30 Jun
Therapeutic Sports Massage as Rehabilitation
By Alex Hanson
Sports massage therapy can be highly beneficial to athletes who need to constantly perform at the pinnacle of their game. Such masters of the sports world often employ personal massage therapists because they are so pivotal in rehabilitation after a game, or before a game, loosening the body up in preparation for the physical exertion to come.
If a player has damaged tissue then the sports massage therapist can be optimized to aid in the bodies natural healing process. Therapeutic Sports Massage as Rehabilitation is most helpful with:
Sports massage is somewhat different from a normal spa massage because it is meant to delve deeper into the muscle and completely relax all of your tissue after having participated in extended high intensity action. Sports massage and spa massage do use essentially the same types of strokes and techniques. However, the sports massage therapist is putting more force into specific points of soreness.
Therapeutic sports massage could be ill advised because of the intense penetration into the bodies deeper tissue. If you have any of these physical attributes then sports massage is NOT recommended. You may need to have a discussion with your massage therapist beforehand if you have any medical conditions including:
Therapeutic sports massage can be utilized in successful rehabilitation after a labored day on the playing field. Revitalizing deep within the body and allowing relaxation and rebuilding of an athletic body. Visiting with a sports massage therapist before a game is often quite beneficial as well. Fifteen to forty-five minutes before playing will begin to warm up the muscles that will be needed for peak performance. Even during training there is need for massage therapists to encourage injury prevention, help care for soft tissue and start training the muscles for aches and pain, which is common until they locate the correct position for the required physical implementation that is being placed upon them.
Sports massage therapists are an important part of every game. Rehabilitating athletes and the muscles, tendons and tissue that become damaged every time they compete. There is a highly sought-after market for sports massage therapists going on in the private, public, college and professional levels.
Anyone who is active needs to have access to a massage therapist in order to relieve soreness and avoid injury. Whether your 16 or 60 there are benefits to being healthy and with the aid of sports massage you can achieve the goals set fourth by yourself quicker and easier than thought possible.
For more quick tips and advice on Therapeutic Sports Massage as Rehabilitation or simply sports massage visit this popular website at http://www.health-nutrition-medicine-medical.info. You will find the answers you need and want for Sports Massage Therapy.
Alex Hanson offers quick tips and advice in the health industry and sports massage therapy is no exception when it comes to keeping an athlete healthy for their sport. Visit this popular website at http://www.health-nutrition-medicine-medical.info for more quick tips and advice on Massage Therapy, Therapeutic Sports Massage as Rehabilitation and Sports Massage Therapy.
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27 Jun
How to Choose a Drug Rehabilitation Center
By Danah Yousuf
According to Wikipedia.org, drug addiction is defined as &quotthe compulsive use of psychoactive drugs, to the point where the user has no effective choice but to continue use.&quot Since drug addiction is a complex illness, it has so many dimensions and disturbs so many aspects of an individual s life, dealing with this ailment is anything but simple.
When a person is at a &lsquono control&rsquo stage, drug rehabs must help the person discontinue use of drugs and maintain a drug-free lifestyle, while gaining productive functioning in the family, at work, and in society. There are many reasons why a person would need to attend a drug rehabilitation program. Some of them are: the inability to control drinking or drug use, cutting themselves off from their friends and family, criminal offenses, and problematic behavior at work. At such facilities, through therapy and education, the individual is helped to gain their former self. They are then able to become part of the society.
Now, let&rsquos think about drug rehab centers and what images do you conjure? Resort-like facility or a strict hospital-like setting? Chances are, your perception does not cover the entire spectrum of drug treatment centers. Since there are several different types of drug rehabilitation programs available ranging from inpatient, outpatient, residential, short-term, and long-term, it helps to learn what&rsquos out there and how to choose one. Here are a few:
First of all, gauge the situation by considering the following factors in the life of the individual who needs the drug treatment:
1. Age of individual
2. Insurance options
3. Type of drug used
4. History of criminal offenses if any
5. Friends and family support
6. Number of times the individual needed the treatment
7. Is the individual psychologically addicted and will they require complete behavioral alterations?
8. Will they have withdrawal symptoms?
After accessing the individual, you need to ask questions similar to the following to your physician, counselor and especially the drug treatment programs.
1. What types of medications are used in the treatment?
2. Which types of vitamins and/or natural treatments are used?
3. What is the counselor-to-patient ratio?
4. How do they medically manage withdrawal symptoms?
5. Test or assess infectious illnesses such as TB, HIV, Hepatitis etc.
6. Also, how long is the treatment program?
7. Are families involved?
8. What is the cost?
These and similar questions can help you find out more about the different drug treatment centers.
How do you access if the individual will need residential treatment programs? Residential treatments are geared toward those who have been addicted for a long time. These are usually longer programs and try to educate individuals to live in a drug-free community.
It is said that the best rehab programs are those that are structured to an individuals needs. This needs taking into consideration the individual&rsquos race, age, culture, gender, employment, past drug history, criminal behavior and history of physical or sexual abuse. In choosing the drug treatment program, observe individuals within the drug program and notice their seriousness. It has been know that those who may have only tried a few drugs get more excited about trying other drugs when around serious drug users.
In most all drug rehab centers, regardless of their differences, they have one major goal: try to get the individual back to a drug-free lifestyle. Often times this requires more than one drug treatment and sometimes multiple attempts within a drug treatment center. Do not be discouraged. Do your part in researching and hopefully you will be able to find a drug rehabilitation center that will fulfill your requirements.
Danah Yousuf is a freelance writer and a full-time mom. Her work and poems have been published in periodicals overseas and has written extensively for women and children.
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24 Jun
Cardiac Rehab
By Jason Gluckman
Cardiac Rehab is a treatment program for patients diagnosed with heart disease to recover faster and return to their normal pace of life. It teaches the patient how to live with heart disease, and how to bring about a change in lifestyle and follow the right path to a healthy and strong heart.
Cardiovascular diseases cause 50 % of deaths in the U.S.A. Coronary Heart disease affects 13.5 million Americans. Genetic disposition, sedentary lifestyle, misguided eating habits and lack of exercise are the root causes of this problem. Cardiac Rehab tries not only medical treatment but also a complete overhauling of lifestyle to fight heart disease.
The Cardiac Rehab program aims at improving each patient’s health and long-term prognosis. It may be initiated after a coronary event (heart attack, hospitalization, heart failure) or a heart procedure (angioplasty, stent, surgery). A team of doctors, nurses, counselors and therapists design a suitable Cardiac Rehab program for each patient after detailed testing and examination.
There are usually three to four phases in a Cardiac Rehab program. Phase one begins when the patient is first hospitalized recovering from a heart condition or surgery. It is initiated in the hospital and may continue throughout the stay. Its goal is to deter the negative effects of bed rest, and bring about lifestyle changes that will minimize the chancres of a relapse in the heart condition. For example, at first you have to learn how to take care of yourself (grooming, bath etc), then find out how much exercise you can handle and start a weight training program.
Phase two is a major outpatient program started soon after discharge from the hospital. It lasts typically for 36 visits to the hospital or Rehab center. To start the exercise regimen, the patient must undergo a level treadmill test, so an exercise regimen will be tailored according to his need and condition. The entire program consists of starting on a strict exercise program and participation in group discussions, as well as individual counseling. Phase 2 Cardiac Rehab is reimbursed through Medicare and most other insurance agencies.
The program involves close monitoring of the patient’s initial exercise regimen, directing his return to work and leisure activities, developing a safe home exercise program, and providing counseling to treat any depression or to ease the change to a new lifestyle. Throughout Phase 2, the patient’s heart condition is monitored through Electro Cardiogram tests (ECG) on a weekly basis. High-risk patients are watched even more closely.
On completion of Phase two of the Rehab, the patient and referring doctor receive a report card, showing a comparison of several parameters tested during those 36 visits to the Rehab center. This includes body weight, blood pressure, heart rate, exercise capacity, and cholesterol level, and enables the physician to judge the results of phase 2 and the current health status of the patient.
Phase 3 is a maintenance program. It is started after judging phase two. Phase 2 patients may be referred to Phase 3 for continued supervision. Enrollment in phase 3 may not require a physician’s referral.
Research has proved that Cardiac Rehab has resulted in the following benefits–
reduced risk of heart attack, decreased severity of angina, reduced need for hospitalization, decreased blood pressure, the ability to exercise longer, a lower cholesterol triglyceride level and decreased depression and anxiety.
The goal of Rehab is to return a patient of heart disease to a normal and healthy lifestyle, sticking to lifestyle changes like quitting smoking and alcohol and following strict exercise regimes. This will ultimately determine the success of the Rehab program.
Rehab provides detailed information about rehab, alcohol rehab, cardiac rehab, drug rehab and more. Rehab is the sister site of Medical Alert Bracelets.
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21 Jun
Sports Rehabilitation - How You Can Get Back Faster And Stronger
By Moses Wright
Sports, for many, is part and parcel of lour lives. With the increasing focus on healthy living and exercise, many people are turning to sports. Sports such as football, basketball, baseball, soccer, have produced many heroes and idols.
Thousands of athletes aspire to excel in these fields as well. However, along with the glory and rewards that come with the fame, the intensive training and long hours that athletes put into their game, can result in injuries that could affect their form. It is good news then, that there is specialized care available when such injuries such as sprained ankles to crushed vertebrae occur. Sports rehabilitation is a growing sector and it has helped many athletes regain their form and maintain their career.
When faced with a niggling pain that just will not subside, it would be prudent of you to seek help as soon as possible. Any further stress or aggravation caused by exerting the injured part of your body during the physical activity would only make it worse. Not only will the problem not go away, there might be a chance that you would have to stop playing the game if you do not attend to it. Those who insist on bearing with the pain actually end up hurting themselves more extensively at that point.
It is important that you check with a physical therapist at sports rehabilitation centers if you have a serious injury sustained during training. Injuries such as fractures can be easily aggravated if left alone and the condition can deteriorate and turn into a chronic problem in the long run. Of course, not every injury needs to be assessed by a professional sports therapist however, it pays to be safe.
At sports rehabilitation centers, sports therapists do not only attend to injuries, they can also guide you on the ways to prevent other injuries. For instance, there can be guidance on proper warming up techniques specific to the individual, based on previous injuries and weaker joints.
Sports rehabilitation centers are usually well-equipped with facilities such as a full gym as well as pools, and even massage therapy rooms. There are also specific therapy machines available to tend to your injuries. In addition, the trainers would be able to help you train your injuries. Trainers give undivided attention to their clients as these sessions are on a one-to-one basis. This would be useful as clients are guided through the recovery process, with additional guiding given to draft up appropriate exercises specific to the client that will increase strength and flexibility during their injury.
As the trainers at sports rehabilitation centers have had professional training in the theory of the human physiology as well as practical experience with injuries, you are able to have a greater chance of a speedy recovery. In addition, the possibility of a full recovery is also greater. You should be able to get back into the full swing of things in a shorter time than you could on your own.
Opting to go to a sports rehabilitation facility when recovering from your sports injury is a smart idea to help you work through your injury. It will also ascertain that you do not you’re your muscle mass and flexibility at this critical juncture. Of course, there is the benefit of getting the individual attention that you deserve.
Moses Wright is the founder of Rehabilitation Program. He provides more useful information on Drug Addiction Rehabilitation and Physical Rehabilitation Therapy on his website. Webmasters are welcome to reprint this article if you keep the content and live link intact.
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18 Jun
Alcohol And Drug Rehab Must Be Covered By Pennsylvania Insurance
By Rod MacTaggart
A Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court has ruled that HMOs and group insurance companies must cover drug and alcohol treatment costs for policy holders referred to detoxification, rehabilitation and outpatient programs by a doctor or psychologist. The unanimous decision will help about 15,000 state residents with private insurance who need help through drug detox and drug rehab each year.
A 1989 state law requires insurance companies to cover drug and alcohol detox and rehab services. Aetna, Independence Blue Cross, the Insurance Federation of Pennsylvania and other managed-care groups sued the state’s Insurance Department, saying that they should be allowed to review drug and alcohol treatment referrals to make sure that treatment is appropriate. But the court sided with the Insurance Department s interpretation that treatment would be covered as long as a doctor or psychologist prescribed the alcohol or drug rehab program.
“It s a really important decision,” said Deborah Beck, president of the Drug and Alcohol Service Providers Organization of Pennsylvania. “Somebody at the end of an 800 number in another state should never be making these decisions.”
The insurance industry could appeal to the state Supreme Court and argue that state law allows insurers to review treatment in other health care areas before paying for care, and that it’s reasonable that alcohol and drug detox and drug rehab programs should be treated the same way. The insurance industry’s reviews of alcohol and drug rehab referrals would be conducted by physicians and psychologists, an Insurance Federation of Pennsylvania spokesman said, adding that when you don t have scrutiny over treatment patterns, you get increased health care costs.
However, doctors and psychologists who review cases for the insurance companies are paid by the insurance companies. Although this fact was not openly considered as part of the court’s ruling, the fact remains that reviewers’ decisions could tend to favor their employers - the HMOs and insurance companies - rather than the addicts, whos own treatment professionals have already determined that they need alcohol and drug detox and drug rehab programs.
Battling with HMOs and group insurers over desperately needed coverage is nothing new to Americans. The issue has been widely popularized in several books and movies that detailed the horrors resulting from the insurance industry’s penchant to favor their bottom line ahead of patient health.
According to Beck, slowing down the availability of alcohol and drug rehab through a complicated approvals process places addicts at risk. They might “disappear and die,” she said, adding that the court ruling upholds a “life-saving” law.
After nearly two decades on the books, the Pennsylvania law may finally have the chance to accomplish its intentions - to get people suffering from substance abuse and addictions into an alcohol or drug rehab program as quickly as possible.
Rod is a freelance writer who contributes articles on health
contact: info@drugrehabreferral.com
http://www.drugrehabreferral.com/content/drug_rehab
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15 Jun
The 12 travel rehab aggregation is infamous. It was originally bacilliform by Alcoholics Anonymous, but has since been successfully modified and practical to some take rehab programs. Narcotics Anonymous was the prototypal take ’support group’ to take the 12 travel program.
Essential to the 12 travel programs, both Alcoholic’s Anonymous and Narcotic’s Anonymous is spirituality. This doesn’t stingy digit is required to conceive in Allah, Savior or be of some pre-existing faith. Instead, apiece member is pleased to only place their establishment in a ‘higher power’, and this crapper be of some organisation they choose.
Both the AA and NA exist every of addicts and ex-addicts, or sick addicts, as they intend to themselves. They are a self-sustaining group. They are both non-profit organisations and don’t state professed therapists or counsellors. Nor do they control some residential beverage or take rehab centers.
Although both the AA and NA hit operated successfully for many, some years, they yet hit their critics. Many of who debate the 12 travel grouping is outdated, and discourse its noesis in recent times. Also by hortative grouping to place their establishment in a ‘higher power’ which is the set condition of intellection for the 12 travel aggregation followers, some critics see this takes absent from the individuals possess achievements and efforts and safekeeping their process-of-recovery into the safekeeping of an outward-power. Many conceive the key to noise dependency lies in believing more in ones consciousness than in a higher power.
The discourse is which is more effective? Encouraging the individualist to charge themselves and conceive in themselves, or hortative them to conceive in a higher noesis and place every unfortunate and action in that?
The respond is, perhaps, whoever you conceive in most, a higher noesis or yourself.
For liberated aggregation on take rehab and such another aggregation pertaining to fighting drugs analyse discover our website at http://drug.rehab4free.com
[tags]drug,drugs,rehab,abuse,detox,treatment,addiction,rehabilitation,center,program[/tags]
12 Jun
How to Choose a Drug Rehab or Alcohol Rehab Program
By Jonathan Huttner
Drug addiction is defined as “the compulsive use of psychoactive drugs, to the point where the user has no effective choice but to continue use.” Drug addiction is a complex illness and effective treatment of this disorder is not found in every drug rehab or alcohol rehab in America.When a person is suffering from drug abuse, alcohol abuse, drug addiction or alcohol addiction, a drug rehab or alcohol rehab program is the best choice to end the suffering. There are many reasons why a person would need to attend a drug rehab program. Some might be: the inability to control drinking or drug use, deteriorating relationships, criminal offenses, and problematic behavior at work. A quality drug rehab program, through therapy and education, help the individual to recover and become a productive member of society.
Now, let’s think about drug rehab and alcohol rehab programs and what images you see? Chances are, your perception does not cover the entire spectrum of drug addiction treatment centers. Since there are several different types of drug rehab programs available ranging from inpatient addiction treatment, outpatient addiction treatment, residential addiction treatment, short-term, and long-term addiction treatment, it makes sense to learn what’s out there and how to choose the best drug or alcohol rehab.. It is best to involve an addiction treatment professional at this point to help point the way. It is said that the best drug rehab programs are those that are structured to an individuals needs. This means taking into consideration the individual’s race, age, culture, gay, lesbian, bisexual, gender, employment, past drug history, criminal behavior and history of physical or sexual abuse. In most drug rehab programs, regardless of their differences, they have one major goal: try to get the individual back to a drug-free lifestyle. Often times this requires more than one addiction treatment attempt and sometimes multiple attempts within a drug addiction treatment center. Do not be discouraged.
If you require assistance in locating a quality drug rehab or alcohol rehab in your area go to www.recoveryconnection.org or call the national addiction treatment helpline at 1-800-511-9225.
Jonathan Huttner is a principal with Lakeview Health Systems, a drug rehab specializing in the treatment of addiction, alcoholism and dual diagnosis. Lakeview also offers Freedom Rings, a component for the gay, lesbian population.
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9 Jun
Stroke Rehabilitation: A Novel Treatment Pays Off
By Gary Cordingley
In a landmark study, researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham used a randomized controlled trial — the gold standard method for evaluating the effectiveness of a treatment — to show that immobilizing the good arm of stroke patients and intensively exercising the weakened arm actually improved recovery, even when performed long after the stroke occurred. At one level, randomized controlled trials in the field of rehabilitation medicine have been so rare that the publication of each and every one should be applauded. At another level, the outcome of this study is so satisfying in terms of what we think we know about brain physiology (function) that even if the results turn out not to be true, they ought to be.
A controlled trial is one in which there is a comparison group of patients that is either untreated or is treated differently. When a controlled trial is also randomized, it means that upon entering the study, participants agree to be assigned to one group or the other based on the equivalent of a coin-toss. Randomization eliminates bias that might otherwise come from (knowingly or unknowingly) assigning more promising patients to one group and less promising patients to the other.
Publishing their results in the March 2006 online issue of Stroke, a medical journal, Edward Taub, PhD, and co-workers studied 21 patients treated with “constraint-induced movement therapy” (CI) and compared their outcomes to those of another 20 stroke patients who received placebo treatment.
In strokes a loss of circulation damages a portion of the brain, resulting in impairment of whatever mental or bodily function that part of the brain controls. Strokes often cause weakness in an arm with or without concurrent numbness. Strokes are the leading cause of long-term disability in the U.S.
The researchers included stroke victims in their study who had mild to moderate impairment in use of their affected arms, but excluded those with severe impairment. The research subjects varied widely in age, averaging in their fifties. The investigators selected patients whose stroke had occurred a minimum of one year earlier with an average interval between stroke and treatment of 4.5 years. Patients with concurrent numbness were included, but those with poor walking or balance were excluded, as were patients with excessive confusion or too much additional impairment caused by other medical conditions.
The CI treatment was administered over a 2-week span, during which the good arm was immobilized about 90% of the time with an arm-sling and a hand-splint. CI patients had 10 weekday sessions with therapists, lasting 6 hours each. During those sessions, patients received one-on-one therapy that was individualized to their needs and abilities and involved specific, practical tasks of gradually increasing difficulty. The therapists praised patients each time their performances improved even just slightly. By contrast, placebo-treated patients received a more general program of physical fitness, cognitive and relaxation exercises over the same schedule.
The abilities of CI and placebo-treated patients were compared in two main ways. In one, the research subjects were videotaped in the laboratory while attempting specific tasks like holding a book, picking up a glass and brushing teeth. Their performances were rated by viewers who were purposely not told which treatment the subject received. The other rating, called the “real world outcome,” came from structured interviews of the patients and their caregivers concerning performance outside the treatment facility.
The researchers found significant improvements in CI-treated patients compared with both their own initial abilities and those of patients receiving placebo treatment. The CI patients showed a moderate improvement in their laboratory skills and a large improvement in use of the affected arms in their daily lives. Improvement was still evident 4 weeks after treatment, and even after 2 years in the 14 of 21 CI patients who could be retested at that time.
The researchers interpreted the improvement as due to two factors. The first factor, probably more important for faster gains, was in overcoming “learned non-use” of the weaker arm. The idea is that after a stroke, patients quickly learn to avoid using the weaker arm to a greater extent than its impairment might warrant, and CI training forces them to put it back into action. The second suspected factor, developing more slowly, was “neural plasticity” or actual rewiring of the brain. In neural plasticity surviving brain cells — previously uninvolved or less involved in controlling use of the arm — attempt to make up for the lost brain cells either by creating new contacts with other brain cells or by modifying the effectiveness of existing links.
In 1992 researchers at the Hammersmith Hospital in London used positron emission tomographic (PET) scans to examine patterns of brain use in stroke patients. PET scans are good at showing which parts of the brain are most engaged by specific tasks. Investigators compared PET scans in 10 patients who recovered from a stroke to those of 10 patients who never had a stroke. In this study subjects repeatedly moved one hand (which in the stroke patients was the affected hand) while their brains were being scanned. Compared to non-stroke patients, stroke patients used more areas on both sides of the brain to perform the requested movements, as if the surviving brain cells were trying to fill in for their fallen comrades.
Taub and collaborators at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke used similar methods to compare patterns of brain activation in 9 CI-treated stroke patients with those in 7 less-intensively treated stroke patients. In this 2003 study, CI-treated patients showed a shift in the extent to which different parts of the brain participated in moving the fingers of the weakened hand. Thus, CI treatment seemed to modify the brain pathways responsible for the finger movements.
(C) 2006 by Gary Cordingley
Gary Cordingley, MD, PhD, is a clinical neurologist, teacher and researcher who works in Athens, Ohio. For more health-related articles see his websites at: http://www.cordingleyneurology.com and http://www.neurologyarticles.com
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6 Jun
Why Is Drug Rehab Insurance Coverage Part of Mental Health Bill?
By Rod MacTaggart
Alcohol or drug abuse affects 25 million Americans only four million get treatment
The need in this country for increased insurance coverage for alcohol and drug addiction treatment is indisputable. Drug rehab and drug detox have little or no recognition among health insurers, yet drug addiction is a major cause of ruined lives, family violence, emergency room visits, and death. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, alcohol and drug addiction also cost America $77 billion each year in lost productivity. Clearly something needs to be done to make it easier for addicts to get alcohol and drug rehab.
But the question that leaps out when one reads the Paul Wellstone Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act, H.R. 1402, is this: is substance abuse and addiction “mental illness”?
The proposed “Wellstone bill”, H.R. 1402, would require insurance companies to treat “addiction and other mental health disorders” on an equal basis with other chronic diseases, such as diabetes or hypertension.
The Wellstone bill is being sponsored by U.S. Reps. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) and Jim Ramstad (R-Minn). Kennedy has said that we should “. . . end the discrimination against those with mental health and substance abuse disorders.” And Ramstad said Congress should “. . . end the discrimination against people with mental illness and chemical dependency.”
Where is this idea coming from that people with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder are in the same category as alcohol or drug abuse, including those inadvertently got hooked on addictive prescription drugs. Is it possible that they are not mentally ill - that they simply need drug detox and drug rehab?
For example, was Justice William H. Rhenquist of the Supreme Court “mentally ill” because he was hooked on powerful painkillers for a decade before he entered drug rehab? You’d have a tough time convincing college law professors or anyone on the Supreme Court that we should go back and cancel 10 years of brilliant and insightful decisions and opinions - the ones that later got Rhenquist appointed Chief Justice - because he was “mentally ill.”
Or what about one of America’s most famous, prolific and successful writers who for decades was either drunk or wired on cocaine, Xanax, Valium, NyQuil, cough medicines, or marijuana? Was Stephen King “mentally ill” when he wrote several intricately plotted, best-seller blockbuster novels? We never heard anything about “mental illness” when King went into drug rehab in the 1980s. And he’s been sober ever since.
And let’s not forget that Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, was a habitual cocaine abuser who sang the drug’s praises for years to anyone who would listen. After a friend died of an overdose, he abruptly gave it up and quit promoting it - not the action one expects from someone who is “mentally ill”.
The so-called “mental health parity” bills such as the Wellstone bill have always failed to pass - and there’s been a lot of attempts over the decades. Aside from the huge lobbying efforts against it by the insurance industry, perhaps people also feel deep down that substance abuse and mental illness are not the same thing at all and do not belong together in a such a bill.
The “mental health industry”, as it’s known today, receives billions of tax dollars every year in grants and other forms of support. In comparison, appropriations for alcohol and drug rehab are a drop in the bucket. Yet untreated dependency and addiction are costing us $77billion in lost productivity - more than heart disease, diabetes and cancer combined, and far more than “mental illness.”
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, nearly 25 million Americans suffer from a substance abuse problem. And less than four million of these victims receive the drug rehab they need.
If we really want to do something about this situation, we need to separate these two issues and get each of them into their own proposed legislation. That way we may have a better chance to get the insurance industry up to speed on helping the millions of Americans who are not mentally ill, and who too often need financial help getting into and through a successful drug rehab program
Rod MacTaggart is a Florida based freelance writer who contributes articles on health.
www.drugrehabreferral.com
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3 Jun
Florida s Gay Population and a Florida Gay Alcohol Rehab
By Jonathan Huttner
Florida s gay and lesbian population is growing daily and with it is a growing need for gay and lesbian services. For the purpose of this article we are concerned with gay drug rehab, gay dual diagnosis and gay alcohol rehab services. Regardless of where a person is from, they bring their personal history with them. In the case of the gay and lesbian, the personal histories of which I speak are related to prejudice, discrimination, internalized hompohobia and shame. Growing up gay and having to deal with the attitudes of the general public and family, have led many gay and lesbians to the world of drug addiction and alcoholism. Unfortunately, what happens is the attitudes of the heterosexual population become worse as the gay man or woman becomes drug dependent and their ability to cope with their feelings diminish even more.
Florida Gay Alcohol Rehab
Now imagine that we ask a gay or lesbian to check into an alcohol rehab run by a group of heterosexual men and women. It is like asking an anorexic to check into an addiction treatment program for compusive overeaters. This could be their worst nightmare. Don t misunderstand me, this doesn t mean that the alcohol rehab has to be run by all gay men and women. That is not the real world. The alcohol rehab must, as a minimum, have a gay alcohol rehab component, within the alcohol rehab itself. This will provide the gay or lesbian with a “safe space” in which to express their feelings and thoughts without thinking they are being judged. Their are many other clinical benefits derived from a gay alcohol rehab run in this fashion, such as being able to eal with internalized homophobia, but it also allow for the heterosexual to deal with their own homophobia. Everybody wins!
Jonathan Huttner is a partner in Lakeview Health Systems s a alcohol and drug rehab, which has its own gay friendly alcohol rehab component called Freedom Rings. Freedom rings provides alcohol and drug rehab for the GLBT population.
For additional information on an alcohol rehab program that has a gay alcohol rehab component call 1-800-511-9225 or go to www.gay-rehab.com. If you are not concerned with whether the alcohol rehab is gay focused, then go to www.steppingstonecenter.org.
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