Individuals who place an excessive reliance on Ambien to help them sleep are exposing themselves to developing an Ambien dependence or addiction. Any regular use of Ambien for more than four weeks will put an Ambien user on a path to addiction. If you rely on Ambien to help you sleep, you and the physician who first prescribed the drug should…

If you have suffered a sleep disorder, or if you are taking a lengthy transcontinental flight, your physician might prescribe Ambien to help you sleep. Ambien (or, in its generic form, “zolpidem”) is a non-traditional sedative that has a depressant effect on your central nervous system. It works directly on your brain by slowing down your brain’s functioning. Although it comes…

Drug addiction and alcoholism will rob an individual of every opportunity to live a complete and well-rounded life. Procuring drugs and alcohol gradually becomes the sole concentration and purpose of the addict’s existence to the exclusion of family, friends, and career. Addiction rehab and recovery will help the addict to break his physical and chemical dependency on drugs and alcohol, but…

Lot’s of really good people tried to help me get sober. My family tried. My friends tried. Professional therapists, doctors, even lawyers tried. Still, I just kept getting loaded. It wasn’t until I got connected to a bunch of recovering addicts that I was finally able to stop drinking and using for good.What made the difference? Why are untrained strangers able…

Oxycontin is a time-lease version of the opioid painkiller, Oxycodone. Like all opioid products, Oxycontin is psychologically and chemically addictive. The United States Drug Enforcement Administration has designated Oxycontin as a Schedule II drug, which means that it has a high potential for abuse and addiction. Moreover, as a Schedule II drug, a physician will be able to write a prescription…

Alcoholism and drug addiction will put even the most stable individual on an emotional roller coaster. If that individual’s emotions continue to swing wildly when he gets into rehab and recovery and he has not developed mechanisms to work with his emotions, his chances of getting through recovery and living a sober and fulfilling life will be substantially reduced. Addiction recovery…

Psychological addiction may not given much credence in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (the “DSM”), but individuals who suffers from these addictions often experience obsessions and withdrawal symptoms that mirror the experiences of substance abusers who are physically and chemically addicted to drugs or alcohol. Addictions to shopping, gambling, sex and the internet all have the potential to…

Percocet is the brand name of a narcotic pain relief medication that is legally available only when prescribed for short-term use by a physician to treat severe pain. Percocet combines the opiate drug, oxycodone, with the over-the-counter painkiller, acetaminophen, to deliver its pain-killing benefits. Like Vicodin, which is a combination of hydrocodone and acetaminophen, Percocet can be addictive and it is…

Family health and communication is important for all families. The effects of growing up or living in a dysfunctional family can last a lifetime and leave family members with lingering anger and distrust that extends well beyond their family dynamic. Achieving and maintaining family health and communication takes on a heightened sense of importance when the family is dealing with a…

Ecstasy is an amphetamine derivative that stimulates a user’s central nervous system while causing mild hallucinatory effects. The Food and Drug Administration and law enforcement authorities classify Ecstasy as a Schedule I controlled substance. From its first formulations in the early part of the twentieth century and at least through the seventies, Ecstasy had been used to treat trauma and depression….

There are probably as many explanations for marijuana use as there are people who use marijuana. Marijuana use has become more acceptable as the medical establishment has begun to incorporate THC into treatments for various ailments, and a few states have relaxed laws to allow for recreational use of marijuana. The fact remains, however, that the active ingredients in marijuana will…

Defense mechanisms are a deep part of the human psyche. Man has an intuitive sense of self-preservation that relies on defense mechanisms to excuse mistakes, shift blame for problems, and avoid responsibility for difficult situations. These defense mechanisms play an important role in man’s ability to cope with the world around him, but they devolve into unjustified rationalizations when alcoholics and…

Drug addiction and alcoholism are family diseases. An individual who is addicted to drugs or alcohol might protest that he is only hurting himself and that he should be left alone, but all families that have dealt with an addicted family member know that the truth is exactly the opposite. An alcoholic or drug addict devastates his own life and creates…

Adderall is a stimulant that is prescribed primarily to treat attention deficit disorder. The drug itself is a blend of four different amphetamines. Researchers do not fully understand how Adderall achieves its effects of increasing concentration and memory, but those effects are very well understood within many different groups of individuals who value concentration and focus, including professional athletes, businessmen and…

There was a time when people joked that alcoholics saw pink elephants and ants crawling on their skin. In our more enlightened times, we now understand that alcoholism is a chronic disease and that visual and sensory hallucinations are a very real part of that disease.An alcoholic who abruptly stops his alcohol intake will endure a difficult period of withdrawal that…

Equating alcohol poisoning with slow death is something of a misnomer. Alcohol poisoning is not an instantaneous event, but if you consume a large amount of alcohol in a very short period of time, alcohol poisoning can kill you in a matter of a few hours. Individuals who succumb to alcohol poisoning often fall into one of two categories: either they…

From both a medical and legal perspective, Vicodin is a narcotic. Prior to late 2014, Vicodin was listed by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) as a Schedule III narcotic. It was reclassified under the more restrictive Schedule II guidelines after prescription drug abuse and addiction began to skyrocket in the United State. Is Vicodin a Narcotic? Physicians primarily prescribe medical narcotics,…

When you inhale marijuana smoke, you are introducing foreign substances into your lungs. Research scientists and physicians have long expected that inhaling foreign substances can damage your lungs and ultimately cause cancer. Moreover, those scientists have determined that marijuana smoke contains greater concentrations of the carcinogenic chemicals that are found in cigarette smoke. The expectation is that marijuana smoke is a…

Stimulants are a broad class of substances that run from the caffeine you get in your morning coffee, to prescription stimulants, such as Adderall and Ritalin, and, at the far end of the spectrum, to illegal substance such as cocaine, crystal meth, and Ecstasy. Stimulants temporarily increase your energy and attention levels. They also increase your heart rate, blood pressure and…

Xanax is both habit-forming and addictive. If you are using Xanax under a physician’s care and treatment, he or she will likely tell you not to stop taking Xanax cold turkey due to risks of seizure and other physical and psychological effects. If you are using Xanax recreationally and you have depleted your Xanax supply, you should be aware of these…

Xanax is often abused as a recreational drug and a Xanax user can develop a tolerance and become addicted to it, but as with many drugs that affect a user’s central nervous system, the full answer is much more complicated than simply stating that Xanax is addictive. Xanax is the commercial name for alprazolam, which is one of a class of…