Open Door Retreat

The link between women, alcohol and breast cancer

Late last year, health insurance giant Kaiser Permanente reported that there was a correlation between women who consumed alcohol and an increased risk of getting breast cancer.

The study, which examined the drinking habits of 70,000 women from a variety of age groups caused quite a stir, and women everywhere pored over the report, wondering if they should stop drinking altogether.

But as this even-handed piece of reporting in the New York Times points out, there is a link between the two, but the information should be taken with a grain of salt.

The eight year study - which was observational and included no clinical trials - found that three or more drinks per day increased the risk of breast cancer by 30% in the women studied.

So consider a higher risk of breast cancer to be another reason to get into a good alcohol treatment program!

Studies show women become addicted more easily than men

While much of the focus in the addiction community skews towards the addictions of men, recent studies have found that women may actually be at a greatest risk for developing a dependence on drugs, alcohol or other substances.

And though men do have higher rates of addiction than women, the gap between the sexes is closing at a rapid rate.  A study by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University found that 20 million women are addicted to drugs or alcohol in the United States, and a staggering 30 million have an addiction to nicotine.

With significant numbers like that, the problem of women and addiction is a difficult one to ignore.

Consider the following facts about women and addiction:

• Women become addicted to drugs and alcohol for different reasons than men - and therefore will require different forms of treatment and rehab.
• According to the Columbia study, women become addicted to drug or alcohol twice as easily as men.
• Abuse of prescription painkillers is twice as high for women than men.
• With few programs offering specific programs for women, it is believed that over 90% of all women with a drug or alcohol addiction do not get treatment for their condition.
• Women’s addiction is often tied to deeper psychological issues such as image and self-esteem, making treatment more complex.

Hopefully, continued research on women’s addiction issues will shine a brighter light on the problem, and help pave a way for the millions in the grasp of dependence to get the help they need.

Americans more likely to try marijuana and cocaine

It looks like the United States is leading the way in another couple of unwanted categories: percentage of residents who have tried cocaine or marijuana use among world nations.  In fact, recent studies by the Public Library of Science have found that Americans are quite a bit more likely to try pot than those living in countries where the laws are much more liberal towards such activities, such as The Netherlands.

The study, recently summarized in the popular Huffington Post blog, found that 42% of those surveyed in the United States had tried pot at least once, compared to only 20% in the Netherlands where the drug can be easily and legally obtained.  The researchers also found that in many major Eastern countries such as Japan and China, the number of people who had tried marijuana was close to zero.

Information like this shines an interesting light on the legalization of marijuana and the impact it would have on American society.

To read the whole story, visit The Huffington Post.

Today, MSNBC presented a compelling story on the increase in Alcohol abuse among women in their ongoing series on substance abuse. Check out the video below:

If you think it’s hard to be a recovering addict, try being a single mom who is going through recovery while trying to keep her family happy, healthy and safe. That’s just one of the challenges unique to women recovering from a drug or alcohol addiction. Residential rehab programs are a near impossibility for many single moms, thanks to prohibitive costs for admittance, lack of health insurance and the difficulty of finding long term child care. Even those women in recovery who use outpatient and after-care services such as AA find it difficult to afford or arrange for childcare.

Women in destructive relationships are also at a high-risk, and often find it difficult to get the help they need. Many times, in these relationships, the man is also abusing drugs or alcohol, and the woman feels trapped – lose the addiction, lose the guy – in a cycle of addiction. For these women as well, getting into rehab can seem like an impossible journey.

What’s the solution? Because women need to work extra-hard to break the cycle of addiction, they need to work with caring professionals who know their issues and concerns best. Rehab and recovery centers for women are outstanding places for the woman battling addiction to get the mental, physical and spiritual help she needs to get back on her feet. And because cost is often an obstacle for many women – it is urged that everyone give to those women rehab clinics in need of donations and public support.

Almost 8 million women abuse prescription drugs each year – and a large percentage of those are involved in the dangerous misuse of methamphetamines. Why this highly addictive drug? In addition to increased activity and wakefulness caused by the drug, Methamphetamines also suppress appetite, making them very appealing to women with self-image problems who are looking to lose weight.

The problem is, methamphetamines can be as destructive as cocaine and may cause heart-attacks or strokes. If you know someone who has a problem with methamphetamines then get them into treatment. And don’t forget that to cut this problem off at the source, we need to work together to change the way young women look at themselves. Until we are free of the bonds that Hollywood places on girls and women (look younger, be thinner, be perfect!) there will always be problems with substances such as methamphetamines.

We don’t even give girls a fighting chance – instead we just throw them into the lion’s den of impossible expectations at an early age and expect them to copy. Fight back at against images of perfection – and support qualities other than beauty in young women. The result will be a healthier, happier society of women – and one less reason to pick up a methamphetamine.

Besides taking good care of your body, it is important to take care of your emotional and mental health. If you are usually well-balanced emotionally, that is really great!

You obviously want to feed your body and your brain good nutritious food and gett plenty of sleep. You are saying no to chaos that tries to steal your sense of peace and the people who are trying to sneak it into your life.

However, if your sleep is disturbed, your food isn’t digesting well, leaving you with stomach aches and bowel problems, and you are having other symptoms like headaches, it is time to take inventory of what you are allowing to “live rent-free in your head”.

What goes into your head and abides in your emotions have a huge impact on how your body functions. Have you ever heard the term “garbage in-garbage out”? If you are eating junk-food, your body and your emotions will react.

Perhaps you are watching violent movies before going to bed. Don’t be surprised if you have bad dreams or can’t sleep through the night. Discussing heavy subjects before you go to bed (like financial debt), can also cause insomnia.

Although some doctors prescribe a glass of wine to relax you, that could get to be a habit and cause other issues. A few sleepless nights and your work-day responsibilities will begin to suffer. Kick relationship garbage to the curb!

Before you run to a psychiatrist to lock you up somewhere and fill you full of medications, take a long hard look at the choices you are making in your life that could be causing you some discomfort. Are you so wrapped up in other people’s problems that you don’t have the time and energy to deal with your own?

My advice is to care from a distance, but don’t adopt them. Rescuing them only makes them feel less capable of handling their responsibilities; and they will eventually resent you for it anyway. Change will only happen when their behavior becomes more painful than they can tolerate.

Feel wounded, broken, and confused? Give yourself permission to take a ‘time-out’. Take a written relationships inventory. Look at it like a business. What stays brings profit. What is eliminated is what causes your business to go bankrupt. Simple as that! When you see it all on paper, it will become clear.

Learn how our women’s recovery retreats can help you rebuild your life from abuse, emotional exhaustion, drugs, or alcohol.

In this modern day, the definition of drug addiction has had to be broadened. In the news, reporters have uncovered different forms of drug addiction that some of us have never heard of before.

Many young people and even elementary-age children are sniffing aerosol cans of paint for the effect that they can get from it. Although the children say that they get a form of “high” from this sniffing or “huffing” as it is called, they don’t realize how dangerous it can be. There have been cases of brain damage from this activity. Even some deaths have been reported!

Another type of drug abuse that has become more prevalent recently is that of using prescription medications to try to “get high”. There have been an alarming number of children and teens reported to have been getting addicted to prescription medications they are finding in the medicine cabinets in their own homes.

Several programs on television have described how some teens are having parties involving these drugs. According to these programs, these teens will raid their parents’ medicine cabinets and bring any medications that they find to these parties.

They have no concern for what conditions the drugs have actually been prescribed. The teens put all the pills on plates in the middle of the room and just pick out whatever appeals to them.

Mixing pain pills, anti-anxiety drugs, sleeping medications, and antidepressants can cause brain damage or death. Many other medications that are not dangerous by themselves can become deadly when combined with other drugs. It is so shocking to find out that children are doing this without their parents even being aware of it!

How can a family help get their child out of such devastating behavior? First, parents have to educate themselves about this deadly addiction. Next, remove the temptation by keeping medications locked up. Don’t leave those aerosol cans where children can gain access to them.

Contact the schools and find out how aware the faculty is of this terrible problem. Perhaps they already have support groups for dealing with this. If you are sure that your children and teens are not involved in this activity, request things that they can do to help their friends who may be addicted.

Contact a drug abuse counselor in your area to make an appointment for you and your children if you suspect they are currently addicted. Don’t try to deal with this all alone. Get the help of a professional.

Cut out articles from the local paper showing the dangers of these activities. Check the library for books or magazines that deal with this addiction. Find out about television programs that deal with this activity and tape them. Watch them with your whole family. Start a discussion about whether or not they have friends who are doing these things. Remember to listen more than you talk. Children and teens will open up if you create a safe environment for them to do so. Be supportive, not attacking.

Contact other parents in your area. Suggest a neighborhood meeting of parents to discuss how to educate the children, teens, and even parents about the dangers involved. Get this out in the open and work together to defeat this addiction!

There are many different resources that you can use when it comes to getting an alcoholism diagnosis. One popular place to look for this type of information is the Internet.

The Internet offers a wealth of resources for diagnosing any problem, disability, or illness. For example, you can turn to the Internet to take simple online tests. With these tests, you will respond to a series of questions by simply clicking on the answer that best fits you and your lifestyle. After completing the test, you will receive results that tell you whether or not you exhibit the characteristics of an alcoholic or if you are moving in that direction.

You can also find several checklists online that will help you make a diagnosis about your drinking habits. These checklists generally provide you with a list of characteristics that are typically associated with alcoholics. In that way, you can see how many of these characteristics fit you and whether or not you appear to be suffering from an alcohol abuse problem.

There are also several sites on the Internet that will describe the warning signs associated with alcoholism. By reading the warning signs, you can determine if you are someone that is at risk for becoming an alcoholic or if you already are having serious problems with alcohol.

All of the resources available online are a good place for you to start your research and for you to begin looking for the help you may need with your drinking. At the same time, you shouldn’t rely on these online resources. If you suspect that you may have a problem, or if you think someone you care about is suffering from alcoholism, it is best to seek out the help of a professional. In this way, you can be absolutely certain about your diagnosis and you can start down the road to recovery if alcohol is indeed a problem for you.

Taking care of your health is one of the most important steps that you can take to ensure that you live a long life. When it comes to your health, prevention is key. It is best to make any necessary changes to your lifestyle while you are still in good health to prevent sickness and disease. Unfortunately, many people avoid precautionary measures and fall ill or develop diseases that otherwise may have been prevented.

Some of the most important steps that you can take to ensure good health is to have regular checkups, monitor your diet, exercise at least 3 times a week, get plenty of sleep each night, and reduce the amount of stress in your life. If you smoke or drink you should limit these activities as well.

Many people avoid seeing their doctor and only make an appointment once they begin experiencing signs and symptoms of serious illness. However, by visiting your doctor on a regular basis, he or she will be able to monitor your health and instruct you in the tools that you need to ensure you remain healthy. Seeing your health care provider on a regular basis is one of the most important steps that you can take to ensure your health.

Another very important step that you should take is to discuss any pill, medications, or herbal supplements that you are taking with your health care provider. Many people feel that if they are taking herbal supplements that they don’t need to notify their health care provider. Herbal supplements may have interactions with other medications you are taking or even preexisting conditions. It is imperative to let your health care provider know what you are taking, even if it is over the counter remedies or herbal supplements. By taking the time to take steps to prevent sickness and disease, you will be rewarded with good health.

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