Tag Archive for: alcohol addiction

Parents of Addicted Teens: Acceptance VS Condoning

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Parental Instinct and Using Emotion to Fuel Action

When we find out our child is using or has fallen into the trouble of addiction, our initial reaction may be disgust, resistance, anger, guilt, and stress. Unfortunately, these reactions are not going to help. It is best to channel any emotions into action and refrain from trying to understand cause and effect. Trying to understand the “why” from the get-go can make us miss chances for intervention.

With the knowledge that our child needs help, we must understand the difference between acceptance and condoning the drug or alcohol abuse. Acceptance is recognizing the reality of the situation without attempting to protest it or change it while condoning is allowing behavior that is morally wrong or offensive to continue despite its ramifications.

At Fresh Start of California, we understand the difficult place that a child’s addiction can put a parent in. We know how precarious it is to make the right choices and worry about the wrong ones. Let us help you and your child have a fighting chance against addiction.

Contact the Orange County detox and rehabilitation specialists at Fresh Start of California for addiction recovery options and where to start. Call our team today.

What Does Acceptance Look Like?

Acceptance may look like seeking help, offering ways to avoid use, arranging counseling, or intervention. There are many ways to work with your child to fight against the power of addiction including:

  • Finding motivation for abstaining from the use
  • Finding ways to limit peer pressure in a manner that supports recovery
  • Seeking an understanding of motives for use, such as: is it for fun? For acceptance by peers? Or self-medication for mental or emotional distress?
  • Offer an incentivized challenge for quitting, or for abstaining for a certain period.
  • Set house rules and guidelines with consequences with the knowledge that the user may continue.

Acceptance may look different for every family, but the key is to have an understanding with your teen that you are on their side and that you are going to help them through the path of recovery.

What Does Condoning Look Like?

Condoning the behavior of an addict, even your child, is often the result of a few different factors: a parent ‘s drug or alcohol abuse or addiction, the desire to be friends more than a parent figure, the notion that the home is a safe space for experimentation. Condoning behavior may look like:

  • Using drugs or drinking with your teen
  • Allowing your teen to use or drink at your house
  • Supplying alcohol or drugs to your teen or teen’s friends
  • Raising your child around drug or alcohol use
  • Not being conscious of censoring your drug or alcohol use

It is important to understand the implications of condoning the addictive behavior of a teen user. Our teens deserve a fighting chance at life after recovery.

A Fighting Chance with Fresh Start of California

Our Orange County team of detox and recovery professionals can help you connect with the resources you need to get your child through. Recovery and abstaining from drug or alcohol use may require different commitments of a teen than an adult. Our specialists understand that as a parent, you will need help navigating the rehabilitation process alongside your team. Let the experts at Fresh Start of California help you when the ones you love most are in trouble.

Contact Fresh Start of California in Orange County today.

Increase Your Knowledge: Its Alcohol Awareness Month

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Knowledge is Power in the Fight Against Alcoholism

Alcohol is a factor in more than half of American homicides, suicides, and traffic accidents. It is a key factor in many domestic, relational, and financial problems including crimes against family members or spouses. It is often the reason for job loss, financial loss, property loss, and destroyed relationships.

Alcohol awareness month provides a platform for education, addiction treatment and recognition of recovery for all who recognize it. One way to combat alcoholism and to highlight the detrimental effects of drinking is to spread knowledge. Fresh Start of California is your source for Orange County addiction and recovery, and we are happy to help our community increase their knowledge of the truth about alcohol.

Reach out to the team at Fresh Start of California and take the first step in recovery.

Alcohol’s Effects: What Is Your Drink Doing to You?

Alcohol is often considered the social lubricant, “helping” drinkers get comfortable in social situations, open up to friends and loved ones, and be more apt to have fun. But, in reality, it inhibits the gut feelings and instincts that protect us from danger and keep us from saying things that may be left unsaid.

It is the cause of many negative reactions to its poison including:

  • Mood changes
  • Impaired vision
  • Impaired speech
  • Loss of balance
  • Loss of coordination
  • Loss of inhibition
  • Impaired reaction to danger

These are all signs of acute alcohol or being drunk. We are often affected by alcohol to a point of self-endangerment before we even feel the “positive” effects of social ease.

Alcohol Use Disorder: Signs and Effects of Alcohol Abuse

Alcohol use disorder is characterized by increased tolerance for alcohol, physical dependence, loss of control and loss of limitation of the consumption of alcohol. Many alcoholics or those who suffer from alcohol abuse disorder are thought to be genetically predisposed to the disease, while also being influenced by their physical and psychological environment as well as social cues and pressures. A person’s risk of alcoholism increases by 3-4 times if a parent is an alcoholic.

Alcoholism can involve binge drinking on occasion, drinking moderate amounts daily or a combination of the two.

Chronic alcohol abuse can cause numerous physical ailments that include: 

  • Liver damage
  • High blood pressure
  • Heart failure
  • Stomach ulcers
  • Impotence
  • Fetal alcohol syndrome
  • Cancer of the larynx, esophagus, liver, breast, or pancreas

Not only does chronic alcohol abuse cause disease and physical changes, but it also greatly affects the function of the brain and changes the brain’s chemistry.

Treatment is Available: The Time to Change Is Now

No matter how long a person has been addicted to alcohol or has abused alcohol in his or her life, there is always a reason to get help. Treatment and recovery can repair families, can mend and reestablish relationships and can provide a new life. There are many options when it comes to addiction recovery and healing from the conditions that caused alcohol abuse in the first place.

Treatment for alcoholism and other addictions may include:

  • Inpatient or medically assisted detox
  • Inpatient or outpatient rehabilitation
  • Short term residential treatment
  • Outpatient counseling
  • Group and individual therapy
  • 12-step programs
  • Medication to help remain sober after recovery
  • Support groups
  • Sponsorship and one-on-one mentoring

You Are Not Alone

If you are ready to make a change, reach out to our Orange County rehabilitation and addiction specialists are Fresh Start of California. We are here to help you every step of the way. It is our goal to help our patients find a new way to live without the chains and shackles of addiction and alcoholism.

Contact Fresh Start of California today.

5 Signs of Alcohol Addiction

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What Does Alcohol Addiction Look Like?

Does someone you know appear to have a problem with alcohol? Are you wondering if you are addicted to alcohol? Alcohol addiction has many signs and symptoms, some may be stronger than others and some may depend on the severity of the addiction. Whether it is your loved one, yourself or someone you know, there are some universal signs of alcohol abuse that will help you make a determination. These signs will help you to know when you or a loved one needs help. 5 Signs of Alcohol Addiction

If you know you need help, or your loved one is ready to seek recovery, the time is now. Our addiction specialists at Fresh Start of California in Orange County can help you or your loved one through the detox and rehabilitation process. 

We are available 24/7 to take your call. Call Fresh Start of California now. 

5 Signs of Alcohol Addiction or Abuse

It is never too early to pay attention to the signs of alcohol abuse. Alcohol addiction can spiral out of control and seeing the warning signs just may save your loved one’s life. Although alcohol abuse may not yet reach the point of addiction or dependency, it is still important to watch for the signs and to get treatment when possible. One factor that determines the difference between abuse and addiction is the person’s ability to control when, where and how much he or she drinks. In addition, addiction is the point at which the body is physically dependent upon the substance to function due to prolonged exposure and bodily adaptation to the substance in the system. 

What are the 5 signs of alcohol addiction?

  1. Experiencing legal problems due to drinking such as disorderly conduct, driving under the influence (DUI), drunk in public or other legal problems associated with alcohol use.
  2. Drinking despite its danger to life such as drinking and driving, drinking while taking medication, drinking despite doctor’s orders or drinking and operating heavy machinery. 
  3. Drinking despite its damages on your relationships with family, your marriage, your friendships, and your business relationships. 
  4. Drinking tolerance, meaning drinking more than most other people without feeling the effects of the alcohol, and drinking more than previously needed to feel the same effects. 
  5. Feelings of withdrawal associated with lack of alcohol in the system such as shakes, vomiting, insomnia, irritability, depression, anger, sweating or loss of appetite. 

When You Need Help, We Are Here.

If you recognize these signs in yourself or someone else, it is time to get help. There is no better time than right now to reach out and save your life or the life of a loved one. Fresh Start of California in Orange County has the facility, medical and psychological professionals and support that can guide a person through recovery and into a new life. We are here to help you or your loved one with the alcohol detox process and through rehabilitation. Addiction does not have to be the end. 

If you see behavior that indicates addiction, don’t wait until it is too late. Call the team at Fresh Start of California today.