Choosing a Drug Rehab: 5 Things to consider

Deciding to stop abusing drugs is one of the most important and hardest decisions one can take. Saying no to drugs after getting addicting to, is a tough, expensive and a lifelong process. On the process of recovery, choosing the right drug rehabilitation center is crucial and it can & will affect the effectiveness and efficiency of the recovery process. To help you choose the right drug rehab center, I have gathered some of the key factors which you should consider to narrow down your search.

Here are 5 things one should consider when selecting a drug rehab center:

Value against Money

 The treatment of drug addiction is costly. Private drug rehab centers can cost anything from $5000 to upwards of $20,000 a month. So you should go deep into the actual “value” you will derive from the rehab. Does the value exceed the money expensed or will you be paying more than you will get in return? Which rehab offers the most value? Value can be translated into duration of the program, well trained doctors and stuff, residential and recreational facilities, location of the rehab (closer to home = better), treatments provided etc.

Family Participation

Family plays a big role in recovering from drug addiction. So apart from other treatments, the involvement of family in the recovery process must be considered. The drug rehab center should allow a certain degree of family participation. Do you think that the amount of family participation opportunity provided is enough at your targeted rehab?

One-on-One Therapy

One-on-one therapy with a psychologist is another major element of recovering from drug abuse. Most of the private rehab centers provide this facility. But try to find out how many sessions there are in the program and what the duration of each session is. You should also consider the ratio of nurse/doctor to patient. There are some good rehabs who offer 1 nurse or more for every 5 patients.

After Care Therapy

Sobriety is a lifelong process. And not a single rehab center can guarantee a patient that he will recover from drug addiction immediately after he completes the treatment program at their rehab. So after care or follow up programs are really very important. You should check out what are the after care facilities provided by your targeted rehabilitation center and for how long they will provide this service.

Do you feel comfortable?

But the final and deciding factor to consider is, do you really feel comfortable going with your targeted rehab? Feeling comfortable is really important because you will be staying here for a while and if you don’t feel relaxed in the atmosphere of the rehab, the treatment will take longer time. So if you have any hesitation in your mind, even if you don’t know the reason, I would advice to clear that hesitation before getting yourself admitted there.

So these are the 5 things to consider when choosing a drug rehab center for stopping drug abuse. What did you think about these points? Feel free to share your views with us.

A healthy and happy life is all I want in life for you and me. Take care of yourself and be safe.

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A Reminder: Why I Shouldn’t Smoke

It is sad but true that for the last couple of days (for a week to be exact) I have been smoking cigarettes. It’s not like that I’ve never smoked before but for the last few days I’m doing it regularly. I feel extremely bad about it and this post is basically written to remind me of why I shouldn’t smoke.

For some people smoking helps to calm them down. Maybe that’s my reason of doing it as I am going through a rough time. But that’s no excuse. Smoking harms us a lot more than it benefits us. At first it might seem to relief us from depression but that’s not the case as no substantial proof has been found yet (correct me if I’m wrong). Every year hundreds of thousands people die because of diseases caused by smoking cigarettes.

There are tons of reasons why I shouldn’t smoke. I’m pointing out some of those which I can relate to the most.

Smoking reduces our overall fitness. It robs oxygen from muscles, brain and body tissue. So the whole body has to work much harder. I can’t take the risk of being unfit.

Smoking may cause shortness of breath and Asthma. I have recently joined ‘one hundred push-ups training program’ and I want to go all the way. I am also dying to get into the army, which requires extreme physical fitness. So I can’t afford to have shortness of breath or asthma.

Smoking may cause impotence/infertility. Who wants that?

It causes various cancers including lung cancer. It tar coats our lungs like soot in a chimney and causes cancer. A 20-a-day smoker breathes in up to a full cup (210 g) of tar in a year. Smoking increases the chances of stroke and heart attack.

I don’t like to unnecessarily waste money…another reason not to smoke.

I hate the following picture. I don't want my lungs to look like this.

Smoking cigarettes is not only bad for the smoker; it’s also bad for the people around him. When a person inhales the smoke exhaled from the lungs of a smoker or the smoke coming from a cigarette, it is called secondhand smoking or passive smoking. Second hand smoke contains almost 4000 chemicals, 200 of which are poisonous, 63 of which cause cancer. So, passive smoking is as dangerous as direct smoking. So, when I smoke, the person next to me also gets affected without doing anything wrong. I don’t want to see yet another person suffering for my sins.

Further reading: effects of smoking, effects on human body, WIKI smoking

To draw a conclusion to this post let me say that I am done with smoking. I am not completely addicted to it so getting rid of it would be relatively easy.

AIDS: Attitude Towards The Victims

In my last post I have discussed about the symptoms, prevention and some other stuff about AIDS. In this post I will try to talk about the behavior/attitude of other’s, towards the HIV/AIDS victims.

In many countries, especially in developing countries people seem to ignore and sometimes insult the HIV victims. And as far as I can understand the reason behind this is how HIV spreads. As you all know HIV/AIDS spreads through body fluids like infected blood, semen, vaginal fluid and breast milk (not saliva). And two of the main means of transferring these fluids are through unsafe sex and drugs. That’s why in many countries like Bangladesh and India people consider AIDS victims as the rotten section of a society.

Bangladesh still has a minimal number of HIV/AIDS infected people. At present there are about 1,495 people who are carrying this virus. The majority of these people are drug addicts, sex workers and non-resident Bangladeshis. In our country (and I know in India also) people who are HIV+ are often socially segregated. Not only the society but also their own family starts to hate that dying person. They become socially unwanted and left alone to rot. IMO because of this kind of attitude they die long before their deaths.

In Bangladesh premarital sex is unexpected (!). Having multiple partners is strictly prohibited by the society. And I think drug is unwanted all over the world. So when a person falls a victim to AIDS he also becomes unwanted in the societies of this subcontinent (mainly because of ‘social values’). There’s also another reason behind this kind of attitude towards them, which is misconception. People of these developing countries usually don’t have a clear knowledge about HIV/AIDS. They often think that AIDS spreads through wind, food or water or by touching the HIV+ person. So they don’t eat, live, drink with the HIV+ person. They don’t even feel comfortable going near that person. They have to count their last days being trapped in their own room, which is very heart breaking. (HIV AIDS *does not* spread like this)

Dear readers and fellow country-men, I’ll not comment on whether this kind of behavior is right or wrong. That’s up to you to decide. But think, doesn’t that dying person need a little support from his family and friends? Is it so hard to forgive someone?

Bloggers Unite : AIDS

Once again bloggers all around the world are united to discuss one very serious global issue- AIDS. Its aim is to raise consciousness about this epidemic. I thank BloggersUnite for this arrangement.

A Little Knowledge

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or commonly known as AIDS is caused by Human ImmuneDeficiency Virus aka HIV. Many researchers believe that HIV was originated in Sub-Saharan-Africa in early 20th century. HIV destroys the immune system of our body and makes us vulnerable to all sorts of viruses and bacteria. In simpler word HIV makes us to go into battle without any armor or weapons. The final stage of being contaminated by HIV is called having AIDS. If an HIV positive person doesn’t undergo treatment in time, it may take 8-10 years for him to become contaminated by AIDS. And let me tell you that *no cure* for AIDS/HIV has been invented yet. In time treatments can only *prolong* the lives of HIV positive persons.


A Little Statistics

AIDS is an epidemic. Though the number of HIV victims has reduced over the last couple of years we are still in extreme danger. Currently there are some 32.2 million people in the world who are living with this disease. In 2007 alone about 2.1 million people including 330,000 children were killed by this life-talking (not ‘life-threatening’) disease. Three-quarters of these deaths occurred in Sub Saharan Africa. More than 11 million children have been orphaned by AIDS. The number of HIV contamination in Bangladesh is low. At present there are some 1,495 victims of this virus in our country. But we are also at high risk as our neighboring countries like India (2-3 million) and Myanmar (200,000-520,000) have a higher percentage of people who are carrying this disease.


How Is It Transmitted

One can only be contaminated by AIDS by another *HIV/AIDS victim*. HIV/AIDS is transmitted through body fluids like *infected* blood, semen, vaginal fluid and breast milk. It *does not* spread through saliva. Drug addicts are often found HIV positive as they often seem to share a common needle when they injected drugs in their bodies. If they have one HIV+ person among them they all get contaminated by using the same needle he used earlier. Not caring (or not knowing) about safe sex is one of the main causes of AIDS. Having multiple unfaithful/careless sex partners increase the risk of being contaminated by sex. Prostitution and homosexuality play a major role in AIDS. Birth control pills can’t prevent AIDS or other sexual diseases. Not wearing condoms properly or not wearing them at all can/will increase the number of HIV+ persons. If an HIV positive woman conceives a baby there is a high *chance* that the baby will born being contaminated by HIV/AIDS. I advice HIV+ mothers to not to breast feed their children as it can kill him eventually.

AIDS *does not* spread by French kissing (unless there is blood in the mouth), taking bath in the same bathtub, eating in the same plate, drinking in the same glass or sharing the same bed.


Some Symptoms

Many people don’t have any symptoms at the early stage of HIV infection. Some may suffer from flu-like illness after 3-6 months of contamination- this illness may include fever, tiredness, diarrhoea, headache, enlarged lymph nodes etc. HIV triggers various diseases which normally don’t affect human body. It increases the risk of various cancers. The later symptoms of HIV contamination may include massive weight loss, lack of energy, lack of concentration, memory loss, personality change, shortness of breath, severe pain in arms and feet, vaginal infections, frequent fever and headache.


Prevention Is Better Than Cure

Once again let me say that there is (still) no cure for HIV/AIDS. So prevention is the only way.

*Be Smart, Use a Condom*
As no one will listen to me if I talk about abstinence, I will talk about safe sex instead. Try to be faithful to you spouse/partner. If you have multiple sex partners than you must use condoms as condoms (male/female) are the only sure way to prevent HIV contamination by sexual intercourses. If you are at the giving end of oral sex then you must keep a good oral hygiene and remember *not to* brush right before/after giving oral sex. The person at the receiving end of oral sex does not get contaminated by HIV (unless the giver’s mouth is bloody). *Source: AIDS and oral sex, male/female condoms.

*Don’t Do Drugs*
Don’t do drugs. But if you do, then be sure not to inject ‘stuff’ in you. But if you do, then don’t use the same needle.

Friends, let’s be safe. Let’s love our lives and respect the feelings of the person next to us. I strongly believe that by raising awareness, by being aware we can fight this global epidemic. I believe that one day soon AIDS will vanish from this beautiful earth of ours. Let’s be safe.

*This post was the runner up in a blog carnival.

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