I guess when you’ve been there, you kind of understand.

My good friends are going through a situation right now with their kids that I’ve experienced. They’re doing what I did and what so many other parents do. They’re keeping quiet, between themselves. They’re not talking to others about it because it’s just too painful or because they think it makes them look like bad parents.

When your child needs drug treatment the last thing you want to do is let others know about it. And yet, the best thing you can do is let others know about it. You’d be surprised how many people have been through what you are experiencing. You’d be even more surprised at how powerful prayer can be when a community comes together to support you.

I’m going to call my friends. Please pray that the right words come out of my mouth.

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I’ve been working here and there on a new blog. I’ve owned the domain for 4 years, attempted to get it up and running before but then scrapped it and started over. the CMS software I was using was a bit more than I needed, I think, and not as easy to use as WordPress.

I’ve finally found a theme that I like and I’ve even located a few graphics that I’d like to use in a header. I’m going to ask the artists if I can use them and whichever says yes, I’ll go with that. So, everything is falling together.

My new blog will be a niche blog: addiction. I’ll be writing the main blog dealing with my own addcition to and recovery from nicotine, my co-dependence, as well as general topics such as drug treatment, helpful groups, interesting sites, laws, etc.

Hopefully, I’ll also be able to include a forum later for those who want a place to talk about this very important issue as well as a directory of helpful links and a download section.

I’ll make the announcement here when the blog goes live, so stay tuned. And please, feel free to comment here if you have any suggestions or want to donate artwork for this project.

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Although I don’t blog about it regularly, I have mentioned here before that I am the mother of a recovering addict. My child was very young when he started experimenting with drugs and was quite young when he began treatment. With four years of sobriety under his belt, he is doing well but he knows he will always be “in recovery” and never cured. It’s the nature of the disease.

My son and our family were fortunate that he got into trouble with the law and landed in the juvenile justice system. Why is that good fortune? Simple: had my son not been arrested as a juvenile, I never would have known how or where to get him help. The sad fact is many teens and adults struggle throughout their lives with addiction, never knowing where to begin in searching for assistance. Most of the time the average person just muddles through, watching a loved one fall deeper and deeper into the addiction pit.

I’m thrilled to report, though, that there is a service for addicts and their families that will assist in finding treatment. 1 800 no drugs is a referral service that is absolutely free of charge. Their mission is to help every addict find the best treatment possible, from intervention to outpatient or inpatient rehab. I’m most impressed with their understanding of chronic relapse and their assistance in finding appropriate aftercare services. I know that with my son, his aftercare worker was instrumental in helping him to remain drug-free after his inpatient rehab stay. Aftercare is vital to long term recovery.

If you are addicted or love someone who is, please visit 1 800 no drugs to discover the help that is available. If money is an issue, be sure to fill out the financing form to see what options are available to you.

Although this is a sponsored post, I am grateful for the opportunity to help others dealing with addiction by promoting this vital, free service. Please consider blogging about this as well. We need to spread the word.

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One topic that I tend to write about more often than others is drug addiction. Twenty years ago, I would have laughed if you told me that my life and my family would be touched by addiction. After all, I was a good mother, actively involved in my kids’ lives. I stayed at home with them and did all the things that “good” mothers do. And yet, it didn’t matter. Addiction is like that.

The one thing I will be always grateful for is the rehab center where my son found recovery. While many of the addicts that go through the program relapsed, my son has remained clean for four years. It really isn’t about that particular rehab program; it’s about the addicts desire to get clean. I couldn’t make my son want to stop using; the people at the rehab center couldn’t force my son to accept what they were telling him. He had to make the choice himself. Nevertheless, I know that had he not gone into rehab, my son would have kept using until he was dead.

I really love telling you all about various rehab centers around the country. It’s amazing how many are out there that get virtually no attention at all. Those who need the services most never know where to turn. Parents and spouses run into so many brick walls when trying to find long term drug rehab so when I learn of one that looks promising, I mention it here. If it helps just one person, that’s good enough for me.

Gatehouse Academy has locations in Arizona, New York and Ontario. The Wickenburg, Arizona clinic is located in a ranch like setting while the Sarasota New York facility is surrounded by pastures and embraces strong, positive values. The Thunder Bay, Ontario clinic is located in one of Canada’s sunniest spots with beautiful mountains surrounding the Slate River Valley.

What really caught my eye at the website, though, was the promotion of a book, Underbelly; The Palm Beach No One Talks About, written and photographed by the father of a Gatehouse Academy graduate. After reading a little about the book and the author, I clicked over to the Underbelly website to read more.

I’m going to be checking my library for this book. If I can’t find it there and I end up buying it, I think I may donate it to the library after reading it. My thoughts about Palm Beach are no different than author David Geliebter suggests most people have. I just never realized there was a poverty stricken, addicted side to the posh facade that we all know. This looks to be such an interesting read.

If you care about drug abuse and those afflicted with the disease, if you know someone struggling now, please take a look at this site. There is quite a bit of excellent information there. In fact, there’s so much to read at the Gatehouse Academy site that I plan to read through the site more thoroughly and post about it again. If you notice something there that interests you, please let me know so I can look it over, too.

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I’m working on getting my addictions blog up and running. I do believe there are many more people affected by addiction – either their own or that of a loved one – than most of us realize. I’ve been blogging here off and on about addiction and drug abuse in the news, in society and in terms of services available. But I’ve found so much good information online that I think I need to branch out into a separate niche blog. Until then, I’ll keep posing here because this stuff is just too important to ignore.

It seems unbelievable to me that it’s been over 3 years since my own child was in a drug rehab facility. I remember the details of that time so clearly. The anguish of addiction is not something that you forget easily. Watching the destruction of a life that you helped create impacts you forever. One of the things I recall is the urgency I felt while searching for a facility for my son.

At the time, I worked in tech support for an ISP. I knew computers and the internet. I knew how to search, how to use keywords. And yet, when it came to finding a facility for my son, I was unsure of how to proceed. I knew that finding the right place was key to my son’s success. I knew that there was no guarantee that we’d get a second or third chance to help him. To this day, I have no idea how I managed to find the right place for my son at the right time. It had to be the prayers because I certainly didn’t know how to evaluate the places I found online.

For those who are searching for rehab for a loved one or for themselves, there are some wonderful sites that make the search less daunting. I’ve looked over the 4Rehabilitation site and I’m impressed with what I’ve seen. For anyone not familiar with addiction or the terms, the information here is excellent. Easy to understand and accurate, there’s no sensationalism or propaganda, just facts. I was really impressed with the sections on Marijuana, which some sites get totally wrong, and Heroin, which is a serious problem in my area.

One of the toughest steps in getting a loved one the help they need is breaking through the denial and convincing them to actually want help. If this is something you’re concerned with, the section on intervention is a wealth of information. Do consider this step with a professional to lead the way. There is a fine line between breaking through an addict’s denial and ganging up on your addicted loved one. A professional can keep you on the right side of that fine line.

Before you give up on ever finding help, please ask for a free evaluation to see if there is help available. If money is an issue, you can also apply for financial assistance with an online form. There is help available and with the non-profit 4Rehabilitation referral service, finding that help is just a bit easier.

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After reviewing the site for addiction detox I got to thinking about various celebrities who have been in and out of rehab. Up until now I’ve felt a great deal of compassion for them. These young men and women are the same age as some of my kids, which explains some of my maternal feelings. And then there’s the whole thing with having dealt with this with my own child. So yes, I could empathize.

But today I’m a bit irked by these celebs. They each have more than enough money to pay for the best drug treatment around. They can travel anywhere in the world for their treatment. And yet it seems that drug rehab is nothing more than a way to get the courts off of their backs. They do it for publicity or to appease someone. They’re not doing it because they want to get clean.

Why does that irritate me? Well, I can walk around the 8 blocks that make up my neighborhood and run out of fingers counting the number of young people, from age 15 to 30, who are desperate for help with their addictions but can’t afford it. With no insurance and only a modest income, drug rehab is just a hope. Likewise, I know quite a number of alcoholics who would gladly commit to 90 days or more of treatment, except they can’t afford the treatment let alone to not work for those 90 days. When you have a family to support, how do you take a three month leave of absence?

So there are people who desire a clean life. There are people who would do the hard work to get clean and stay clean, but they just can’t afford it. And then there are those who can afford it but only go through the motions to get out of a jail sentence or to get their kids back from the ex-husband.

I do have compassion for those who are addicted and are trying to get clean. But I’m fast losing any patience for those who are fortunate enough to have help available but choose instead to waste the opportunity.

Tell you what Britney, Lindsey or whoever, next time you think of going into a drug rehabilitation place for publicity’s sake, give me a call and I’ll put you in touch with someone who really wants and needs the help. You can pay for them to go for treatment while you continue to kill yourself slowly. Deal?

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We’ve all read about the substance abuse and drug rehab stints of celebrities like Lindsey Lohan and Britney Spears. Most of us are tired of hearing about it, in fact. That’s a shame, really. Substance abuse – whether it’s drugs or alcohol, is a major problem and really does deserve more attention than it gets. Contrary to any reports that claim that drug abuse and alcoholism is not getting worse, the reality in most neighborhoods across this country is that kids are getting involved with drugs and drinking at younger and younger ages. Anyone who has read my blog for any length of time knows that one of my children has been in recovery for over three years. I have experience with drug abuse and rehab that I’d rather have just avoided.

Before my son entered drug rehab, he was tested for drugs in his system. He was required to be clean for the week prior to entering the facility. That struck me as odd, given the difficulty in getting clean and staying clean in the beginning. I’m sure it had to do with proving that he was committed to the recovery process but it sure would have been good if there had been a detox program in place.

I’ve just read over the site for Summer House in Miami, Florida. Summer House is a detox facility that focuses on a dignified approach to aiding the addict in those first very difficult days and weeks. Rather than treating the addict with a cold, sterile environment and simply observing the “cold turkey” process, Summer House provides as much comfort, both physically and emotionally, as possible to help the addict through the detoxification process. From acupuncture to massage therapy, Summer House focuses on the best interest of the client

I know this may seem controversial as an approach, but when you consider that any type of drug rehab has pretty low success rates, you can’t help but wonder if a different approach may work. Some believe that you have to feel the pain and harsh reality of detoxifying; Summer House believes that there is no reason to be miserable while trying to make your life better. By bringing comfort to addicts during this most difficult phase of recovery, Summer House hopes to lay a foundation of good health and well-being that the recovering addict or alcoholic will commit to maintaining for life. With over 10 years of experience in detoxification, Summer House will administer proven medications to ease the withdrawal symptoms and wean the addict from these medications slowly over time. At the end of treatment, each client is given special amino acid supplements so they may continue on with their drug rehab in the most healthy way.

My only personal experience with breaking an addiction is cigarettes. I still remember the fear I had in the weeks leading up to my quit date. I was afraid of being without my best friend and I was afraid of the misery of quitting. I know how important the comfort of my family was at that time and I imagine that many addicts would be more inclined to succeed in those initial weeks with the kind of support and dignity that Summer House provides. Fear of discomfort is a primary stumbling block to getting clean; Summer House addresses that fear by providing comfort at the most important time in a recovering addicts treatment.

From what I’ve read at the Summer House website, this program works in conjunction with most other drug rehab programs like 12-step fellowships. Summer House is a dignified and compassionate first step in reclaiming a life that had been lost to addiction. If you or someone you love suffers from addiction, please contact Summer House via their toll free number, their live online help or their online contact form for more information. Please take the first step.

This is a sponsored post.

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This day is almost over but there’s still time to join thousands of bloggers today who are joining together to end abuse. Some have written about elderly abuse or spousal abuse, animal abuse and child abuse. I covered dog abuse on my other blog. Here, I want to alert everyone to the increasing problem of drug abuse in this country.

When I was a teen, many of us experimented with drugs. We smoked pot, maybe tried a few harder drugs, drank before we should. When I got married and started a family, I stopped all of that. It never occurred to me that some of my friends did not stop. I didn’t realize that some of my friends would become addicted. I’d never heard of addiction; I didn’t understand it or how devastating it could be.

Today, I am a mother of a recovering addict. My child has been clean for 3 years and 7 months, thanks in large part to a wonderful drug rehab facility. During the past 4 years, I’ve been to over a dozen funerals of children who did not make it to recovery. These children had spent countless hours at my house, watching cartoons, playing Nintendo. Some were the children of people I’d known since we were just kids ourselves.

I don’t live in a big city. This is small town West Virginia. Yes, we’re within a short distance from large cities but life here is more simple. At least it used to be. It isn’t about a little pot now. Our kids are addicted to the hard drugs. Heroin. Crack. Coke. Crystal Meth.

And it isn’t just kids from “bad” homes or underprivileged families. It isn’t the troublemakers at school, the special ed kids or whatever stereotype you may think. These are kids whose families are middle or upper class. They’re football and basketball players, the cheerleaders, the band members, kids in the chess club. They’re smart, they graduate early and go to college. They just don’t finish college because even though they think they’re “handling it” they’re not.

I know there are those who point fingers at addicts, believing addiction is a weakness or character flaw. I know plenty of people who blame parents and practically break their arms patting themselves on the back because their own children made it through without becoming an addict. That makes me sad because the odds are that even these saintly folks and model parents will be touched by addiction sooner or later. The statistics are against them.

Regardless of the debate, I’m convinced that addiction is a disease. The disease is treatable but part of the treatment is to abstain from the substance of addiction. It is not curable. Think of it like diabetes. You don’t cure diabetes but you can treat it and learn to live with it. You just have to abstain from those foods that cause you problems (like sugar).

I would love to see communities joining together to bring real drug treatment facilities to the communities that need them. The Not In My Back Yard crowd needs to realize that drug use and abuse and selling and buying is going on right in their back yards now, and maybe in their very own homes. Drug treatment facilities don’t bring in more “undesirables” but rather help to bring good people back to society.

If you’ve read my ramblings thus far I thank you. Please consider making a donation to a drug rehab facility near you, especially one that assists those who do not have insurance coverage. Many who want help are unable to afford the necessary treatment. If you are not sure of which facility is worth a donation, please consider Gateway Rehab in Aliquippa PA. I can vouch for their program. I owe them more than I can ever hope to give.

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My previous post about Lindsey Lohan, her recent arrest and her dire need for effective drug rehab raised the ire of one Santa Monica resident. At least that’s where she claims to live; she didn’t provide a URL so I’m not sure who she is. Anyway.

This woman, Cynthia, seems to fear for her life with Lindsey Lohan on the road. She also wants Lindsey to do hard time for her crime. Uh, okay.

First, I’m not sure that Lindsey Lohan is the only danger on the roads of Santa Monica. I’ve never been there so I could be wrong. I’m taking an educated guess that Miss Lohan is one of several – maybe several hundred – drunk drivers who pass through this California city. I’m just not certain that keeping her away from Santa Monica will ensure safe travels for the law abiding citizens and visitors.

Don’t misunderstand. Lindsey broke the law and needs to be punished. She also has a very serious addiction problem and needs to be treated. Of course I want to keep her off the roads – of every city and town, not just one – because driving under the influence is dangerous to herself and others. However, for the life of me I cannot understand the rage from Cynthia in her comment to me. Does she become this enraged when Mr. Joe Blow or Miss Ima Nobody gets picked up for DUI? If so, I think Cynthia needs to calm down because all that anger will do more damage to herself than anyone else. Drunk driving is a problem everywhere in this country. We should insist the judges enforce the laws already on the books. That would be a constructive outlet for Cynthia’s anger, I think.

Anyway, I’d love to know the real reason for Cynthia’s rage. I just don’t think she’s going to open up about that.

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Will someone close to this girl please step up to the plate and do the right thing? Her father is a convicted felon and her mother is much too caught up in her own self to really care about Lindsey. Is there no one who cares about the person in the headlines?

Look, I’m not naive. I don’t believe that love can cure Lindsey’s or anyone else’s addiction. I don’t even believe that “good parents” could have prevented this. I do know, however, that if someone doesn’t intervene soon, this girl is going to destroy herself.

I’d love to see someone stand up to her. Is there a judge in her future who will not be influenced by the Lohan name? Can we get this girl locked up for a while and then released to in patient treatment for at least 6 months? Too long, you say? I think not. She’s had her chance and she’s proven she doesn’t have the tools to stay clean and sober. Maybe she’ll never get clean and sober but we’ll never know that if someone doesn’t at least try to help her.

Every mother of an addict is feeling pain for this young lady right now. We’ve suffered through the pain of our child’s addiction and learned our own 12 steps in order to survive. Those of us with recovering addicts in our families know, too, that we did play a part in our child’s recovery. Family counseling, group meetings, learning the right way to live with an addict, all played a part in our child’s recovery. Lindsey doesn’t have that kind of parental support, apparently. I can’t imagine the odds when your own parents are sabotaging your recovery efforts.

Before anyone ridicules Lindsey Lohan or passes her off as a spoiled kid with too much money and time on her hands, please keep in mind that there are millions of Lindsey Lohans across this country, except they don’t have the money or fame. Addiction doesn’t really care if you have money or not. We need to care about each and every child being destroyed by this national epidemic. Lives are being lost and no one seems to care.

Let’s stop despising addicts and labeling them as worthless or lazy. Let’s see addiction for the disease that it is and try to find a way to treat those who suffer from it while supporting those who are affected by a loved one’s addiction. Let’s not forget that Lindsey Lohan, like all addicts, is a girl who needs help.

ETA:Just read this article about Lindsey at CNN.com and all I can say is “rubbish!” Lindsey and Britney are not mocking rehab. They’re behaving like any addict with an unlimited supply of money and enablers would behave. I guess it’s easier to hate them than to help them.

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