Month: August 2009

Self magazine has admitted giving Kelly Clarkson a new PhotoShopped body in the September issue because covers shouldn’t reflect reality but, “inspire women to want to be their best.” By denying women the opportunity to see what celebrities really look like, they are supposedly inspiring women to strive for something that is unobtainable- perfection. This is at the very root of my own disordered thinking and eating patterns. When you see tabloids circling dimples in a celebrities butt in a bikini or highlighting a star’s “fat” arms, it perpetuates and compounds the idea that women must be perfectly thin and flawless, which is next to impossible.
After gaining weight during recovery from my eating disorder, I was horrified to see how my body had changed, even though it was definitely for the better. My disordered thinking was difficult to overcome, but treatment at Visions helped me develop a healthier self image. Seeing PhotoShopped images of stars and tabloids pointing out their “grotesque” flaws really challenges my fragile self image. As I grow stronger after coming out of adolescent eating disorder treatment, I don’t feel as compelled to pay attention to the media’s body consciousness and I am working to pay more attention to my own self worth and happiness. If your teen is struggling with a adolescent eating disorder, Visions can help turn your teen’s life around. Give them the gift of freedom and recovery by contacting us today.

It has been found that cocaine use was a factor in the death of Billy Mays, spokesman for products such as OxiClean and Orange Glo. The medical examiner concluded that cocaine use was a factor in the development of his heart disease, which made it a factor in his death. The pitchman also had therapeutic levels of Xanax, Valium, hydrocodone and oxycodone. I never realized that cocaine can contribute to heart disease, but CNN reports that cocaine, a stimulant, raises blood pressure which can thicken the wall of the left ventricle in the heart.
It is truly unfortunate when anyone meets their end at the hands of drugs and alcohol, but celebrity drug-related deaths can help draw attention to the fact that addiction doesn’t discriminate. Drugs are a harmful force that can ruin lives, young and old. Drugs like cocaine and prescription pills can be very difficult to stop on one’s own. Visions Adolescent Treatment Center recognizes the seriousness of teenage drug abuse, and offers an all-encompassing program to treat all aspects of addiction, from the roots of the problem to the aftermath, such as damaged family relationships and academic performance. It makes me sad any time anyone dies unnecessarily from drug abuse, because we don’t have to be alone anymore. Help exists. Getting clean young provides a whole lifetime of continued freedom.

A survey of 12,000 high school seniors indicates that 12.3% of the teens have abused prescription opiate-based painkillers to get high, confirming the rising trend in Teenage prescription drug abuse. Either ignorant of the dangers, or by choosing not to care, teenagers are putting themselves in great danger by abusing these drugs, which can very easily lead to accidental overdose. The study also concluded that most teens who engage in prescription drug abuse are also more likely to abuse other drugs and to have addictive problems. When I was a using, I considered prescription drugs like Vicodin and Oxycontin to be harmless. I wasn’t shooting heroin so what was the big deal? The big deal was that regardless of the substance, I was desperately addicted.
I tried them with a friend who had found them in her parent’s medicine cabinet. I began to use my after school job money to buy more pills from kids at school. I stole my mom’s prescriptions to trade for opiates. When I didn’t have them, I got really sick. My whole life began to revolve around getting more pills. I was constantly calculating how many I had versus how many I would need and how I was possibly going to get them. At the end of my using, I was consuming potentially lethal amounts of pills because my tolerance was so high. I needed help. Visions Adolescent Treatment Center helped me detox and begin the recovery process. We covered all aspects of my life, finding new ways to handle life without using drugs. It was a difficult process, but as the number of teenage prescription drug abusers increases, I am so glad I made it out alive.

Lately I have been overwhelmed by the number of prescription drug commercials that are bombarding the airwaves. It seems like there is a pill for everything, and while the ads aren’t necessarily for medications like Vicodin or Demerol, they definitely reflect our culture’s increasingly relaxed attitude about medicating everything. I absolutely recognize the need for medication in certain cases. In recovery, sometimes medication can help when dealing with severe emotional challenges. For instance, if you can’t get out of bed to get to a alcoholics anonymous meeting because of crippling depression, then meetings aren’t going to help. I suppose I am just concerned about our country’s casual attitude towards pills, because it is similar to the attitude I had when I was using. Just woke up? Take a pill. Stubbed your toe? Take a pill. Feeling upset? Take a pill. Going to work/school/bed? Take a pill. Heck, take a handful.
When I went to adolescent drug treatment, I was suddenly faced with having to deal with things clean. My pill addiction made me want to use every time I had an uncomfortable moment. It was hard to do new things without having that veil of intoxication separating me from the world. The new feelings I experienced made me feel like I was crazy, but as I sat through them, they became less foreign. I felt sad, and happy, and angry and upset. I didn’t know what to do with my feelings. This is usually why I used. I had never put in the work to learn how to have acceptance, self-honesty, and hope. Working with the medical staff, I was able to sort out what feelings were actually detrimental to my ability to function, and which ones I was simply uncomfortable having. As I have stayed clean, a lot of those feelings have gotten better. I have learned to be patient with myself, and to not panic when I have a feeling. I can call my sponsor, or do some journaling, talk to a friend, or go for a walk. My feelings don’t govern my decisions today. I am free from my teen prescription medication addiction because today I know that sometimes there aren’t quick and easy answers to everything. Sometimes I have to do some uncomfortable work on myself. While this new process denies me the instant gratification of getting high with pills, the long term results are of a quality that are deeply gratifying. If your teen is struggling with a pill addiction, there isn’t a quick fix, but there is help that can last a lifetime. Click here and contact us today.

Of the one-in-five young adults and teenagers who were classified as needing substance abuse treatment, 94% do not think they need help, and of the seven million young people who need help, only one in ten adolescents will actually get help. I feel fortunate to be one of few who got the opportunity to take a shot at recovery at a young age. I definitely didn’t think I needed help- I thought I was a lost cause. I couldn’t imagine a life without using drugs and alcohol.
In my experience, many teens meet teenage recovery and adolescent drug rehab with resistance. It sounds like a death sentence to many: go away from your family and friends to a strange place with strange people- and no drugs or alcohol! When I went to treatment, I felt like during the sixty days I was to be there, the world would move on without me. What I realized is that the world was passing me by as I was using, and that when I got clean, I could take the reins again and actually be a part of life. I realized that a lot of my using friends weren’t actually friends. We used each other. In treatment, I got to know other kids who struggled like me, and who wanted to change like me. There was a saying I heard a lot there, “Stick with the winners!”
Now that I’m back in the “real world,” I know that most of my peer group does not embrace the idea of adolescent recovery. Kids at school or at work wonder why I don’t want to smoke pot with them or drink with them. I spend my free time with the “winners”- my peers in recovery. I didn’t want recovery when I was using drugs in Portland because I had no idea that life without drugs and alcohol could actually feel better. I thought I was destined to be miserable. I hope that by staying clean and continuing on this path of recovery, I can be an example to other young people who might think they have a drug or alcohol problem, and that I can show them that
getting help actually helps!

A big part of the adolescent recovery process is setting healthy boundaries. It’s hard for a teen who is trying to be accepted by their peers to say no to temptations. Before getting clean and sober, young addicts have very few, if any, healthy boundaries. Their lives are chaotic, and they are most likely engaging in risky behaviors, abusive, co-dependent relationships, manipulating, lying, stealing, and are devoid of any real self-respect. It takes a certain amount of courage as a teenager to tell someone that they are crossing your boundary. You have to know yourself well enough to have clear boundaries and you have to know that you have a right to protect and defend yourself. What are boundaries? Boundaries are limitations we set for our selves. In recovery, we learn to break down the walls and establish boundaries that protect us from others and from ourselves.

The first kind of boundary to consider is physical. This means, how close can you get to me before I feel uncomfortable? For different people, this boundary varies depending on how well you know some and what kind of personal space feels right. For both men and women this is important when dating. As adolescents, it’s very important to maintain healthy sexual boundaries. “No means NO!”

Other boundaries include emotional and spiritual boundaries. What makes you uncomfortable to discuss with others that could trigger unpleasant memories or relapse, for example. You may not want to talk politics or religion with your family at the table on Thanksgiving when you recall the heated arguments from years past. You shouldn’t tell “war stories” that glorify meth. binges to someone trying to kick a nasty speed habit.

Many teens break boundaries when they form new relationships. They think that they are in love, but they really have little or no boundaries. They lose themselves in their boyfriend or girlfriend. These kinds of relationships are often co-dependent and tend to become abusive because there is a constant fear of separation.

The sooner teens start learning about boundaries the better. As they grow and mature, they will be happier people because they will have healthier relationships. The key to having good boundaries is to be consistent and clear when setting them. Using “I feel” statements may sound corny, but they really work. Don’t be afraid to ask someone before you act if you are breaking their boundary. You take the guesswork out of it and if are offended that you asked, they probably don’t have good boundaries.

Please click here if you would like more info on adolescent drug treatment in Malibu.

Sobriety Test

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I don’t really want to admit this, but I just watched The House Bunny. Shhhh! My eyes just kind of glazed over and suddenly I was sucked into it. I am surprised I can type at this point. Okay, so the lowdown- Shelley, a Playboy Playmate is kicked out of the Playboy mansion and somehow becomes the house mother of a failing sorority house. The nerdy, unattractive girls must get 30 new pledges or they lose their charter. Oh no! What are these nerd girls going to do? Get hot! Shelley gives them all Playboy style makeovers and suddenly they are super hot and popular. The house will be saved! Yay for miniskirts! Shelley is trying to win the affection of a nerd guy and begins to see that her hotness may not be enough- she’s going to have to get smart. The former nerd girls of her house help her read some books and suddenly she can talk about NATO! OMG!!! Spoiler alert: Shelley and the girls begin to loose themselves in their new images and learn that maybe balance is what they need. They should be smart AND hot. Oh. Of course. They should be everything.
Oddly enough, this mind-melting (in a bad way) movie made me think about Courtney Martin’s awesome book, Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters. In the book, Martin examines the new cultural norm of girls not just being good, but being perfect and, “the frightening new normalcy of hating your body”. Martin illustrates that the idea that girls need to be everything- smart, pretty, athletic, etc., has everything to do with disordered eating and unhealthy body images. Self-hatred has become the norm and Martin calls on women of all ages to change these destructive ways of thinking. The most memorable line from the book was the idea that after all of the progress in women’s lib, instead of hearing, “You can be anything,” girls today are hearing, “You have to be everything.”
I have read a lot of books on eating disorders, but this one really helped me to examine my role as a young woman and how my self-criticism is part of a larger social problem. Martin doesn’t really blame anyone, but instead focuses on how messages have gotten muddled throughout generations. I placed very high expectations on myself because I perceived that that was what was expected of me. No one ever told me to make myself sick trying to be perfect, but somehow I heard that. Figuring out all of the misinformation I have in my head has been an important part of my recovery process. I don’t necessarily think movies like The House Bunny are the reason I have had a adolescent eating disorder, but I do believe that I can take responsibility for how I perceive them. I know that I don’t have to give myself a Playboy makeover to have self worth, and if I hear that message, I can stop myself and look at the truth. So, while The House Bunny may be perpetuating the idea that women need to be everything to be worthy of affection and attention, I don’t have to take it to heart. I mean, it was kind of funny. Kind of.

Please click here if you or a loved one is suffering from a teen eating disorder.