Monthly Archives: November 2009

A drug is any chemical taken into the body that alters normal body processes. Do you know why they’re bad for your body? Drugs are bad for your body because, they have chemicals in them that change the way a person’s body work. Drugs are addictive because they go straight to the “pleasure sensors” in the brain, which releases a natural chemical in your brain called “Dopamine” which is the chemical that makes you feel good.

They are in every home, school, and hospital in the nation. Every where you look people are affected by them, but as common as they are it doesn’t make them harmless. It is one of the most popular past-times of junior high and high school aged kids these days, and the fad is rapidly increasing. Some of the most common drugs used everyday by kids and teens are, Nicotine, Heroin, Cocaine, Alcohol, Ecstasy, Morphine , and Marijuana.

One of the drugs I’m interested in the most is cigarettes because they are one of the most common drugs that affects’ kids and teens. Cigarettes have Nicotine in them which are the drug in tobacco that causes addiction. When a user is addicted to nicotine, they feel as if they need nicotine in order to function normally. Nicotine affects the entire body. Nicotine acts directly on the heart to change heart rate and blood pressure. It also acts on the nerves that control respiration to change breathing patterns. In high concentrations, nicotine is deadly in fact one drop of purified nicotine on the tongue will kill a person.

The National Institute of Drug Abuse reports that marijuana is the illegal drug most often used in this country. Studies show nearly 50% of teens try marijuana before they graduate high school. Kid’s site their use of marijuana as a way for them to cope with life’s problems, to deal with anxiety, anger or depression, a way to escape reality, or to simply ease boredom. Long term use studies of high school students substantiate the fact that use of the more dangerous drugs, is almost always preceded by the use of marijuana. Therefore, marijuana is often considered a gateway to more serious drugs.

Continue reading →

I suffer from GAD and slight OCD, um i feel like i’m about to have a break down…i haven’t been on my medication in over a month (lorazepam) and i started cymbalta today..which i hate, i’ve tried so many anti-depressants and none have ever worked. Anyways i really feel as if i am about to break down, my anxiety is just way too intense, possibly the most intense it has ever been.
I’m a 19 year old female, going to university, working, doing a placement, and doing homework. I take care of my brother and grandma because my mom works too much, and my dad is dying in the hospital…we are about to loose our house because we cannot afford our mortgage which means i have to move out…although i pay rent already. I just recently broke up with my boyfriend of 3 years because he cheated on me, and insisted to tell me details. Anyways i went through a daily addiction on cocaine and ecstasy and have been clean a year, but i still drink regularly as in 4 times a week on average..except for the past month..maybe twice a week on average. But i know that this adds to my anxiety….i actually cannot even begin to describe how intense my anxiety is i literally feel as if i’m going to pass out, i can’t control it…is this enough reason to go to the hospital..because there is no walk-in clinics near me and i wont be able to get a doctors appointment for weeks…please help

Continue reading →

Hi Guys.
I need some help, i have been with my boyfriend for a year and a half. He is an Alcoholic and Addict although he has been clean for 8 months after attending rehab. He has been to rehab before and had lapses although he says this time he won’t ever go back to his addictions. During a relationship he has been awful to me during his 3 lapses with drink and numerous times with cocaine abuse. He has apologised for his wrongs and really tried hard to change but these things still bug me. On top of all this i struggle with sex, he is very demanding over it and something happened during his drinking that has caused me to become distant with the sex. He is forever pushing for oral sex and gets stroppy when i dont want to do it. I work 5 days a week and then come home to him to cook dinner and tidy up. He doesn’t work and hasn’t done for the whole time we’ve been together, this is because he is looking for his DREAM job in media and says if he did anything like factory work it would drive him to drink again. I get so frustrated that he gets everything paid for by us tax payers because he wants his dream job- i do telesales- like thats my dream job! But it pays the bills! He has been to prision and my mum and dad just wont except we are together because they want better for their daughter and says he’s a lazt low life. Its making me stressed and depressed but i just cant seem to hold my head up high and tell him i dont think he’s right for me. Help?

Continue reading →

It’s the first time I’ve been truly, 100% sober in 17 years-the last decade of my addiction strung out on Heroin and crack cocaine. I’ve given up everything and everyone I knew to attempt success in this, espescially the 10 year relationship I never imagined would end. Needless to say, what we once had ended in a firery ball straight to he’ll, to put it mildly.
I guess more than having any question to ask, I’m in need of gentle, kind words (aside from those my sponsor has given) to keep me solid in remembering the pain, abuse and utter horror I experienced with him now that I miss him to my core. My insides ache and long for him.
Anyone out there have some wisdom to share?

Continue reading →

I’m 19, i have been drinking regularly since i was 14 which means at least 2 times a week and since i was 17 probably on average 4 times a week. Do you think this has done damage to my liver? yeah…i know i have a problem..but this is my crutch right now..since stopping my daily addiction to cocaine and ecstasy over a year ago. I’m not what you may think. I do go to university, work, do a placement, homework, take care of my brother because my mom works to much…my dad is dying…we’re going to lose our house. I suffer from generalized anxiety disorder, and slight ocd…take no meds… i have to move out soon because we can’t afford our mortgage. But anyways back to the topic…do this damage is done? i have many stomach problems such as IBS…..and pain at least 80% of the day.

Continue reading →

I’m 19, i have been drinking regularly since i was 14 which means at least 2 times a week and since i was 17 probably on average 4 times a week. Do you think this has done damage to my liver? yeah…i know i have a problem..but this is my crutch right now..since stopping my daily addiction to cocaine and ecstasy over a year ago. I’m not what you may think. I do go to university, work, do a placement, homework, take care of my brother because my mom works to much…my dad is dying…we’re going to lose our house. I suffer from generalized anxiety disorder, and slight ocd…take no meds… i have to move out soon because we can’t afford our mortgage. But anyways back to the topic…do this damage is done?
i have many stomach problems, such as IBS…and very bad stomach pain 80% of the day

Continue reading →

Don’t get me wrong, I know smoking is unhealthy, many people do not like the smell, and it can make a mess. However, as a smoker, it really bothers me how ignorant so many people are. I’ve had people shoot rather piercing glares at me just for smoking in a parking garage. Maybe I should scream bloody murder everytime someone in the parking garage decides to start up their car, because that also pollutes the air with chemicals that are bad for both the environment and health.

Here’s my take on smoking, as a smoker: yea, I wish I never started. It is expensive, nasty and unhealthy – however it seems to me that people really are dumb. It used to be people smoked because of marketing/advertising, ignorance (who would think inhaling the fumes from a burning substance might be unhealthy), and of course peer pressure. Today people practically go on crusades against smokers for the VERY SAME REASONS! In both cases people really AREN’T thinking for themselves. I find that really pathetic.

I don’t smoke in close proximity to non-smokers. I don’t smoke near open windows, entrances or exits. I even pack out my cigarette butts when I’m backpacking or camping. I know I should quit and I’ve tried before. But, as I have already said, all that aside… stop being so damned stupid, people.

Another tid bit I always found amusing. My mother was an RN for several decades. One of her nursing magazines ran an article about the addiction of tobacco. According to the article, nicotine is more addictive than cocaine.

Now at the same time alcohol is legal. Foods with ludricrous amounts of salt, sugar, preservatives and tons of other goodies are legal. Cigarettes are legal. Sitting out in the sun all day is legal. Not exercising is legal. In fact outside of suicide, I am no aware of any laws or regulations of any kind which require people NOT to live unhealthy lifestyles. This is a tangent of course. All of this is true, and yet marijuana is illegal. My point on this last little rant is simple.. STOP BEING STUPID PEOPLE! Stop. Think. Act. Don’t listen to propaganda. Get facts as best you can and weigh them. Then decide what is right, what is wrong, what is good, what is bad, etc.

Some people read books, have sex, use drugs, drink alcohol (also a druig by the way, so is caffeine and nicotine for that matter) as a form of escape. Video games, movies, television, theater.. these things CAN all be a form of ESCAPE. One might argue that escaping reality probably isn’t healthy behavior. So – shall we start making everything illegal? Villainize pretty much everything that is “bad”, unhealthy or otherwise taboo or undesirable?

One of my favorite books is The Wizards First Rule. I like the story and the series for that matter, but the reason I bring it up here is the title of the book. Do you know what the wizards first rule is?

Page six hundred and something tells you. Want to know what it is?

“People are stupid.”

Instant classic as far as I’m concerned.

I’m really not looking for an answer so much as I am making statements.

Continue reading →

I will give you some detail. I’m a 19 year old female, i live in Toronto, i was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder a couple years ago after my cocaine and ecstasy addiction (which is now non-existent). I try to keep away from my medication (lorazepam) unless my anxiety and paranoia becomes unbearable. Right now my situation consists of taking care of my brother and grandma while going to college, doing a field work placement, doing homework and working. My mom works three jobs seven days a week , and my dad is dying with kidney and heart failure i know i can’t change this, but it is still very hard… which is why i take care of everything including cleaning, cooking ..everything you can possibly think of. I also just recently bought myself a car and now have bills to pay for, and rent too…we may lose the house because my dad’s unemployment runs out in december. If we lose the house i may have to move out because we cannot fit 5 people in such a small place. i have no idea how i will ever afford this right now. I’m under a lot of stress, i don’t know how i manage to keep an above 90 average..but i do.My now ex boyfriend of three years is addicted to porn, like actually. Everyday for hours, even if im there or if i leave for a couple hours. But hes no longer helpful in my situation, he cheated on me a couple years ago, i got over it. but he insists on telling me horrible details its driving me insane.LITERALLY! So leaving the relationship was for the best, now i just have zero confidence and self- esteem.
Anyway, i went to the doctor and i have been referred to a psychiatrist. because my thoughts and actions have become obsessive compulsive according to my doctor. But i’ve tried effexor, and celexa they didn’t work in the past. I’m really afraid of depending on an anti-depressant. What should I do, should I take what they give me, or should i let this go on, I’m so depressed, and i’ve never felt so anxious in my life. I have no one to turn to…what do i do? (i’m not suicidal or anything) But i do constantly feel as if i’m in a dream and nothing is real…please help this is getting scary and unbearable. Thanks in advance.
I just wanted to say thank you so much for taking the time to read this you have no idea how much i appreciate it.

Continue reading →