No More Locked Doors

Everyday we pass through doors
Whether they're open or locked, the decision is yours
When you choose to slip up, that decision is gone
How long they're locked depends on what you've done.

Now you sit, staring, at the locked doors all around
The thoughts in your mind beating you soul to the ground
That time has now come to put change in your ways
Stop living your life in some substance-induced haze.

The time will soon come to unlock the door
From then on set your goals to always want more
If it's the negative road and wrong choices you make
Someday, real soon, your life, those drugs WILL take.

So when you hold in your hand the key to your door
Don't be that guy face down on the floor
For EVERYONE has the potential to be great
Just like the doors, you hold the key to your fate.

MN

2/25/2005

Prescription Drug Detox

Substance and drug abuse does not only apply to alcohol and illegal drugs, it also applies to prescription drugs, because of this, there is a need for prescription drug detox. Prescription drugs pose a unique problem when going through drug detox programs, as some treatment centers will use medicine to help ease the withdrawal symptoms or treat other mental disorders. This poses a problem because if you are attending prescription drug detox, then you are already addicted to prescription drugs and there is a chance that your addiction could transfer to the medicine being used in your detox programs. This is why it is important to choose a prescription drug detox center that offers a variety of programs so that you can successfully recover from your addiction.

Cliffside Malibu is the best treatment center for prescription drug detox, as we offer a variety of holistic drug treatments. This means that we will offer you treatments that may not use any type of prescribed medicine. This is what you, as a prescribed drug addict needs, so you will not transfer your addiction from one drug to the next. You will find treatments like acupuncture, massage therapy, and yoga groups to help you overcome your addiction. Moreover, you will have these holistic treatments in a luxury setting surrounded by the ocean.

Article courtesy of Cliffside Malibu

When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you. ~African Proverb

As part of my eating disorder treatment, I decided to turn to the internet for inspiration while on my own path of recovery. There is so much out there to help guide and inspire someone. So I thought I would bring some of that here to help you. I found some interesting facts about adolescent eating disorders:
*Anorexia is the third most common chronic illness among adolescents.
*40 – 60% of high school girls diet.
*50% of girls between the ages of 13 and 15 believe they are overweight.
(Facts from Anorexia Statistics)
And I fell right into it, at age 16 I weighed 96lbs. I found a story close to my own which helps me realize that I am not the only one out there:

I was a chubby child growing up with a perfectly skinny twin sister. She seemed to receive all my parents and our peers' attention because she was thin. I felt ignored which developed my shyness. She dominated in almost everything that we did together. I thought that going on a diet would increase my self-esteem and get people to notice me. I did not starve myself, but I would limit my caloric intake to about eight hundred calories.

I would eat a bowl of cereal for breakfast so my parents would think I was eating properly. I wouldn't eat lunch. I'd make up excuses like I either did not have any money or I was not hungry and I would eat later. After school I would go to tennis practice on an empty stomach and exercise as much as I could for two hours.

My family always ate dinner together, so I would eat a full meal to keep everybody from assuming that I had an eating disorder. I'd always tell my mom that certain items were too fattening and I couldn't eat them.

The strange thing was that when I lost the weight people would give me the nicest compliments. The compliments felt so good, so I kept dieting. Those compliments were my reward for my control. They pushed me to diet more and lose more weight so I could get all the attention that a skinny person receives.

Eventually, my parents and friends noticed my bad eating habits. They forced me to eat and would not leave my side. I denied my eating problem for a long time, not even admitting it to my boyfriend until last year. I received a lot of support from my boyfriend, which I think helped me through my problem.

With terrific support from my friends and family, I now try to have a balanced diet instead of getting the fewest calories possible. I now feel more confident about my body and have a higher self-esteem.
Andrea's Story and more available at Anorexia Stories

I was also able to hide my problem for a long time...until I lost too much weight. Everywhere I turned skinny was good and fat was bad. When I turned on the TV that's all I'd hear so the little voice in my head repeated it. The little voice became my enemy. When I finally admitted my problem, I was backed by my sister and my now fiance. They helped me find a great place to go and learn how to fix me. I am recovering from anorexia nervosa and am very proud of my accomplishments thus far. I am now 25 years old, 135lbs at 5'6". I am healthy and I am happy. And that little voice, she's my friend too. She's strong and tells me I'm beautiful. She repeats what the good people in my life say. She is no longer influenced by the media.

Sober Life is yet to come....

It is one of the most beautiful compensations in life that no man can sincerely try to help another, without helping himself. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Such lessons are not taught to us in school or by our parents who desperately try to shelter us from the evils of the world, these lessons are learned the hard way out in the real world where things get messy.

Nobody grows up thinking to themselves how can I really screw life up and piss my parents off? Yea, we are all teenagers and think that's what we want but it never really is. And yet a few of us actually manage to do just that.

Ask yourself, was it worth it? All the pain? The suffering? The friend's you lost? The dreams you had now gone?

Probably not....Defiantly not. And if you hesitated then you haven't hit the bottom yet, do you really want to? I did. Let me tell you, you don't want to.

I wish I had seen what was coming. Now I am a spokesperson for sobering up and leading a life on the straight and narrow, being the person I wish I had when I was younger. Sober Living is something everybody needs to learn. The school's try but they don't portray the life style as it really is. Its dark, lonely, scary and is a long black tunnel of emptiness.

As part of my drive to help people headed down this road or those already on this path I have learned of Sober Living Facilities and their benefits to help people before they get here.

This is where I started my journey to sober living. Sober living at Malibu was the singular greatest experience of my life. Finding a place like that, that inspires you to rise above it all is what really counts.

"I will persist until I succeed. Always will I take another step. If that is of no avail I will take another, and yet another. In truth, one step at a time is not too difficult.... I know that small attempts, repeated, will complete any undertaking." —Og Mandino

Addiction Makes You Feel Alone

Addictions Passed On

Raising children is hard enough on its own, unfortunately for my friend's daughter it was made twice as hard because of the choices she made.
My friend raised her daughter with all the usual morals every parent tries to. Stay in school, no sex til you're older, say no to drugs. Unfortunately for my friend her daughter didn't follow all of mommies rules.
By 16 she was sleeping around and smoking weed after school with her 'friends'. My friend managed to keep her daughter in school long enough to graduate, and amazingly she graduated with a B average.
But once the child turned 18, mom lost all control. Lauren moved out in with her boyfriend musician, she rarely came home unless they were fighting.
My friend soon discovered Lauren's addiction to Meth. And she pleaded every case under the sun to convince her to quit and get help.
Lauren's lesson was learned the hard way, she got pregnant and when her boyfriend found out he left her. Lauren moved back in with her mom but couldn't kick the habit.
When Lauren was 7months along her mom came home and found her passed out on the living room floor. Lauren had gone into a coma. She gave birth to a baby boy while in her coma.
Lauren didn't wake up until her son was almost 4 months old. She had suffered a stroke which had caused the coma and 2 smaller ones while in it. Her son is going to have a very hard time in school, it has yet been determined just how mentally challenge he will be. But the doctors are hopeful that he will only be slightly hindered by this and be able to lead a fairly normal life. This is because they were able to detox Lauren well before he was born.
As for Lauren, she has lost all sensation on the right side of her face and most of her movement abilities in her arm and leg.
My friend is now caring for both of them, Lauren is seen regularly by a therapist to hopefully gain more mobility so that she may be able to care for her own son. Receiving the proper treatment before pregnancy is most definatly ideal.

Alternative Drug Recovery Methods

There are several different types of drug addiction poems. They each assist the person by releasing pent up feelings and/or emotions that don't readily come forth in normal spoken word. Writing poetry is but one method of vocalizing these feelings. A few example include:

* Poetry written by an addict about the problems contributing to his/her addiction
* Poetry written by an addict about the effects of his/her addiction
* Poetry written by an addict about his/her steps toward recovery
* Poems written by friends and family members of the addict to express how they feel about his/her addiction
* Poems written by friends and family members of the addict to celebrate his/her steps toward recovery

(Type of poetry examples taken from Drug_Addiction_Poems)
Below is an example of poetry written by an individual during their recovery process:

There is a monster who lives in my head, He talks to me softly he wants me dead.
He tells me this time I'll stay in control. He tells me not to let anyone know.
He convinces me that no one cares, He whispers the pain is to much to bear.
He tells me how wonderful I will feel. He tells me he loves me and it is real.
He tells me not to call anyone, My heart starts racing, he tells me it will be fun.
He tells me not to think of past times, He promises I can do it just once this time
Who is this monster who calls me by name, RELAPSE, he waiting to start the game.


Another method of addiction treatment can be found in Coloring Therapy, the focus of meditation is easily attained through the activity of coloring itself. Coloring is used as a way to begin to quiet the mind, listen inwardly and open up to higher knowledge, healing, and creativity. This alternative to formal meditation practices can help people of all ages in recovery improve coping and awareness skills through an enjoyable activity. (www.coloringtherapy.com) This being a non-traditional way or a holistic form of addiction treatment.


Addiction recovery can be attained in many fashions, the most commonly used is of course treatment centers. Finding the best path to recover on depends on the individual afflicted and their best method of learning.