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.

In 1992, Cornelia Whitner was sentenced to eight years in jail because her baby tested positive for cocaine at birth. Since then, a nationwide debate has raged about the legality of the South Carolina court’s actions that sentenced her. Should Whitner have received a criminal punishment for her drug addiction, a medical disease and not technically a crime? Or are her actions criminal because they amount to child endangerment, just as if she had given a child outside of her womb a drug of addiction like cocaine?

Very few people seem to agree on this issue. There are so many points to discuss that it’s almost difficult to know which one comes first. Here are just a few:

1. Drug addiction is a medical disease and not a moral failing. It’s also not a “crime” that anyone has ever stood trial for. While patients with an active drug addiction may have stood before a judge on counts of drug possession or for the behavior they chose while under the influence, the act of putting a drug into their body was never among the charges. That changed in this case – and only in potential other cases like this.
2. When a fetus becomes a child and therefore a person with rights. This is disputed in every state across the country, and it has a significant impact on this debate. If a child is not a child until after birth then there is no endangerment that the mother can inflict during pregnancy that is actionable. If a child becomes a child in the womb, at what point exactly and when does the mother become responsible for protecting that child above the dictates of her disease?
3. If a baby testing positive for a drug – and not necessarily being addicted to any substance – is a punishable offense, what else deserves prosecution? Should mothers who smoke cigarettes while they are pregnant receive judicial punishment? What about those who drink alcohol? At what point should they be prosecuted? After one cigarette or upon discovery of regular smoking? After just one drink or regular, daily drinking?
4. With the risk of prosecution comes the increased risk that mothers who know they are living with an addiction will not seek the help and care that they and their growing child needs. If living with an active addiction is a crime, and continuing to feed that addiction during pregnancy is a crime, then is it also a crime to risk pregnancy with unprotected sex during addiction? Will mothers even seek out the prenatal care that they and their child needs?
5. One statistic states that black women are 10 times as likely to be prosecuted for abusing drugs during pregnancy than are white women. Is this a racist issue or is it a true concern for all babies?

Though few would say that it’s okay to take any kind of drug or alcohol during pregnancy and continue to live with an active drug addiction without seeking treatment both before and after the baby is born, incarceration that takes that mother away from the child and limits access to drug treatment is good for no one.

What do you think?

It’s not just Whitney Houston’s daughter, Bobbi Kristina, who is making headlines due to alleged drug abuse
and potential addiction behavior. Now it’s Whitney herself who is reportedly beginning a drug rehab program. Like many celebrities, there is no admission from her camp that she is actually living with an active drug addiction that requires treatment, but that she is simply checking in so that she can maintain her long-term recovery and be proactive against relapse.

Whitney Houston’s rep says: “Whitney Houston is currently in an outpatient rehab program for drug and alcohol treatment. Whitney voluntarily entered the program to support her long-standing recovery process.”

When Outpatient Drug Addiction Treatment is a Good Idea

Whether or not Whitney has relapsed or if she is genuinely attempting to fight for a continued sobriety, an outpatient addiction treatment program is the perfect choice for her. Because she has already attended multiple inpatient treatment programs and learned how to remain clean and sober for the most part, an outpatient rehab can give her the refresher course she needs to stay in touch with the principles of sobriety, get a little guidance on specific issues that are causing her trouble, and have a supportive group of people who will hold her accountable for her actions for the duration of the program. For some patients, the constant possibility of a drug test is enough to help them avoid relapse and filling that sober time with personal therapy, group therapy, volunteer work, experiential therapy, alternative treatments and more can do nothing but bolster sobriety.

When Outpatient Drug Addiction Treatment is not a Good Idea

In general, it is not recommended that you attend outpatient drug addiction treatment if:

• It’s your first time in treatment after a long-term addiction.
• If you experience withdrawal symptoms when attempting to stop taking your drug of choice in addition to cravings and will require inpatient drug detox.
• If you have been living with an addiction without treatment for a long period of time, whether or not you have attended drug rehab in the past.
• If you are diagnosed with a co-occurring psychological, social, or behavioral disorder that makes the drug addiction more difficult to handle.
• If you have concerns that you will be unable to avoid relapse when you leave the program each day.

Though there are a number of situations in which outpatient addiction treatment is the only option – and it can be very effective – in most cases, a more intensive inpatient drug rehab program is recommended.

Contact us today to learn more about the addiction treatment programs available here at The Orchid.

Not only can you be addicted to love – like you can be addicted to almost anything – but new studies are comparing love addiction and the effects of a break-up to the effects of drug addiction and trying to ‘kick the habit’ with your drug of choice. Brain scans reveal that physiologically, the changes that occur when we heal from a broken heart are very similar to those who are healing after a physical and psychological dependence upon an addictive substance.

Brain Scans? How is a Breakup Similar to Drug Addiction Recovery?

A biological anthropologist at Rutgers University, Helen Fisher, took a look at the brain scans of college-age students when they were shown pictures of their ex. Apparently, the same parts of the brain lit up on the scan that were associated with cocaine and nicotine addiction, physical pain and distress.

In a way, it makes sense. Consider the actions deemed acceptable by those going through a serious break-up – would an objective person obsess over their ex, imagine that he or she wants them back and take measures to make that happen, or crave their attention by calling obsessively or showing up anywhere where the ex might appear? It’s the same kind of behavior displayed by someone fighting drug addiction: they, too, obsess over their drug of choice, rationalize why continued use won’t hurt them or is even good for them, and go out of their way – even making dangerous choices – to get more of the drug they crave.

The end result is a deep depression or anxiety and, in some cases, suicidal thoughts and ideations. The solution? Treatment.

Is There Treatment for Love Addiction?

No. But there is treatment for drug addiction and very often the two issues collide. Many who go through a breakup report heavy usage of alcohol, painkillers, heroin and other drugs designed to ‘numb’ the pain. They are so depressed that they see no reason to pull themselves out of their growing addiction despite all the problems they are causing themselves as a result. Drug addiction treatment can help those in this situation to get back on track, while also receiving counseling and grief treatment for the issues related to the breakup. This two-pronged approach to recovery can help the individual struggling to get back to a place of balance emotionally and further their progress in drug addiction treatment.

Drug Addiction Treatment Help for Women

If you are a woman who is struggling with a breakup as well as drug and alcohol addiction, an intensive treatment program can help you to process what happened and move forward in your life. Contact us at The Orchid today to learn how we can help you.

Authorities and drug enforcement officials are always looking for new ways to prevent the development of drug and alcohol addiction in different populations. Depending upon the group in focus – teens, women, men, et cetera – the marketing and ads may be a bit different. One of the latest campaigns, however, is grabbing everyone’s attention: it’s a collection of before-and-after photos that depict the drastic effects that drugs and alcohol have on the appearance of those who use them chronically. If dangerous health effects and the potential of death or overdose doesn’t seem to work, why not try an appeal to vanity?

In Multnomah County, Oregon, the sheriff’s office pulled mug shots of individuals arrested closer to the beginning of their drug and alcohol using career and then pulled later ones as they continued on both their addiction – and their criminal – paths. They created a 48-minute documentary entitled “From Drugs to Mugs” and made it available on DVD; they also made the mug shots available on CD. The documentary clearly shows how those who looked their age and even attractive at the beginning of their drug abuse and addiction quickly lost their teeth, lost their hair, gained scars and pock marks, going from normal to scary in as little as a few months in some cases.

Deputy Bret King created the documentary. He told MSNBC: “The thinking is that this will give kids a tangible image of what can happen if they get involved in using hard drugs. We did want to appeal to their sense of vanity.”

Though the speed with which drugs and alcohol damage the appearance of users is the most shocking part of the documentary, it is not at all uncommon. Different drugs have different effects on the appearance. Crystal meth is known for being one of the most rapidly destructive drugs, causing small blood vessels around the face which, in turn, causes the gums to shrink and the user to lose teeth, changing the entire structure of the face. Remaining teeth often become black or discolored, rotting quickly – the slang term for this: ‘meth mouth.’

What are some of the other appearance issues that can be of concern for those who use drugs? Here are just a few:

• Acne. Heroin and crystal meth are often cut with sugar, and acne forms in part due to the ingestion of oily or sweet things. When injected, the effect is even more apparent.
• Cysts. Drugs are cut with a host of different substances and the foreign toxins often build up to form cysts in the face or groin area as well as other parts of the body.
• Malnutrition. Few who take drugs and alcohol addictively get the nutrition they need through food or any other source. The result is saggy skin, a gaunt appearance, straggly hair, an unhealthy loss of weight and a lower immune system.
• Pock marks. Many meth addicts imagine that there are bugs under their skin or things itching them. They often dig at their faces and arms until they create open sores that eventually heal as pock marks.

How effective will the campaign be? Time will tell, but if the initial response is any indication, the “From Drugs to Mugs” project may save more than a few people from the devastating effects of drug addiction thanks to a healthy dose of vanity.