The relationship between parents and teenagers can sometimes be strenuous, especially when drug use is involved. It can be heartbreaking when you find out that your child has been lying to you about their drug use, and you may wonder whether or not you can ever trust them again. Here are a few common lies told by teens to their parents: “My drug test came back positive because I ate a cookie with poppy seeds in it beforehand.” “I was in the same room as some friends who were smoking weed. I must have got contact-high.” “I was the only one not drinking last night because I didn’t want to get i ..read more

If your adult child has been suffering from opioid abuse and is now on Suboxone, it is important to realize that they will need to eventually come off of the Suboxone, too. This transition into a completely drug-free lifestyle can be nerve wracking and intimidating, but with the right tools and resources, it can be done successfully. Coming off of Suboxone needs to be a thought out process that requires an abundance of patience. What is Suboxone? Suboxone is a medication used to treat opioid addiction by serving as a temporary replacement for opioid drugs. Individuals suffering from opioid add ..read more

Many studies have proven the correlation between childhood physical and/or emotional trauma and developing an addiction later in life. This direct link has been a well-known fact in addiction research. The psychological signs of emotional abuse that an adopted individual shows can give insight to their causes of addiction in the future. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), adoption can be a risk factor for addiction. “As with any other disease, vulnerability to addiction differs from person to person, and no single factor determines whether a person will become addicted to ..read more

Helping a loved one who is suffering from addiction takes a toll on the entire family. You want the best for your loved one, but the complexity of addiction may make it difficult for you to distinguish between what is helping and what is hurting them. In order to properly help your loved one, you must become educated on what barbiturates are and what people on barbiturates go through on a daily basis. What Do Barbiturates Do? Barbiturates are sedative-hypnotic drugs that depress the central nervous system, and they are most commonly prescribed to treat anxiety disorders and sleeping problems ..read more

Addiction doesn’t simply affect the addict themselves; the entire family becomes involved. You want the best for your child, especially while they are in the recovery stage of their addiction process. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), 40 to 60 percent of those who have suffered from addiction will relapse in the future, so it is vital for the addicts to maintain a healthy environment when in the recovery stage. Although, you must think of yourself, too; allowing yourself to suffer will only hurt your child. So, when the time comes to make the decision of whether or not ..read more

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), about 24.6 million Americans (9.4% of the population) had used an illicit drug in the past month in 2013. One of these illicit drugs is heroin, which is defined as “an opioid drug made from morphine, a natural substance taken from the seed pod of the various opium poppy plants grown in Southeast and Southwest Asia, Mexico, and Colombia.” The drug addiction rates today are much higher than the drug addiction statistics 2013, and many studies aim to find out why. One study found that the amount of adults using heroin in America has increa ..read more

Maintenance Drugs Maintenance drugs are medications such as methadone, buprenorphine, suboxone, and other “less-addictive” drugs that serve as a replacement to the more addictive opioid drugs that addicted individuals are trying to detox from. For example, a person addicted to heroin may replace it with buprenorphine in order to “wean-off” of the heroin with less harsh withdrawal symptoms. Maintenance drugs are still considered opioids, but they do not have the same addictive qualities that other opioids have. For this reason, these medications are typically used in the detoxification stage of ..read more

The holidays are a time for shopping, decorating, eating, and drinking? When the months become chilly and the families start to travel in, individuals who are in the recovery process may face many temptations that deviate them on their path to long-term sobriety. The relapse rates for addiction are staggering; according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), 40% to 60% of addicts at some point in their recovery process will relapse. Relapse can set an addicted individual spiraling back out of control, so be sure to resist temptation during the holiday season. Why Could Relapse Be More ..read more

The definition of estranged is “a person no longer close or affectionate to someone; alienated.” Families may be dealing with the emotionally painful experience of having an estranged child if the parents stopped communication for something the child has done, the child may have disconnected completely from his or her parents for a particular reason, or it was a mutual situation where both parent and child struggled to get along for quite some time. If you have been missing from the life of your estranged adult child, it can make dealing with their addiction even more difficult. According to t ..read more

Dope sick is a term used for the withdrawal symptoms individuals experience when they are quitting heroin. While other drugs can result in withdrawal symptoms, “dope sick” is usually referred to when talking about heroin withdrawal specifically. So, what is the best way to quit heroin and so that you don’t become dope sick? What is Withdrawal? The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) for teens defines withdrawal as, “symptoms that occur after chronic use of a drug is reduced or stopped. Your body and brain react strongly, even violently sometimes, because of missing the chemicals they’ve co ..read more