Addiction Around The World

Today’s fact finding post! These statistics are shocking, considering all of the latest technology, medicinal discoveries, human attitudes, improvements in attitudes towards mental health and improvements in neighbourly relations following on from the COVID outbreak, people with substance use disorders (addictions) still face much persecution, judgement, shame, isolation. But it doesn’t have to be this way, find out how you can do your bit in this fact finding article!…

Are You Making Amends With Those You’ve Hurt In Your Active Addiction? Find Out How Here!

One big part of recovering from a addiction to alcohol or drugs is to attempt to make amends for the past mistakes, guilt, embarrassment, shame or harm that you caused as a result of your active addiction to substances.

However, we often don’t even realise that our behaviour is harmful or negative toward ourselves or others until we enter recovery. As our mind becomes clearer once again, we begin to see the scale of damage that we’ve caused to ourselves, as well as all of the relationships we damaged with family, friends, colleagues, employers and others.
This article will help guide you through the process of making amends with others, working fellowships steps 8 & 9 and overcoming the damage that’s been done as a direct result of your substance use.

What Children Learn When They Grow Up With Drug Or Alcohol Addicts As Parents

Studies tell us that the children of alcohol addicts and drug users are eight times more likely to become addicts than the children of clean and sober parents.

So why do the sons and daughters of addicts experience a significantly higher likelihood of developing their own addiction later on in life?

One could argue that close proximity to substance use throughout the child’s childhood gives them the idea that experimenting with using or drinking, relying upon substances to manage stress or negative feelings or using/drinking to satisfy a physical and mental dependency is “okay” or “normal”.

We discuss this issue in more detail, along with ways to help manage and overcome this issue. This article is part of our mini-series, looking at the effects substance use and addiction play in educating our children to reduce the amount of people who develop addictions and avoid recreationally using drugs and binge drinking later on in life.

The Current State Of Drug, Alcohol And Addiction Education In The UK

You can only change something if you truly understand what the current situation is like and where things need improvement. This article aims to achieve exactly this.

With drug-related deaths at an all-time high and new drugs entering the black market all the time, drug education for young people, teenagers and young adults is more important than ever.

The current situation leaves much to be desired and it’s upto all of us if we want to make real, lasting, positive change!…

Best Gift Ideas For Those With Drug And Alcohol Addictions

Now we’re in 2021, birthdays and other events will be coming, which can make gift giving a difficult process for those friends and family members who are around addicts and yet, still want to give them something meaningful, useful and with the minimum possible risk of misuse or abuse.

Whether it’s a holiday/annual event such as Christmas, a special occasion or a birthday, you may be wondering what to buy for that friend or loved one in your life who has been or is in recovery for a substance use disorder (drug or alcohol addiction).

Asking what they want can be problematic because the gifts they may ask for could be related to their substance use, or even make their addiction worse. If they ask outright for something directly related to their substance use disorder, such as money, drugs, alcohol or drug paraphernalia, it could lead to a conflict at a time when you want to strengthen and celebrate the occasion with them rather than weaken or damage your relationship with them.

These suggestions will help you to not only give them something that can be of practical use to them, but also strengthen your relationship with them by showing you care, love and support them without coming across as patronising or pushy

Seeing Your Own Addiction Or The Addiction Within Those Around You As A Downward Spiral & How To Support Others Without Enabling Them

Addiction is often described as a downward spiral. What this means is that over any significant period of time the life of the individual will deteriorate.

In the beginning, the individual may find that the benefits of using alcohol or drugs outweigh the disadvantages, but over time, this situation reverses. The longer the person remains addicted the more they will end up losing, and if they are unable to end the behaviour, it can eventually kill them.

Helping them without enabling them can sometimes seem like the same thing, however, they aren’t. Find out how and why inside…

Substance Addiction & Suicide

Considered one of the nation’s greatest health epidemics by many in the medical and mental health fields, suicide is one of the top leading causes of death in the United Kingdom, along with the consequences that addiction can cause, such as overdosing, especially among young people.

The suicide rate of 11.2 deaths per 100,000 population recorded by the Office for National Statistics. This must change, we have the ability to do it, hopefully with this dissemination and public awareness of information, we can all help and make change!…

How Addicts Rationalise The Irrational

Those who have never been dependent on an addictive substance will see addicts behavior as highly irrational. They do not have the addict’s ability to rationalise the irrational in order to explain away their own self destruction. This individual is not willfully doing something to cause harm to themselves or other people. As far as they are concerned, what they are doing is right and necessary.

It are these polar opposite thought processes and behaviours that help explain why addiction is so destructive.
Continue reading this article to find out the reasons, science and psychology behind the lies, thought processes and behaviours that addicts employ and how to change this destructive pattern of behaviour.

How To Talk To Children About Substance Addiction From Toddlers To Young Adults

As a parent, you are the biggest influence in your child’s life and having open, honest conversations is one of the most powerful ways to connect with your kids and help them develop into healthy adults that are aware of drugs, alcohol & understanding the concept & principles of addiction. When addressing some more challenging topics – like nicotine, alcohol or drugs, it’s not about having a one-time “drug or alcohol talk,” but rather tackling the subject through more frequent, organic and open conversations that evolve as your child gets older.
Find out all you need to know as well as contact information for further support here!

The 6 Roles In An Addicted Household

Each family that include one addict or more change the family dynamics to the point of becoming dysfunctional. In this article, you will find 6 different categories of various family roles and how they fit into an addicted household.

Which one are you and how does your role influence the other members of your family household.