Category: Addiction Treatment

Long term substance use can result in significant physical and psychological health difficulties. The truth is, addiction knows no barriers, and it does not care if you are rich or poor, famous or unknown, employed or unemployed. Addiction can strike anyone at any time. Deciding to seek treatment can be one of the most difficult challenges you will voluntarily face. Indeed, withdrawal and detox are not often easy, and some potentially dangerous side effects are common. For these reasons, it is highly recommended that you undergo the withdrawal and addiction process at an addiction treatment center where medical supervision and caring, compassionate support staff are available.  

What Is Drug Withdrawal?

When you use certain drugs on a repeated basis, your brain adjusts to this substance’s presence in your body. Eventually, this results in psychological dependence on your substance of choice. Without it, you feel as though you cannot function or feel “normal.” Once you have developed a significant level of dependence, it can be challenging to withdraw from or detox from substances. Withdrawal symptoms are often an inevitable response to this sudden absence of the drug in your body. Withdrawal symptoms may develop when you quit “cold turkey” or substantially reduce the amount of substance you are using. During withdrawal, your body is attempting to reach a new state of balance as it dispels your previous drug of choice but struggles to find a new normal balance. This process can result in significant fluctuations in brain chemicals and can also lead to substantial mental and physical health symptoms.

Drug withdrawal may include a combination of physical, emotional, and mental symptoms. Some of these symptoms can prove dangerous if left unmanaged. The precise duration of how long withdrawal symptoms last is unique to the individual. It is also determined by the particular substance you used, the amount of the substance you used, and for how long. For some, it may take days or weeks, whereas, for others, it could take months to reach a complete resolution of all withdrawal symptoms. However, the most acute withdrawal symptoms generally last for five to ten days.

What Is the Most Effective Way to Manage Drug Withdrawal Symptoms?

Withdrawal and detox can be challenging and sometimes dangerous for someone choosing to detox from certain drugs. If you are thinking of getting sober, it is highly recommended that you seek guidance from an addiction treatment facility where you can undergo medically supervised detox. This way, should your withdrawal symptoms become severe, they can be managed appropriately by trained medical staff. Withdrawal management is a large part of the medical detox process. It can often help you avoid potentially relapsing, as sometimes happens when one attempts to detox from substances independently. 

During medically supervised detox, you can safely rid your body of the substances while having professionals present to monitor your vital signs and administer medications to prevent or manage severe withdrawal symptoms. If you are addicted to alcohol, opioids, benzodiazepines, and other sedatives, medically supervised detox is the most effective and safe way to manage withdrawal with the fewest number of adverse consequences. 

Why You Should Detox off Drugs in Sherman Oaks

Withdrawing from different drugs has varying timelines, symptoms, and risks unique to you and the substance from which you are withdrawing. Treatment must be individually tailored to the specific drug or drugs you are dependent on, or it will not be successful. One of the primary goals of medical detox is to facilitate continued, longer-term treatment effects after the initial stages of withdrawal have been successfully managed. Though the significant first step in addiction treatment, detox is not a substitute or an alternative for additional treatment programs. 

To defeat addiction once and for all, it is essential to include behavioral therapy and ongoing medical care as part of your addiction treatment plan. Treatment programs such as those offered at Crosspointe Recovery in Sherman Oaks, California, ensure that you will receive individual, comprehensive addiction care throughout your treatment process. If you are ready to take the first step towards addiction treatment, contact Crosspointe Recovery, and speak to one of our admissions counselors today. Let our highly trained, caring staff help you take that first step towards a drug-free, healthier future. 

The world of addiction treatment and recovery has expanded beyond traditional therapy and 12-step programs in recent years. Today, many addiction treatment programs incorporate holistic and alternative treatment models into already successful and well-known evidence-based treatment models. Although traditional therapy models remain successful, research has shown that incorporating holistic treatments designed to treat the mind, body, and spirit of the recovering individual offers opportunities for enhanced success during and after treatment. Many alumni of addiction treatment programs take the skills learned from holistic treatment models with them after they leave treatment. They use these skills as coping mechanisms and healthy lifestyle changes, allowing them to continue with long term recovery and reduce the risk of relapse when faced with triggering situations. 

What Is Yoga Therapy?

The practice of yoga is not new. Yoga is an ancient practice that began in India centuries ago. Yoga is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual disciplines often associated with specific bodily postures. Today, yoga therapy is considered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA) to be one of several empirically validated holistic addiction treatment methods. When used in conjunction with other forms of clinical treatment, yoga can help address issues related to substance abuse, mental health, and chronic pain.

During drug and alcohol detox, it is normal for you to experience increased anxiety, stress, and depression due to withdrawal symptoms. Yoga therapy is an excellent, non-medicinal way of relieving these symptoms using your body’s own resources to heal itself. During a yoga session, your yoga instructor will guide you into and through positions. These postures are intended to be a bit uncomfortable because they are meant to increase mental concentration, perseverance, and self-discipline. Over time, as you repeat the same postures and persist with yoga practice, yoga postures require less and less effort as your muscle tone and overall posture improve. 

How Does Yoga Help with Recovery from Substance Abuse?

You may be doubtful about the benefits that yoga could offer your recovery. It can be challenging to imagine how stretching and breathing can help you defeat your addiction. Yoga is an excellent coping tool that can provide multiple benefits during your recovery.

Physical Benefits

Yoga can help you feel stronger and more flexible after every session. Aches and pains that are common as part of withdrawal will decrease as you use yoga to stretch and breathe through them. 

Stress-Reduction Benefits

Rehab is not easy. It is normal for you to feel increased stress while you are in treatment. The calm breathing exercises and mediative benefits of yoga can help calm nerves, reduce cravings, and help you find a healthy way to address any emotional distress or trauma you may feel regarding your addiction or other co-existing mental health conditions.

Improved Circulation

Long term addiction can have adverse effects on your cardiovascular system. Yoga can lead to improved circulation and lower blood pressure. Combined, these can lower your risk for heart disease. It also increases oxygen flow to your brain and improves your mood, which is crucial when the depression that can sometimes accompany recovery becomes challenging. 

Emotional Benefits

Many people will tell you yoga provides greater peace of mind. This can give you access to new, healthier coping mechanisms to use once treatment ends. Instead of turning to drugs or alcohol, you can turn to new, healthy, calming breathing exercises learned in yoga therapy.

Get Sober at Crosspointe Recovery

It is important to note that yoga cannot and should not be used as a singular treatment for addiction and recovery. You still need to complete detox and any necessary medical and mental health treatment provided by your mental health team. Yoga is a powerful and relaxing way for you to go through recovery and gain the peace of mind essential for defeating your addiction. To learn more about how yoga can help your rehab process contact Crosspointe Recovery today. 

Did you know that about 300 million people worldwide have an alcohol use disorder? It’s even more worrisome to note that, yearly, alcohol abuse causes 5.3% deaths. These numbers show just how dangerous addiction is and how pertinent it is to curb addiction. 

It’s a tough world out there. People have to deal with a bunch of stuff they don’t want to deal with, and as a coping mechanism, the thought of using drugs or alcohol becomes a more appealing route to distract themselves from the harsh reality. 

When in actuality, there is a healthier way to navigate these life issues as opposed to substance abuse. This is where talk therapy comes in. To help you understand talk therapy definition and the types of talk therapy, keep reading.

What Is Talk Therapy?

What is talk therapy and what does it entail?  Talk therapy can also be referred to as counseling, psychological therapy, or psychotherapy.The different terms used to define this therapy often denotes different things to people.

While there is no set talk therapy definition, talk therapy is generally a treatment strategy for addiction and other underlying issues that capitalizes on the healing effects of talking. This process helps navigate troubling situations and experiences that may affect mental health. 

The key factor to note here is that the session is best handled by skilled and seasoned psychotherapists who understand these patterns and offer an informed diagnosis.

The Types Talk Therapy and How They Are Used in Addiction Treatment

There are a variety of talk therapies available. However, these services may vary locally from city to city. Not every therapy type is ideal for specific problems, so doctors and therapists will recommend a particular therapy to help with a health condition or addiction. 

Here are the common types of talk therapy employed for assisting with addiction: 

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive behavioral therapy focuses on identifying anomalies in cognitive behaviors and proffering coping solutions to solve the underlying problems. 

According to a study (the efficacy of CBT), Cognitive behavioral therapy is particularly more effective for treating cannabis dependence over other psychotherapy techniques. 

One perk about cognitive behavioral therapy is that the coping mechanisms learned during the sessions can be applied by the patient post-therapy without needing serious guidance.

• Motivational Interviewing (MI)

MI was created with addiction in mind, but the techniques are applied to various physical and mental health issues like anxiety, depression, prescription drug abuse, gambling problems, pornography, or sexual addictions.

That said, motivational interviewing is a counseling approach that helps people solve self-doubts and ambivalent feelings to find the internal motivation you need to change their behavior. It is an empathetic, practical, and short-term process that considers how hard it is to make life changes.

A therapist primarily facilitates this type of therapy. And people who participate in this therapy increase intrinsic motivation, change and improve after taking sessions. 

• Contingency Management

In a contingency management talk therapy approach, therapists use rewards to motivate the patient that portrays desirable behaviors. As easy as it seems, this hook has proven over time to be highly effective for patients dealing with addiction.

• Dialectical Behavioral Therapy

This type of talk therapy approach focuses on correcting disorders by helping patients reduce cravings. It also helps void situations that will trigger relapse and generally guide patients on less destructive coping skills that can be harnessed.

Get Help at Crosspointe Recovery

Finding the right therapist is important if you want to maximize the benefits of talk therapy. You need to work with someone you trust and can interact with openly to see the results. 

At Crosspointe Recovery, our Los Angeles addiction treatment facility provides individualized treatments that focus on the causes and symptoms of addiction.

We also understand the struggle of weaning off substance addiction. Hence we have set up programs and facilities you need to achieve your goal of sobriety. Contact us today to get more information about our services and how they could be beneficial to you. 

Addiction is a chronic, debilitating illness that has a profound impact on the brain. Those who struggle with addictions to drugs or alcohol sometimes say and do things that inflict emotional trauma on those they love the most. Family and friends (often unwillingly) watch their loved one transform and change in harmful, self-destructive ways. Due to the challenges family members often face when a friend or loved one struggles with addiction, rehab, family therapy, and support groups can be highly beneficial.

What Is Family Therapy in Addiction?

While in addiction treatment, various therapies are used to help individuals understand the causes of addictive behavior. Each type of therapy often has a different focus, with the end goal being to help the addict achieve sobriety. While individual therapy focuses on one person’s thoughts, behaviors, and emotions, family therapy focuses on the entire family’s relationships. Family therapy strives to understand and validate all family members’ experiences while bringing clarity to all relationships and repairing strained communication.

During treatment, a family therapist will explore with the family how substance use is embedded in a cycle of interaction within the family. Also, family therapists can educate about substance use for the whole family and support family members in reducing unhelpful behaviors such as enabling while increasing effective behaviors. Many researchers believe that family therapy helps repair the family relationship, assists with family behavioral change, and increases family engagement.

How Addiction Affects Families

Family members of a loved one struggling with an addiction to drugs or alcohol may feel alone and, in many cases, angry at themselves. Family members often feel as though they have failed as a parent, spouse, or friend and seek reassurance that they are not alone in their suffering. The negative behaviors of their friend or loved ones struggling with addiction flow outward in a capacity that heavily, and often irreversibly, affects their loved ones.

The role of a friend or family member can be exceedingly challenging. Since most addictive individuals are heavily steeped in denial, those who use it do not often understand the impact of their actions on themselves, much less those that they love. More prolonged substance abuse will deteriorate the health of a loved one and impair their mental function, physical health, finances, and psychological well-being.

A child with addicted parents or an addictive loved one living in the home often feels the impact of addictive behaviors the most. A child with addicted parents can be changed forever as they learned by hearing, seeing, reading, and through their environment. When a child watches an addicted adult in the home, they are curious about what they see, and their actions often mimic the behaviors they have witnessed. Children living with addicted parents are at a higher risk of developmental delays, and in many cases, their medical needs become neglected.

In a domestic partnership, substance abuse sometimes leads to issues such as physical and verbal conflicts. Some of the most common problems resulting from substance abuse by one or both spouses include financial difficulties, social embarrassment or shame, legal issues, and distrust. In the worst-case scenarios, the emotions that arise from addiction in the home can result in physical and verbal abuse, violence, harm, and even death. Parents of an addicted teen and other members of the family are not immune to the challenges that arise from watching an addicted loved one struggle with chronic drug or alcohol abuse.

Get Sober Today at Crosspointe Recovery

If one of your loved ones is suffering from drug or alcohol abuse, the best step you can take is getting them the help they need. If substance abuse continues, not only their lives but those of everyone in their family will suffer. Support for families of addicts is available. The first step is to begin your family’s recovery journey at Crosspointe Recovery today. Contact us today to learn more about how our drug and alcohol addiction treatment programs in Sherman Oaks, California, can help your family member defeat addiction.

When it comes to drug and alcohol addiction, it can be challenging to be objective and to admit that you have a problem. If ongoing substance abuse is causing negative impacts in your life, it is time to take a closer look and consider that you might have an addiction for which treatment is necessary. Once you have made this decision, you have already taken the first step on the path to recovery. The next step is deciding where and how to get sober.

Establishing If You Need to Go to Rehab

According to a survey conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), of the over 21 million people in the United States who struggled with a substance abuse disorder or addiction, only 10% of those will ever seek or receive much-needed addiction treatment. Many choose to forgo treatment because they feel they have not yet hit “rock bottom,” or they do not believe their addiction is bad enough. The truth is, if you are questioning whether or not you need help getting sober, you likely do. This is especially true if you believe you need treatment for addiction to heroin or other opioid drugs.

If your life, job, and relationships are negatively affected by your substance use, you likely have an addiction. There are several criteria used to determine whether your addiction is mild, moderate, or severe. Regardless of your addiction’s severity, you should still seek help at a drug or alcohol rehab center in the Los Angeles area to progress your road to recovery.

How to Find the Right Rehab for You

Every rehab in Los Angeles, California, and beyond has different specialties. Even those with the same specialty measure success differently and take different paths to get there. To achieve treatment success, you must choose a treatment facility that can help you reach your rehab goals. However, before you can do that, you must determine what your real goals are. The first step is to decide which substances you want to recover from. The next step is determining whether there are any underlying (also known as dual-diagnosis) medical or mental health conditions to treat while you are in rehab. Finally, you need to figure out what success means to you. Is your initial goal to get through detox and remain sober for the first 30 days? Would six months of sobriety be a success? How about a year? Only you can determine what your goals are.

The best way to select the right treatment center for you is to do your research. Investigate various rehab options and ensure that the treatment center you choose will help you find success in their program. Reputable treatment centers will be happy to answer any questions that you may have about their treatment programs and services.

While you’re researching programs, consider whether they offer inpatient or outpatient rehab programs, what their specialties are, what type of treatments and therapies they offer, the location and length of the program, cost, and whether there are any unique amenities provided by the facility that may not be provided elsewhere. After you have researched and determined the right rehab for you, contact their admissions office, and learn about their enrollment procedures.

Why You Should Go to Rehab in Los Angeles

Whether Los Angeles, is close to home or will require travel; it is essential to select a rehab facility that provides individualized treatment plans. Addiction presents differently for everybody, and therefore no one treatment will work for everyone struggling with a drug or alcohol addiction. The best rehabs in Los Angeles provide a full continuum of care using evidence-based programming to help you recover from substance abuse in every aspect of your life. 

Get Help With Addiction at Crosspointe Recovery

At the Crosspointe Recovery drug rehab center in Los Angeles, CA, we help our clients find and learn the necessary tools for long-term sobriety. Our qualified on-site rehab staff has more than 20 years’ experience in treating addiction. Our primary goal is to help you diminish the negative consequences of substance abuse. We understand how challenging entering rehab can be and will work with family, peers, and other support circles within your life to enhance your treatment success and promote ongoing long-term recovery. If you are ready to seek addiction treatment at our detox or rehab facility in Los Angeles, contact Crosspointe Recovery today. 

Everyday life without the added burden of addiction can be physically, emotionally, and spiritually challenging. For those struggling with or recovering from substance abuse or addiction, these everyday stressors can often lead to thoughts of using alcohol or drugs as a coping mechanism. Therefore, relapse prevention is the primary focus for individuals recovering from addiction. 

During treatment, many relapse prevention tools are introduced and practiced, so when a recovering addict returns home, they have a wide variety of practical, positive coping skills they can use. Breathwork is one of these tools. 

Defining Breathwork – What is it?

Breathwork therapy is a powerful holistic-based practice where people learn to focus on controlled and conscious breathing techniques. Breathwork is often used in conjunction with other relaxation techniques such as yoga. Combined, these techniques help to calm the mind and reduce anxiety levels, which are common in individuals who are in the early stages of recovery. Breathwork therapy is quickly becoming an essential element of many addiction treatment programs. 

How is Breathwork Therapy Used in Addiction Treatment?

To have a clear understanding of how breathwork therapy helps in addiction treatment, it is essential to understand how breathwork therapy works and the goals of breathwork sessions. Breathwork therapy is a meditative practice through which participants learn specific techniques to consciously alter their normal breathing patterns. Through these changes in breathing, physical, mental and spiritual health are improved. Although not as commonly well known as other therapeutic modalities, the practice of breathwork has been around since the 1960s.

When used as part of addiction treatment, breathwork therapy can be used in both group and individual settings. In an addiction treatment setting, clients will be guided through a series of breathing exercises by an experienced breathwork therapist. The changes in breathing patterns brought about by these techniques are thought to help calm, center, and focus the mind. This form of breath control has been used in many medical and spiritual practices for thousands of years. Eastern medicinal practitioners have long believed that changing the rate and flow of respirations can bring about profound alterations in spiritual awareness, cognition, consciousness, and self-identity. When used as part of an evidence-based, comprehensive drug and alcohol treatment program, breathwork therapy can help lead those struggling with addiction to a more profound sense of inner connection, emotional empowerment and overall harmony between the body and mind.

Much like yoga therapy and other holistic therapies, there are three main goals to breathwork therapy when used to complement an addiction treatment program. The main objective of breathwork therapy in addiction treatment is to help clients become more aware of the mind-body connection. The breathing techniques learned as part of this practice allow clients to increase their focus on what they are feeling at the moment and open the door to thinking about how the events and traumas of their past have shaped the progression of their addiction. The second goal of breathwork therapy is to help clients work towards new and healthier levels of self-awareness. This heightened awareness allows them to honestly assess their current reality while improving self-esteem and confidence. Finally, breathwork therapy can help clients become more spiritually empowered and aware of themselves and others. This allows them to heal not only themselves but to engage in meaningful self-discovery.

Treat Your Addiction Holistically at Crosspointe Recovery 

If you or a loved one are considering treatment for substance abuse or addiction and are unsure of where to turn, look no further than Crosspointe Recovery. There are many addiction treatment facilities offering an overwhelming selection of treatment options. For addiction treatment that is proven successful, it must be individually tailored to meet your specific needs and goals. If you have questions about alternative and holistic therapies or wonder how Crosspoint Recovery can help give you the tools and support you need to achieve and maintain recovery, don’t wait another day. Contact Crosspoint Recovery today.

Many people who have experienced trauma tend to turn to alcohol or drugs to help deal with emotional pain, bad memories, difficulty sleeping, guilt, shame, anxiety, or even terror. Conversely, those with substance abuse disorders are more likely to experience additional traumatic events resulting from addictive behaviors. Often, people find themselves in a vicious circle where traumatic experiences increase their use of substances, which leads to new traumatic experiences, which leads to worsening substances use for which treatment is required. To better understand the connection between the two, it is helpful to have a clear understanding of what addiction is and what trauma is. 

An Overview of Addiction

Addiction is a chronic disease that impacts the brain. Someone who struggles with an addiction, whether it be to substances or behavior, suffers from a dysfunction in the brain’s areas involving reward, motivation, and memory.  Addiction impacts how the body craves a substance or behavior, especially if its use results in a desirable feeling. Someone with an addiction will continue to pursue acquiring substances or using substances regardless of any negative consequences they may experience. 

An Overview of Trauma

Trauma comes in different forms, and therefore trauma can have different impacts on the body and mind.

Psychological Trauma

Psychological trauma is a response to an event perceived by the nervous system as life-threatening to the individual or a loved one. The results of psychological trauma involve the debilitation of one’s adaptive abilities. Adaptive abilities include cognitive, physical, spiritual, and social capabilities.  

Developmental Trauma

Developmental trauma occurs early in life and disrupts the normal sequences of brain development. Consequently, other aspects of development, such as emotional, physical, cognitive, and social development, are also impacted.

Domestic violence, physical trauma, sexual violence, natural disasters, and witnessing violent events can all result in traumatic outcomes.

The Connection Between Trauma and Addiction

Trauma and addiction are frequently linked as addiction commonly occurs due to trauma and related mental health disorders associated with traumatic events. There are many reasons why people turn to substances after a traumatic event. For some, substances are used to dull the symptoms that develop as a result of post-traumatic stress disorder. The use of alcohol or drugs can provide a temporary distraction and temporary relief for someone who has experienced trauma and may be suffering from severe and even debilitating problems across multiple areas of their lives. Unfortunately for the individual, this relief is only temporary, and the use of substances to reduce symptoms can ultimately cause harm. Ongoing substance abuse minimizes an individual’s ability to concentrate, be productive at work or home, sleep well, and cope with traumatic memories and other external stressors.

As noted above, substance abuse can increase behavioral symptoms such as emotional numbing, social isolation, anger, and irritability. In an attempt to self-medicate against memories or reminders of the traumatic experience, the person turns to alcohol or drugs to feel relief. They will use it to the point where they can no longer feel emotions associated with her trauma. These numbed emotions can sometimes cause the person to take risks they wouldn’t ordinarily take, such as drinking while driving, driving at excessive speeds, committing crimes to obtain substances, stealing from friends or loved ones, or acting out violently against those around them. These actions can lead to further traumatic events, which only further their addictive habits.  

Crosspointe Recovery Can Help You With Addiction

When someone is struggling with substance abuse and trauma, it is essential to treat both conditions simultaneously. In these cases, it is best to seek treatment from an experienced and skilled treatment facility with specialized expertise in dual diagnosis treatment programs. If you are experiencing substance abuse related to trauma, contact Crosspointe Recovery today. 

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is a form of psychotherapy initially developed in the late 1980s. DBT was created for the purpose of treating patients diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and suicidal thoughts. Today, DBT has proven successful in treating substance abuse and addiction, as well as severe mental illness cases.

What Is DBT Therapy?

Although DBT has its roots in cognitive behavioral therapy, several modifications and additions to treatment routines have occurred.  The main goals of DBT are to teach people how to live in the moment, develop healthy coping mechanisms for stress, regulate emotions, and improve relationships with others. The treatment methodology around DBT incorporates three essential assumptions. 

1. All things are interconnected.
2. Change is constant and inevitable.
3. Opposites can be integrated to form a closer approximation of the truth.

During DBT sessions, the patient and the therapist work together to resolve any perceived contradiction between self-acceptance and change to bring about positive changes in the individual. Along with a push for change, the idea of validation is vital to DBT treatment. It has been found that with validation (in conjunction with a push towards change), patients are less likely to suffer distress from the idea of change. During sessions, the therapist validates that the person’s actions “make sense” within the context of their personal experiences without necessarily agreeing that their actions are the best solution to the individual’s problem. 

How Is DBT Therapy Used in Addiction Treatment?

The goal of DBT is to help the individual seeking treatment to build a life they can enjoy living again. DBT has proven to be very successful in treating those who have been struggling with substance abuse and for whom other treatment methods have not worked. DBT promotes the use of change and acceptance. Using this approach, addicts can gradually learn to deal with everyday problems (triggers) without extreme emotional activity, which often leads to substance use.  

Those who struggle with substance abuse often do so because they turn to alcohol or drugs as a means of coping with difficult emotions. DBT provides education and skills training to help manage these emotions. Using DBT, substance use, and addictive behaviors can be replaced with healthy coping skills and emotions brought under control without turning to substances.

DBT therapy consists of four components that are used together to help addicts recover from their dependence on drugs and alcohol. These include the following.

Skills Training

Skills training typically occurs in a group setting where participants can learn new life skills necessary for coping with triggers after they leave treatment. These sessions usually meet weekly. Although groups focus on skill development, the vital feature of DBT is not reserved solely for once-weekly meetings. Skills are also taught and practiced during individual therapy sessions.

Individual Therapy

Individual therapy sessions allow for focused, one-on-one work with a therapist. These sessions can help promote ongoing motivation and allow for time to practice new skills. 

When used in a drug or alcohol addiction treatment setting by trained providers, DBT has proven to be highly successful in reducing substance abuse as well as self-harming or suicidal behavior that can sometimes accompany substance abuse disorders (or co-occurring mental health conditions).  Skills developed during DBT sessions can help recovering addicts learn to cope with difficult, triggering situations in a healthy way. These skills are essential in overcoming reliance on substances and will help to prevent relapse. 

Crosspointe Recovery Is Here for You

If you or a loved one struggles with an addiction to alcohol or drugs, don’t wait to seek treatment. Research has proven early intervention is key to successful treatment and recovery. At Crosspointe Recovery in Sherman Oaks, California, our goal is to help you achieve sobriety and lead a healthy, productive, and substance-free life. Our highly experienced addiction treatment staff has more than 20 years in the field of addiction treatment and a passion for caring for our patients and their families. Don’t wait another day. Contact Crosspointe Recovery today.

The United States is currently suffering from an opioid overdose epidemic. The National Institute on Drug Abuse found from data in 2018 that almost 130 Americans die every day from overdosing on opioids. Heroin is part of this opioid epidemic. Heroin overdose deaths increased rapidly in 2010, and heroin addiction remains a massive problem facing our public health. However, this rising number of opioid overdose deaths has resulted in an increased public awareness about the problem and corresponding effort to offer heroin addiction treatment. At Crosspointe Recovery, we work tirelessly to fight against the heroin crisis. 

What Is Heroin?

Heroin is an opioid made from morphine. People inject, sniff, snort or smoke heroin to experience a “rush,” which is a euphoric feeling. Heroin is highly addictive in part because people who regularly use heroin can build a tolerance to it, which prompts them to take higher or more frequent doses to keep feeling high. Heroin causes serious long-term health effects including insomnia, abscesses, stomach pain, liver and kidney disease, weakened immune system, heart disease, lung complications, and mental disorders. Sniffing or snorting heroin also damages nose tissues. Injecting heroin can result in collapsed veins and also puts individuals at higher risks of contracting HIV and hepatitis C. Individuals can overdose heroin and the number of deaths from heroin overdoses have increased rapidly in the past 10 years.

Identifying a Heroin Addiction

Heroin addiction can be difficult to talk about, but it is a dangerous substance and intervention could be lifesaving. If you suspect a loved one may be addicted to heroin here are some signs that may help identify a heroin addiction:

Physical Symptoms of Heroin Addiction

The high of heroin and some of the damaging effects it has on the body may be visible to individuals observing an addict. These physical effects and symptoms can include:

• Marks on the skin from injection, called “track marks”
• Slowed breathing
• Blue lips and fingernails
• Nausea and Vomiting
• Insomnia
• Constricted pupils
• Itching
• Constipation—often people who regularly use heroin need laxatives because of this symptom
• Dry mouth
• Falling asleep or swinging back and forth between consciousness or semi-consciousness

Heroin Paraphernalia

Individuals need certain paraphernalia to get high from heroin and the paraphernalia differs depending on the way they take it. Paraphernalia for injecting heroin might include syringes, needles, metal spoons, tin foil and lighters. Pipes are often used for smoking heroin and cut-up drinking straws or plastic pen cases are often used to snort heroin. Heroin itself is a powdery crumble substance that is often off-white but can range from white to dark brown or black. 

Behavioral Signs of Heroin Addiction

The physical effects of heroin may cause visible behavioral signs of the addiction. Additionally, heroin addiction has psychological effects that may be observed in the behavior of the addict. Some of these behavioral signs include:

• Memory loss
• Disorientation and lacking coordination
• Increased risk-taking behavior and compulsiveness
• Wearing long sleeve clothing even in warm weather to hide track marks
• Suffering work performance and diminishing sense of responsibility
• Social isolation and suffering relationships
• Trouble maintaining health and personal hygiene
• Theft to maintain financial means to access drugs

Get Help in Los Angeles

If you or a loved one is suffering from heroin addiction it is important to know that recovery is possible. The decision to become sober is the first step, after which you should seek out professional treatment with trained healthcare professionals who can provide an individualized approach. 

Los Angeles, California has an opioid overdose death rate higher than the national average, which has prompted the LA County Department of Public Health to develop and execute a broad opioid prevention strategy to combat the opioid crisis. Their effort appears to be working, in tandem with the abundance of treatment options, LA County has the highest number of individuals with opioid addictions served in opioid treatment programs in the state of California as a result. 

Get Help With Heroin Today at Crosspointe Recovery

Heroin rehab in Los Angeles offers recovering individuals an abundance of options to find the right fit for their individual treatment. Crosspointe Recovery is a rehabilitation facility in Sherman Oaks, a serene neighborhood in Los Angeles. At Crosspointe Recovery we believe in long-term recovery and commit to that goal by helping patients through every step of recovery including drug & alcohol detoxification, a residential inpatient program, outpatient programs, and a variety of evidence-based therapies. Our full continuum of care is provided by a caring and expert staff at a beautiful location. If you or a loved one is interested in heroin addiction treatment in Los Angeles, don’t hesitate to contact us today.