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There is some debate about whether technological addictions are real. Not a debate about whether or not people seem to have problematic compulsions to use the internet or text message, everyone seems to be able to agree that these problems exist, but it's less clear to clinicians that these compulsions are different enough to warrant their own classification as separate disorders. People with cybersex addiction, some would argue, are simply sex addicts using the internet and people who can't stop sending emails and check their blackberry in the middle of the night, don’t have an internet addiction, they are simply people with impulse control disorders and symptoms are manifested via technology. On the flip side - other professionals argue that you can't ignore the growing numbers of people complaining of technology compulsions, and that it's clear that we are dealing with something new here – something that needs to be classified uniquely. The debate continues, although it's looking more and more likely that internet addiction and other technological disorders will earn a place in the upcoming edition of psychiatry's bible, the DSM-V5. And it's a very important debate too. The recognition of these disorders as unique will mean that they gain legal status and recognition. It will mean that as insurance parity movements gain strength, people suffering an internet addiction will have a greater chance of claiming insurance benefits to treat their recognized "disease" and that employers will afford the technologically sick the same rights and protections as they would grant anyone sick with any other disorder. So it's important, and the scientists are taking a good hard look at the whole thing and in a few years anyway, we'll all probably understand technological compulsions a lot better. But for now, the ambiguity of it all is not helpful to those stuck in the middle - in never never land. It's not helpful to be suffering an uncontrollable compulsion to do something, to have that compulsion harm your health and happiness, and to have people say that what you're suffering – isn’t real. And it's not helpful to delay getting treatment for something that's giving you problems because you don't want to seem crazy or because your friends and family think it's ridiculous. Is it an addiction - is it something else? It doesn't matter! For now, the debate raging offers little benefit to those people whose online habits are causing them problems. It doesn’t matter at all whether someone else calls it internet addiction, or gaming addiction, or a big fat figment of your imagination – if you need help, then you need to get it.

3 Questions – and 3 Answers That Will Tell You All You Need to Know.

• Does your internet/gaming/texting habit cause you problems in life?

Answered yes? Then you have a problem. Seems obvious, but it's a fundamental part of the equation.

• Do you continue to use the internet/game/text devices even though you know it causes you problems?
• Have you tried to stop internet/gaming/texting, and failed?

If you answered yes three times, then you have a problem, a problem that affects your quality of life, and yet you continue, and when you try to quit – you can't. If you answered yes three times, then you need help, and it doesn’t matter at all what anyone else labels your disorder. There are therapies that work and techniques that you can learn to help you manage your compulsions to use the internet in a controlled and limited way. But unless you take some serious steps to change, then you have to accept that things aren’t going to change. This addiction (or whatever else you wanna' call it) seems to be like most other addictions, in that it's progressive and getting better takes a little effort. Don’t wait for someone else to recognize your problem to get help. If you know you have a problem, then you should know that you need, and deserve help.

I am not a holistically inclined kind of guy, and regard with skepticism many of the more mystical claims made by alternative practitioners. I have to admit though, my hardened shell is crumbling as I get old, and I guess, soft. Meditation works, it does wonders; yoga apparently offers as much against relapse as group therapy, and acupuncture shows an incredible ability to reduce the suffering of those going through detox and withdrawal pains. No one can say with certainty why these activities help, but they do, the anecdotal evidence is strong, and evidence based studies confirm their efficacy. And music therapy, apparently, also works very well as a complimentary therapy for addiction treatment, as it does in many other health promotional fields. It works; people sing its praises, but the relatively new discipline still lacks those strong scientific and evidence based studies used to convince all of us doubting naysayers of its merits. It’s getting there though. There are music therapy degree programs at many respected universities, an accredited association of trained and professional therapists, and increasing acceptance in the health world – an acceptance grudgingly earned by those that have to respect the results it shows. Late stage Alzheimer’s patients, completely incommunicative, can still on a preconscious level participate in group sessions of rhythmic music - a last communication from a fading mind. Music is elemental and emotional, and far removed from the conscious chatter of our forebrain - our thinking brain, and so it makes sense that music could be an effective tool to delve into our emotional selves. And that, when patients receive appropriate guidance from a trained professional, is what seems to happen. Addicts or alcoholics in recovery are encouraged to make music, as a way of releasing-purging-deep seated and destructive emotions. Emotions that may be too painful to put into words - emotional experiences that may influence our behaviors – yet that we couldn’t put into words even if we tried. Through self expression, addicts bleed off some emotional intensity, and may then be better able to manage what remains. Some techniques used include using music and imagery for relaxation and anxiety control, self expression through group lyrical song writing, and most commonly as used in addiction treatment, through drumming circles. In shamanistic and ritual traditions from cultures across the world, drumming serves to facilitate an altered and ecstatic state. It influences a trance like state; and in the mind, it produces theta waves of deep relaxation, similar to a meditative consciousness. Anecdotal evidence from practitioners suggests that drumming in a group can transform fragmented and angry individuals, and produce a state of group harmony and openness, perfect for the exploration of group therapy. Those that work with troubled youth report that through drumming, they can often break through a tough external veneer, and get to the real kid inside. And the drummers love it. Participants in drumming therapy report a high satisfaction, and in an Australian study, the use of music therapy in treatment increased total-length retention rates. We don’t yet understand addiction, not really, and so we still lack that perfect treatment formula. We do know, intuitively and experimentally, that addiction exists on a mind-body-soul plane, and that treatments that combine cognitive/ psycho therapies and medical health promotion – with a third more intangible “spiritual” element, seem to offer those in recovery more. Spirituality is a tough nut though - hard to define, even personally, and very tough to study scientifically. It’s an intangible, but it’s a valid and necessary part of life-changing addiction treatment, and it is a necessary and vital part of the human experience. No one is saying the music alone offers a cure for addiction, but it does seem a valuable peripheral therapy – and to be honest, it sounds kind of fun too.

Anyone who quits drinking or drugging, no matter who they are or how determined they are, comes to a point in recovery when the cravings to use or drink just seem overwhelming. And a lot of people (when they hit this point) do take a drink, or ten or 50 - For a lot of people, this is the end. The urge to drink or use drugs can consume us, and when it gets bad, we can think of little else. It feels like these urges will never end. We doubt we'll have the strength to fight them for long, and since we feel like we'll never succeed in the end, we can think of nothing else but using and we feel a craving so strong it's almost physical – a lot of us just give in to what feels inevitable anyway. One of the hardest things about overcoming an addiction is dealing with the weight of a lifetime of sobriety. Forever feels like a long time, and when things are hard, forever feels way too long. And it is for this reason, that there is real truth and strength in the AA mantra of one day at a time. Forget about staying sober for life, juts worry about today. Stay sober for today, and that's good enough – and the great thing is, add enough of those "today's" together, and it just gets easier after a while. When relapse threatens, when you’re having a really tough time, and when you're two seconds away from taking that drink…even staying sober for the rest of the day can seem an impossible goal. Break it down! You don’t need to worry about staying sober for the rest of the say – just think about staying sober for the next 10 minutes! Anyone can delay a drink for five minutes. Distract yourself, make yourself a sandwich, walk around the block once, do ANYTHING BUT DRINK. Urges, even the strongest of urges, are transitory things, and they will pass. There may be another one coming down the pipes, but deal with it when it comes, just as you dealt with the last. If you can wait 10 minutes, you will find that more often than not, the urge subsides, and things seem a little less crazy. Things get easier in time, and we all go through a rough patch every now and again. Don’t worry about tomorrow; think only of the here and now. It seems too easy, but it works!

How much will it cost, where can I go, who can I trust and what can I do if I don’t have any money… but really need some help? Although making the decision to get professional help takes you a giant step forward to getting better, even after you have committed to change the difficulties involved in selecting an appropriate and affordable service provider can easily overwhelm; and the sad fact is that far too many people who do want to get help just get discouraged by the high costs, the waiting lists and the sales pitches from private clinics who may or may not have your best interests in mind. Here is a step by step guide that you may use to help you to better understand your options, and get you started in narrowing down the available and affordable providers in your area. In broad terms, your drug and alcohol rehab options may be subdivided into 4 distinct categories. 1) Private or non profit but expensive drug and alcohol rehabs. 2) State run rehabs or state funded slots in a program. 3) Low cost drug or alcohol rehabs that do not require state funding or Medicaid 4) Totally free drug and alcohol rehabs and sober living environments, many Christian in nature, but a good number of secular options as well. There is some truth in the saying "you get what you pay for" and in general, the higher the cost of the rehab the more comfortable the facilities, the shorter the waiting period and the greater intensity in group and individual therapy as offered. There are however some real lemons in all price ranges, and you do want to ensure that any rehab under consideration enjoys a good reputation for services provided. How to Find a Rehab In general, you should approach this list as 1-4 in order of desirability and action. If you have good private insurance, use it and get the best; it's well worth it. If you can access state funded treatment and the waiting list is acceptable, you may get high quality free care including medical detox. If you can’t access state funded care or the wait is just too long, find a private rehab in your area that offers very low cost care, and get into treatment quickly. If you can't access state care, have no insurance, have no money to pay for any form of treatment…you can still get care and get it soon, look into totally free rehabs and long term care facilities as a last option. Whatever you do, get help and get it quickly. Any form of residential treatment is far preferable to months or years of continuing abuse. 1) If You Have Private Health Insurance…Use It! This is what you've been paying towards all those yeas, and you are entitled to coverage for your medically necessary treatment. The degree of coverage as offered varies greatly between companies and even between coverage plans, but as a first step, you need to call you insurance provider and find out just how much you are entitled to. If your policy information is dated, you should not rely solely on your at home resource materials. There have been some legislative changes for the better over the past years and you may be covered for more than you think you are. You may be covered for all or nearly all of the cost of a private residential facility; and if this is the case you could be getting care tomorrow at a top quality facility. Even if your insurance company will pay for a substantial portion of the costs, you don’t want to waste your energy, time and hope at a substandard facility. Please feel free to contact us at www.ChooseHelp.com for recommendations or help in selecting a quality private rehab in your area. You may find that your insurance provider will only cover a portion of your care and that to enroll in a quality private rehab you will need to contribute a substantial amount of money. No one enjoys paying for care, but if you can afford it, if you can get reasonable credit to finance your stay, or if you can borrow the money from family; you may want to consider your contribution as a worthy investment in your future health and happiness. It can be pretty expensive, but then again, so are drugs and alcohol; and if you factor in the savings from abuse, the savings of better health, and the likelihood that you will excel in your career once sober, getting better always makes good financial sense…whatever the initial cost. 2) Your State Addictions Agency is there to Help If you have no private health insurance and lack the means for expensive private rehab facility self payments, your first step towards care should be contacting your local county mental health and addictions services board. Please see state by state phone numbers for contact information in your area. Even if you do not currently qualify for Medicaid, if you lack insurance coverage, and meet certain low income criteria, you may be eligible for free or very low cost local care. Some publicly funded facilities provide an excellent standard of care, but in general, due to funding limitations you cannot expect the same degree of privacy and comfort, of individual therapies and of quick entry as with private care. Many people will qualify for state funded rehab slots but because of high demand, the waiting period for services can be long. Still, it's very much worth a couple of phone calls and a trip to your county health office to find out if you are eligible for state funded care. 3) Low-cost community or private care If you have no private insurance and do not qualify for state funding, or do qualify, but don’t want to wait for weeks or months for care, your next step would be to contact local low-cost residential rehabilitation programs in your area. Many base their fee assessment on a sliding scale of income, and will work with you to ensure that you can get the care you need at a price you can afford, and many self mandate that no one be turned away for financial reasons. The majority of facilities in this sector fall into either Christian rehab care or long term sober living residences and both may be a good fit for you. Christian programs may offer very low cost care to those in need, and sober living homes may not require any money up front, and only demand that after a specified period you gain employment and contribute a low monthly rent to the maintenance of the house. You may also find a local residential rehab in your area offering services at a full price of less than $1000 per week, with fee discounts available based on need. Please see the list of state facilities in your area for details. If you cannot find a suitable facility in your area, the local Church, Mosque or Temple can be a great resources for low cost options, and your Pastor, Imam, Priest or Rabbi will very likely know of local faith based low cost rehabs. 4) Totally free care For those in real need, and for those without the ability to pay anything towards the cost of their care, their still exist hundreds of completely free residential rehab programs. The Salvation Army runs almost 200 long term rehab programs nation wide without asking a penny, and the Union and Baptist Missions run a similar number. Most will ask a long term commitment to care and most will have structured and strict rules of conduct, but they act only out of a desire to serve and out of real experience towards your recovery. Some programs may have waiting lists, but in general these waiting periods are far shorter than for comparable free care within state funded rehabs, and you may not need wait at all for entry into a program. Most free care providers will demand that you show a sincere personal motivation to change as a criterion for admission. Private facilities do not request this, which is fortunate as statistics show that a person's motivation for entry has very little influence over the eventual success rates. Contact me if you need help locating a low cost drug rehab in your area. You Can Get the help you Need Even if you have no insurance, have no money and don’t qualify for Medicaid, you still have hundreds of options available to you, and some of these offer a very high standard of care. If you want to get help…you can. Don’t wait another day before starting the journey to health, sobriety and happiness. It's not going to be easy, there are no guarantees, and the process can be painful; but the payoff at the end makes it all worthwhile. With sobriety you will perform better at work, greatly improve your health and your ultimate lifespan, contribute fairly to your family and no longer act in ways that make you ashamed, but over which you seem to have little control. You can get better, there is always hope. Alcohol and Drug Rehab Directory
A directory of reputable and ethical alcohol and drug rehab centers.

You may have done some terrible things while under the influence of alcoholism or addiction, and you may be ashamed of what you have become; but at the core, you are not a bad person you are a sick person, and the things you may have done do not reflect who you are and what you believe. A lot of us who struggle with addiction do things we are ashamed of, and we feel shame and guilt, and sometimes don’t really believe that we deserve to be treated well. We do, and you should never consider getting help for your disease at a facility that doesn’t treat you with respect, that doesn’t treat your concerns as valid and that doesn't care for your recovery more than it cares for your admissions check. Addiction is a disease, and medically recognized as such by all major medical organizations, and although we may start down the road to dependency with willful consumption, once addicted we truly do lose control over our actions and even our thoughts. Although we are legally responsible for what we do, once addicted our moral compass cannot often withstand the pulls to drug or alcohol use regardless of what may stand in our way. No one who experiments with a bit of cocaine at a party ever imagines themselves stealing from loved ones, no one who enjoyed beers under the bleachers in high school ever imagined the pain of an alcoholic DUI and no one who enjoyed prescribed pain pills a little too much would have believed the lies they would tell to get the drugs they needed. Our actions while addicted are not who we are, and we deserve the same quality of treatment as anyone sick with a disease deserves. Respect does not disallow tough and confrontational treatments if that's what's required, but only if done for a reason, and not simply because they can be done, or because we don’t deserve better. Respect starts even before we enter into treatment, and when calling around and trying to choose a facility for your care, you deserve to be treated well, given the information you need to make an educated decision, and never as a burden or a bother. If you are treated as such before you even enter into residence, you cannot expect better once under their care, and in fact you should expect worse. You have value, and your potential exists just below the surface of addiction and despair, and however low you may have sunk, you are only a month away from your former self. Make sure you receive care at a facility that's going to treat you well; it's the least you deserve.

As much as the pharmaceutical companies might argue for greater self regulation as a way to streamline the approvals process and reduce the expense to the consumer (while creating greater profits as well) certain unsettling reports about the industry as a whole should raise serious questions about the industry's ability to self regulate. Most notoriously of recent months is the oxycontin settlement, where executives in the company where found guilty of misleading doctors and the general public about the dependency risk of oxycontin, and just last night on CNN was another report about troubling drug company practices. Apparently, there are massive quantities of medications sold throughout the country everyday that have not yet been approved by the FDA as safe, and some of these drugs have been on the market, consumed and available for some time. How can this happen? Through the FDA drug approval process, when drugs apply to begin testing for approval, they are issued a 10 digit tracking number. Problematically, this same 10 digit number is used by pharmacists selling the drug, whether or not they have been approved. What has happened is that doctors and pharmacists mistakenly believe that since the drug has the FDA number and is available for sale, that it has passed FDA testing as safe; when this is too often not the case. A knowing disregard of the law But although doctors and pharmacists may claim legitimate ignorance, obviously the manufacturers of the drugs are well aware of the status of each and every drug they market, and well aware that they are selling what is reported to be over 65 million filled prescriptions worth of these illegal drugs each year. Obviously this is not the FDA's finest moment either, but the fact that pharmaceutical companies are knowingly exploiting a previous lack in enforcement on the sale of unapproved drugs for profit is shameless, and seriously damages their credibility as a self regulating industry. Prescription drugs currently contribute to a massive abuse and addiction problem, and we may need to tighten regulation and control ever further on the production and sale of drugs, and obviously those in a position to profit from the sale of these drugs cannot be relied on to act ethically, or with the best interests of the public in mind. The money to be made in the pharmaceutical industry is enormous, and while the vast majority in the industry are likely conscientious and moral people, there are obviously enough that will engage in questionable practices--risking the safety of consumers--that the industry as a whole cannot be trusted to act with integrity.

Teens that use drugs other than marijuana are three times as likely to have suicidal thoughts…and only about a third of teens at risk for suicide receive any preventative counseling. Revealing statistics by the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA) show that although we know that the best way to lessen the prevalence of suicide is through early intervention and counseling, we are failing to intervene with the vast majority of at risk kids. Additionally, we also know that those kids who use drugs other than marijuana are three times as likely (29% as versus 10% for non drug using kids) to have suicidal thoughts. Also disturbing is that the vast majority of kids who do eventually get preventative therapy for suicidal ideations receive this treatment only after an unsuccessful suicide attempt or voiced suicidal thoughts. Although we aren't doing a great job recognizing and intervening in the lives of at risk kids, nobody really has any concrete ideas or plans for doing better; and any attempts at bettering our track record of intervention surely have to begin in the home, and with the only people who have much real influence over at risk teens…their parents. A wake up call for parents Parents who catch their kids using illicit drugs need to understand the accompanying risks associated with drug seeking behaviors, and recognize that almost 3 in 10 teens that are using drugs are at risk for suicide. Parents need to stay involved and vigilant in the lives and behaviors of teens prone to experimentation, and be ready to take appropriate action should teens exhibit drug seeking behaviors. Don't take a chance...get professional help! Substance abuse is always best caught as early as possible, and in the early stages very low intensity therapy or treatment can have great effects. Another compelling reason for catching substance abuse at the earliest possible opportunity is to identify kids at risk for suicidal thoughts…and some professional involvement may be advisable when kids are experimenting with drugs other than marijuana. Although most kids experimenting with harder drugs do not have suicidal thoughts, enough do that early drug experimentation must be a call to preventative action and possibly professional intervention.

We as a society are really doing a terrible job helping people overcome alcohol abuse or alcoholism. Recognized as a disease by the AMA, treatment coverage remains severely limited by most insurance providers, and the high costs of treatment deter hundreds of thousands of people a year, wanting treatment, but unable or unwilling to foot the bill. Even more disturbingly, an incredible number of people who recognize the need for treatment, and who are not unwilling to seek out and even pay for treatment, cite the fear of social repercussions and stigma as a major factor deterring them from initiating treatment. Here is the breakdown *18.6 million Americans have an alcohol abuse problem or dependency *A mere 8% of these people gets treatment each year *4.5% of these people recognize a need for treatment, but for a number of reasons don’t get it…and of these 4.5% (which works out to well over 700 000 people) 24% say a major reason why they don’t get treatment is the fear of social stigma. So about 175 000 Americans, who recognize that they have a problem and want help don’t get it out of a fear of social or professional repercussions. They would rather continue to be alcoholics, than get better and become labeled as recovering alcoholics…which is a dismal appraisal by hundreds of thousands on the true mood of tolerance within our country. No one would ever avoid chemotherapy for fear of being labeled a cancer survivor!!! Although alcoholism is recognized as a disease, we continue to treat people afflicted with the condition as social pariahs, who could choose not to drink, but through a lack of willpower, loose morals or sheer self indulgence, just won’t stop drinking. That anyone would choose the heartbreak, ravaged health, and family pain of alcoholism belies belief, but through extension of popular logic, alcoholics must therefore choose these accompanying destructions. And I wish I could say that those alcoholics that make the decision to avoid treatment out of fear of social repercussions are crazy or paranoid…but I don’t believe that, and although I don’t believe that any price is worthy of the continuing destruction of active alcoholism, there most undoubtedly is a stigma attached to alcohol recovery, and people will pay a social cost for getting treatment. Never overt, the subtle repercussions' endure for years after successful abstinence. Whether it's being continually passed over for deserved promotion, never being invited to coach little league or enduring the chilly civility of neighbors, the costs are not imagined. As a recovering alcoholic, and someone who has participated in treatment and has always been open about my disease; I have felt the discrimination of the ignorant and the uninformed. I never regret having sought treatment, but neither am I naïve any longer about the true attitudes of too many in our country. Alcoholism is a disease!!! We need people to understand this, and understand that by continuing this subtle discrimination of recovering alcoholics they propagate the condition. Alcoholism inflicts a heavy price on society and all of us are affected, and by perpetuating myths and stereotypes we all make the problem worse. We contribute to more DUIs, more family abuse and more early deaths. Any time anyone discriminates against or belittles a recovering alcoholic or the disease in general, there may be a still drinking alcoholic within earshot, realizing the price they'll pay for conceding to treatment. Out of compassion, and out of self interest, all in this country should make it clear through our actions and our words, that we do accept alcoholism as a disease, and that we respect those that can beat it.