Drug Rehab Fees

If you are looking for a drug rehab or alcohol rehab, be sure to ask what is included in the fees. I know of people who were admitted to drug rehab programs in California, paid very substantial fees, and then were shocked to get a huge doctor bill after they discharged!

Many programs do not want you to know up front that a lot of their costs are not included in the price. They offer a price that you may think is all-inclusive but really it is not.

At Paradise Recovery, we give you an agreement that details exactly what is included in the price. Bills after discharge will not be "sprung" on you. All of the information is supplied ahead of time. With everything except the Akamai Track, the price includes the doctor visits, psychiatric evaluation and psychiatric follow-up costs.

It's just one more reason to choose Paradise Recovery.

Calming the Waters: The importance of a stable mood in addiction recovery

Have you ever been on a small boat away from shore during a storm? The tides and strength of the ocean is overwhelming and scary. You know there is a force much stronger than you and the boat. You're unsure if you'll be able to manage the boat into safety. Sometimes dealing with emotional instability can feel very similar.

Many people who suffer with mood disorders such as: major depression, anxiety, mania, bi-polar illness, severe irritability, etc. often will describe a life that is not their own. They feel hopeless and helpless in their efforts to bring control and calm into their chaotic and painful emotional worlds. Often, women and men dealing with strong emotional pulls and tugs will try alcohol, drugs, sex and other forms of addition to suppress or alter the emotional state that is causing them stress and discomfort.

When treating an alcohol or drug addiction, a major task of the treatment team is to treat the mood disorder from many different perspectives and disciplines. Often a person needs: a psychiatric evaluation, psychological testing, dietary assessment, physical fitness evaluation, family and spiritual histories. Some of the more effective treatments are: medication, diet changes, exercise, meditation practice and much more. It takes your full attention to manage and change a mood disorder that is complicated by an addiction issue.

Without a stable mood for any significant period of time, it makes recovery almost impossible! The cognitive and learned behaviors associated with the mood issue often makes sobriety a less effective option. The alcohol and/or drugs will be immediately gratifying and will lure you into thinking it is helping you with your problem.

Read the weather reports and know your nautical mapping before you go on your next boating trip! Making significant and conscious transformations are required to attend to these life-threatening illnesses.

If you or someone you love is suffering from a mood disorder and addiction, please call us today on our 24-Hour HelpLine at (866) 478-9898 and speak with one of our trained recovery counselors.

Recuperatio Primoris,
Dr. Bill

"After half a century in psychiatric practice, I know without a doubt that the source of addiction is spiritual deficiency. Irrespective of whether we are religious or atheist, all human beings are spiritual by nature and spirituality is the cornerstone of our recovery.” Abraham Twerski, M.D.

Salvia Divinorum: A harmless herb?

Salvia Divinorum, or commonly known as "Salvia", "Lady Salvia," "Sally-D," or "Magic Mint" is a powerful hallucinogenic and psychoactive herb with a long religious use with Mazatec shamans to induce a "religious experience". It is sold in the U.S. in small bags with varying strengths, and it is TOTALLY LEGAL. Yes, even your 10 year-old can buy Salvia at a local store. It can be chewed, smoked, or taken as a tincture. A search on YouTube can offer you video proof of the bizarre and scary looking effects of the herb.

Some of its bizarre effects are: uncontrollable laughter, altered mental states, dysphoria, confusion, or visual illusions. The duration of the high is about 3-4 minutes depending on the strength. Ironically, Salvia reportedly has been used to curb addiction cravings and can put a depressed person in an elevated, less depressed mood.

The herb may be non-addictive, but the use of Salvia with other drugs and alcohol may be deadly. Of course, who is the first in line to try Salvia? You've guessed it...adolecsents and addicts! Both groups have a great deal of difficulty handling affect and mood. Adolescents have enough to worry about regarding mood stabilization and control. Salvia is not going to assist in the emotional control department. Addicts have already put Salvia on their radar, since it another way to "run away," even for a few minutes, from life's happenings and responsibilities.

So, if you or someone you know if regularly using Salvia along with other drugs, please call our 24-Hour HelpLine at (866) 478-9898 and speak with one of our counselors in recovery.

Lets keep its use to Mexican shammans and restrict its use to growing adolescents and addicts, who may be convinced that Salvia is another "weed type high" and it can't be further from the truth!

Salvia Divinorum. Hmmm...personally, I prefer another Latin phrase:
Recuperatio Primoris! (Recovery above all else!)

Alcohol Rehab: Should I choose a Large Program or a Smaller One?

There are a number of alcohol rehabs and drug rehabs out there. Some are excellent. Some are not so great. Some are large. Some are small.

Larger alcohol rehab programs will often have a large compliment of staff with extended facilities. Larger rehabs are often associated with a less individualized approach. They tend to focus more on the group model of treatment and a cookie-cutter approach. This method works for some people. Larger rehabs often have the look and feel of a hospital facility. You eat in a cafeteria. You walk around the "grounds" of the facility. You are one of a large multiple of other clients.

Smaller alcohol rehabs and drug rehabs are generally better able to provide a more intimate and private environment in which individual treatment needs can be recognized and addressed. There is generally less reliance on a sole group therapy type of approach and more of an emphasis on an individual therapy approach. Instead of being in a hospital-like environment, smaller rehabs tend to look more like a home/family environment. The staffing is smaller and more intimate. There is no chance of feeling "lost in the crowd". You eat family-style, usually at a dining room table. You are one of a small number of other clients.

When choosing a drug or alcohol rehab, think about the size of the program. Knowing yourself better than anyone else, ask yourself which environment and treatment approach is going to have the biggest impact on you and give you the best chance at a lasting recovery.

SHOPPING FOR A REHAB? A FEW CONSIDERATIONS

When shopping for a treatment rehab center for your alcohol and drug addiction, you want want to consider a few significant factors

1) Does the program offer individual therapy?

In recent years, the literature and specifically, the HBO Special Presentation, Addiction, speak about the importance of treating addictive behaviors, as well as, the underlying issues helping to maintain the addiction. Many programs still only offer group therapy as their ONLY mode of therapy. You can gain skills from group therapy, there is no question, but the individual therapy offers another set of experiences that can assist you in a long lasting recovery!

It is recommended that a rehab client see their individual therapist (a licensed therapist) at least three times per week during primary treatment.

2) Does the program offer an aftercare program?

Practically speaking, when you are investing the amount of time and money in alcohol and drug rehab work, it is equally important that the program offer continuing contact after you leave them. An effective addiction counselor would be most interested how a client is doing once they are away from the protective environment of the rehab, back home in their day-to-day routine. Programs may offer different style programs, but there should be at least a one-year aftercare program offered.

3) Does the program offer attention to a dual diagnosis?

Most clients entering drug rehab or alcohol rehab have significant mental health issues. If you are experiencing depression, anxiety, panic, suicidal thoughts, rage, psychosis you need a program that can offer you the psychiatric attention that these conditions require. You can treat both conditions at the same time, with the possible exception of a psychotic episode. If you have any affective disorder, you should be able to be treated in a rehab while attending to your recovery needs.

4) Are there considerations that include multiple ways to recovery?

Some programs are strictly a 12-Step approach, other programs are strictly non 12-Step designed. You want to make sure that the "philosophical bias" of the program is not fixed and strict. You need to work with a professional addiction treatment team, and with them decide your way towards recovery. Be careful of programs that proselytize and push an agenda outside health. Don't waste your energy fighting it!

These are just some considerations when shopping for a rehab and hoping for a good match for a most important and needed investment you are planning to make towards your future and your family's future.

Recuperatio Primoris,

Dr. Bill Heran

Drug Rehabs that say Addiction is not a Disease

As a medical doctor, it bugs me when I read or hear about drug rehab programs that teach "addiction is not a disease".

Clearly, if you look at addiction through a scientific lens, there is no refuting that addiction IS a disease. First, what is the definition of "disease"? One definition is that a disease can be a hereditary condition that causes major illness or impairment. Let's compare addiction to heart disease. Have you ever gone into the doctor's office and filled out a new patient form? It will invariably ask if anyone in your family has had heart disease. Why do they ask that? Is your doctor just being nosey?? I don't think so. You are being asked that because heart disease is what's called a heritable condition. Your doctor needs to know that information because family history is a risk factor for developing heart disease. Does this mean that you will, for sure, develop heart disease just because some of your relatives had heart disease? No, of course not. But it creates a situation in which you are more predisposed to develop heart disease, especially if you have other risk factors (smoking, overweight, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc). The more risk factors you have, the more likely you are to develop the "disease".

Addiction is not all that much different from heart disease. It is also a disease that runs in families. It can be quite disabling. And, it requires treatment. If your mom, dad, brothers, sisters or grandparents suffered from addiction, you have a higher chance of developing addiction yourself. You are predisposed to developing addiction because of heredity. Some people may be more highly susceptible to the throws of addiction than others. Addiction may also be subject to risk factors such as repeated exposure to drugs or alcohol, childhood trauma, depression, anxiety, stress, etc.

So, now there is no question. Addiction is a heritable condition that causes major impairment or disability. Hence, it is a disease.

Now, I must say that there is some good that comes out of the mind-set of saying that addiction is not a disease. Well, let's say "half-good". The half that is good is that it forces you to look at underlying causes behind the addiction. That is to say, underlying core issues that have further predisposed you to develop the disease of addiction. Thus, in the treatment of addiction, one does not totally focus on the disease process. That is only half of the story. The other half focuses on the behind the scenes stuff that precipitated the addiction in the first place. Maybe it was repeated trauma in childhood or a major depressive illness. In any case, it is just as important to look at the reasons behind the addiction as the disease itself.

So now you can see, the viewpoints that addiction is a disease and it is caused by underlying issues can peacefully co-exist. Most importantly, they should be treated simultaneously. That is the focus of the cutting edge addiction studies currently. And guess what? The best success is seen when both the disease process and the core issues are treated concurrently.
Surprised? Not me!

John Neuhaus, M.D.
Paradise Recovery