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Support Groups
Support groups are groups of people who share a common bond who come together on a regular basis to discuss problems and experiences. Self-help has become an integral part of treatment for emotional issues, behavior problems, mental health problems, and for dealing with stressful situations. Many people find that support groups are an invaluable resource for recovery and for empowerment. Support groups bring together people with common experiences. Participants share experiences, provide understanding and support and help each other find new ways to cope with problems.
The term Support Groups generally refers to groups or meetings that:
Involve people who have similar needs
Are facilitated by a consumer, survivor, or other layperson
Assist people to deal with a .life-disrupting. event . such as a death, abuse, serious accident, addiction, divorce, a diagnosis of a physical, emotional, or mental disability for oneself or a relative, or any family crisis
Are operated on an informal, free-of-charge, and nonprofit basis
Provide support and education
Are voluntary, anonymous, and confidential
Support groups complement and extend the effects of professional treatment
In addition to participating in a Drug Addiction rehabilitation program, many find that attending support groups can be very beneficial to their recovery. Those addicted to drugs or alcohol often feel isolated from others and alone in their problems. An important step in Drug Addiction recovery is to reduce the person.s feelings of isolation. An effective way to reduce the addicted individual.s feelings of isolation and aloneness is for them to participate in formal or informal support groups.
Support groups are meant to be used as a tool in an individual.s recovery from Drug Addiction. When it comes to recovery, the individual has to use the tools they have learned both while in support groups as well as in drug rehab. Neither the support group or the drug rehab can do the work and recover for the individual, it is the individual who has to take what they have learned and use it to conquer their addictions. Support groups can of course give a recovering individual a comfortable environment to try out their newly learned skills which have been nurtured by the experience strength and hope which others in the group have shared.
Many find that support groups can provide emotional support, practical coping skills, strategies, and empower them towards personal growth, positive changes, and healing. No doubt recovery is hard work- but then . are you not worth all that hard work? Remember it.s worth all the work. Don.t forget . You are precious to your loved ones, to your self and that you deserve to recovery from Drug Addiction. Be kind to yourself and be patient.
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Did You Know? ...
Interesting Facts and Statistics:
Several national organizations have released statements of strong support for the new collaborative action plan to that has been implemented in order to fight prescription drug abuse; this plan was developed by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) in conjunction with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This new plan calls for healthcare provider training and increased patient education in regard to prescription medications, expanded monitoring of their use, better disposal of unwanted and/or unused drugs, and the shut-down of so-called pill mills in the U.S.
An overdose of Vicodin, whether it is taken for medical or non-medical reasons, can cause constricted pupils, slowed breathing, confusion, unconsciousness, liver failure or even death.
The past year prevalence of MDE was higher among adult girls than among adult boys (9.3 vs. 5.2 percent).
In 2006, the number of persons who had started smoking cigarettes daily within the past 12 months was 1.1 million. This estimate is similar to the estimates for 2002 (1.0 million), 2003 (1.1 million), 2004 (1.1 million), and 2005 (1.0 million). Of these new daily smokers in 2006, 44.2 percent, or 0.5 million (an average of about 1,300 initiates per day), were younger than age 18 when they started smoking daily.
It is important to note that the prevalence rate for needing but not receiving treatment for illegal drug problems was not calculated here by estimating one model for treatment need and another model for receipt of treatment, and then subtracting one from the other at the State level. The reason for this is that the percentage of persons receiving treatment is too small to estimate well. Instead, at the individual level, persons are designated as needing but not receiving treatment for an illegal drug use problem based on their meeting the criteria for treatment need and whether they received treatment for abuse of, or dependence on, illegal drugs in the past year. In general, the definitions of dependence, abuse, or treatment for alcohol or illegal drugs contain components that often overlap one another, and a researcher may be tempted to subtract them at the State level to obtain some missing component. Each measure is based on a different model, and subtraction can lead to erroneous results, such as a "negative" component.
There was a significant decrease in current use of crack among persons aged 18 to 22 who were not full-time college students, from 0.6 percent in 2005 to 0.2 percent in 2006. The rate was unchanged among full-time college students (0.1 percent in both 2005 and 2006).
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