Drug or alcohol rehab can save the life of an addict without question. That said, who is there to help the family members deal with their unresolved emotions toward the addict and subsequent damage that their family endured? Addiction has a talent for wreaking havoc on the lives of the addict’s entire family. It’s a common misconception to believe that drug and/or alcohol abuse only affect the abuser. In fact, addiction is a family disease.

Parents of addicts will often have anger and trust issues toward their child that remain after they leave drug or alcohol rehab as a result of things that happened before they were admitted. Children of drug addicts or alcoholics will also often harbor resentment towards their parents for pre-rehab occurrences, including feeling neglected or unloved by their parent, or feeling forced to grow up too quickly and be the responsible person in the household when their parent was unable.

Family Counseling in Drug or Alcohol Rehab

The first and most effective way to heal as a family and be better equipped to handle your loved one’s return from drug or alcohol rehab is to regularly attend family counseling sessions at the treatment facility. Family therapy sessions can be very enlightening for all involved as to what drove the individual to start abusing drugs or alcohol in the first place. It’s equally important for the family to understand the underlying issues that spurred the addiction as the addict him/herself. With that understanding will often come compassion, and with a skilled counselor navigating the discussion, the family member’s can learn to repurpose their initial feelings of anger and resentment to those of love and support.

Al-Anon and Nar-Anon

An additional huge resource for family members of addicts about to leave drug or alcohol rehab is Al-Anon and Nar-Anon. Al-Anon and Nar-Anon are support groups for family and friends of loved ones with alcohol and drug problems, respectively. These are networks of people who’ve had their lives touched by addiction that share their personal experiences with the intention of providing support and hope to others going through the same thing. Both of these programs follow the 12 step principles of Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous to provide comfort to the family members and also empower them to provide understanding and encouragement to the addict in their life.

Many teenagers in the United States are getting addicted to unhealthy habits such as substance abuse. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), more than 10 percent of youth aged 12 to 17 years and more than 20 percent of those aged between 18 and 25 years were current illicit drug users in 2010. These alarming statistics clearly state that it is mandatory for parents to control these unhealthy habits in their teens.

Lack of knowledge among parents on illegal drugs and their effects has become a major obstacle in dealing with the issue. This article aims to help parents look for warning signs of teen substance abuse.

Physical signs: You can find your teen’s illicit substance abusing habits by observing certain physical signs. It is easy to notice the absolute visible changes in their body that can be a result of dangerous unhealthy habits. Following are some of the physical symptoms of a substance abusing individual:

• Blood shot eyes, watery or glassy eyes, and unusual size of pupils
• Nose bleeding and runny nose that is not because of cold or allergies
• Sores and spots around mouth indicating smoking of illicit drugs such as marijuana or tobacco
• Needle marks on arms or legs and unusual skin injuries like bruises
• Unusual pungent or smoky smell from breath, body, or clothes
• Changes in physical appearance with negligent and poor hygiene including burns on fingers and lips, no bathing or grooming, etc.
• Slurred speech
• Sudden or dramatic loss or gain in weight
• Changes in sleeping patterns including too much or too little sleep, trouble in falling asleep, or difficulty in staying asleep
• Impaired walking like staggering or walking slowly
• Puffy face that is excessively pale

Apart from these physical signs, parents are also needed to look for certain behavioral signs.

Behavioral signs: Habitual use of substance abuse makes a teen vulnerable to various changes in his behavior and personal habits. Below mentioned behavioral signs clearly indicate the frequent substance abuse in your teens.

• Preferring to be seclusive
• Staying away from family activities
• Loss of interest in extracurricular activities
• Changes in personal hobbies and interests
• Excessive use of air fresheners, scented candles or incense to mask the smell of drugs or smoke
• Frequently going out every night
• Sudden change in friendships and wandering with new groups of individuals who use drugs
• Engaged in fights at school, home or workplace
• Being hyperactive, and physically and verbally abusive
• Involved in reckless driving and facing legal issues, car accidents, etc.
• Declined performance at school or workplace
• Drop in grades at school
• Stealing money and valuables from home or borrowing money from friends

With continuous drug abuse, primary behavioral symptoms develop into severe psychological problems.

Psychological signs: Teens addicted to illicit drugs are often associated with certain psychological problems due to impairment of brain activity. Following are few of them:

• Depression
• Sudden mood changes or emotional instability
• Anxiety
• Loss of memory
• Paranoia or confusion
• Impaired thinking
• Nervousness
• Irritability

These physical, behavioral or psychological symptoms in your kids may indicate the use of illicit drugs. However, this suspicion should be cleared immediately by conducting drug tests at home. Timely intervention or necessary treatment at right time assures perfect recovery from the problem. Regular drug tests and clear rules on substance abuse at home are the best preventive measures

Just like any other addiction, alcohol addiction affects your overall health but is something that you can still stop. There are many effective methods that can help you to stop drinking alcohol once and for all. From specialized government programs to medical professional help, self help and support groups among others, finding the most appropriate method to help you live an alcohol free life is very possible. If you believe that it is high time you stopped drinking alcohol, you must be honest with yourself and know the reasons why you should quit. The following pointers give you more information why you need to stop drinking alcohol.

One major demerit of heavy drinking is that alcohol can lead to early death or permanent damage of vital body organs like the liver and the brain. This is because alcohol depletes your body of the vital nutrients thereby raising your blood pressure, increasing your exposure to cancer as you will have a weaker immune system. With a weak immune system, you will be more exposed to allergies, infections and other diseases. If you are a man, you might experience impotence as a result. On the other hand, women tend to experience problems with their thyroid function.

The second reason why you need to stop drinking alcohol is that when you become dependent on alcohol, your finances are likely to suffer as a prolonged exposure to this destructive substance results to cravings – just like any other drugs.

The third reason why you need to stop drinking alcohol is that alcoholism affects relationships in a very big way. This means that it can have major impacts on your family and social life. Given that alcohol will interfere with your mental wellness, you will not even know that your behavior is affecting the people around you. In many cases, working alcoholics end up losing their jobs, getting into arguments, behaving improperly with some having violent and abusive behavior.

Drinking alcohol can often lead to impaired judgment as well as lack of coordination. Often, this leads to road accidents. Given that the alcoholic will experience physical effects as a result, the drinker is more likely to engage in other harmful activities like using drugs, unprotected sex and even gambling. In some situations, the drinker might experience memory loss or blackout and will not remember some events afterwards.

Another reason why you need to stop drinking alcohol is that drinking is known to make one an easy target for other dangers like rape, abuse and even robbery. One may also suffer from hangover which will make them have serious migraines, feel dehydrated, or fatigued. The drinker is also likely to suffer from stress and severe insomnia.

If you are pregnant, you should stop drinking alcohol as the habit can lead to mental retardation and other irreversible physical abnormalities for the unborn child. What is more, children of alcoholic parents have higher chances of becoming alcoholics themselves.

Basically, there are many reasons why you need to stop drinking alcohol. Lucky enough, there are many ways to kick the habit and start enjoying a healthier life. If you are addicted to alcohol, take the first step into fighting this destructive habit and you will live a quality life.