Month: April 2009

What happens after rehab is just as important as what happens in rehab for adolescents. CNN.com, April 14, 2009 emphasizes the importance of “soft landings” after adolescent drug treatment, like sober high school, where teens can avoid being dropped back into their old environments, where the threat of relapse increases. In recovery, I learned that I had to change everything- including who my friends were and where I hung out. Returning to my high school after treatment without any kind of support would have been a disaster.
Being in treatment feels safe, and the first couple of weeks out made me feel like a baby deer trying to walk. It can be lonely and scary. Luckily, I continued with outpatient treatment and was able to stay connected with the support group I had begun to form in treatment. Back in Orange County, I kept going to AA and NA meetings regularly which allowed me to expand my support base further. I’m grateful for my “soft landing” out of treatment. I learned in treatment that I didn’t need to test my recovery or put myself in situations where drugs were around. I eased back into the world and my awesome support system helped me feel stronger and more confident in my recovery every day.

Last night I spoke at a meeting at a drug rehab in Newport Beach. It was
interesting to see the diversity of the group. I am always excited to see newcomers, but what made me even happier was seeing the majority of the people in
the recovery house were young people. I even saw some Visions alumni! It is good to see that young people and adolescents are coming into recovery homes.

Being at a meeting like this allows me to be empathetic and share with them my experience with alcohol and drug addiction. The meeting turned out to be really awesome. Sharing with fellow alcoholics/addicts near the beach on a beautiful day, I could not ask for more.

Click here to contact us for more info on adolescent drug rehab in Newport Beach

Through learning more and more about adolescent addiction and ADHD and have also learned about the link between the two diagnoses. “The combination of a higher intensity of cravings and the tendency to take risks without considering consequences may put ADD adults at greater risk for substance abuse (Kelly and Ramundo).” Impulsivity is a trait that both addicts and those with ADD posses. Everything that I have learned has helped me to remember rule #62; to not take myself too seriously. I have learned to accept my assets and have implemented tools to work on my liabilities. I no longer get into negative self-talk about how I should or could be. The book titled You Mean I’m Not Lazy, Crazy or Stupid?! also discusses how the twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous can be beneficial when applied to ADD (Kelly and Ramundo). As the twelve steps are basically a program for having faith, taking personal inventory, cleaning up any harms and being of service to others.
Learning about the signs and symptoms of ADHD and addiction as well as the link between the two diagnoses has assisted me in overcoming many of the obstacles I have been faced with. “When you understand your disabilities, you can begin the process of discovering your abilities and unleashing your potential (Kelly and Ramundo).” I no longer have a constant feeling of less-than, now I can see that my learning style may differ from others but I am still equally capable. I don’t criticize myself incessantly for having a few too many unfinished art projects anymore, now I can giggle at myself and simply appreciate the fact that I am creative. And I no longer am tormented by the constant question of “what is wrong with me?”

Click here to contact us for more warning signs and symptoms of addiction

Newport Beach and orange county teens who attend Visions Adolescent Drug Abuse Treatment Program are typically struggling with drug and alcohol and dual diagnosis related problems.

Visions Adolescent drug addiction residential treatment program provides a safe, supportive home-like environment for it’s orange county clients can begin to learn the new skills necessary for achieving long lasting recovery. The intensive, structured program is filled with daily activities that help the resident to recognize their own denial systems, come to terms with their problems, become familiar with the 12-Step recovery principals and begin to make the positive choices that will lead them to a healthy and productive life.

The drug abuse treatment program is housed in a high-end residential ranch-like setting in Malibu, just far enough from Newport beach, Corona Del Mar and surrounding areas. This removal from their immediate setting allows them to focus on their recovery. The facility is in a rural setting that is on twelve acres of wooded land. There is a swimming pool and horse facility on and of site.

Click here for more info on teen drug treatment and recovery in Newport Beach

Fast forward to a year ago. I am twenty-one with four years sober and now I work at that treatment center that changed my life. I am a chemical dependency counselor and I specialize in adolescent addicts. I am the youngest person to ever hold this position within my company and I aspire to become a psychiatrist one day. Yet even with all of this going for me I have the nagging belief that I am not good enough, school is too hard for me and I am nothing without Adderall. Through a lot of prayer and support from family and friends I enrolled in my first classes at Pierce, the first step on the long road to my MD. Talking to a friend at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting one day, I casually mentioned that I was struggling with school and I noticed that I was self-medicating with excessive amounts of coffee. “Caffeine is a stimulant ADD adults frequently use for self-medication (Kelly and Ramundo).” My friend, who has 22 years sober, shared her experience with ADHD with me. She told me that when she had 11 years sober she felt like she was dying inside and didn’t know what was wrong with her. She gave me some books on the topic and recommended a psychiatrist that specialized in addiction.
I like to call this part of my life “my recovery with ADHD”. I am now taking a non-stimulant medication that assists with some symptoms but I have also made it a point to learn more about my disorder. “It’s difficult to grow up with the hidden handicap of ADD. Many of us feel that we’ve spent our lives disappointing everyone-parents, siblings, teachers, friends and ourselves (Kelly and Ramundo).” The same feeling of relief and identification comes over me when I read about ADHD as when I read the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. The more I learn the better I feel and the more coping tools I am trained to use. I have learned that medication is just one piece of my recovery; it is not the sole solution. “Finding a drug to manage some of your symptoms can be extremely helpful in your recovery. But you should regard it only as a starting place in your journey, not as the final destination (Kelly and Ramundo).” I have already implemented tools of increased structure, color-coding, studying in 20 minute increments, flash cards, etc. I am learning what works for me and how I work, so to speak.

Click here to contact us for more warning signs and symptoms of addiction

The reason the teenagers from Orange County and Newport Beach that go through the Visions Adolescent Drug Treatment Center are so successful is that young peoples recovery is so amazing. Young peoples recovery in Orange County, CA is definitely and experience you cannot miss. Sobriety can be seen everywhere in the southern California hot spot. The more amazing thing within the recovery community in Orange County is the amount of young people getting and staying sober. There is an average of 2-3 young peoples meetings that can be found to go to every single night of the week. In these meetings young people are getting clean and sober. Teens in trouble can find inspiration within these meetings where they can find people their age to relate to in regards of drug and alcohol abuse issues. Parents also find hope when they know their teens in need can go to a safe place, and be with people who try and live a healthy positive lifestyle.

Young people in Orange County and the ever growing Visions Alumni group sets an amazing example of recovery for many other groups. They take “we are not a glum lot” to a new level, as young people getting clean and sober. You can often find a group of sober teens sticking together and supporting each other in their daily struggles, but also having lots of fun too. Young people in AA and NA in the OC are a tight nit community that opens their arms to anyone in need. If your are every in Orange County, do yourself a favor and experience young people getting clean and sober and see the miracle happen!

-Alberto P.=

Click here for more info on drug treatment and recovery in Newport Beach

Upon entering treatment an overwhelming sense of relief flooded my body.  The realization that I wasn’t crazy; I am not the one solitary nut job in the world that doctors can’t help.  I am an alcoholic/addict.  “Psychologists usually define substance abuse as continued use of a substance after several episodes in which use of the substance has negatively affected an individual’s work, education and social relationships. (Wood, et al.)”  The more I learned about alcoholism/addiction the more I identified.  The more I identified the better I felt, I learned more about myself.  I learned that mainly being concerned with myself and operating in self-pity most the time was worsening my situation (Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous).
      I had previously been diagnosed with ADHD at age seven at a clinique in Newport Beach and again at age 15.  I was put on Adderall at age 15 and my grades improved.  I never learned or read much about ADHD as I was in the mindset that Adderall was my solution.  I began to abuse the Adderall when I started abusing Marijuana and in treatment they suggested not to take a stimulant as they have a high risk of abuse.  When I had six months sober I tried to go back to school.  I started taking a few classes at a community college.  Before long I felt like I was in over my head.  I felt like I was nothing without Adderall, it was the key to accessing my brain and my self-esteem plummeted with every class I took.  After several failed attempts at taking classes I decided to take some time off of school.

read more about my journey in tomorrow’s postings

Click here to contact us for more warning signs and symptoms of addiction

What’s wrong with me? This is a question I have been riddled with since I can remember.  I thought it might be because I was conceived in a Petri dish, or because my dad has a disease that turns his skin darker, but nothing fit snuggly in that empty hole I had.  Learning about the signs and symptoms of ADD and Addiction has helped me have a greater understanding of myself with my assets, liabilities and quirks, and it has helped me learn healthy coping tools.
    When I entered an adolescent treatment center in Malibu at age 17, I opened up the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous for the first time.  Immediately the words “restless, irritable and discontent” jumped out at me.  It seemed that my entire life I was trying to explain to people what was going on with me, why I was the way I was, and this book summed it up in three simple words.  The closest I had ever come to explaining this feeling before is the feeling of wanting to jump out of my skin.  In hindsight I can see that this feeling only pervaded me when I was not under the influence, but at the time I just felt different.  It seemed that others were having a much easier time adjusting to the ebbs and flows of growing up.  I felt “less than” in every aspect, school, parent relationships, even little things like drawing ability, I just could not measure up.

To be continued in tomorrows posting…

Click here to contact us for more warning signs and symptoms of addiction

CBS News talks to Visions Adolescent Treatment Centers about Teen Depression.

At any one time, nearly six percent of American teens are clinically depressed. That’s about two million a year, and many of them don’t get the help they need, reports CBS News correspondent Bill Whitaker.

Now, a government task force is asking doctors to check all teenagers for depression regularly.

Behind the statistics are teens like 18-year-old Taryn. She felt so depressed, anxious and isolated in 9th grade, she started using hard drugs and ended up in rehab at Visions Adolescent Treatment Centers.

“It was just getting so out of control that I couldn’t wake up and have a normal day anymore,” Taryn says.

Click here for the rest of the story from CBS news.

If you think that your teen is depressed please act now.