Category Archives: Uncategorized

Car Dealership, Uncategorized

Arizona Street Racing

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If you’re a big fan of living on the edge and participating in street racing, it’s important to know what health and legal risks are involved from engaging in it.Because street racing encourages thousnads of people around the country to drive at speeds that can put their life in danger, it is illegal in most states and is deemed to be an extremely dangerous form of reckless driving. Street racing threatens the safety of the people racing, but also any spectators, nearby cars that are driving, and pedestrians walking down the street. Arizona street racing in particular is known for the variety of motor clubs involved and the amount of injuries reported from frequent get-togethers in public.

In order to protect yourself and your future, you need to know what laws are placed against street racing so you aren’t put in a bad position. Car shows in Arizona and other warmer states may put street racing on a pedestal, but that doesn’t make the activity perfectly safe and legal to take part in. Let’s walk through what the Arizona car scene looks like and what legal consequences may be involved if you happen to get caught.

Street racing is highly dangerous.

Street Racing Risks

Phoenix auto events have a history of hosting popular street races for spectators to bet on and racers to gain popularity through. While it is definitely exhilarating to be involved in, street racing is incredibly dangerous for everyone at the scene because it increases the chance of high impact collisions, decreases the reaction time of the drivers, lowers to ability for cars to retain control through tight curves in the city, and increases rollover risk of the vehicle as well. Arizona street racing is highly prohibited for this reason and can lead to the potential loss of your license. If a cop first sees you racing someone on any road, you will get a ticket for racing as an initial warning sign.  Even if a cop sees you drive or accelerate quickly by yourself, you could get a ticket for racing in the form of an exhibition of speed instead. Either situation isn’t ideal since your name will be marked and watched by the legal force for a long period of time.

Since street racing on a either a smaller road or a highway is a class one misdemeanor, a convicted driver could get a fine of at least $250 and a few hours of community service. Their license may be taken away for up to ninety days with a permanent legal record as well. If the driver doesn’t learn their first lesson and is caught a second time, they will face a fine of at least $500 along with more community service and license suspension. However, the important thing to remember is that If the second conviction is within two years of the first, the driver will be charged guilty of a class six felony and will not be eligible for probation or pardon. This means that they will be serving no less than ten days in prison and their driver privileges will be permanently revoked. The driver will also have to attend an 8-hour traffic survival school class in person if they haven’t already. Since we live in America and getting from one place to another is extremely difficult without a car in some areas, this situation is definitely not one you want to find yourself in because of a little street racing.

Know Your Rights

If you’re ever charged with an account for street racing, make sure you know what your defenses are if you believe that it was incorrect. Since the law requires that multiple vehicles have to be present for drag racing to occur, it can frequently be argued by people that no other vehicles were at the scene. This defense is quite effective when only one driver was cited for street racing and no other people were around. Since cops are often managing public traffic by themselves, they can only cite one vehicle at a time and could have misjudged the scene.

Another possible defense someone could use against being charged for Arizona street racing is that they were fleeing road rage. The person committing road rage may have not been stopped by the police and the person charged for racing may have been feeling by necessity. Remember that this argument is only effective if your vehicle was ahead of the other vehicle when you got pulled over.

Lastly, if the police do not follow the correct Miranda procedure with you, your statements could be considered involuntary. This may lead to your case being thrown out of court along with any misleading police reports, false identifications, and unfair practices the cop may have used against you. Unfair tools usually include flawed photo lineups and inaccurate accident reconstruction in many Arizona street racing cases. In order to use these defenses it’s in your best practice to hire a trusted attorney who will efficiently represent your case in court. Most of the time public defenders won’t spend as much time on your case and may not pose as strong of an argument.

Practice Safe Measures

There’s much more to life than street racing and risking your life, so practice safety as your number one priority on the road. These days, many Phoenix auto events have canceled the street racing because of the legal repercussions it has led to. Instead, consider attending events such as luxury car exhibits, public auctions for cars, and other fun events to bring together car lovers around the country. A car is a highly powerful vehicle and needs maintenance to work its best, so treat it with respect and abide by the law. You’ll be better safe than sorry!

Arizona street racing creates a list of issues.
Drug Addiction, Mental Health, Uncategorized, Women's Health

Rapid Opioid Detox

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Our nation has been fighting a silent killer for the past few decades. It’s taking the lives of mothers, fathers, teachers, doctors, and even the person who may be living down the end of your street. This killer is the use of opioids that typically is being prescribed for treating a patient’s pain after surgery, after an injury, or for dealing with another pain management related reason.

Thanks to the pharmaceutical industry, opioids are easily accessible and have been pushed out as the go-to method for anyone who requests it under doctor permission. What’s scary is that these pharmaceutical companies failed to educate its end consumers on opioid withdrawal symptoms and the possible risks it brings to their lives overall. Doctors are often prescribing the alleged medications without thinking twice about their patient’s tendencies to develop addiction either. Anyone can easily become addicted to opioids since produces an immediate wave of relaxation and pleasure after every dosage. To understand how opioids have become such a problem in our communities, let’s look at how the drug became so widespread and how it may be even affecting someone you know.

The Growth Of Opioids

At this point in time, the opioid epidemic is taking the lives of roughly 115 Americans a day. That’s a huge number stemming from just overdose related accidents from the drug. Starting in the 1990s, prescription painkillers became highly distributed and have lead to increasing rates of hospitalizations, overdoses, and deaths each year. Back in that decade, multiple television outlets ran advertisements for medications so any patient could request painkiller prescriptions by its name. In turn, working in conjunction with their drug companies, doctors began prescribing painkillers in sky high numbers. In 2011, doctors reported to write a total of 238 million opioid prescriptions. Overall, experts estimate that the epidemic is currently affecting 2.1 million Americans who are diagnosed with an opioid addiction. That statistic only touches on the individuals who actually went to their healthcare providers and reported their use while seeking rehab treatment. Some of the most common forms of opioids arehydrocodone, oxycodone or Oxycontin, morphine, codeine, and fentanyl.

Within the past two years, deaths have also increased by forms of synthetic opioids as well.  In the year of 2016 alone, almost a third of all drug related deaths and half of all opioid deaths stemmed from a synthetic substance. These drugs are illegally manufactured and are being widely distributed in the pill from throughout urban areas of America. What’s worse, a lot of these pills contain traces of other addictive drugs like cocaine, marijuana, and heroin for added side effects to the user. Either way, it’s clear that this epidemic must be dealt with on the individual level with proper education and effective rehab treatment so more overdoses don’t happen.

Drug addiction signs include huge financial loss.
The BRIDGE is meant to stop pain from opioid withdrawal symptoms.

Accelerated Opiate Detox 

In order for someone to get off their dependence of opioids, consistence detox treatment is critical. However, what makes it hard for most people with addiction is that opioids bring severe and often painful withdrawal symptoms. Medications that are prescribed to these patients also bring their own share of side effects, which only creates a longer list of headaches to deal with. This makes it easy to understand why some addicts would rather continue their use of opioids and bear the consequences than go through weeks to months of relapse or painful withdrawal.

Luckily, as of this year, the rehab treatment industry has developed a noninvasive tool for patients to deal with their cravings without experience high pain levels. This tool is called BRIDGE, and is an attached device recently cleared by the FDA for opioid withdrawal pain management. Interest in the device has grown mainly in many western states like California and Alaska where the political climate tends to be more liberal. In eastern states, people have reported feeling more skeptical of its benefits without seeing published data. As far as manufacturing goes, the device is being developed and distributed from a center in central Indiana.It works by connecting to a patient’s earlobe and emitting a subtle nerve stimulator meant to help alleviate pain. For most, the device begins to feel noticeable after they get into habit of wearing it throughout the day. While it is not meant to completely cure addiction, it does help an individual cope through the worst of the detoxification process. The great thing about the BRIDGE is that most patients feel lower amounts of pain and mental health issues within 15 to 30 minutes of attaching the device. After the device is worn consistently over time, patients are then able to see an overall improvement in their physical and mental state compared to before.

Deal With Pain Management

Thanks to new inventions like the BRIDGE device, people who seek accelerated opioid detox have an option without spending fortunes on medications that may along bring more side effects. Depending on the length and severity of a person’s addiction to opioids, their body may have to make serious readjustments as they start using the device to function normally again.

The first step anyone should take is to visit a detox center in their local area so they can gain awareness of their situation. From there, they may be assigned a counselor or a specific detox plan that includes using the BRIDGE device from home. The device is currently only accessible from permission from a certified detox center, so it’s important to make a visit to the resource as soon as possible. While learning about using the device and what lifestyle or diet changes to make, a person should never lose hope for regaining a stronger, happier, and healthier body. Relapses can always happen but that shouldn’t be an excuse to completely drop the ball on recovery. We are all in this journey together!

You can fight opioid addiction with holistic therapy and making lifestyle changes.
Search Engine Optimization, Social Media Marketing, Uncategorized, Website Design

Using Internet Marketing

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Marketing is an ever changing field of business that professionals are still spending a lifetime to truly grasp. Ever since the need to sell a product or service existed, so has the idea of using effective marketing.

From the traditional yellow book ads to the fifteen second long Snapchat ads that dash over our mobile screens today, it’s safe to say that marketing has evolved faster in the past ten years than ever before.

At one time in history, using cutting edge technology was limited to just a small fraction of the population. Now, with technology advancing quickly and customers becoming more picky with what media they allow to be interrupted by, it’s incredibly important for marketers to use tactics that will provide the most bang for their buck.

Let’s look at which methods are making waves through the cluttered media scene and what are leaving old fashioned brands behind in the dust.

Internet marketing is essential for today's business market.
Internet marketing is essential for today’s business market.

Marketing Back In The Day

Let’s go back a decade in time and revisit the marketing environment that grabbed the attention of customers. The year is 2008, the stock market just crashed, the Lehman Brothers just caused a worldwide recession, and iPhones are still a considered a prized possession for the richest to enjoy.

What type of marketing do you think was convincing enough for businesses to pull customers out of the trenches? The answer was outbound marketing, a method thatis very interruptive and pushes out a brand’s message to a mass audience. This was never dependent on whether or not the audience wanted to actually hear it. The types of vehicles that are included in outbound marketing are the cliche television and radio ads you’ve heard as a kid, traditional telemarketing, pop up banner and display ads, roadside billboards, cut out newspaper ads, or door to door cold calling.

Back in the 2000’s, these methods worked like a charm since our phones were not as advanced as they are today. People were still walking outside and actually looking at what ads or posters were mounted up in their surroundings. We had cable lines attached to walls that rang with questions from salesmen, we still treasured the Sunday newspaper, and our living room television was our best friend.

I remember waking up early on Saturday as a kid was the best time to catch great TV cartoons and funny commercials. Today, premium Hulu is available for even a five year old to skip ads and watch shows on via iPad.

 Introducing the Internet

Although the Internet has been around for much longer than ten years, the advances that it has allowed for technology has been unprecedented. With the rise of Facebook videos, Instagram ads, Snapchat news, the online blogging scene, and online or on demand television via Netflix, there is less and less space for physical ads to catch the eye of shopping consumers.

Just think about it. When was the last time you were in a grocery store and looked at your paper catalog for the best box of cookies to buy? Most likely you pulled out your phone, entered “what is the best tasting cookie brand” on Google through the Safari app, and read customer reviews instead.

To keep up, most brands are using internet marketing, or “inbound marketing” to behave as a hub to attract these technology adapted consumers.Instead of spreading a generic message to thousands of people, it’s been found more effective to pull in potential customers with interesting content that provides them valuable information.

As a result, using inbound marketing involves writing exciting blog posts, posting engaging videos and pictures on social media, sending out encouraging email newsletters, and other content to people who are already interested in your product.

Another popular method that falls under inbound marketing is using search engine optimization to boost the visits to a website through seamless software design, keyword placement, and professional content.

In a nutshell, if you are providing information that is engaging enough and calls for action, customers are more likely to interact with it, share it with their network online, and build a positive impression of your brand that influences purchasing decisions in the long run. Placing the relationship with customers at the forefront is the key to keeping your business at the top of their list.

Value your customers through inbound marketing.

Successful Inbound Campaigns

It’s definitely confusing to think about how inbound marketing works without a solid example to go off from. In the past few years, social media marketing has boosted the idea of inbound marketing to new levels as it has the power to make or break up and coming brands.

As a fitness nerd, I’ve been closely following the growth of the activewear brand Gymshark over the past few years. Compared to powerhouse brands like Nike or Adidas, their brand has a full grasp of using calls to action for its customers and building a genuine relationship with its followers through social media influencers.

Instead of airing commercials to millions of people who may or may not be interested in fitness, Gymshark has used the power of popular content creators and organically promoted coupon codes to promote its clothes. As a result, any customer can visit its fitness blogs, official website, or Instagram accounts and see how it’s spearheading a positive moment involving millions of people to get active in the gym.

Another great example of inbound marketing is by looking at the efforts of one of my entrepreneurs, Gary Vaynerchuk. As a social media guruand overall marketing genius, he constantly is pushing out free content to his followers with free ebooks, marketing based podcasts, and Youtube videos for people interested in the idea of marketing itself to consume.

From there, he asks for email addresses and Youtube subscriptions in return which eventually lead to people buying his books and other online products. With the leverage of acting as a genuine resource to his network, people are constantly sharing his content and allowed him to catapult to extreme fame in the past few years.

Be Your Own Consultant

You don’t have to have a PhD in marketing or have millions of dollars to design an effective marketing campaign for your business. The point is that you can use inbound marketing and outbound marketing wisely to push your brand’s messages with different media platforms. The smart thing to do is to take time to double down on what your customer niche is and where they are consuming content every day.

After doing that research, choose what aspects of outbound marketing you can invest a bit in. Then, look at what inbound strategies will give you the most cost effective results and reach your desired customers directly. The power isleveraging traditional marketingtechniques with the internet and social media to achieve amazing growth!

 

 

Holistic Health, Mental Health, Uncategorized, Women's Health

Anxiety Quiz

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Our mental health is so important as it casts a huge influence on how our days, months, and years play out overall. Just like maintaining physical health, keeping your mental health in good shape protects your energy levels, overall mood, and downplays different types of anxiety that many busy people experience in life. Some people may just turn a blind eye to not protecting their mental health, as it could be seen as a waste of time. Why keep up and care for a part of our bodies we can’t even see? I’m strong, why do I even need to seek therapy or online support to feel better? Those are questions that are often relayed through the minds of people who know they need help with their mental health or various anxiety symptoms, but don’t want to experience the stigma of shame and embarrassment that is attached it.

If you know you need help to deal with your anxiety symptoms or just want to know more about helping your mental health, there’s no need to feel lower than the average human being. The year is 2018 and everyone at this point has the right to seek out ways to better their health and lifestyle overall. Being stubborn, ignorant, and unhealthy is definitely not in fashion and you don’t want to end up in a hospital bed several years into the future. Here’s some quick and easy ways to better manage your anxiety symptoms and safeguard your mental health in general.

  • To protect your mental health, you need to first accept that not everything in life is under your control. Things like performance and success are somewhat held accountable by your actions, but a negative event or accident that causes you stress is most often never your fault. You need to put your stress and anxiety symptoms in perspective. Write down how you feel on a piece of paper and you’ll soon realize that there are worse things that could have happened.
  • Do your best and stop shooting for being perfect. We are humans and no one can have the perfect mental health, grades, love life, social events, and physique all the time. Focus on your own personal growth and stop comparing yourself to others who look like they have it all together. More often than not, you have no idea what struggles and pain other people are not showing behind their happy Instagram posts and snapchat stories.
  • Maintain a positive attitude when you can. You don’t have to be happy all the time, because then you would be better off as a robot. The point is to make an effort to keep track of your thoughts and minimize the negative ones before your mind spirals into a darker place. Practicing a more encouraging dialogue is often one of the most powerful ways to transform your mental health. You never know how much of a difference being kind to yourself can make instead of criticizing every move you make throughout the day.
  • Avoid drinking too much. Water is totally acceptable, as we need plenty of it to survive and stay hydrated. Limit how much alcoholic drinks and caffeine you take during the day, even if you need it to shave off the stress you’re experiencing. Those chemicals are stimulants that can aggravate your already existing anxiety and can even trigger brutal panic attacks. No one wants to have a sudden onset of emotions for having one too many lattes in the morning, so it’s best to stick to water, tea, or more gentle drinks in general. If water is too boring for you, there’s a variety of flavor drops you can purchase to make it taste just like your favorite juice! Additionally, you can add pieces of fruit into your water as well to get an extra boost of vitamin C which helps strengthen your immune system.
  • Eat and sleep well. This is a no brainer to think about but executing it every day with discipline is where many people fall short. We’re not invincible and we all need to fuel our bodies with the nutrition and rest it needs to function well. If you have been feeling especially struck with symptoms of anxiety during a week, think about how your diet has been like and if you getting at least seven to eight hours of sleep. Don’t skip any meals and always eat foods that are as natural as possible to help maintain your energy. The saying, “we are what we eat” rings true in the case of maintaining mental health so make sure to be as mindful as you can!
  • Take a time out. Many successful entrepreneurs, musicians, and athletes can attest to the benefits that meditation brings to their lives every day. You can practice yoga in the morning, listen to a calming music playlist, learning deep breathing techniques, or use your gym time as your window of reflection. You’ll get to know your thoughts better and you’ll feel comfortable spending time with yourself to grow. Even if it’s just a short mental break for a couple minutes, you will feel less anxious and stressed after the period is over.

Learn More

Hopefully these tips can get you started on the road to protecting your mental health in the midst of life’s most difficult struggles. If you’re not sure how serious your symptoms of anxiety maybe, you can also take an anxiety quiz online to learn more about what is going on in your body. It’s quick, easy, and can guide you into what steps to take to better prevent your stress levels from running high in the future!

Anxiety symptoms are treatable.
Have a peace of mind and get over anxiety symptoms.
Uncategorized

Intervention Letter

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Writing a letter to a drug addict to express how you feel can be extremely difficult. For starters, you may feel awkward about bringing up the topic of their drug addiction since they become easily defensive. You may feel scared about making them angry and wanting to seek revenge for calling them out on their bad behavior. You may feel nervous about expressing a side of you that you haven’t before as you truly care about their wellbeing and long term health. Last but not least, you may feel very anxious about recommending a resource of drug addiction support for them to seek out. Whatever emotions you are going through, remember that you are not alone in this process.

Treat the addict in your life as anyone else. Just because they are being strongly affected by a drug in the present does not mean they get any sort of special treatment. You are not going to be an enabler and you are not going to allow them to feel like they’re off the hook. Even if they don’t agree with your opinion, it is not the end of the world! Your intervention letter is an expression of your concerns and might be the bus that hits their reality harder than the one that got Regina George in Mean Girls. This is a good thing, as you want a drug addict to wake up from their close off world of addiction and realize that they truly need drug addiction support.

Why A Letter?

Intervention letters play a huge role in the intervention process itself as each person involved can exactly express their thoughts. As a group of concerned people plan an intervention for an addict, they need to each write a personal letter that reflects their current feelings and points to a method of treatment. During the intervention, each group member can then read the letter out loud so the words ring in the addict’s ears. These letters also serve as a road map for the intervention as it keeps a person in check with their dialogue and personal emotions. Addiction affects several facets of a person’s life, so there likely will be laughs, anger, and even tears. It also prevents any person involved to become overly expressive and put their logical points at compromise. Make sure that you are reading your letter in a relaxed and positive manner to the addict for the best results possible.

By writing an intervention letter, you can also benefit from group feedback on what you plan to say. Usually, an intervention group will rehearse their words so they sound as smooth as possible when the right time comes to talk to the drug user about their signs of addiction. They can slightly alter their words to sound more clear, more genuine, or more caring overall so the addict isn’t too overwhelmed.

Starting Your Letter

It doesn’t have to be hard to begin writing your intervention letter! Follow these tips so you make a strong argument while still remaining true to yourself and genuine to the addict you’re talking to:

  • Be heartfelt. Let your addict know that you care about them deep down and have a sense of gratitude for having them in your life. Feel free to share a positive experience that you had with them that left a great mark on your memory. This reinforces the fact that you are coming from a place of warmth and not cold criticism.
  • Include a series of statements that reflect why you know their substance abuse and signs of addiction are a disease. You need them to grasp the fact that they are not defined by their addiction and can still behave as a good person. Explaining the role a drug dependency plays in a person’s body may pinpoint changes in their own behavior as well.
  • Tell them why you are hurt and want them to truly change. Aside from the fact that they are slowly destroying their bodies, you may want to bring up the toll their signs of addiction has made on your personal emotions, stress, and anxiety overall. You are constantly worrying about their safety and need to know that they can manage to get through the day without inhaling a dose of drugs.
  • Offer your recommended drug addiction support. This could be in the form of a detox specialist, a closed off rehab center in the country, or a rehab group in town that can build accountability for the addict. They may not want to take up advice at first, but if you plan an appointment or group meeting beforehand you can save a lot of time and trouble. The addict won’t have as much room to complain or find a way out of your help if you’ve already put in the money and effort to see them improve.

Know Your Limits

These tips are meant to guide you through forming a strong and heartfelt intervention letter. If you write it well and gain feedback from other people who really care about the addict, you’re more likely to hit a nerve in their system to stop abusing drugs and treat their signs of addiction. Make sure you time your intervention rightto perform your best. On the other hand, you are also not meant to be perfect and having a failed intervention is okay. We all aren’t trained for years to make sure the person we love treats their drug addiction. If needed, turn to the help of an intervention expert to form a stronger means of dialogue and treatment so the addict is pushed to make the right decision. You never know what the possibilities are until you try something new in life, so don’t be afraid to reach out to one for extra help!

Drug Addiction, Holistic Health, Mental Health, Uncategorized, Women's Health

Intervention Assistance

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No one wants to be an addict who has to go through an drug intervention. No matter what a person might say, the process itself is incredibly tough to experience. Even if the person deep down wants to become sober and seek drug addiction support, they need to feel encouraged enough by the people they care about to take real action. The point of having an intervention is to provoke an addict to change their negative behavior for good. Families and friends should come together and coordinate their course of actions for the best results possible in order for that to happen. Sometimes, providing the cold hard truth and exposing the person to the variety of consequences that sparked from their addiction is the way to go.

But how do truly great interventions  happen? Let’s walk through the important steps for designing a conversation that will hopefully change your addict’s life in the long term. It’s definitely an awkward and uncomfortable encounter for both parties to sit through. Tears may flow and hearts may be pumping, but the more realistic the intervention is for the addict, the more inclined they’ll be to jumpstart their journey back to health.

Planning a drug intervention takes several steps.

  1. Who even needs an intervention? The fact is that any person who is addicted to illicit drugs and alcohol or consistently abuses prescription drugs needs one, especially if they often reject the idea of seeking addiction treatment. It’s highly crucial for family and friends to host a drug intervention as soon as possible, as abuse of strong substances dramatically lowers a person’s mental awareness. Over time, the damage can snowball into extremely damaged financials, weakened relationships, health problems, conflicts with the law, and harm possibly done to the community. The point of a drug intervention is to foster the addict’s sense of control again and reinforce their desire to get help. Sometimes, what an addict needs is to be reminded that they’re still a good person and the addiction doesn’t define them. They have the power to change the course of their life and the belief that they are stuck in their situation is completely false.
  2. Do you need a team? The answer is yes, as you’ll want as much support as possible to host an effective drug intervention. Form a strong group of organizers made up of family, friends, and a professional interventionist if you can. Professionals offer the benefit of being highly experienced in helping addicts and can point them to a strong treatment plan. Only people who have a close relationship with the addict should be included as they genuinely care about his or her well-being compared to an acquaintance. If a person who’s interested to be part of the team happens to struggle with an addiction themselves, make sure they seek their own help before trying to help the addict first.
  3. What about planning? Once you form a group who is willing to coordinate with each other to help the addict, you’ll need to lay out a detailed plan of how the drug intervention process will play out. This includes what day and place the intervention will happen, as well as what each person will say to the addict. Once you have those details set, everyone should write their own form of an impact statement that describes how they feel the substance abuse harmed the addict that they care about. These words should be compassionate, honest, and caring as we want the addict to realize that people in their life truly want them to get better. Avoid any phrases that are either highly critical or personally attack the addict which will destroy the process altogether.
  4. How do you choose a treatment plan? After you have written your statements, formed your group, and are ready for combat, make sure you focus on recommending a single treatment plan to the addict as the drug intervention takes course. Being too vague or offering many alternatives will confuse the addict, which is the last thing we want to happen. Find a treatment center that has great reviews from their former clients and book an appointment for them early on so the addict doesn’t have to figure out those tedious details themselves. Even if they’re reluctant to go at first, pushing them to take the first step and seek an expert’s insight will truly make a difference.
  5. Practice! Treat the drug intervention like any other important even in your life. Rehearse what you’re going to say and avoid coming off as condescending to the addict. Make sure that everyone in the group is on the same page prior to the conversation taking place as well. This way, each member will feel confident about their delivery and can become better prepared for any emotions that may run high during the process.

You Can Do It

Hosting an intervention for drug addiction support can be intimidating at first, but if you play your cards right you can change the addict’s life for the better. They may respond with anger or embarrassment, but deep down they will know that you are coming from a place of love if you are careful to watch how you speak. Spend enough time to find an interventionist to help you if your resources allow it, find a core group to form statements with, and practice your action plan to be as persuasive as possible!

Drug interventions can prevent further damage to an addict's life.

 

 

 

 

 

Uncategorized

The Process of Addiction

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Addiction is hard to come by, especially when you feel like you’re stuck dealing with it on your own. It’s natural to wonder if you can possibly become an addict if you were raised by a parent with alcohol or drug addiction symptoms that they couldn’t get over. Sometimes, they can have a huge substance abuse problem but don’t seek out the help they need to become healthy again. Genetic and environmental factors do play a factor on how individuals can develop a type of addiction, but rest assured that they can’t determine your entire fate. If your parent or someone who’s close to you is an addict, it’s wise that you become more thoughtful about their relationship to drugs and alcohol so you can learn from their experience firsthand. Being vigilant can ultimately prevent the vicious cycle of alcohol or drug addiction from being passed on by example to your future. The most important thing you must remember is that you can control your choices, actions, and future outcomes. The decisions that you make each and every day shape your life entirely, not your friend’s or parent’s decisions. So while children of individuals who are addicts are more likely to abuse substances themselves, there is no guarantee. As the daughter of a parent who struggled with an alcohol addiction, I took their experience as a lesson for myself to live a life that’s healthy, sustainable, and substance free.

Drug addiction signs include huge financial loss.
High Cost of Healthcare

Drug Addict Symptoms

Just about anyone can develop their own version of substance addiction. The same sensors that are triggered by pleasurable experiences in our brains cause individuals to become addicted by a variety of things. People who have higher risk to developing a drug addiction are often experiencing other mental health issues like anxiety or depression. For example, according to Brain Facts, many studies over the past few decades demonstrated a strong link between schizophrenia and addiction to nicotine. It’s been shown that nicotine can even temporarily lessen some of the symptoms of schizophreniawhich speaks to why people can become addicted to using it.

Addicts are also sometimes more adventurous and risk-taking than others, feel somewhat disconnected to others in their life, are obsessive, and have trouble self-regulating their decisions throughout the day. People who thrive in taking risks usually have little impulse control when it comes to taking part in dangerous activities like abusing highly addictive prescription drugs. I’ve seen so many students throughout my time in college take part in doing intense drugs to escape all the stress that school causes. Cocaine, marijuana, or Adderall are just the tip of the iceberg of drugs that help students escape their reality and feel somewhat closer to their peers. Over time, that social bond doesn’t outweigh the high price tag that drugs bring, the painful withdrawal symptoms, and possibly legal consequences that using illicit substances bring. Symptoms of a drug addict are also pretty obvious to your sober peers so you don’t want to risk losing your reputation. Make sure you’re aware of all the negative events that can happen in your life before spiraling down the road of drug addiction. It’s easy to fall into but extremely difficult to get out of unless you play your cards right.

Less Discussed Addictions

Drugs and alcohol don’t have to be the only addictions that people can fall into. Some other popular addictions are gambling or video games, especially in men. Gambling addiction, also called gambling disorder, refers to any and all types of gambling or choices that can seriously endanger a person’s life, professional career, or even family. It could mean going to the casino every night and playing poker with hope to win big, or staying up for all night for a luxurious game of sports betting. You’ll know you have this addiction if you’re placing bets more than usual, “chase” losses by betting even more, feel extremely angry when you can’t gamble, or are staying up for hours just thinking about a game.

Video game addiction comes into play when you’re stuck holding a controller for hours of your life. As games today are constantly getting better, more people than ever are playing the newest versions around the world. Communicating with headsets and shooting the enemy gives off a happy feeling that so many can’t shake off. Similarly, taking on the role of someone else in an alternate universe with no consequences can be alluring. Compared to a substance abuse addiction, video game addiction may sound harmless as we’ve all played a type of game at some point in our life. However, compulsive play interrupts a person’s social life, mental health, sleeping habits, work productivity, and physical health overall. Anyone who doesn’t get enough treatment could be isolating themselves from reality and lose their ability to function completely.

Get Help

If some symptoms resonated with you about dealing with either drug addiction symptoms or another process addiction, it’s not too late to get help. Contact your local rehab center to get more options about how to detox your body, form your own treatment plan with a specialist, and live a healthier lifestyle for the long term. Going to online forums or taking online addiction quizzes are also helpful for quicker feedback about your current addiction and what steps to take to conquer it. These are free and are easily done from the comfort of your own home, the bus, sitting in drive thru, or waiting for the next task during work. If you truly want to see results and get better you’ve got to your research on options that work best for you. One treatment plan certainly does not fit the lifestyles of everyone else so it’s best to look at your personal goals, health history, and daily schedule.

Overcome drug addict symptoms with online resources.

 

Holistic Health, Uncategorized, Women's Health

Treating Scar Tissue

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Scars can be the bane of your existence. They’re itchy, ugly, and leave a glorifying dark mark on your skin for what seems to feel like ages. Even the smallest facial zit or bump on your knee can leave a scar that never fails to go away. I’ve tried almost every product on the market to get rid of my acne scars, as they always leave a pesky mark on my face once they’re healed.

Acne scars take on many different forms on a variety of people. You might see tiny pockmarks, a swollen keloid, or a discolored area on the skin after your pimple wears away. And just like our bright and unique personalities, each scar needs its own custom treatment to effectively disappear. Your dermatologist may recommend that you use a combination of treatments including lasers or chemical peels, but what if you can’t afford the steep price tag that comes with it? I’m a college student and definitely want to save money as much as I can, even if I’m trying improve the look of my skin. Here’s some of the best methods that have helped me accomplish the scar removal process once and for all.

Scar tissue removal can be done with natural remedies.

Light Therapy

Using light therapy isn’t new knowledge to get rid of scars, but it hasn’t been on the market for customers to buy at the drugstore until a few years ago. My favorite product of all time is the Neutrogena Light Therapy mask for a couple reasons. One, it looks like a mask straight out of a science fiction movie because I look practically unrecognizable to my roommates when I put it on. Secondly, it is slightly on the pricey side but I have seen real results after using it every night for ten minutes at a time. The device is easy to use, free of chemicals and UV light, and ultimately harnesses the power of clinically proven technology to allow skin to heal itself. If you’re struggling with pesky acne scars like me, definitely give it a go before seeking out a more invasive option.

Natural Ointments

I’ll be honest and let you know straight off the bat that some of these natural ointments can smell funky at first. However, they work wonders for the scar healing process because they contain extremely high concentrations of vitamins that the skin needs to regenerate new cells. Some of my favorite ointments to use are tea tree oil and solely vitamin E oil on my scars when I wake up during the day. As I’m brushing my teeth or taking a shower, I leave it on for ten minutes at a time to let the ingredient soak into my skin. I’ve noticed that it’s helped calm down my inflammation and improve the harsh discoloration I usually have from newer scars. Vitamin E oil is also widely known to block free radicals from the body, which plays a large role in the aging process of our skin. If we can fight off free radicals from our environment, wrinkles can be reduced and the overall look of your skin can be kept youthful.

Additionally, honey is also a great ingredient from nature that heals your skin. I can remember as a little kid my mother was applying honey to her facial scars to help them fade. Honey is a natural moisturizer and perfect for scar removal, as it prevents the accumulation of dead skin cells stimulates growth just like vitamin E oil. Apply some honey on your scar and cover it with a bandage so it won’t transfer to other surfaces. Then, leave it on during the night as you sleep so it can work its magic. In the morning, wash it off with some water and go about your day as your skin as absorbed the calming antioxidants it provided.

Talk to A Professional

In most cases you will only have to provide copay if you visit your dermatologist. This is usually best when your scar is from a deep gash or puncture from a long time ago and won’t go away. They’re trained to look at the context of your health history and your current skin’s situation to form the best treatment method possible. A good dermatologist won’t immediately prescribe costly or harsh medications at first because they understand the delicate tolerance each person’s skin has. Better yet, experts who are part of compounding pharmacies can provide an even more customized treatment method for scar removal. Unlike other resources, they treat each patient on a case by case basis so no two treatments are exactly the same. If you can spare more time to figure out how to treat your scar, it’s definitely worth a shot.

Be Proactive

I know dealing with scars is pesky and talking to other people about them can be embarrassing. No one wants to shed light on their flaws, especially if they have to go bare faced to a doctor in town. The best way to go about scar removal is to treat it as soon as possible. Start with using natural ingredients that provide vitamins and antioxidants like the ones I mentioned above. They can be applied every day and provide some type of result over the course of a few weeks. Otherwise, don’t be afraid to try light therapy from the drugstore that can treat your skin with clinically proven technology. Again, consistency is key to make a change in the situation of your skin. If all else fails, consult an expert who can direct you to the next best treatment or discuss other alternatives that you might have overlooked. Nothing beats having peace of mind and closure for scar removal!

Do your research for the best scar tissue removal process.

Uncategorized

Anxiety Symptoms In Men

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Do your negative thoughts regularly race across your mind? Do you feel hopeless and anxious for no reason at times? If you can say yes to either, you’re definitely not alone. All of us stress out from time to time because life just isn’t as easy as the movies make it. To make things worse, certain situations will inevitably affect our level of anxiety well beyond our control. It could be from failing a test, a deadline coming up too quick, or your family member falling deathly sick. Either way, the experience isn’t a fun one for someone who is easily swayed by their feelings. If you want to regain control of your anxiety, there’s a variety of tips out there to not allow it to take over your life. Anxiety especially can bring on feelings of shame and guilt, but those emotions don’t have to remain permanent if you aim to be proactive.

  1. Avoid the shame. It’s true that if you’re male you’ve likely to have been raised to control your emotions, as anxiety is perceived as a sign of weakness. Many men with anxiety can easily beat themselves into thinking that they’re dangerously vulnerable and failing in life. This feeling in turn can completely prevent them from reaching out for help. With time, their sense of anxiety can get more severe if no intervention is taken.
  2. Don’t turn to addictive outlets. It’s estimated that around 30% of men with anxiety are tempted to turn to substances as a way to cope with their symptoms. As most men are naturally more impulsive than women, they can have a higher tolerance on drugs or alcohol to deal with their emotions. In comparison, women are usually seen turning to their friends to vent their frustrations than initially seeking strong drinks or drugs. Building a tolerance to higher levels of an addictive substance will only damage your mental and physical state over time.
  3. Reach out. It’s not unusual to feel hopeless, depression, or stressed when you can’t control your feelings of anxiety as a man.
    The best thing to do is to talk to a friend, family member, or spouse that you trust completely and voice your concerns. They will likely be concerned about your health and can encourage you to seek a doctor when you’re ready. You don’t need to commit to any treatment methods they advise just yet, but gaining more insight into your situation doesn’t hurt at all.
  4. Get more sleep. A lot of people find that their stress and anxiety levels greatly reduce when they get enough rest at night. Our bodies need ample time to recover and repair before starting a new day. Without it, our emotions can take a toll and we feel much more frazzled when things don’t go our way. Make sure you can schedule it well into your night and treat it as a top priority for your long term health. Some tips for sleeping better throughout the night is to eliminate any distractions nearby. Make sure your environment is clean, cool in temperature, and your phone is on “don’t disturb” mode to avoid annoying buzzing that could wake you up during the early morning. Another method for great sleep is to use essential oils in your room, be it chamomile or lavender that can signal your body to feel more relaxed and at ease.
  5. Move your body. Exercise at least for half an hour every day to get your body sweating and your blood pumping through your veins. Exercise encourages the release of serotonin that helps you feel extremely happy and satisfied as you complete a challenging workout. This doesn’t have to be time consuming as making small changes throughout the day instead of sitting or driving is good enough if you’re busy. Start walking to your destination more often, take the stairs, and even explore all the different desk exercises that are out there to start burning those extra calories. What helped me personally was to set small goals throughout the day and aim for consistency rather than doing things exactly perfect. For example, walking every day for at least thirty minutes is better than waiting all week to bust out a ten mile run. Frequency is everything when you’re trying to get your body and mind into better shape than before.
  6. Get involved. Starting a new project or even volunteering is a great way to become more active in your community. Doing so will help you create a strong support network and feel great about helping others who aren’t as fortunate. In my community, a lot of volunteers visit the local animal shelter, food pantry, or children’s after school programs to spend time with people and give back. They love the experience of being able to make another person’s day and that’s a memory that stays for life.

Final Thoughts

Overall, make sure you explore your options to deal with your anxiety and stress. The feeling doesn’t have to be there forever as you are the person in control of who you want to be in the future. My best advice to you is to start with being honest with yourself and think back to when your problems first began. Did you make any changes in your schedule, start to hang out with anyone new, or made any changes within your diet? You might find that certain changes in those areas could have sparked a pattern that negatively affected your life. Learn to also identify what triggers your anxiety, be it work, family, or school. Write your thoughts down in a journal or even text it to yourself when you’re feeling anxious. The change starts with you, so don’t hesitate!

 

 

 

 

Uncategorized

Mind Your Mindfulness

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Mind Your Mindfulness

What is mindfulness? When I first heard about practicing it, I felt like I was learning about the next popular buzzword like “selfie” or “swag” that was encouraging to say but had no real meaning otherwise. After digging a little deeper into learning about what it meant, I learned that there’s actually a wide variety of mindfulness exercises out there that bring huge benefits to the mind. From taking a quick breather to focusing on the outer world, it really only takes a few minutes during the day to practice it. You definitely don’t need a guided therapist, a complicated textbook, or a day-long seminar to learn exactly how to get its positive effects. Let’s break down the best and easiest ways that I’ve found to decrease my inner stress and do mindfulness exercises for anxiety.

  1. The first and easiest way I’ve found to practice mindfulness exercise is by starting with your breathing. Yes, it’s that simple. One thing you can do is by breathing in and out slowly when you wake up in the morning. Deeply inhale and exhale, allowing a full breath cycle to last from five to ten seconds. A good way to make this work is by breathing slowly through your nose and out with your mouth, releasing all the stress away as you do. Repeat this process for five to ten times, depending on how much time you want to spare. During this experience, let go of your thoughts and worries and focus on nothing but how your body is feeling. You’ll feel a much stronger awareness of your current emotions and calm your mind down from any stress built up from before.
  2. Label your thoughts. Think of it as categorizing your emotions throughout the day, placing a label on them in folder, and storing them in a box in your mind. This simple exercise is designed to help you cultivate a heightened sense of awareness and appreciate being alive in the moment. For example, each time you start to think a negative thought during the day, take a short moment to stop, recognize that the words running through your mind are changing, and label them as damaging. After doing so, imagine that you’re placing these dark thoughts in a box and locking it really tight so they don’t affect the rest of your body. This process sounds like a hoax, but I promise that visualizing it all really helps bring a sense of peace when you’re going through hours of the most stress.
  3. Music therapy can play a huge impact on influencing our mood for the better, which brings me to the third best way to practice mindfulness. Through music, we can process our thoughts and use honesty in recovery from any negative events that occur in our daily life. The next time that you feel extremely negative, turn on a relaxing track that has slower beats. And since much of what we feel listening to music can be influenced from a past event, like being reminded of a breakup, aim to listen to a new song you haven’t heard before from a neutral perspective.  Ignore any labels that you may have from the artist or producer and allow yourself to get lost in the journey of track for however long it lasts. Opening your mind to its dynamic melody and rhythm ultimately trains your mind to become less swayed and influenced from any new outside forces that come your way.
  4. The next best method to practice mindfulness meditation for anxiety is taking the time each day to list what you’re grateful for in life. This could take no longer than five minutes to be reflective of all the blessings that are present in your environment. The point of this exercise is to practice giving more thanks and appreciate the seemingly less important things in life. These people, events, or opportunities are the vehicles that support our life but often fade into the background of our minds. Giving them attention helps spark our inner fire to work toward bigger and better things to come. For starters, think of five things every day that you’re thankful but don’t always focus on. Once you have identified all those things, try to make it your priority to find out everything you can about how they support your purpose and work towards appreciating them even more than before. Gratitude brings happiness above all else as it helps you feel more encouraged and support to take on your day.
  5. Cleaning your space can be another great space for meditation. To bring more mindfulness into your life with cleaning, be sure to first think of it as a positive event rather than a boring chore. Then, select a space in your home that you want to focus on and think of only the benefits that making it neater, prettier, and less clogged will bring.  Concentrate on the broom in your hands as you sweep the floor or the squeaks that the glass cleaner makes when you wipe the windows. Feeling engulfed in the experience can help clear your mind and appreciate the hidden beauty your environment has once all the clutter and noise is cleared. The same thing goes for your mind, taking time to clear it and think about its foundation is essential to bring heightened spiritual in recovery from negativity.

Just Do It

I highly encourage you to just try one of these tips to start practicing mindfulness in your life. Start with something small and practice it over and over again until you feel comfortable to try another method. You’ll find that your concentration is much better than before, I know I did when I began trying yoga and meditation myself. Knowing about your personal habits and exactly how to improve them is essential to getting on the road to less stress and anxiety!