August 24, 2018

Addiction Counselling

What is Drug Addiction?

While drug use may start as a seemingly safe and recreational act, in time it can develop into a compulsive and unstoppable habit. In the beginning, drug use decreases emotional and physical pain. As prolonged drug use continues, it can develop into drug addiction, severely impacting an individual’s brain chemistry. When the brain begins to signal an intense physical need to continue the use of drugs, what once was recreational use becomes an urge that controls one’s life.

What is Alcohol Addiction?

Alcohol addiction, or alcoholism, is defined as the obsessive and unmanageable use of alcohol, regardless of its negative impact on a drinker’s fitness, profession and relationships. Individuals suffering from alcohol addiction will frequently drink to excess, leaving their bodies dependent on the substance and their lives in pieces.

Alcoholics will experience symptoms of alcohol withdrawal that include: headaches, high blood pressure, difficulty sleeping and trouble focusing. Often, alcoholics continue their addiction in order maintain a state of a false normality, avoid the effects of withdrawal, or escape from pain in their lives.

Most individuals addicted to alcohol suffer from some form of severe psychiatric trauma marked by increased anxiety, feelings of hopelessness, alcohol-induced psychosis, panic disorders and other symptoms.

Addiction counselling Dublin

What is Gambling Addiction?

Gambling addiction sometimes called “problem gambling” is an impulse-control disorder. Compulsive gamblers can’t control the urge to gamble, even when they know it has negative consequences that will hurt themselves and their families through damaged relationships and finanical insecurities. Unpleasant feelings such as; stress, depression, loneliness, fear and anxiety  can trigger or worsen the addiction. Compulsive gamblers continue to gamble though they know the odds are against them and they can’t afford to lose.

 

What is an Eating Disorder?

Ironically, eating disorders aren’t about food at all. Rather, people with eating disorders use food to feel in control and to cope with painful emotions such as anger, self-loathing, vulnerability and fear. The food is a way to mood alter and cope with life. 

What is Sexual Addiction?

The term “sexual addiction” describes an individual having an unusual fascination with or fixation on sex. Constant daydreaming about sex takes over and controls an addict’s thinking, making it challenging to work or manage healthy personal relationships. Despite the possibility that their actions may eventually carry serious and/or harmful consequences, sex addicts often indulge in a variety of high-risk, acting-out behaviors.

sex addicts often find themselves having compulsive thoughts about sex and excessively engaging in behaviors like phone sex, cybersex or pornography. Individuals struggling with sex addiction will usually find only slight or limited satisfaction in their sexual activities and develop little or no real attachment to their sex partners.  They can be overwhelmed with feelings of guilt and shame and also fear which can be damaging to their daily lives. 

rescription medicine abuse is one of the least recognized types of chemical dependency. Prescription medicines, most commonly used to treat pain, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and anxiety/ sleep disorders, are being abused at an alarming rate. Just like drug addiction, prescription drug abuse medicine can be treated effectively.

prescription addiction

The effects of Prescription Abuse

Symptoms of prescription medicine abuse include:

  • Frequent requests for refills from physicians
  • Crushing or breaking pills
  • Stealing prescription medications from family members, friends or co-workers
  • Faster consumption of prescriptions than indicated
  • Visiting multiple doctors for similar conditions
  • Mood swings corresponding to absence or availability of the drugs
  • Change in sleep patterns
  • Increased irritability
  • More frequent alcohol consumption

Abuse symptoms vary based on the class of drug.

Sedative abuse symptoms include:

  • Drowsy, intoxicated appearance
  • Confusion
  • Unsteady movements
  • Rapid, involuntary eye movement
  • Poor judgment and decision-making
  • Poor memory

Addiction to any of the above can be treated at Milestone therapy for both adolescence and adults. In therapy we will look at underlying reasons for the addiction and also more effective ways of coping in the present with methods used such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). This can be followed by finding meaning through your suffering. In addiction there can be a lot of delusion and denial and the thoughts of being in control of the addiction. This can be short lived and followed by an even more painful situation than the last.  

“Those who must control everything fear being vulnerable. Why? Because to be vulnerable opens one up to being shamed. All my life I used up my energies by always having to be guarded. This was a mighty waste of time and energy. The fear was that I would be exposed. And when exposed, all would see that I was flawed and defective as a person—an imposter. Control is a way to ensure that no one can ever shame us again. It involves controlling our own thoughts, expressions, feelings and actions. And it involves attempting to control other people’s thoughts, feelings and actions. Control is the ultimate villain in destroying intimacy. We cannot share freely unless we are equal. When one person controls another, equality is ruptured.” 

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