The pending closure of important Georgia drug treatment programs aimed at helping women break free from drug addiction has a number of people worried. Because the need for addiction treatment has not lessened, many are concerned about the impact to the community when help is no longer available – as well as the impact to the women themselves and the wellbeing of their families.

The good news is that private rehabilitation is available and can provide an even more comprehensive level of care and treatment for women who are ready to stop drinking and abusing drugs.

Federal Funding Cuts

Federal funding provides the backbone of support to a number of treatment facilities in Georgia and with the revocation of those funds, many will be unable to keep their doors open. The ones that advocate for female addicts and their children are in the spotlight right now because their far-reaching programs extend beyond the addict herself to the family she supports. Such programs offer long lasting results and could potentially save the state – and the country – hundreds of thousands of dollars in the future when mother and children get the help they need early on.

In total, about 14 outpatient programs and 80 openings in residential treatment programs may be cut from Georgia rehabilitation centers.

Neil Kaltenecker is the executive director of the Georgia Council on Substance Abuse. Kaltenecker says: “Nationally, we know that about 13 percent of all state costs are because of addiction, whether that’s crime, whether that’s emergency room visits, healthcare, kids in foster care, unemployment, homelessness, all of those sort of social costs. That safety net just [will not be] there for these folks.

“We know that addiction is a family illness, it affects the families. So what we do in these programs is have therapeutic childcare where you’re teaching kids [and] kind of shoring up their strengths so they don’t have to go down the same road [of addiction].”

The Private Drug Rehab Option

Many who qualify for treatment at facilities that rely heavily upon federal funding may not think that they would be able to afford care at a private drug rehab. The fact is, scholarship programs are available as is sliding scale treatment for those with middle to low incomes. There are also financing options for those who can afford some now but prefer to make payments on treatment later.

If you are interested in traveling to The Orchid and experiencing our drug rehabilitation programs for women here in Florida, contact us today for information about how you can get started on the enrollment process.

Melanie Griffith has struggled with alcohol and drug addiction for years and years, famously going to rehab on multiple occasions. Unfortunately, despite repeated attempts at treatment, Griffith says that her ultimate triumph over painkiller addiction that developed after an accident on a ski trip in 2007 was due in part to a confrontation with her daughters.

Griffith’s Daughters Helped Her Enroll in Treatment

Griffith says that her 14-year-old daughter with husband Antonio Banderas and two grown children from previous relationships were all very concerned about her before she agreed to enroll in treatment in 2009: “I started on pain pills when I hurt my knee skiing and just kept taking them. The kids knew; Dakota and Stella called me on it. Antonio was in London at the time. I went away to rehab for three months; it took 10 days just to detox.”

Her daughters’ interest in her recovery and their concern for her wellbeing was enough to convince her to take the action necessary to recover.

For many, a child’s sincere wish for them to get better is enough of an intervention to make a difference. The fear and worry of a child is often more poignant than that of anyone else.

Support from Spouses

Though the support of your spouse can be a significant help during an intervention, these relationships are often so complicated after long-term addiction that it’s not always simple. Oftentimes, there is quite a bit of mistrust and anger on both sides. Any words of encouragement for treatment may be taken in a negative way; an avoidance of the issue may be viewed as cold and uncaring.

Though Banderas has been vocal in his support of Griffith during her long lasting struggle with substance abuse, Griffith feels as if he could have done more: “Antonio was supportive to the extent that he can be, but if you’re not an alcoholic or drug addict, and you find out that your wife is a bad one, it’s hard to deal with… I wish he would go to a meeting with me or to Al-Anon, but it’s very foreign to him. Addiction runs in my family but not in his.

“I don’t mean that against him. I would like him to do more, but it’s a difficult thing to have happen in any family, and in that way he has been totally by my side. He really is the greatest guy.”

Helping Yourself

If you are living with drug and/ or alcohol addiction, you don’t have to wait for loved ones to step forward and point you in the right direction. Get the help you need now at The Orchid. Call for more information.

According to research that will appear in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research later this year, the boardroom is not the only place women are catching up to men. Unfortunately, for women in the US, the amount and frequency they are consuming alcohol is on the rise and therefore the number of women developing alcoholism is increasing as well.

The research conducted by Columbia University analyzed 31 previously conducted studies for how age and gender affect an individual’s alcohol consumption. They discovered that women are gaining on men in respect to amount of alcohol ingested, while both genders, if born after World War II, have an increased likelihood of binge and problem drinking.

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism defines binge drinking as a blood alcohol level above .08. The guidelines for binge drinking are slightly different for men and women because their physiology is slightly different. Over a two-hour period, men may reach the .08 limit with five drinks while women may do so with only four drinks.

Why Have Women’s Attitudes Towards Drinking Changed?

After World War II, women’s role in society completely changed. They joined the workforce is mass numbers and started to experience the stress of trying to balance motherhood and a career. The women’s liberation movement in the 60s and 70s pushed even more women out of the kitchen and into the office.

Many women may have started using alcohol to cope with the stress of trying to be everything to everybody because it is, for the most part, socially acceptable. Most people will have drinks at dinner when out with friends, so if they had a private problem with alcohol it would be fairly easy to mask in public.

Women’s different attitudes towards drinking is apparent in pop culture. To experience this shift in mind-set all you have to do is turn on the TV. For example, Hoda and Kathy Lee on the fourth hour of the Today Show have alcohol every day of the week at 10am. Most people used to be embarrassed imbibing before 5pm and these ladies are drinking before lunch every single day. Then there is Chelsea Handler with her bestseller, Are you there, Vodka? Its me, Chelsea, who does not mince words about her alcohol habits.

What Can Be Done About the Increase In Problem Drinking Among Women?

Katherine Keyes, PhD, one of the researchers, believes this is proof we need more public health education and prevention efforts. One especially vulnerable time is during college when the binge drinking habit is often developed.

If alcoholism is not prevented, the next option is treatment and rehabilitation. If someone you know has an unhealthy relationship with alcohol we can help. Contact us right away and we can help you find the best treatment programs to meet your specific needs.

Blackouts occur when someone intoxicated engages in conversations, dancing, cooking and frighteningly driving a car, but later on has no memory of the events. These periods of blackout may encompass a couple of minutes or many hours of time. Scientists have never understood the biological process behind alcohol-induced blackouts. However, in one of the latest volumes of The Journal of Neuroscience, the physiology that triggers amnesia from alcohol is uncovered.

Findings Challenge The Concept of Brain Cell Death From Binge Drinking

Neuroscientists at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have discovered evidence that challenges previous held beliefs about alcohol’s affects on the brain. These researchers exposed brain cells of rats to both moderate and excessive amounts of alcohol. In the group with moderate exposure to alcohol there was no memory loss. However, in the group of cells with excessive alcohol, the process of memory formation was disrupted.

The research demonstrated that, in direct opposition to previously held scientific thought, excessive drinking does not automatically kill brain cells. Instead an extreme amount of alcohol competes with receptors in the brain that then produce steroids which stop the formation of new memories.

These neural receptors when exposed to alcohol have seemingly erratic behavior, with some becoming blocked while others are activated. Instead of cell death, alcohol causes a scrambling of neural activity that temporarily disables the complicated system of memory formation. This idea that alcohol is not damaging brain cells, just temporarily changing how they function, is cutting edge information.

What About Blackout From Other Substances?

Any stress on cells in the hippocampus of the brain can stop the ability to create memories. This is why drugs also have the possibility of causing blackouts. The combination of drugs and alcohol put an individual at a much higher risk to have a blackout than either substance taken on its own.

In addition, the researcher found that if steroids were blocked from being produced then the ability to form memory was protected. They found that 5-alpha-reductase inhibitors, which are used for enlarged prostate glands, were able to keep memory production functioning in the presence of excess alcohol. Now the scientists are looking towards studying these prescription medications to safeguard the formation of memory in the brain.

If you or someone you know has blackouts frequently or is having other consistent problems from either alcohol or drugs, help is a phone call away. We can answer any questions you may have related to treatment at The Orchid. Don’t spend one more day wondering what to do. Pick up the phone and let someone with experience show you the way.

Both alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction are problems that make you lose out in life – money, friends, family, opportunities, hope, goals – but the good news is that both issues can be treated at an alcohol rehab. It helps to know whether you are dealing with alcohol abuse or alcohol addiction when seeking treatment; this is the best way to make sure that you choose an alcohol rehab center that offers the addiction treatment services that will best help you to heal.

What is Alcohol Abuse?

It is estimated that about 10 percent of women and 20 percent of men in the United States have an alcohol abuse problem. Is it a problem for you? Here are some facts that may help you determine whether or not your alcohol issues are abuse or addiction:

• Alcohol abuse may be defined by periods of abstinence followed by periods of bingeing.
• Alcohol abuse usually develops between the ages of 18 and 25.
• The first instance of alcohol abuse generally happens during the teen years.

A dysfunctional relationship defines the periods of bingeing when alcohol abuse is an issue. For example, you may attempt to escape stress or drown extreme emotions at the bar or in a bottle rather than finding healthier outlets. When this happens regularly and you experience problems in your relationships, with the law, or at work as a result, then alcohol abuse is a problem.

What is Alcohol Addiction?

About 4 percent of women and 10 percent of men live with alcohol addiction, making it the third most common mental illness in the United States, affecting more than 14 million people. The number of bad effects on your life when alcohol addiction is a problem are almost limitless. Many will lose their homes, their livelihood, their families, their health – their day-to-day quality of life. Despite all these problems, alcoholics still devote the better part of their time to getting more alcohol, drinking heavily, and trying to stay drunk. Those living with an alcohol addiction will continue to drink despite all these problems.

Do You Need Alcohol Rehab Help?

If you recognized your own life in the above descriptions of alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction, and you cannot stop drinking for any lengthy period of time on your own, then alcohol rehab can help. Contact us today at The Orchid to learn more about our addiction treatment service options and get started on your own personal path to recovery.