Alcohol is a substance you can get addicted to. It might go by different names like alcohol use disorder (AUD) or alcoholism, whatever you want to call it though, your body and mind have grown dependent on alcohol. Addicted to it. It’s important to get that out in the open though because sometimes there’s a tendency to take it “less seriously” than an addiction to drugs and that’s a big mistake. Roughly 15 million people in the United States suffer from alcohol use disorder and less than 10% receive treatment. Those numbers are rendered more brutal when you take this into account: more than 95 ..read more

Fear of the unknown is a real thing and accordingly, fear can be a major stumbling block for getting a person that needs rehab…into rehab. “What is rehab like?” is, therefore, a super important thing to make clear to help put the mind at ease. From the outside perspective, it might seem baffling why someone would continue to use drugs or alcohol when the negative effects are so readily apparent. But aside from the obvious nature of addiction, there is actually a comfort in using. Moreover, a person may not have developed other ways to cope with things so the prospect of rehab can be a very sca ..read more

Heroin is a brutal drug. There’s no upside to it. Worst of all, it’s incredibly addictive. The dangers of the drug are very real and heroin plays a role in the ongoing crisis in the United States, accounting for more than 115,000 deaths from 1999 to 2018. As with all drugs in the opioid class, heroin addiction can happen fast. Tolerance builds quickly which gives way to dependence and that spirals right into an addiction.  The psychological hold is intense and the physical withdrawal is no walk in the park either so getting help with heroin addiction is imperative to have a fighting shot ..read more

Recovery isn’t, nor should it be, a path you walk alone. The isolation and detachment that drug and alcohol abuse eventually lead you to are not things that further solitude and seclusion can remedy. Recovery is a team sport in many ways though and having the right addiction recovery resources on your team makes for a recovery that’s both long-lasting and rewarding. Now, “team” in this case doesn’t exclusively mean all the members are people. Books, for example, are wonderfully helpful resources and can be turned to you when you want some quiet, but still supportive, “you” time along the way ..read more

Life doesn’t happen in black and white. Mental illness and substance abuse disorders are the types of things that fall into that grey area. The complexities that underlie and lead people to each are vast and often inform the existence of the other. Of course, people can have a mental illness or substance abuse but what about both together? What about and? That’s dual-diagnosis and it’s something that many Americans struggle with.  Treating someone with just one of the two, mental illness or substance abuse, already comes with substantial hurdles and difficulties but having both makes trea ..read more

The slog of detox is behind you. The intense, lengthy inpatient treatment is only a memory. Outpatient care went smooth and sober life was treating you well. And then it happens. Seemingly out of nowhere.  Someone invites you for a drink, just one. Or you find yourself in a situation that you weren’t mentally prepared for which triggers you to take a hit of your old drug of choice. One drink turned to 10, one hit turned into a bender. You wake up groggy the next day, maybe even in the hospital. You’ve relapsed. You’re embarrassed and ashamed, feeling like you’ve failed. Guilt creeps in fo ..read more

To put it bluntly, addiction recovery is a complex process. There are a lot of moving parts and reasons why a person falls into addiction in the first place, so it follows that working one’s way out won’t be straightforward either. Which is fine, the intricacies of life are what make it beautiful. Given that, an ever more potent tool in the recovery toolbox has become alternative therapies like meditation. These types of treatments strive to compliment the clinical side and create a much more holistic recovery experience that pays the appropriate attention to all aspects of the body and mind ..read more

Congrats on wanting to get sober in the first place and an even bigger congrats for considering California as the place to do it. There are options all over the country and perhaps ones even closer to you than heading out to the west coast but if that’s where your mind wandered and you’re reading this now, it’s clear you already have some unconscious connection with Cali and the good life it offers. Above It All Treatment Network would like to now dive into what makes being sober in California the best.  Benefits of Living in California First and foremost, California boasts many treatment ..read more

It’s a valid question and one that has no doubt made the rounds in the heads of addicts at one point or another. “I got myself into this mess, I can get myself out” is something that crosses the mind. Maybe the consideration of doing a self detox is related to the fear of anyone finding you have a problem. Or maybe you tried a self detox before and it didn’t last. Perhaps you believe enough in the sheer power of your will that overcoming addiction and substance abuse can be achieved solo. Whatever the motivation, it’s a bold and possibly dangerous move, especially when detoxing off alcohol. Wh ..read more

Having a loved one with an addiction is not easy, but it’s important to know that you’re not alone. According to a study conducted by the Closing the Addiction Treatment Gap (CATG) initiative, more than 23 million Americans are currently suffering from an addiction to drugs and/or alcohol. To put things in perspective, that’s around one in every 10 Americans above the age of 12. But this doesn’t mean you have to live with the problem and let it continue to wreak havoc on daily life.  You’ve probably heard of interventions, and when done right, they can be highly effective. Especially if y ..read more