Anonymous wrote:I would appreciate hearing on this thread about any positive experiences with treatment. Where do the folks with resources send addicted teens for help?

I will limit myself to the question asked, which went to families with resources.

If a family has money, the quickest and surest route to recovery is to take the child to an accelerated detox place. There are two I know of, one in Richmond and another in Michigan. Can get URLs if interested. It costs about $5000 as I recall. It ends with a Vivitrol implant that needs to be changed approximately every two weeks. There are local Vivitrol providers but not sure if they do the implants; however, if you have money some extra trips to Richmond won't break you. It is highly recommended to have the implants in for at least a year. The accelerated detox is not covered by insurance typically, but the implants should be if not the procedure for implanting.

Then have the child attend NA meetings very regularly, certainly at lest once a day in the beginning. These are usually open so you can check a couple out beforehand so you can check out the culture. It can vary widely among meeting places. One thing to check out if you can is the extent to which they rely on volunteers and the extent to which they actively recruit newcomers to volunteer positions. Volunteer work can be a critical component in getting the child invested in NA. NA is free, but it can be really helpful for users from all walks of economic life.

If you have reason to believe your child has turned to drugs because of abuse or other mental health problems, aggressively pursue therapy with a therapist your child clicks with. Initially, you might want to do twice a week.

I would not do a knee jerk into an expensive rehab. The failure rates are very high, even at the very high end ones. Many say they do dual diagnosis but their actual view typically is that all psychological problems are caused by drugs. Maybe if you are talking a hardened long time user, but pretty much wrong for most teenagers.

As a result, if your child has mental health problems their method of addressing them will be group therapy with the general rehab population. Even at expensive places, your child would be extraordinarily lucky to get individual therapy once a week, and even then it is probably with a drug counselor, not a real therapist. The one exception I have found is Reunion in San Diego, which allows for a large number of hours a day of therapy. It no longer seems to offer a residence option (really just a house--all therapy is off site). That would mean accompanying your child to San Diego and renting a place for the duration of treatment or, if money is really no object, hiring a sober companion to go with your child.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


Half of those people having nightly wine are addicted also. A drug is a drug and it does nothing good to your brain.

Citation please.

It is how the brain works. If you drink wine every night for two years and then stop all at once you will go through withdrawal. Why because you have changed your brain chemistry. So you were addicted to a drug. Same as if you were smoking cigarettes every day. Also if you drink wine every night to get a buzz and you have kids then you are parenting your child constantly when you are buzzed. You may not reach the level of addiction where people drink 2 bottles of vodka a night and can't get up to go to work and end up losing their jobs. But all drugs and alcohol give a temporary high that changes the brain. Alcohol and drug use and abuse is more on a spectrum of how much damage it is causing your brain and life. If you are drinking nightly you are on that spectrum and causing more damage than you can admit.

Thanks for that citation from the published research of your butt.

You sound like my alcoholic in law that lashes out at everyone because they can't face the truth. Trying to rationalize your wine cellars filled with 100's of bottles of a liquid drug.

Private school = lots of money; lots of money = drugs.

Anonymous wrote:My brother is 39 years old. He went to a top private school PK-12th grade where he was a star athlete and a great student. He went to a good college and then got a great job.

At about 27 years old, he became addicted to pain pills and Adderall. He lost his job and hasn't had a real once since then. All he does is deliver pizza. The pain pills and the Adderall ran out and then he became addicted to heroin because it was cheaper.

He's in treatment for it now.

He also suffers from depression.

My mom died about 6 years ago and my dad is the one left to deal with all of his crap. I would say that he (and my mom when she was alive) have spent over 200K on him trying to get him well, etc. in the last decade plus.

We came from as "normal" a family as there was.

It's terrifying.

Oh God, us too. This is nearly our exact story, except my brother became addicted at much younger (while AT that vaunted private school), has a family, and my parents are both still alive and enabling him. What is especially tragic to me is that my mother is stuck in this endless loop of trying to identify what/how things went wrong. Now that I have my own kids I'm also terrified this will somehow happen to them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


Half of those people having nightly wine are addicted also. A drug is a drug and it does nothing good to your brain.

Citation please.

It is how the brain works. If you drink wine every night for two years and then stop all at once you will go through withdrawal. Why because you have changed your brain chemistry. So you were addicted to a drug. Same as if you were smoking cigarettes every day. Also if you drink wine every night to get a buzz and you have kids then you are parenting your child constantly when you are buzzed. You may not reach the level of addiction where people drink 2 bottles of vodka a night and can't get up to go to work and end up losing their jobs. But all drugs and alcohol give a temporary high that changes the brain. Alcohol and drug use and abuse is more on a spectrum of how much damage it is causing your brain and life. If you are drinking nightly you are on that spectrum and causing more damage than you can admit.

Thanks for that citation from the published research of your butt.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


Half of those people having nightly wine are addicted also. A drug is a drug and it does nothing good to your brain.

Citation please.

It is how the brain works. If you drink wine every night for two years and then stop all at once you will go through withdrawal. Why because you have changed your brain chemistry. So you were addicted to a drug. Same as if you were smoking cigarettes every day. Also if you drink wine every night to get a buzz and you have kids then you are parenting your child constantly when you are buzzed. You may not reach the level of addiction where people drink 2 bottles of vodka a night and can't get up to go to work and end up losing their jobs. But all drugs and alcohol give a temporary high that changes the brain. Alcohol and drug use and abuse is more on a spectrum of how much damage it is causing your brain and life. If you are drinking nightly you are on that spectrum and causing more damage than you can admit.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm really surprised by these stories of people getting 100 Percocet from a doc. I know it happens, but I've had chronic pain for years and it is an extremely arduous process to obtain any opiod. I've been to probably 15different neurologist and pain docs and over half of them will not prescribe opiods for people with chronic illness.

Ha! I don't believe you.

Well, it's true. Several practices even have signs in the lobby stating that they won't even discuss opiod or long term opiod use. Even Johns Hopkins has a similar policy, though I don't think they advertise it. I guess that's why nobody was in the waiting room last time I went! Lol

At a pain management clinic? Or a regular physician practice?

Anonymous wrote:


Half of those people having nightly wine are addicted also. A drug is a drug and it does nothing good to your brain.

Citation please.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My relative was a sweet person with two young children who became addicted to heroin. It is a slippery slope. First alcohol and pot, then oxy, and lastly heroin. Died between treatment facilities. Our culture loves to be high on something. All drugs including alcohol and pot are just an escape from reality. But once you start down that road sometimes there is no going back. You physically and mentally get addicted. The people selling the stuff are all about making money off a culture that wants to be drunk or high. The alcohol and beverage industry, the pharmaceutical industry, the drug cartels, the pot growers- even the rehab industry are making money off humans that want to get drunk or high and at some point can't stop getting drunk or high. Addiction can happen to anyone because that is how humans brains respond to drugs and alcohol. I feel most empathy for people with chronic pain because there are few long term solutions. Humans are so messed up. Sometimes I will be watching tv or listening to the radio and there will be an advertisement for beer or vodka and a few minutes later there will be one for a rehab facility. Drugs and Alcohol are a zillion dollar industry that don't mind that the product they are selling kills people.

And yet many parents don't realize the example they set with their evening cocktail or wine and weekend trips to the beer farm. Your kids are watching. They quickly realize that adults use alcohol to relax or have fun.

Yes... substance abuse is substance abuse is substance abuse. Except... having a cocktail or wine at night isn't abuse. The tough reality is that many are able to enjoy alcohol and some drugs casually without developing dependencies and while others have different brain chemistry and struggle with addiction for life. It's certainly not fair. The scary thing about heroin/opiates (and meth while we're at it), much more than even cocaine, which felt like the wealthy party drug of choice among my generation, is how instantly and quickly it sucks people in. It's important to talk about with our kids and families. Saying that trying any drugs or alcohol as a teenager is equally bad is wrong and misleading. Yes, it's illegal and yes I get that you want your kid to just say no. But not being willing to acknowledge and have open discourse about how much more severe the immediate consequences of recreational pain killer use or trying heroin even one is a huge miss. People need to understand that in the world we live in now, these options and opportunities will most likely come up for your child sooner than you can imagine. It doesn't matter what high school, public or private. Have the conversation. Now.

Half of those people having nightly wine are addicted also. A drug is a drug and it does nothing good to your brain.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My relative was a sweet person with two young children who became addicted to heroin. It is a slippery slope. First alcohol and pot, then oxy, and lastly heroin. Died between treatment facilities. Our culture loves to be high on something. All drugs including alcohol and pot are just an escape from reality. But once you start down that road sometimes there is no going back. You physically and mentally get addicted. The people selling the stuff are all about making money off a culture that wants to be drunk or high. The alcohol and beverage industry, the pharmaceutical industry, the drug cartels, the pot growers- even the rehab industry are making money off humans that want to get drunk or high and at some point can't stop getting drunk or high. Addiction can happen to anyone because that is how humans brains respond to drugs and alcohol. I feel most empathy for people with chronic pain because there are few long term solutions. Humans are so messed up. Sometimes I will be watching tv or listening to the radio and there will be an advertisement for beer or vodka and a few minutes later there will be one for a rehab facility. Drugs and Alcohol are a zillion dollar industry that don't mind that the product they are selling kills people.

And yet many parents don't realize the example they set with their evening cocktail or wine and weekend trips to the beer farm. Your kids are watching. They quickly realize that adults use alcohol to relax or have fun.

And every movie out of Hollywood has adults getting high and drunk. Anyone can get addicted!

On DCUM, there's always a reason why a misfortune was your fault -- particularly if it's a misfortune related to your income and/or your choice of parents. It's one of the basic DCUM beliefs. Like,

1. It's hard to make ends meet on $350,000 per year.
2. My way of doing [whatever] is the right way, and everybody ought to do it that way.
3. Any misfortune related to your lack of income or your choice of parents is your own fault.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Ugh. So much sympathy now that the victims are white.

Drug addicts are drug addicts.

I have zero sympathy. Taking drugs is a conscious choice just as drinking us.

Seriously? Are you really that thick headed to not understand that addiction is a DISEASE? Just like cancer, Alzheimer's,asthma, arthritis...you have zero sympathy for those who suffer from those illnesses as well? Part of the problem in this conversation is the extreme ignorance, it is frightening. GO EDUCATE YOURSELF.

I am not PP, but if you never take an opiate I guarantee you won't become addicted. It was a choice at some point.

Wow you are really part of the problem. Sad. And let me guess you have never know anyone who is an addict or suffers from addiction of any kind, right? Ok, uh huh. Good luck to you.

Actually, two in my immediate family. Thanks though. Yes, once you are addicted, it's a disease. Self medicating with drugs is not a disease.

Not pp but man you need to lighten upl Once you are to the point of self meditating with drugs IT IS A DISEASE, don't you get it? YES ITS A DISEASE, REPEAT AFTER ME THREE TIMES!

Well, you keep telling yourself that. Just keep you head in the sand and all will continue to be fine. After all, it's someone else's fault.

+1
NP. Sounds to me more like the PP using all caps is desperate for what s/he is yelling to be true. Pathetic.

Anonymous wrote:A lifetime of trauma and abuse might as well be a disease insomuch as it keeps a person from having a normal life and making good decisions. As the old saying goes, you can't pull yourself up by the bootstraps if you don't have any boots.

Good Lord, Ok just keep making excuses. Or are you an enabler?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ugh. So much sympathy now that the victims are white.

Drug addicts are drug addicts.

I have zero sympathy. Taking drugs is a conscious choice just as drinking us.

Seriously? Are you really that thick headed to not understand that addiction is a DISEASE? Just like cancer, Alzheimer's,asthma, arthritis...you have zero sympathy for those who suffer from those illnesses as well? Part of the problem in this conversation is the extreme ignorance, it is frightening. GO EDUCATE YOURSELF.

I am not PP, but if you never take an opiate I guarantee you won't become addicted. It was a choice at some point.

Wow you are really part of the problem. Sad. And let me guess you have never know anyone who is an addict or suffers from addiction of any kind, right? Ok, uh huh. Good luck to you.

Actually, two in my immediate family. Thanks though. Yes, once you are addicted, it's a disease. Self medicating with drugs is not a disease.

Not pp but man you need to lighten upl Once you are to the point of self meditating with drugs IT IS A DISEASE, don't you get it? YES ITS A DISEASE, REPEAT AFTER ME THREE TIMES!

Well, you keep telling yourself that. Just keep you head in the sand and all will continue to be fine. After all, it's someone else's fault.

Wait, I thought you were blaming the children who were stupid enough to be born to parents who served them alcohol?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ugh. So much sympathy now that the victims are white.

Drug addicts are drug addicts.

I have zero sympathy. Taking drugs is a conscious choice just as drinking us.

Seriously? Are you really that thick headed to not understand that addiction is a DISEASE? Just like cancer, Alzheimer's,asthma, arthritis...you have zero sympathy for those who suffer from those illnesses as well? Part of the problem in this conversation is the extreme ignorance, it is frightening. GO EDUCATE YOURSELF.

I am not PP, but if you never take an opiate I guarantee you won't become addicted. It was a choice at some point.

Wow you are really part of the problem. Sad. And let me guess you have never know anyone who is an addict or suffers from addiction of any kind, right? Ok, uh huh. Good luck to you.

Actually, two in my immediate family. Thanks though. Yes, once you are addicted, it's a disease. Self medicating with drugs is not a disease.

Not pp but man you need to lighten upl Once you are to the point of self meditating with drugs IT IS A DISEASE, don't you get it? YES ITS A DISEASE, REPEAT AFTER ME THREE TIMES!

Well, you keep telling yourself that. Just keep you head in the sand and all will continue to be fine. After all, it's someone else's fault.