When it comes to the development of drug addiction and abuse, it’s common knowledge that genetic connections can play a part. If an immediate family member – mother, father, or sibling – struggled with drug and alcohol dependence, it is more likely that another family member will fight the same problem if they opt to experiment with illicit substances.

The issue may be more than just genetic. There is an identifiable cycle of abuse and addiction that occurs among families where drug addiction is rampant. The bad news is that it won’t be broken without effort. The good news is that drug addiction treatment can help.

The Cycle of Drug Abuse and Addiction

Let’s consider the passing of an addiction from generation to generation. A teen who is addicted to drugs or alcohol may be more likely to engage in unprotected sex, and have a child before they are ready. Still struggling with drugs and alcohol, they may be unready to undergo drug addiction treatment and continue to abuse illicit substances as the child grows up.

When addiction is a part of family life, the child is neglected. He or she is exposed to the dangers and ugliness that come with daily life lived in the grips of drug dependence. Trauma can result and many children are witness to – if not victims of – terrible events as a result of a parents’ addiction. Domestic violence, sexual abuse, criminal acts – all of these are common.

As a result, many children of addicts will turn to drugs and alcohol in order to numb the feelings of fear, instability, and sadness that result. Access is easy due to the parents ongoing addiction, and due to the young age of first use and the malleability of the brain during this crucial period of development, the onset of addiction is relatively rapid.

What happens next? The increased chance of unprotected sex, which means another cycle of a young parent with a drug addiction tasked with a raising child….

The cycle can be never ending.

Breaking the Cycle

Breaking the cycle starts when the addicted parent gets the help he or she needs to break free from their own addiction. Once in recovery and beginning the process of building a solid life for themselves, their children will benefit from a better role model, less chance of trauma, and more stability. If this happens early enough, it can lower the chances of the child ultimately developing an addiction as well.

If you are a mother and fighting off a drug and alcohol addiction, contact us at The Orchid today for information about how you can help yourself, your child, and your family to beat drug dependence – now and in the future.

Old Hollywood was rife with secrets: homosexuality, affairs, budgeting “shortfalls,” drug addiction. Big movie producers owned their stars and wanted no stories to hit the headlines that would threaten their take at the box office. In fact, there are tons of stories of movie moguls going to great lengths to protect the reputations of their biggest stars – perhaps this is why Cary Grant’s life remained so hidden… until now.

Exploring Spirituality with Drugs

Grant’s ex-wife, Dyan Cannon, recently wrote a memoir dedicated to her life with her famous ex entitled Dear Cary. In it, she discusses how her husband used psychedelics to explore his inner self and used his search for enlightenment as a reason to abuse drugs.

Says Cannon: “He had some very tough things happen to him as a kid. Some very dark secrets that he never really dealt with. He thought LSD was the gateway to God. He wasn’t using it as a party thing; he was using it to get to that inner peace of himself because he was really spiritual, the man was, and he thought when our marriage started to go south that if I took it with him, it would heal us.”

Drug Abuse and Marriage

Cannon says that because her husband wanted her to, she did drugs with him on more than a few occasions. It’s not uncommon for the unaddicted spouse to do drugs or drink more often than he or she would have alone when married to someone living with a drug abuse or addiction problem. In an attempt to hold the relationship together, many spouses do that and other things that they never thought they would. Many women, especially, develop addictions in an attempt to hold onto their relationship, even if that relationship is not providing them with anything they need emotionally.

Says Cannon: “If you think he was charming on-screen, you should have met him-off screen. I have never ever met a presence like that, or power in his being, and charm, and his tenderness. He was the whole package.”

Telling Cary Grant’s Story to Help Others

Cannon has no fear that her confessional account of Grant’s drug addiction issues will lessen the love of his fans. On the contrary, she says: “I think people love him more for it. He was a wonderful man. A precious, wonderful, good, dear man who had demons he didn’t deal with.”

If you are living with someone who is pulling you down into addiction, your best first step is to get the help you need to fight drug abuse and all the problems that go along with it. Women ready to begin their road to recovery can contact us today at The Orchid.

People do desperate things when they are living with an active drug addiction, and one mother in Florida did the unthinkable in order to get $2000, potentially to feed her prescription drug addiction: sell the parental rights to her 5-year-old son.

According to reports, Pinellas County sheriff’s deputies arrested Jessica Marie Beers for allegedly attempting to sell her 5 year old child for $2000 to a couple who had been helping her with childcare and giving her money. It was the couple who tipped off police, telling them that the woman had offered them the money in return for parental rights of her child. The couple said that they had been helping Beers with childcare and money for months and had noticed that she had a prescription drug addiction. Over time, they said they watched her child more and more often. When Beers made them the offer, they were concerned that she would spend the money on drugs and contacted police.

The arrest happened when Beers met with the couple in order to make the exchange: the boy for the money. Beers was arrested and charged with sale of parental rights and violation of probation for grand theft, and her son was taken into custody by child protection services.

Desperation and Drug Addiction

It’s a story that flew across the country when it first broke and while many were shocked by the nature of the crime, others see it as more proof of how desperate an addiction to drugs can make anyone. Children are often the first victims when a parent is living with drug abuse. Though the incidence is more often neglect, it’s not uncommon for kids to be hurt when their parents are addicted to drugs. The only benefit of this story is the fact that it brought to light the addiction that the boy’s mother was living with and provided him with an exit to safer home while also putting her in a position to recognize the need for and to accept treatment. Many mothers live for years covering up their drug addiction to the detriment of their child. In this case, at least there is hope for the future.

Drug Addiction Treatment for Mothers

Many mothers avoid enrolling in drug rehab because their children need their care. The fact is that childcare provided from someone under the influence of drugs is not acceptable. The child will always be much better off staying with a relative until the mother is well again, then coming home to a place that is truly home where the child can feel safe and learn to respect their parents because their parents are behaving in a manner worthy of that respect.

If you would like to learn more about our drug addiction treatment program here at The Orchid, contact us today. We can help you determine the best place for your child while you get the help you need to be the mother you want to be.

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.

You have kids at home who need you to make sure they are safe, be there after school, maybe get them to school and back, help with homework, drive them to different activities, make meals, get them to doctor appointments, and put them to bed. All the responsibilities and heavy scheduling related to motherhood may even have played a part in the development of your crystal meth addiction in the first place. Now that you’ve gone to crystal meth rehab and began the process of healing from addiction, the real work begins: learning how to live everyday with all the stresses and commitments you had before but without abusing crystal meth.

Prioritizing Presence in Motherhood

When you abuse crystal meth, your mind is no longer your own. You don’t remember things as clearly later and may find it difficult to do the multi-tasking that is so often required during motherhood. While your initial energy may be higher, your mood often plummets when the drug begins to wear off or after a long period of continuous use. This is hard on you and on your kids and creates an unstable environment.

Instead of trying to force a full schedule, prioritize being present for your child. Take the time to do an art project or cook something together, work in the garden or draw on the sidewalk with chalk. Your child will value this time together just as much – if not more – than driving from one activity to the next.
Your mental presence and emotional availability means the world to your child, so if you have to cut out a few activities to make sure that homework is attended to and you get more time to just be with your children, then do it.

Make Time for Your Own Mental Health

Being present with your kids is important and it’s true that there’s quite a laundry list of things that you need to keep up with in order to make sure that they are cared for. You don’t need crystal meth to make those things happen; what you need is the time to regenerate your energy is a way that is healthful and positive so that you will be in high spirits and more focused naturally.

This means eating right, working out or going for walks on a regular basis, taking time to meet with friends for coffee, getting to the doctor regularly – basic care for yourself that keeps your mind and body in tip-top shape. When you feel better physically and have time to yourself, you can be more relaxed and giving with the time you spend with your kids – and not feel as if you need crystal meth to get you through the day.

Crystal Meth Rehab for Women

If you are living with an active addiction to crystal meth, contact us at The Orchid today. We provide woman-centered treatment that will help you create a life for yourself and your family that will sustain you all for years to come.