Tag Archive

Deciding to seek treatment for addiction takes courage. It is a personal choice that can be difficult to make. Often, you’re sitting at rock bottom before the idea of getting treatment even crosses your mind.  Suddenly, you’re thrust into a world of having to decide what the best way to seek help looks like for you. […]

Although national studies show that underage alcohol use has steadily declined since 2002, there were still 7.4 million drinkers between the ages of 12 and 20 in 2017.1 With this in mind, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is leveraging Alcohol Awareness Month in April and National Prevention Week May 12-18 to bring […]

How Does Alcohol Work? When alcohol is consumed, it passes from the digestive tract into the bloodstream, where it is transported throughout the body, including to the brain.1 Once the alcohol enters the brain, it affects a number of different neurotransmitters—specifically, inhibitory (GABA) and excitatory (glutamate) neurotransmitters. It binds to GABA receptors and enhances the […]

What Is Methamphetamine? Methamphetamine, commonly referred to as meth, is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant known for eliciting a powerful high, increasing wakefulness, and decreasing appetite.1 The high from meth is short, however, and people will often binge on it, taking repeated doses, before crashing. Some people will take meth over and over for […]

What Is Ecstasy? Ecstasy is a synthetic drug known as 3, 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA.2 Ecstasy is sometimes encountered as a powder or liquid, but is more commonly found pressed into pill form or brightly colored tablets—often with imprinted logos or “brands” on them.3 This synthetic drug—what’s known as a substituted amphetamine—has both stimulant and hallucinogenic […]

What Is Ketamine? Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic agent used in medical procedures as well as for the treatment of severe acute and chronic pain. Ketamine was first synthesized in the 1960s and began being used in medical settings as a dissociative anesthetic agent shortly thereafter. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved it in […]

Take Our Substance Abuse Self-Assessment Take our free, 5-minute substance abuse self-assessment below if you think you or someone you love might be struggling with substance abuse. The evaluation consists of 11 yes or no questions that are intended to be used as an informational tool to assess the severity and probability of a substance […]

Individuals who have had their lives disrupted by alcoholism – whether they are addicted to alcohol or they have a family member who is struggling with the condition – often hope that there is a cure for this frustrating and often devastating addiction. The inability to stop or control drinking can throw lives into chaos […]

Terms such as “alcoholic,” “alcoholism,” and “alcohol abuse” are generally terms we avoid using in the articles we publish at American Addiction Centers (AAC). Stigmatizing language, like this, can create a negative bias, perpetuate the view that addiction is a moral failing—and not a medical disease—and adversely impact treatment retention. Additionally, research shows that stigma […]

Clinicians who treat individuals with substance use disorders define the term relapse a bit differently than the way the term is defined by laypeople and even the way it is defined in 12-Step programs. In clinical terms, a relapse represents a return to behaving in a way that would constitute an individual being re-diagnosed with […]