All addiction affects the brain on a very deep chemical level, and heroin is no different. It hijacks the systems that our species has developed to promote evolutionarily useful actions, and overloads them with self-reinforcing messages of need and dependence on an outside substance. At this point you could say that ... Read More
Sometimes You’ve Got To Relax, Go To It
At the FHE recovery houses in Florida, addiction treatment centers around your dedication and hard work. It can be grueling and unforgiving at times to work so focused in on yourself--your physical recovery from chemical dependency and your mental health rehabilitation. However, though it is depleting, it is work you ... Read More
ADHD: Dual Diagnosis, or a Gateway, Gateway Disorder?
ADHD is a psychiatric disorder that is treated, often, with cognitive enhancing stimulants like Adderall or Ritalin. There’s been controversy for a long time around these medications opening the door for a teenager to experiment with alcohol and tobacco, chemical substances often considered “gateway drugs”. So is ADHD ... Read More
The Rise and Fall of Synthetic Marijuana, AKA Spice
Synthetic marijuana (often called K2 or Spice) is not marijuana at all. It is a lab created chemical that tries to replicate the effect of smoking marijuana on the body. It is most often infused into incense or inert herbs that could then be smoked in a joint or bong like marijuana flower. For a period of four years ... Read More
The Substance Abuse of Hunter S. Thompson in Search of the ‘Good Life’
“Let us toast to animal pleasures, to escapism, to rain on the roof and instant coffee, to unemployment insurance and library cards, to absinthe and good-hearted landlords, to music and warm bodies and contraceptives... and to the 'good life', whatever it is and wherever it happens to be.” - Hunter S. Thompson If any ... Read More
The True Agony of Ecstasy
Ecstasy is the most common name for MDMA. It is a synthetic psychoactive drug that produces both stimulant and psychedelic effects. Because of this it is known as a rave drug. It can create altered states conducive to enjoying long dance parties accompanied by live music and light shows. Ecstasy users experience ... Read More
Turn Down The Volume on Negativity
When you get back from FHE’s Florida drug detox and intensive inpatient treatment, you may notice now, more than before your detoxification and rehabilitation that the world is full of “no”. Passive and active resistance pushes against you, telling you that you are powerless, that your situation is hopeless, that it’s ... Read More
Addiction’s Feedback Loop…
...Shame & Self Loathing Feed Addiction feeds Shame & Self Loathing feed... Many of the mental health disorders that lead to substance abuse and addiction can be, at least in part, the result of great trauma such as abandonment, neglect, physical, mental or sexual abuse. As a result of that kind of deep ... Read More