Therapist Unlimited Blog

What is benzo addiction and how is the drug taken?

Benzo is the commonly known abbreviation for the drug group known as benzodiazepines. These groups of drugs are tranquilizers, and the most commonly known ones of these are Valium and Xanex. They are legally available on prescription from medical practitioners, and they are commonly used to treat anxiety in patients. Benzo’s usually come in table form and are taken orally. When Benzo’s are being abused by drug abusers, they are typically used as a means of coming down from a high caused by another drug such as ecstasy, and therefore they are often seen as a social drug, forming part of a clubbing scene in some area. The effects of benzo’s (valium and xanex). The effects of benzo drugs will be the same as those of a sedative. Benzo drugs depress the nervous system and slow the body down. They also relieve any feelings of anxiety and tension in the person, and may promote a feeling of relaxation and general well being. Testing for Valium and xanex abuse is easy and reliable using a drug testing kit. The harmful effects of benzo drug abuse are that these drugs can be highly addictive. This is because of the nature of the effects. The abuser will feel pleasant and detached from their daily life and problems when they are taking it. Taking benzo drugs with alcohol is highly dangerous and may lead to an overdose. There are also unpleasant withdrawal symptoms when a person suddenly stops taking Valium or xanex. Another harmful effect of people abusing benzo drugs is that they or others can come to harm when taking them. Benzo drugs can cause confusion and acts as a sedative. This means that a person taking them does not always know what is going on around them. They could be robbed or attacked and not be able to defend themselves. There is also concern about benzo drugs being used in sex crimes, where a person will spike another’s drink with the drug. Testing for benzo drugs is possible using a drug testing kit which can be purchased easily, quickly and discreetly over the Internet.

Battling College Depression by Jacob Malewitz 

College students are apt to depression, because they a great deal of pressures. They are still growing up. They see the world and want to take it. They experience failure. They fall to drugs, receive poor grades, try to work a job and a full class load, and often forget why they are doing it. So, in order to battle depression as a college student, you must be mindful of how tough it is. Then you need to see if you really have depression. First, you need to be honest about your depression. Often during depression you become an introvert: staying alone, reading, staying up late nights, not seeing anyone for days. If any of this sounds familiar, you are close to a depression side. Drug use is obvious, but doing things like becoming anti-social are less so. There is a fine line for you between enjoying yourself and losing yourself. To battle this you must try at least once a week to do something you normally wouldnít do. This could be a coffee at a nice spot downtown, a football party, or going out to see a movie with someone. To avoid isolation, which leads to depression in many, you must develop inner points of recognition. When you want to isolate, and are close to doing it, you need to seek help from someone, anyone who will listen. Professional help is almost always the best method. This makes being alone sound bad. Sometimes you have to fight through a depression by yourself. A college student can do much by themselves, some things more positive than others. If you love reading, a good book could cheer you up. If you like going for walks or jogging, it could have major effects on the lingering depression-decreasing it in many ways. The other side of this is to not fill yourself with alcohol. Just like marijuana and cocaine, there is a comedown off anything intoxicating you put in your body. Too much coffee will make you edgy; too much alcohol can kill you. It can also be a way of self-medicating. Alcohol in moderation is fine, but can be a dangerous alternative during a college studentís depression. Battling depression in college is not about the quick-fix. You must be mindful of who you truly are, what you really like doing, and how to make choices. Depression will still come. How you deal with it when it does come can make the difference between a degree and a therapistís bill. In the end, professional help is the best means for defeating college depression before it leads into some worse, like schizophrenia or drug addiction.

The facts about barbiturates (downers) addiction.

What are barbiturates and how are they taken? Barbiturates are more commonly known as ‘downers’. They are part of a family of drugs that include amobarbital, pentobarbital and Phenobarbital. All these have their own street names, usually based on the color of the tablet. They act in a way similar to tranquilizers and are used in a similar way to come down after a high from another drug. While barbiturates are legally available by prescription of a medical practitioner, they are open to widespread abuse. They are addictive due to the feelings of well being that they can instill in the drug taker, as well as being used to counteract the effects of other drugs that form the street group ‘uppers’. They are usually available in tablet form, and are taken orally. What are the effects of barbiturates? The effects of the drugs that are known as barbiturates are similar to those of a sedative or tranquilizer. They instill feelings of warmth, relaxation and general well being into the drug user. Although barbiturates are also known as ‘downers’ they can cause the same sort of ‘high’ that can be obtained from getting drunk on alcohol. Getting the dose correct for barbiturates is very difficult and therefore self administering or abusing these drugs can be very dangerous indeed. It is easy to overdose on barbiturates. Testing for barbiturates is easy and reliable using a drug testing kit. These are available for purchase online, and give easy to read results. The harmful effects of barbiturates include feelings of confusion in the drug abuser, as well as staggering when walking as though drunk, and slurred speech. People who abuse this drug may also become very drowsy. In cases of overdose, coma or even death may occur, so it is essential to only take this drug under medical supervision, as it is difficult to estimate the dose. Drug testing kits that drug test for barbiturates are easy to purchase discreetly through the Internet, and the results obtained from these drug tests are reliable and easy to read.

Art and Drug Abuse: Steps to Creativity and Hope
By Jacob Malewitz

Art acts upon our inner artist, the one we push down. Drugs act on our insecurities, our painóand all while we forget who we are. There is a path between destroying your life and bringing out the inner artist. Creatively, art is the perfect route to this serenity, for after drug abuse your mind needs, more than anything, a creative art to focus on. This guide can help.

Calling Upon Pain:
In creating art, you will be calling upon pain from the past. Many famous writers are alcoholics or drug users. Some celebrated their drug use, making it seem this was the true path. It is a path Ö but to pain. This isnít to say the dark days have no purpose. You will call upon the pain to be your creative muse.
Whatever form of art you take onóit can be writing, painting, sketching, sculptingóitís important to choose one which will satisfy. You are trying to forget a dark time.

Forgetting Hell:
The dark days will mean so much to you. Maybe you used because of depression or because you just hated life. Art allows you to forget all that pain by bringing it out. Your artist centeróyour creative centerówill be stronger for this experience in hell. You will be a human being trying to make sense of this with a page, a canvass, or a piece of stone. Creatively, the best of us have experienced hell. If you escaped hell, itís time to remember heaven.

Remembering Heaven:
Even during drug addiction, something positive often happened to you. Maybe you used because of a severe mental illness like manic depression or schizophrenia. Yet perhaps you saw people giving you money for food, or encouraging you to quit drugs. Heaven, or any positive force in your life, was there all the while. Maybe you even picked something up while in the hell of addiction and created art. The purpose of a positive force is to find your way out of that hellóby expressing it with inspiration.

Before the Inspirations:
The inspirations will come for you. If you sit in front of a blank page long enough, you will see no point in it being blank anymore. Thatís the best thesis for creativity. Before the inspiration, decide what path you will take. This is important, as a different path means a different journey. Some will lead you back to the temptations of drugs or the pain of depression. Be careful where you step, as sometimes your art will bring things out of you, things you wished to forget.

All the Success:
How does an artist define happiness? When is creativity enough? I see as a simple rule: every day I stay away from drugs, and create art, I am successful. It doesnít mean I have to sell all my art or everyone has to love it. The art is a pathway out of the drug use. Drugs will change you, and show you the bad and good. Some of us take the pathway to heaven, while others fall all the way down the stairs, back to hell. Define your success anyway you want. And create your art the way you want.

I had the chance to read up a couple of real life situations about people and while reading about one of the stories in one of my favorite sites, I came to realize that I have encountered people who really lack empathy. Those people are the ones that I truly hate. Oftentimes I would think that they are very eccentric and only cares about themselves.

From the point of view of the people who got really hurt, the feeling of rejection is something that I do not even want to remember anymore. But then, after reading the story, I started to understand what the problem really is. But first, let me tell my side of the story.

I had a girlfriend back when I was in high school. We went steady for 8 long years. But then, I had to work. I was away most of the time because the nature of my job demanded most of my time. We only get to talk more during the weekends. After some time, she ended up cheating on me just when we already have plans of getting married. After a couple of months, I thought I was alright but I was wrong. Due to some strange twist of fate, I got in contact of this guy taht she cheated me with. Amazingly, I thought I was fine. But there was something that he said that made my inner self tick. I hated it. Here are his exact words:

“I just took her feelings into consideration. She loved me.”

Now that struck me like lightning and made me want to give him a barrage of heymakers that would make him literally unrecognizable and even Big John McCarthy could not stop me. It was good that I have maintained a decent friendly relationship with my former girlfriend because if we ended up bad, I might find myself locked up inside a cold prison cell because of homicide.

Having said that, I realized how self-centered he is. If I was in his position, I would never say such a thing. What was he thinking?

I knew right there and then that I needed some counseling. My mind was pretty messed up that time. I felt really good when my therapist told me that she understood how I felt. It was actually nice to know that someone understood me well. To be honest, it felt good.

It was then that I realized that I was faking all the time. I faked that I understood my girlfriend for what she did to me. I got mad but only for a while because I badly wanted her back. I faked when I said I understood her but I never really did.

Right now, I can clearly say that I am suffering from empathy deficiency disorder. After all this time, it was me all along. I’m working on resolving this problem and I am hoping that one day, I would come to understand things more. But I now that when I learn to emphatize, I would end up feeling hurt like what others feel. Maybe, I would truly understand why she left and empathize. It’s quite hard but then that is the answer that I have to find.

Well, this story happened a couple of months ago. And guess what, I finally learned to understand. More importantly, I learned how to forgive. And top it off, I got her back. It’s a win-win situation.

According to a new research, asthma is significantly linked to suicidal thoughts and attempts. But then when mental health conditions and smoking comes into play, this theory is somehow weakened.

There were a number of studies that have shown an increase in the rates of suicidal thoughts and attempts among people who have asthma and other respiratory ailments. However, there is still no concrete evidence why this is happening.

During the investigation of researchers on an analysis of data that was gathered from 5692 individuals, there were an overall rate of 8.7 percent who had suicidal ideas without actual attempts at some point in their lives and there were 4.2 percent of them who had the idea but somewhat attempted to take their own lives. There were many factors that correlated with the suicidal thoughts. These factors include younger age, being female, current smoking, dependence in nicotine, major depression and alcohol abuse.

Asthma was associated with suicidal ideation with suicide attempts according to researchers. However, the strength of the link went down with the adjustment for smoking, nicotine dependence, age, sex and race. But then, we could not count out the possibility of depression, panic disorder and alcohol intoxication.

However, as they concluded, there is still a major link between asthma and suicidal tendencies with attempts involved. But, more research needs to be conducted to make the link stronger. As an additional finding, if we could just modify the use of cigarettes and make use of effective treatment of depression, anxiety, alcohol abuse and asthma are important in preventing suicide.

Written by: Lisa Kift

People who suffer with the distressing symptoms of anxiety often experience rumination, or recurrent worry and thought spinning. This can greatly impact sleep and daily living. The negative cyclical thinking tends to have a spiraling effect - where the person ends up at the worst possible scenario - “Something bad will happen to me,” or “She’s going to leave me…,” etc. There is often absolutely no evidence to support the beliefs yet the emotional reactivity they stir up makes them feel very real to the person thinking them!
If you feel invaded by fear based thinking, here are some steps you can take to get the thoughts out of your head right now:

1) Anchor your awareness in the present by taking slow deep breaths, keeping focused on your breathing. Do so for several minutes.
2) Notice your feelings and label them. Think of the “big four,” mad, sad, glad and afraid.
3) Acknowledge the feelings rather than try to push them away as you continue to breathe deeply.
4) Give yourself a break. Imagine how you might be with a friend who was struggling in the same way you are. Would you be compassionate? Empathetic? Be the same way with yourself.
5) Breathe slowly for another minute or so as you refocus your attention to the day.

These steps will provide the framework for a good start in decreasing thought spinning. There are a lot of other great tools that can be learned to use on your own. In my work with people struggling with anxiety, a combination of family of origin exploration and cognitive behavioral therapy has been highly effective in diminishing the effects of many types of anxiety.

Lisa Brookes Kift is an Individual and Relationship Therapist in San Diego who helps people resolve their individual issues and have more satisfying relationships. See more of her mental health and relationship articles, tips, tools and advice at http://www.lisakifttherapy.com.

Just recently, I stumbled upon a pretty funny and disturbing news. There was this Canadian guy who filed a lawsuit after he found two dead flies in an unopened bottle of drinking water. His reason? He said that after that unpleasant sight, he already suffered psychological damage which includes depression, phobia, anxiety and said that it has inflicted damage to his sex life.

Waddah Mustapha filed the bottling company but Canada’s Supreme Court dismissed the case.

On my own futile opinion, I think that the sight may have triggered something in the past that made him suffer psychological problems. It could be an unpleasant experience somewhere in the past. I guess he should see a psychiatrist to discuss this matter because it may not be just at this time that he would experience this problem. There are a lot of flies in the world and of course, he could still see a lot of dead ones once in a while. The sooner he gets medical attention, the better.

None of us has unlimited time. Professionals or executives often find themselves in a pressure-cooker environment as they manage people, make costly decisions or determine directions of their organizations - on top of their obligations to family and friends. How they manage their time is critical to how they will be able to manage their stress – and more and more admit that stress is impacting their jobs, emotional life, relationships and ultimately their health.

The first step in managing stress is to become more aware of all of the things that trigger it. Keep a stress journal documenting all of your stressors for one week. Don’t forget to include the less obvious stressors like commuting or family arguments. This way you at least have a starting point to do some self examination of your stress – and then figure out how you’re going to cope. Obviously, some stressors will not change and must be accepted - but others might benefit from being adjusted to lessen their impact.

Time management and effective delegation are two of the leading ways to combat unusually stressed professionals in higher level positions. In addition, learning tools to counteract the body’s “fight or flight” response associated with the unhealthy type of stress should be implemented.

Lisa Brookes Kift is an Individual and Relationship Therapist in San Diego who helps people resolve their individual issues and have more satisfying relationships. Learn about Lisa’s practice or read more of her mental health and relationship articles, tips and tools at http://www.lisakifttherapy.com.

Just when I thought the western style of living is only affecting the United States, China has proven me wrong. The food and the style of living of the westerners has clearly made a mark in the Chinese population (especially the children). China’s “little emperors” are literally growing bigger. One in five children are overweight and seven percent are obese.

According to observers and researchers, only the United States have higher numbers. They are blaming the fact that children spend time eating more food and ice cream but are lacking the necessary exercise routines to burn off the calories. Also, there is the fact that when poor people eventually make their way to becoming rich, they tend to eat and consume more food than they usually have. This is a natural phenomenon that is pretty hard to overcome.

One way to fight obesity among the Chinese children is to make them work some household chores. Get them to move. Obese and overweight kids most likely do not fix their own bed in the morning.

If this goes on, obesity will become a major problem in China.