction, you are not alone in this battle. The Narcotics Anonymous is there to support you and help you stand up and fight for your life.

To add, admitting to oneself that a superior being controls your life and you can turn to that superior being in time of needs is part of spirituality. It is God’s spirit that can provide for you the strength and courage to face your problems. It is the recognition that you do not have to burn yourself out fraught to solve all your problems on your own. It is the openness to let go of your sense of over-responsibility and let God have some influence over the problems. Spirituality is also the identification that humans consist not only of physical matter but also have a spiritual dimension that needs daily care in order to survive.

Faith, hope, and love are the three foundations of spirituality. Faith is what allows the person to believe that a supreme being is helping them in times of trouble, sorrow, and pain. Faith is the belief that God will never abandon or forget you during your time of need. Furthermore, spirituality is quickly identified in people who have hope and trust in God’s mercy, wisdom and justice. Their hope makes them to “let go and let God.” Their hope enables them to hand over their sense of over responsibility, guilt, rescuing and enabling to God’s hands. Their hope enables them to take a “tough love” stance in order to get assistance for the troubled persons in their lives. Also, when one gives love, concern, and generosity to others, there is spirituality. With spirituality, people are altruistic and giving in their approach to the world. They are able to make a difference in people’s lives.

However, there has been a rising conflict between the boundary of spirituality and religion. The two terms may be sometimes used by people interchangeably, yet one should be clarified with its distinction. Religion is an institution established by man for different reasons- exert control; instill morality, stroke egos, or whatever it does. On the other hand, spirituality is born in a person and develops in the person. It may be kick started by a religion, or it may be kick started by a revelation. Spirituality extends to all facets of a person’s life. Spirituality is chosen while religion is often times forced.

Personally, I believe that spirituality is deeper than religion. As what was said, religion is oftentimes forced, thus, usually, people practice religious rituals out of obedience to the religious tradition. But, true spirituality is something that is found deep within oneself. It is a way of loving, accepting and relating to the world and people around. It cannot be found in a church or by believing in a certain way.

Takin in heroin or methadone will have no effect at all when subutex binds tightly to the opiate receptors. This drug is usually used in narcotic drug treatment programs, and prescribed in varying doses. The effects of subutex are less definite than those of other opiates, giving the individual the feeling of being somewhat “normal” once more. Buprenorphine is an opioid that is used to wean people off their addiction to stronger opioids such as morphine, diamorphine (heroin) and methadone. It is prescribed as a alternate for such drugs. By acting on the identical opioid receptors as other opioids, buprenorphine stops the physical withdrawal symptoms that happen when these drugs are stopped. Physical cravings is then being stopped. Over time, the dose of buprenorhpine is slowly reduced until it can be stopped completely. Moreover, buprenorphine replacement therapy for opioid addiction must be used together with other medical, social and psychological treatment.

We must also take into account that addiction would not leave an individual right after medication. The body would eventually adjust to the effects of subutex and thus would possibly become dependent to it. Meaning to say, the person may be free from heroin addiction but in turn, become a subutex addict. Science has found a drug that could imitate the effects of certain drugs such as heroin and methadone, to prevent withdrawal syndrome. However, just like any other drugs, subutex still has a negative effect on the body.

Some side effects of the drug are as follows: Drowsiness; dizziness; weakness; constipation; headache; nausea or vomiting; slow, shallow breathing; mental changes; mood changes (depression); stomach or abdominal pain; liver problems; dark urine; yellowing eyes; skin changes; vision changes; and death due to overdose). These effects could be experienced upon using subutex. Moreover, it could get worse if the drug is taken together with other substances such as alcohol.

Subutex (buprenorphine) can cause drug dependence. If the use of subutex is suddenly ended, the person may experience withdrawal symptoms and/or the want to decline and consume the addictive drug once more. When taken together with other drugs (antidepressants, alcohol, sleeping medicine, etc.), subutex may boost their effects and cause severe health hazards. Subutex can cause death from overdose if injected with a tranquilizer.

The increase of subutex addiction cases can be attributed to fact that it is very accessible and the price is affordable. The fact that buprenorphine costs less than heroin and is more accessible has hastened the development of illegal markets in various countries. Buprenorphine made in India, for example, is smuggled into Nepal and Sri Lanka, as well as Bangladesh, where it is used by 90 percent of the country’s intravenous drug users, according to a UN Drug and Crime account last year.

It is quite disturbing to think that no single drug is free from becoming an object of dependence. People have to be cautious in taking both prescribed and non-prescribed drugs. These definite drugs could someway be considered of as a traitor. At first they act as if they are giving you positive effects. Then later on, you become dependent to the drug and take the drug

despite the depressing it is eliciting. It’s like the devil that attracted you to eat the apple from the forbidden tree and then left you when everything else went wrong.

As they say, we all are crazy. We all have that craziness within us. It is just a matter of how we deal with our differences and extremities that we are able to handle our craziness. Moreover, many ask if mental illnesses really do exist. The English-speaking world has not always used medical language to explain the behavior we now label as symptomatic of mental illness. Descriptions were sometimes framed in quite different terms, such as possession. What we now call mental illness was not always treated as a medical problem. Non-English-speaking nations in the West have had changes in their linguistic usage and their treatment of the mentally ill roughly parallel to Anglophone countries. Anthropological work in non-Western cultures suggests that there are many cases of behavior that psychiatry would classify as symptomatic of mental disorder, which are not seen within their own cultures as signs of mental illness.

However, nowadays, it has been argued that mental disorders are really existing mental conditions that may have caused disruption in a person’s thinking, feeling, mood, ability to relate to others and daily functioning. Just as diabetes is a disorder of the pancreas, mental illnesses are medical conditions that often result in a lessened capacity for coping with the ordinary demands of life.

Mental illness does not choose an individual to carry the burdens of the disorder. Mental illnesses are not the outcome of personal weakness, lack of character or poor upbringing. Mental illnesses are treatable. Most people diagnosed with a serious mental illness can experience relief from their symptoms by actively participating in an individual treatment plan. In addition to medication treatment, psychosocial treatment such as cognitive behavioral therapy, interpersonal therapy, peer support groups and other community services can also be components of a treatment plan and that assist with recovery. The availability of transportation, diet, exercise, sleep, friends and meaningful paid or volunteer activities contribute to overall health and wellness, including mental illness recovery.

Unfortunately, society may be responsible for one’s failure in recovering form a mental illness. When the person is treated inside a medical institution, he or she is given sufficient treatment and is treated as if they are normal. They are given proper care and attention so as to promote recovery. However, when they go out into the real world after some time, society, upon knowing their past, would most likely ridicule them and treat them differently. Society would look at them as someone who still has the mental disorder and resultingly, it would make them feel worse and thus, could trigger an occurrence of the mental illness once again.

A person afflicted with a mental illness would feel less of himself. He would think that he I not worthy to live in this world given that he could not act properly anymore. However, support from family and friends would be a great help for the patient to view life differently and positively. Thus it is the role of the family to provide the patient with love and care so as to sustain his recovery.

However, sometimes, there are people who are not able to adjust to certain events in their lives and are unable to control their emotions and deal with what they are feeling. An emotional problem is not just a simple problem. One is not able to function well due to the disruption of its emotions. Usually, people would make use of defense mechanisms as to cover up their emotional problems. However, this would in turn cause some trouble in their daily lives. And, moreover, it could affect the people around them. Moreover, emotional problems could be caused by alcoholism or any addiction problems. When one is addicted, the person does not only become physically attached to the object of addiction, but also he or she becomes emotionally attached to the object of addiction.

Just like Alcoholics Anonymous, Emotions Anonymous is a twelve-step organization. It caters to people whose emotions are causing difficulties in their lives. Emotions such as depression, anxiety, fear, loneliness, anger, compulsion, and obsessions are the most common in which the members had to deal with. this organization started on July 6, 1971. Emotions Anonymous meetings are self-supporting by intentional contributions of its members. Emotions Anonymous is not tied up with any sect, denomination, politics, organization, or institution, nor does it endorse or oppose any causes. The main objective of Emotions Anonymous is to show its members how to stay well emotionally and how to help others to become emotionally well.

Here is the 12-step program used by Emotional Anonymous:

1. We admitted we were powerless over our emotions — that our lives had become unmanageable.

2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.

9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

With emotions anonymous, people in all walks of life are able to look for aid from others and may find relief and direction from those who have been there and had done that, or even share understanding with people are experiencing the same thing. Indeed, social support is very important and could be a cure to emotional illness.

Alcohol is one teratogen that could greatly affect the woman’s pregnancy. People may not be aware of its danger and still allow a woman to drink alcoholic drinks during her pregnancy, but the effect of this would be carried by the baby for the rest of his or her life. Alcohol is one of the known causes of mental and physical birth defects specifically in the United States. Though, this is only a probability, the rate is high.

There is an incident where a pregnant woman consumes alcohol, a disorder called Fetal Alcohol Syndrome would take place in the embryo. Alcohol crosses the placental barrier and can inhibit fetal growth, create distinctive facial stigmata, damage neurons and brain structures, and cause other physical, mental, or behavioral problems. The main effect of FAS is lasting central nervous system damage, especially to the brain. Developing brain cells and structures are underdeveloped by before birth alcohol exposure, often creating a collection of primary cognitive and functional disabilities including poor memory, attention deficits, impulsive behavior, and poor cause-effect reasoning, as well as secondary disabilities for example, mental health problems, and drug addiction.

There are different indications that can appear when one is diagnosed to have fetal alcohol syndrome. These indications include low birth mass, small head circumference, developmental interruption, organ dysfunction, facial abnormalities, including smaller eye openings, flattened cheekbones, and indistinguishable philtrum (an underdeveloped groove between the nose and the upper lip), epilepsy, poor management, poor socialization skills, such as difficulty building and maintaining friendships and relating to groups, lack of curiosity, learning difficulties, including poor memory, inability to understand concepts such as time and money, poor language comprehension, poor problem-solving skills, behavioral problems including hyperactivity, inability to concentrate, social withdrawal, stubbornness, impulsiveness, and anxiety.

The primary characteristic of fetal alcohol syndrome is the damage it brings in the central nervous system. Central nervous system damage can be assessed in three areas such as structural, neurological, and functional deficiencies. Structural impairments may include microcephaly (small head size) of two or more standard deviations below the average, or other abnormalities in brain structure. During the first trimester of pregnancy, alcohol interferes with the migration and organization of brain cells, which can create structural deformities within the brain. During the third trimester, damage can be caused to the hippocampus, which plays a role in memory, learning, emotion, and encoding visual and auditory information, all of which can create neurological and functional CNS impairments as well.

The evaluation of neurological deficiencies will take place when structural deficiencies do not exist. Neurological problems are showed as either hard signs, such as epilepsy or other seizure disorders, or soft signs. Soft signs are broader, nonspecific neurological impairments, such as impaired fine motor skills, neurosensory hearing loss, poor gait, clumsiness, poor eye-hand coordination.

When structural or neurological impairments are not observed, all four diagnostic systems allow CNS damage due to prenatal alcohol exposure to be assessed in terms of functional impairments. Functional impairments are delays due to prenatal alcohol exposure (rather than hereditary causes or postnatal insults) in observable and measurable domains related to daily functioning, often referred to as developmental disabilities.

No evidence exists that can determine exactly how much alcohol ingestion will produce birth defects. Individual women process alcohol differently. Other factors vary the results, too, such as the age of the mother, the timing and regularity of the alcohol ingestion, and whether the mother has eaten any food while drinking.

Alcohol easily goes through the placental barrier and the fetus is less equipped to eliminate alcohol than its mother, so the fetus tends to obtain a high concentration of alcohol, which stays behind longer than it would in the mother’s system. this is the reason why the child is the one greatly affected when in fact it is the mother who consumes the alcohol. Unfortunately true.

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