Services: Alcohol & Drug Addiction
by Marty Brenner, CCDC
Depression, anxiety and chronic anger can have a devastating impact on a relationship, even destroying them. Aggressive behavior can have a negative spin on our efforts to communicate, leading to further misunderstanding and angry feelings. When alcohol and/or drugs are added into the mix it becomes worse.
People who have a tendency to become upset and further act out those feelings, often become more aggressive when they’ve had alcohol or other substances. In a research study involving a number of male social drinkers, in which some were given different amounts of alcohol, while some were not allowed any alcohol. It was discovered that those with alcohol in their system, tended to be more aggressive. Addictive substances such as, alcohol, have shown to fuel destructive rages, allowing addicts to express their angry feelings in abusive ways. It can also lead to unwanted or overpowering feelings of need or unfulfilled desires. Click here to read more »
 Why Do We Notice When Addicts Have Multiple Addictions?
By Marty Brenner CCDC
Because They Often Lash Out!
Coping with addiction presents significant challenges for anyone; dealing with multiple addictions presents often seemingly insurmountable problems for the addicted, their families and everyone around them.
The factors that make people susceptible to one addiction, unfortunately, open them to other addictions as well, and one of the maladies that those suffering from multiple addictions manifest is anger or rage addiction. Along with treatment to mitigate other addictions, anger addiction rehab is often necessary to help addicts change their lives. Click here to read more »
 For a good example of an emotional and career meltdown fueled by a combination of stress and anger, there’s no better current example than the professional ‘suicide’ committed by actor Charlie Sheen. Sheen’s February 24 rant on radio against Chuck Lorre, creator of the popular TV show “Two and a Half Men”, and nominally his boss, was the bridge too far, causing his attorney to receive an 11-page termination letter for the mercurial star.
A High Performing Family is Perhaps a Source of Stress
Born Carlos Irwin Estevez on September 3, 1965, the youngest son of actor Martin Sheen, whose real name is Ramon Gerardo Antonio Estevez, he anglicized his first name and adopted his father’s stage name. Sheen’s father, son of an Irish mother and a Spanish father, took the stage name Sheen in order to get acting parts, often denied ethnic performers. Sheen comes from a family of actors, beginning with his father, and his siblings, Emilio, Ramon and Renee, who all perform under their real name, Estevez.
Signs of Instability Have Been Evident for a Long Time
Charlie Sheen’s personal life has been long marked with signs of an inability to control personal emotions. In 1990, for instance, he accidentally shot his fiancée, Kelly Preston in the arm. He has also been linked with a number of pornographic film actresses. He reportedly suffers from a serious drug addiction, and while on probation for a drug offense in 1998, had to be admitted to a hospital for a cocaine overdose. Sheen also has a record of physical and verbal abuse of spouses, and has been sentenced by the court to undergo anger management classes. Click here to read more »
Are doctors responsible?
 Each year in the United States, approximately seven million people will use prescription drugs for non-medical purposes, and of that number, nearly 10% will obtain and use these drugs illegally. In a 1998 study, 1.6 million people reported using prescription drugs non-medically at least once. In 2006, 7.0 million people, or 2.8% of the U.S. population abused one or more prescription medications.
Misuse of prescription medications has become a serious health problem in the U.S., leading heroin and cocaine as the cause of death from overdose in 2008.
The most commonly abused prescription drugs are:
- Painkillers like OxyContin and Vicodin
- Tranquilizers or depressants like Valium and Xanax
- Stimulants like Ritalin
Addiction to prescription drugs usually follows some illness or injury for which the drug is prescribed. The patient, once addicted, finds himself in need of the drug long after the original illness has subsided, and can suffer severe withdrawal pain and discomfort when it is not available. Abusers often take cocktails of two or more medications, or drugs in combination with alcohol, sometimes with fatal consequences as in the case of actor Heath Ledger. Click here to read more »
 It can be very hard to recognize a substance abuse problem. Denial is the first thing that springs from the lips of anyone with a problem or from those close to them. No one would like to think that abuse is a part of their life or the life of anyone close to them.
How do you know what’s abuse? Often you don’t. But in the heart of anyone who has a friend or relation with a problem, there is a knowing. And it is that knowing heart that makes a difference. Can you help the person, even if it is yourself? Maybe and maybe not.
Sometimes it’s a matter of both having a problem and one not wanting to confront the other. You should give it up, but not me, I’m fine. It’s a difficult situation.
I have known several of my relations that seemed to have a problem. I would never accuse them of anything like it because it is not my place. Substance abuse is the most personal of matters. Some have given up the use of alcohol and all have given up any kind of street drug.
On the other hand, some have seemed to incorporate the use of prescription drugs and alcohol into their lives. In some cases, it seems to be working. They have successful lives and families. They seem to handle it. I think there is a hard line about addiction that maybe needs to be a little more forgiving. I’m not endorsing drugs at all, but legal alcohol and prescription drugs may be a way of coping that does not find much forgiveness in our modern world. Click here to read more »
How Addiction Affects the Powerful
 So many people wrongly assume that addiction is a problem that plagues the weak and the poor. Addiction does not leave anyone out. In fact, the rich and the powerful have their fair share of problems with addiction. They just have more resources to conceal and deal with the problems.
Whether it’s drugs, alcohol, gambling, sex or anger, addiction is as real for the homeless man living on the street as it is for the high school student, a nurse at your local hospital and a top executive or celebrity. People from all walks of life are insecure about the times we’re living in. The constant news of a worsening economy, lost jobs, the foreclosure crisis and war weighs heavy on everyone’s minds. Click here to read more »
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