Xanax dependence among teenagers is a growing concern in the United States and around the world. It’s becoming easier than ever to obtain for young adults who want to experiment with the drug or have grown too reliant on its “benefits”. High schools and colleges are more rampant with cases of Xanax abuse from a normalized idea of using it. Abuse of this anti-anxiety drug is threatening not only teen and adult mental and physical health, but their careers and futures overall. In the worst cases of Xanax abuse, an addict can even face an overdose that leads to death.  According to the U.S. Surgeon General’s 2016 report on drugs and alcohol, nearly seventy percent of adolescents who try an illicit drug before the age of thirteen will develop an addiction within seven years. That’s a scary statistic to think about when you place it in the big picture of teen health in America.

Signs and symptoms of Xanax abuse or benzodiazepine addiction are hard to spot at times. For some people covering up habits of addiction becomes easy while others fall behind as the cope with withdrawal symptoms. Anyone who is abusing Xanax on a regular basis must learn how to taper off the medication instead of stopping cold-turkey. Since the drug is used to treat issues like anxiety or insomnia, an addict’s body needs to learn how to taper off the chemicals its grown accustomed to and take on therapy. Therapies that include natural and healthier non-drug alternatives include meditation, yoga, exercise, art therapy, etc. Let’s dive into the best ways to overcome Xanax abuse before it’s too late.

Signs Of Xanax Abuse

A person addicted to using Xanax will show different signs in their physical and mental health over time. As a fast-acting drug, the majority of the benefits are established within an hour after use, with the total duration of effect being at least 6 hours. A person will show physical signs of mood shifts, low energy levels, a worse off hygiene level, changes in weight, and even signs of low amounts of sleep. They may portray signs of high anxiety, depression, headaches, obsessive thinking about the drug, and frequent isolation from their normal behaviors. In addition to physical and mental symptoms, Xanax abuse also brings long-term psychological consequences, such absences and poor performance at work or school, loss of family relationships and close friend, an increased risk of injury or fatality due to accidents, and a higher rate of abusing more than one substance in general.

As for withdrawal symptoms, Xanax abuse brings worse off sleep, an increased heart rate and blood pressure, excessive sweating, muscle and hand tremors, occasional hallucinations, and even seizures in the worse cases. For someone who may be a student in school or working at one of their first jobs, a teenager can’t risk experiencing constant withdrawal effects because of the huge disturbance it brings. If anyone wants to improve their health, they must seek profession drug addiction treatment immediately for their Xanax abuse.

Seeking Treatment

The most important thing to remember when getting over Xanax abuse is to taper off the drug. Some people may preach about quitting the drug completely, but their pride may cost you your health. It is never recommended for someone who has developed a dependence on Xanax to suddenly stop taking the medication since it leads to even more severe and uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms. Since the worst symptoms include heart tremors and seizures, any rehab professional will put a client on a program that slowly wakes their amount of Xanax consumed. Over a period of a few weeks to a few months, their bodies can grow into being sober from the drug and jump back with the right nutrition plans to stay strong.

Treatment for Xanax abuse can come in many forms like trauma therapy, community support groups, group therapy, and individualized therapy. Choosing which therapy is right depends on what the social style and daily schedule a patient has. Someone who is introverted and busy during the week may want to do private counseling while someone extroverted and likes meeting new people will benefit from a in person rehab group. Any professional treatment center can point you to the right choices if you take the time to explore what you like and don’t like. Be patient with the process and trust in a professional’s recommendations since they have experience in helping people overcome Xanax abuse. Even if you don’t agree with what they’re saying, it’s better to follow their lead than try to independently solve the issue yourself.

Moving Forward

It takes time to overcome addiction when you feel like you’re alone and not sure what to do. Instead of going to a neighbor for advice or aimlessly looking for answers on Google, go to a local expert in drug rehab who can point you in the right direction for getting help. They will listen to your story and help give you support for therapy in a way that your parents, friends, and teachers may not be able to. As a result, it’s important to keep up with therapy and finish it to the end to ensure that your treatment will be effective and long lasting. Relapses can always happen, so it’s important to know from therapy what your triggers are and form a battle proof plan to combat them. A luxury drug rehab could provide a hands-on treatment for patients that need extra help when they overcome addiction. Finding customized support is key for an addict to not rely on a cookie-cutter solution, so make sure you observe what possibilities are out there!

Why do many people end up overdosing when they relapse? Why is relapse still happening and how can we prevent it? These are only a few of the questions that are running through people’s minds as they go through drug treatment. Addiction education is in place to help people find the right answers and create a battle proof strategy to navigate life’s toughest temptations. Having a relapse prevention strategy in place is necessary for those trying to stay sober after detox.

For anyone to stay sober after an intense addiction understanding all of their “triggers” is a must. A “trigger” could be a sight, sound, location, person, or even an old memory that can ease someone’s mind back to their previous highs. It may tempt them to go back to using the drug of their choice and undo the hard work they put into staying sober. Every addict faces this and must learn how to deal with them as soon as possible. Let’s walk through how to successfully plan relapse prevention and common mistakes addicts can make throughout the process.  Treatment forces people to take things one day at a time, but the outcome of sobriety isn’t impossible!

What Is Relapse?

Everyone experiences relapse differently and may be more prone to having one in different stages of their sobriety. In order to understand relapse prevention you have to understand the different stages of relapse at first. Experts say that there’s three stages of relapse include emotional, mental, and physical relapse in addicts who are learning how to stay sober. Signs of addiction relapse may be subtle or profound so keep a close eye on what you know is normal for your body. You know yourself best and are ultimately the one who can control your actions.

Emotional relapse can start a few weeks or even a few months before the event of physical relapse. Emotional relapse signs can include being angry, irritable, discontent, feeling isolated, experiencing stress and anxiety, depression, and overall intense mood swings. Relapse prevention at this stage means recognizing that you’re in trouble and need to start changing your behavior. Remind yourself that it’s okay to ask for help and practice relaxation techniques to soothe your mind. Recognize that you’re anxious and practice relaxation techniques. Also look into changing your sleep habits and improve your nutrition if you haven’t been eating the best. Most of times, our diet and exercise plays a huge role into how we feel from day to day. If you don’t change your behavior at this stage and you wait until the point where you become exhausted, your body may shift into mental relapse which comes with larger risks to deal with.

Mental relapse is the second stage of addiction relapse overall. At this time you’re just idly thinking about using drugs, but in the later phase you’re more convinced than ever to start again. . A common mental urge is you’re getting away with using drugs because no one will know if you relapse. Maybe your boyfriend or girlfriend is away or you have a long break off work to do so. This is the time when your addiction is trying its best to convince you the drug is okay to take again and that you’re doing no harm. Key signs of mental relapse are thinking about the people, different places, and variety of things you used with drugs. You could be thinking romantically about your addiction in the past, lying about your behavior, and hanging out with old connections who once praised your highs. Any friends who judge your new behavior are probably the people who got you involved with drugs in the first place. They may be encouraging you to use drugs again and you could easily find yourself back to your previous habits in no time. To combat mental relapse, remind yourself of any negative consequences that you suffered and tell someone what you’re struggling with. Most studies show that telling someone about what your goals are and what you struggle with keeps you more accountable. You’ll be less likely to fall off the bandwagon and encouraged to find healthy distractions like going for a walk, playing music, working out, or anything that keeps you away from drugs.

The last stage of relapse is physical relapse. This means that the addict goes one step further and drivers to their weed dealer, the liquor store, or connects with old friends to consume their vice. It’s hard to stop the process of relapse at that point. That’s not where you should focus your efforts in recovery. If you do catch yourself at this point, tell someone and check into your treatment counselor as soon as possible if you’re truly serious about help. It’s up to you to control your mind and body in the end.

Lifelong Healing

With the right addiction education you can prevent any addiction relapses and learn how to deal with them if you do find yourself falling short during drug treatment. Take time to learn about how you think during times of temptation and what prevents your mind from falling off the bandwagon. If you have to cut off certain friends or stop going to certain places, take the leap. You’ll thank yourself for bettering your social circle and spending your time more wisely in the long term. Remember that experiencing a relapse is also extremely common and that it isn’t the end of the world. Relapses remind you that you aren’t perfect and have room to improve mentally and physically. Brush yourself off and think about tomorrow. Vow to make better choices for your mind and body the next time around so you aren’t making the same mistake twice!

Club drugs are taking the lives of young adults who enjoy partying, music festivals, and letting loose by storm. For some people there is no better feeling than heading out with friends to enjoy live music and the pleasurable effects of drugs like molly, MDMA, marijuana, and cocaine. In most cases, club drugs are used for the stimulant side effect that tends to keep people awake for a long time. It may also cause hallucinogenic effects forpeople to enjoy the concert or the party more intensely. Since most club drugs tend to be used with heavy drinking, one night out can quickly turn into a dangerous activity that puts one’s life at risk.  Since music festival is right around the corner, it’s crucial to know how to keep yourself safe and what drugs you should be staying away from.  Let’s look at the ways club drugs are being used and how it can lead to addiction or even overdose over time.

Club Drugs Effects And Addiction

Club drugs are highly addictive like any other kind of illegal drug. Many people will grow a dependency on club drugs as they might feel like taking them is the only way to have a good time. One night of extreme euphoria from molly or MDMA will lead to several more experiences sought out by the same person. Molly drug side effects cause a greater release of serotonin in our brain. Serotonin is a type of neurotransmitter that plays an important role in the regulating our overall mood, sleep, pain, appetite, and other behaviors. This is why many music festival goers take molly to feel a rush of pleasure and joy. What many people don’t’ realize is that taking MDMA seriously depletes the standard amount of serotonin in the brain over a long period of time. This leads to high irritability, poor memory abilities, feelings of depression, fatigue throughout the day, high anxiety, impaired motor skills, and troubles sleeping as well. In order to combat these disturbing symptoms, a person will be even more inclined to take MDMA again so they feel “normal” again. And the cycle begins.

Other hallucinogenic club drugs can include LSD and ‘magic’ mushrooms. They play heavily into our sensory perceptions and often lead to the crazy “trips” that you often hear people in college raving about. The drug works by simply altering the way our environment is sent and received by the brain. Most people take the drugs by eating stamps, ingesting it in pill form, or cooking it into edibles. Combined with alcohol, all of these drugs pose a huge threat to our bodies and leads to hangovers, black outs, and worse conditions. The dreaded hangover is full of nausea, headaches, sore muscles, and severe dehydration. For most people who mix hardcore drugs and alcohol, a hangover is likely the best condition to wake up in since it means that their body somehow processed all the chemicals it was fed from the night before. But what about the long term effects? The long term effects of continued alcohol consumption with drugs include alcohol poisoning, nerve damage, lowered memory function and liver diseases as well. You may also wake up to doing things you may regret for a long time. Drunk driving, domestic violence, and unwanted contact with people are all activities that tend to link with being heavily under the influence. You definitely don’t want to find yourself stuck dealing with any of them.

The Road To Addiction

Even though many people start using club drugs once in a blue moon, it doesn’t take long before they form a serious problem with addiction. People tend to forget that their bodies are not infinite and invincible against all outside forces. No matter what background, age, or gender you are your body is vulnerable to building an addiction to the strong chemicals in club drugs that bind to “pleasure” receptors in our brain. We can start to justify our behavior over time and lose track of how the drugs are taking a toll on our body. Over time, people fail to draw the line of when things get too far and could suffer from an overdose because they simply took too much.  For people who are addicted to MDMA, they may suffer from a risk of kidney damage from using the drug too often, dental issues from grinding issues on their teeth, and losing out on cognitive abilities. Some users take even several months to recover mentally from a trip due to loss of concentration done from the unusually high production of serotonin in their minds.

Getting Help

There’s much more to life than taking club drugs and suffering from the long term consequences. We only have so much time on Earth and we want to make sure we can live every day to the fullest. If you feel that you’re suffering from club drug side effects or know a friend who is, don’t hesitate to reach out for help. The sooner you take action the better chances you will have to recover your body and mind. Look up what treatment centers specialize in rehab for MDMA addictions and other related issues. You’re not the only one who is going through your situation and may find solace in a support group with others trying to overcome an addiction. Once you enroll in a program, ask your family and friends for support. If your friends are the ones condoning drug use, it may be time to make new connections with people who believe in other activities. It doesn’t hurt to let go and move in if you’re making the best choices for your body in the long run!

Smoking weed and playing sports have long been two activities that were prohibited to become mixed together. In almost every case an athlete who is caught smoking marijuana is either put on probation or may be kicked out of their sports team entirely since it violates the code of conduct. However, whether or not it’s done behind closed doors, more athletes than ever are turning to marijuana to benefit their sports performance or recovery. Times are changing and weed is becoming more common and legal in many states throughout the country. Even though you might be against to marijuana in sports, it’s worth being ware of the reasons why athletes are more prone these days to using it. Let’s walk through some ways smoking weed and playing sports may actually work for some athletes.

Benefits Of Smoking Weed For Athletes

Now that cannabis is legal in many parts of the U.S., researchers are starting to debunk several myths about marijuana about the drug.  At the same time, the social stigma is beginning to loosen to point that many athletes are challenging the stereotype of the “stoner look”. But is marijuana truly a miracle drug? Some signs of benefits of marijuana in sports include:

• It helps athletes with their recovery. Reducing muscle and joint inflammation is one of the most promising areas of cannabis research at this point in time. Several studies have found that CBD, the non-THC containing property of marijuana helps ease levels of anxiety and inflammation form intense training. CBD is completely legal and is in fact manufactured by “gummy” form, by vape pen form, and by oil form by several health companies now. Now, researchers believe that it can even become a natural way to treat autoimmune conditions like Crohn’s disease, lupus, and depression. The possibilities seem to be endless with the property. One cannabis start up founder even stated that using cannabis believes it helped in many ways by stating that “since treating with cannabis I’ve learned that not only does it help with the physical pain, it helps me mentally—it has greatly increased my quality of life.” It’s only a matter of time until more states pick up on the benefits that marijuana provides.
• Marijuana in sports may provide the benefit of treating painful muscle spasms as well. Spasms are very common in athletes who train for several hours every day and regularly break down their muscle tissue. One M.D. stated recently that studies in rodents showed some beneficial effects in muscle recoveryand reduction of muscle spasm after consuming small amounts of cannabis. Lots of research still needs to be done but the potential to treat patients who also suffer from Parkinson’s disease and anxiety attacks can make a huge difference.
• Marijuana can help athletes deal with their insomnia and daily stress levels. It’s no secret that THC induces sleep in most people, but studies have also found that it can does people with sleep apnea and even suppress dreams which are caused from long term symptoms of PTSD. Most experts recommend that athletes can use CBD to ease REM sleep disorder and reduce daytime fatigue. Everyone knows how important sleep is to overall performance and how legally dangerous smoking weed and sports is, so trying different forms of CBD can be extremely beneficial. Additionally, taking CBD comes with less side effects that traditional sleep medications cause like long term fatigue, mood swings, and even headaches in some people.
• Taking low levels of THC or taking CBD is shown to improve the mental clarity of thousands of people. For athletes, this can benefit their focus during important workouts and other tasks throughout the day. In some athletes, they have been open about cannabis providing a type of “meditative flow” that they rarely experience during their stressful schedules. Marijuana in sports still has a long way to go, but experimenting with low doses of 5mg to 10mg at a time can provide great benefits for top performers. However, it’s highly important to abide by the rules of the team and especially of the state if THC is strictly prohibited.
• It helps athletes who have a long term struggle with ADHD. It turns out that the amount of professional athletes who have ADHD is double that of the general population. In fact, at least ten 10 percent of these athletes who are reported to have ADHD says cannabis has helped a major amount. People with ADHD can easily focus on what topics capture their interested, so the challenge lies in maintaining that focus when distractions come in their way. Using all natural and organically strained cannabis can help enhance their focus in these situations. However, different strains are used to help people with general focus issues and for treating sore muscles so asking the right questions is crucial here. You don’t want to take too much of a strain or take the wrong type of a strain for your personal problem.

Marijuana And Sports Of The Future

It’s hard to tell how many athletes will be able to start smoking weed to help with their issues of focus, muscle strain, insomnia, or anxiety, but the research that points to the benefits it provides is highly thorough. It’s much better to deal with an issue in the natural way than take a medication that doesn’t work to fix the root of the problem. At the same time, if you are an athlete who wants to start using cannabis or CBD to improve your health or boost your performance, make sure you’re aware of the risks that come with the substance and the legality of it in your state. Every state has its own set of rules, so just because the weed is sourced from California doesn’t make it legal to take when you live in Illinois. Watch out and use your best judgement so you don’t sacrifice your future!