Alcohol Abuse in Pasadena
Home of the annual Rose Bowl, Pasadena is the ninth largest city in the Los Angeles County. The city is also home to a wide range of cultural and scientific institutions. Unfortunately, just as it is full of culture and beauty, it is also full people suffering from alcoholism.
In 1952 a psychiatrist by the name of E. M. Jellinek published a book about the phases of alcohol addiction, and then another book in 1960 that described alcoholism as a disease. Sometimes known as the “father of the disease theory/model of alcoholism” Jellinek’s books showed a concept only seen in Alcoholics Anonymous groups since the 1930s. The first book outlined the phases of addiction and correlated them to alcoholism.
Despite the astounding advances made in treatment and therapy for addiction, the primary response for alcoholism and alcohol related crimes is incarceration. While there does need to be some sense of responsibility taken, punishing addiction with imprisonment is the wrong approach. All too often this method of reprimand is counterintuitive, and the alcoholic only returns to alcohol once out of jail. There is nothing therapeutic about a life behind bars.
The Hazards
If someone were to sit down and try and create a pros and cons list for alcoholism, the entire page would be one sided. There is no upside to any disease, especially not one that so strongly affects your body, mind, and social life. Excessive drinking has been tied to a long list of both physical and psychological health problems, such as alcohol poisoning and dementia.
Alcohol poisoning presents several side-effects, any of which can happen simultaneously with one another, and require immediate medical attention. Most commonly seen during bouts of binge drinking, which is the consumption of more than four drinks within two hours, the side-effects are more than just unpleasant. Vomiting, shortness of breath, confusion, loss of coordination, and seizures are just a few of the results of binge drinking. Alcohol poisoning is not limited to binge drinking, however, and can occur through long-term excessive use.
Other potential hazards of alcohol abuse can involve cancer of the throat and mouth, cirrhosis of the liver, liver disease, an increased risk of heart attack, hypertension, and seizures. Each and every one of these occurs through excessive use over a period of time, are all potentially fatal, and incredibly expensive to deal with.
Then there are the psychological aspects of alcohol abuse. Alcohol is a depressant, and excessive consumption can cause brain cells to deteriorate causing long-term negative effects. At first it may be something as simple confusion, impaired judgment, and dulled motor function, but later they can become much worse. Side-effects such as auditory, tactile, and visual hallucinations, and strokes can occur. Long-term alcohol abuse has also been tied to an increased risk of dementia in senior years.
Forging Tomorrow with A Better Today
Simply put, alcoholism requires a special kind of help: compassion, understanding, and knowledge. A Better Today is the industry-leading recovery service that uses fact-based research, techniques, and multiple forms of therapy during treatment. During treatment any and all withdrawal symptoms you have will be under medical supervision. These symptoms are a result of the detox process that your body naturally goes through when it is without the substance it is addicted to, such as alcohol. During this time the body is flushing out the harmful toxins in order to have a clean system once again.
ABT believes that therapy is what strengthens treatment and we encourage our clients to continue their therapy even after treatment is complete. While with us, you will be given a personalized treatment program, designed with your history, severity of condition, and personality in mind.
Our most used methods are group and individual therapy. Both of these have the same intent, but with different approaches. The group setting is designed to give you a community of other recoverees to be around, draw perspective and strength from, and feel safe with. There’s strength in numbers, and knowing that you are not alone in this endeavor can be a big boost to your fortitude. In an individual setting you will be one-on-one with a therapist. The goal of these methods is to develop insight into your own life. These are sometimes combined with cognitive behavioral therapy, which delves into the depths of your mind to find the underlying factors that contribute to the addiction.
Sometimes we may not realize how we got to the stage where we need therapy to get better. It may have all started with a glass of wine after a long day at work, or a rough fight with a friend. It could have even been caused by a traumatic incident or loss. Regardless of the source, the goal of cognitive behavioral therapy is to find it, understand it, and develop new and productive ways to cope with these stresses.
ABT also offers therapies that take a more specialized nature. These include equine therapy, music and art therapy, exercise therapy (only available in certain locations), and family therapy.
Family therapy is a special kind of approach that helps to mend the bridges that may have been damaged, or even destroyed, during the worst stages of alcohol abuse. Domestic violence has been tied, on numerous occasions, to excessive consumption of alcohol, which can leave some pretty deep scars. The goal of family therapy is to bring the alcoholic into a safe environment with the friends and family he or she may have harmed, whether physically or emotionally, and help them heal. The channels of communication are reopened.
Each of these different forms of therapy are effective in its own way. The reason ABT employs such different forms of therapy is because we know that addiction affects everyone differently. As such, the approach to each client’s circumstance has to be unique. Another reason is because these different forms of therapy teach relationship skills, communication skills, and new ways to cope with high stress situations.
At the end of your treatment you become an alumni of A Better Today and can even work with the company after a year of sobriety.
Interventions – Travel – Affordable Plans
If you have a loved one or a friend who is struggling with alcohol abuse, then an intervention might be your best way to help them. You have probably seen a form of intervention through Hollywood and television: family, friends, and sometimes a priest all gather together to confront the alcoholic and tell him or her how their drinking has affected each and every one of them. In truth, this is only one of many ways an intervention can be conducted and each method has its own use. A Better Today can put you in touch with a local specialist who can give you the proper knowledge for an intervention, and can even show up at the event to help lead it.
ABT highly recommends traveling for your treatment in order to get you away from any possible triggers that could negatively impact your recovery. Triggers can be anything from a familiar drinking friend to a stressful situation that leads you to the desire to drink again. Anything that sends your mind back to the need for alcohol is a trigger and can undo all of the hard work you’ve done to recover. However, if you travel away from the comfort of home, and thus away from the grips of triggers, the foundation you build is that much stronger.
Travelling also brings the benefit of a fresh new environment. ABT works hard to assure as much of a stress free and encouraging atmosphere as possible.
If you are worried about the cost, don’t. At ABT we accept most forms of private insurance that very well could cover the entire cost of your treatment. Even if the insurance only covers part of the cost, or you simply don’t have insurance, you can continue to breathe easy as ABT has created several affordable, reasonable payment plans. Nothing should stop you from getting the help you or your loved ones deserve, and nothing will when you choose A Better Today.
Call (520) 288-8484 now to speak to a member of the ABT team and begin your journey to a brighter tomorrow.
