As surprising as it may sound, the biggest hurdle seen while motivating addicted people to take up treatments that would cure their addiction is their family. The shame, the humiliation, the image in the society makes the families make them deny the addiction of their family members or their loved ones. But curing an addiction is always a group effort. The patient always looks for the support of his or her family members knowingly or sometimes unknowingly to help them get through their difficult phase. Let us look at some of the issues which have become the stumbling blocks in the addiction treatment in Michigan.
1. Ignorance:
Ignorance is a very grave issue seen today with respect to addiction treatment in Michigan. Even today, in this age of public awareness, most people in Michigan are not aware much about addiction and its various symptoms. One can also say that there are some people who also don’t want to be educated on the various addiction symptoms because they like to believe that their child or their beloved family members could never fall a prey to addiction.
That is one of the reasons that the government of Michigan has become conscious and has started awareness campaigns on a large scale so that more and more people learn and recognize the signs and symptoms of addiction at an early age. Today even the school and different companies have become vigilant and alert. The schools have rained their teachers to identify an addiction and the different ways that they can deal with them.
2. Denial:
To cure any disease it is necessary to access that the patient taking up the treatment is taking it up on its free will and not due to some peer pressure or force of the family. If the patient is not convinced of the treatment then the treatment sure is to be a failure from the start. Another dangerous statistics seen here is the denial of the family. The family either does not like to believe that such a thing could happen to their loved ones; or the family tries to cover up for the addict’s habits in the social circle or their incompetence at school or work.
3. Avoidance:
Avoidance is another harmful issue with respect to the hurdle in taking up an addiction treatment in Michigan. Some families think that if they try to confront the addict, he or she may sink further into addiction and they may lose complete control over the patient. There may also be a few who would be scared to even talk or suggest the addiction treatment and keep quiet thinking it is the best option.
4. Assumptions on the cause of addiction:
The families sometimes come up with their version of reasons for their loved ones taking up addictions. These lame assumptions are also generation with their own solutions. For example, a mother may think that her child has taken up alcoholism because the child feels lonely at home and so she would sacrifice her job and then expect the son to give up his addiction. Sometimes the family members go a step ahead and bargain with the addicted person. The family members promise some desirable incentive to the addicted person and in return ask the person to give up the addiction. However, these incomplete solutions can only come in the way of the person’s addiction treatment.
5. Controlling:
Controlling the addiction of the patient is not a new issue in relation to addiction treatment in Michigan. More often than not, the family members plead or cry to take up promises from the addicts. They even suggest that their friends or peers should try to advise and change the patients. The constant nagging has a harmful effect on the patient making them angry or irritated or sometimes even isolated.
6. Emotional issues with the patient:
This is one of the most dangerous issues in relation to addiction treatment in Michigan. When the patient is emotionally overworked, it is not just the patient that undergoes turmoil, but the issues are also not quite helpful to the other members of the family. The family members become very involved with the patient’s addiction and constantly try to watch on the patient’s habits and think of ways to cure it. This could reach to a point where the family member becomes disoriented and irritated; and sometimes develop stress-related problems of their own. This could disturb the patient’s life too. Guilt could be an emotion involved with the other members of the family. The family members might blame each other for the reason of the patient taking to drugs or alcohol.
This is the reason why most options for intervention and treatment program in Michigan have family oriented sessions.
Archive for the ‘Family Issues’ Category
Some Family Issues That Impede Addiction Treatment In Michigan
Category Family Issues
Diabetes Management as a Family Issue
Category Family Issues
As of 2008, there is no cure for either Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes. This may seem like a dim outlook for many people, and I certainly wasn’t happy to hear it when my husband came home from a doctor’s appointment with the news he had diabetes, Type 2. There is no cure, as I knew already. Adding to this bleak moment, in his hand were sheets of paper describing how to manage this problem.
Little did I know we were both going to turn a corner and head into the healthiest living of our lives. Fourteen years later, management strategies continue resulting in good results. While there will always be room for improvement, adapting to this way of life has been beneficial to both of us.
Proper management begins with a trip to the doctors for proper medical diagnosis. Then, you arm yourself with as much information as possible about the type of diabetes you are diagnosed with. All management begins with controlling the glucose cycle. This cycle is affected by two factors: absorbance of glucose into the bloodstream and blood levels of insulin to control the transport out.
An individual’s glucose level is very sensitive to both diet and exercise, so change in either should first be discussed with your physician. My diabetic spouse began a journey of eating better and regular exercise. It seems every individual has their issues with food and with exercise. Basically, his lifestyle relationship to food used to be: all of it and to exercise: none of it. We both began to eat well and exercise regularly and in accordance to National Standards. This means at least 30 minutes of exercise daily, and a diet of small, but regular meals including 5 vegetables per day. Good results yield good results. My spouse found giving up the extra calories in cakes and cookies, hamburgers and French fries a sad thing. And only at first. He still eats those items, as an occasional treat, but now prefers “square” meals as they make him feel better longer.
As a part of management, he still checks his glucose levels at least once a day. Sometimes he checks it several times. He adjusted so well to his new lifestyle; he actually had to return to the doctor to get less dosage of his medications. No two cases are ever the same, so there is no guarantee this will happen to everyone. Some people may go off medication entirely, some may get worse. However, the application of good management techniques and watching glucose levels gives a person a good handle on this disease. And there is no reason why one shouldn’t. Glucose meters are readily available and are quite easy to use with a little practice and patience. With a small drop of blood to the testing strip attached to the glucose meter, the user is given the number, which represents their blood sugar level.
My spouse went a step further in management. He was fortunate to receive diabetic counseling with a registered RN. This is a free service through our medical insurance plan. Every three months he contacts her, and they talk about all aspects, perfect or not, of his management practices from A to Z.
In summary, learned and adapting to a change in lifestyle can really put a person out. For our household, it was a very small price to pay for a change in feeling better, longer, all day, with no further illness showing up, and turning the corner into our mid-life years looking and feeling our best.