alcohol

Nov 4 2016

How to Become a Forensic Toxicologist

Forensic toxicology is an interesting, useful profession that combines a passion for law enforcement with a love of science to identify drugs or other chemical agents in body tissues and blood. While these professionals commonly use their skills to determine whether intoxicating substances were a motivator in a crime, such as the presence of alcohol in the blood after a car accident, they may also test victims to determine if they were drugged before a crime was committed against them. Regardless of the precise employment sought by a forensic toxicologist, pursuing such a career requires a great deal of commitment and stringent educational requirements.

Students who have enrolled in a post-secondary institution will need to pursue a bachelor’s degree in clinical chemistry, forensic science or a related area. Additionally, those seriously considering a career in forensic toxicology may want to attend graduate school; while not strictly required, the field is highly competitive, often making it difficult to find suitable employment with only a four-year degree. At some point during their toxicology education, students would be wise to seek clinical experience in the form of an internship or as a volunteer.

After completing their educational requirements, toxicologists can expect to earn a salary that falls between $50,000 and $96,000 per year. While the most up-to-date salary indicators can be found in job postings for employment in the field, earnings are also impacted by a professional’s level of education and prior experience at a forensic toxicology job or in a similar area.

Once employed as a forensic toxicologist, professionals must complete at least three years of full-time work in the field to take the certification exam offered by the American Board of Forensic Toxicology. Additionally, those students seeking certification must have also completed their bachelors’ degrees in a natural science at an accredited school; a thorough study of biology and chemistry will also be required.

Whether students are considering toxicology as a college major or they have already received an appropriate degree, working in the biology-based sector of law enforcement is often a rewarding, interesting career that provides both financial security and job satisfaction. Despite the fact that many future forensic toxicologists worry that burnout will be a serious problem, those who truly enjoy critical thinking, scientific reasoning and a structured lab environment as a workspace may find that this job is perfect for their personalities.

By • Health Care • • Tags: , ,

Jan 26 2016

The First Step to Addiction Recovery Begins with You

When you are lost to the clutches of addiction, First Steps Recovery is waiting for you, but you have to take that first step forward. Addiction will rob you of your self-control, ruin your relationships, and wreck your career. Worst of all, it will steal your health. Whether you are addicted to drugs, alcohol, or prescription medication, you are headed down a dead end road if you don’t do something to turn your life around. Your friends and family can intervene. Your boss and co-workers can tell you that it’s time for a change. Your doctor can warn you about what will happen if you don’t stop. Only you can admit that there is a problem and you have to do something about it.

You’re Not Alone

Look at the latest in Addiction News and you’ll see that you are not the only one who has battled with dependency on drugs or alcohol. From Jodie Sweetin, star of Full House, to model Stephanie Seymour and countless musicians over the years, addiction affects all walks of life. When substance abuse takes over your life, it will consume you. Your every minute revolves around getting your next fix. If you are going to kick the habit, you need to get professional help before it is too late.

Change Your Environment for the Better

You need to remove yourself from the negative influences that only feed your addiction. Stay where you are and you are only going to be pulled back to the source of your dependency. Enter a rehabilitation facility and you enter a safe haven. You will have the support you need to overcome the storm that is raging inside of you.

Surround Yourself with Compassionate Professionals

Enter a drug and alcohol rehab facility and join staff members who have one goal. They want to help you on the road to recovery. A team effort is needed to help you overcome detoxification and the intense cravings that will try to pull you back to the source of your addiction. A dedicated group of professionals will be with you every step of the way, from the very first step until the day you are ready to leave the facility to begin the next chapter of your life.

You Need a Combination Approach
If you are going to beat your addiction, you need to have a treatment plan that is tailored specifically to meet your needs. From the moment detox begins and your body is wracked with the painful symptoms of withdrawal to the instant your mind is clear, you will need to explore many avenues in order to stay sober. Your doctor may choose to assist you with medications that will ease your suffering and curb your cravings. Counseling services, whether they are offered in individual sessions or a group setting, are another essential component to help you understand your addiction. You need to figure out what led you down this path and find out what your trigger factors are in order to steer clear of addiction once you leave the rehabilitative facility. Learn strategies and health alternatives that will help you to deal with life’s challenges once you are in recovery.

Find a Source of Comfort in Time of Need
Whether you are beginning your journey toward sobriety or you are facing a relapse, a rehabilitative facility is your go-to source for assistance. You will always have someone you can call in the middle of the night when you are in trouble or in those moments when temptation is hard to resist. Recovery is an on-going effort. Once you leave your drug and alcohol program, you are going to have to make conscious decisions every day. You’ll be bombarded with opportunities to fall back on your addiction. When you have a support system, groups that you can meet with after your treatment is over, outpatient counseling, and a mentor, you will find the resources you need to go on. You can put your addiction behind you once and for all. It doesn’t matter if you take baby steps. Just take that step.

By • Drug Abuse • • Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Apr 27 2015

Do You Have Substance Abuse Issues? How to Get Help

Substance abuse issues affect hundreds of thousands of people each year in the United States and all over the globe. Whether you are addicted to alcohol, prescription drugs or illegal drugs, substance abuse can be life threatening and problematic to your professional and personal life.

If you feel like you are finally ready to get help, either because you have suffered a near-death experience or you just realize you have a problem you have already taken the first step on the road to recovery. However, the journey is only beginning, and if you want to get clean and sober, you have got some work ahead of you.

Use this guide to help you begin the process of kicking substance abuse. You will live a happier, healthier and longer life if you do.

Break Your Patterns

Many people who suffer from substance abuse do so because they are in a pattern of behavior that is hard to break. These patterns often involve something as simple as having a drink after they get home from work. That one drink could lead to another and then another, resulting in a person drinking all night or calling in sick the next morning.

Other patterns of behavior include simply going out with friends to let loose once in a while, like on a Friday night. While this might not seem like a bad thing – and it isn’t if letting loose is a slice of pizza and some time with friends – people with substance abuse issues tend to get drunk or high when out just having fun.

Whatever your pattern is, you are going to need to recognize it and begin to break it if you want to get clean and sober and stay that way.

Talk with Friends and Family

When you have a substance abuse probably you have likely spent a great deal of time hiding it from your friends and family. In fact, having to hide your use of alcohol or drugs out of embarrassment or fear of what others might think is a common sign that you actually have a substance abuse problem.

However, talking with your friends and family about wanting to get clean and sober requires honesty. While it can be a difficult talk to have with the people you love, they can help provide you with support while you are on the road to recovery. If they don’t know you are suffering they can’t help you with anything at all, and they may even encourage bad behavior without knowing it.

It’s your responsibility to change, but that doesn’t mean you have to do it all alone.

Avoid Triggers

Triggers are things, events or places that can cause a person to abuse a substance or use a substance that they are addicted to for a variety of reasons. Some of these triggers are obvious – like a regular bar for an alcoholic. However, others are a little bit harder to determine.

One example of a trigger might even be a person. Perhaps somebody you have often drank or done drugs with in the past. While they may not have a substance abuse problem, they are somebody who has been around when you have developed a problem. Another example might be a restaurant where you go to have a celebratory dinner and drink that leads to problem drinking.

Stressful situations, particularly with friends and family are also triggers in many people’s lives because alcohol and substances can help to ease irritation, anger and sadness when something goes wrong. Avoiding these triggers is particularly important when you are trying to get clean and sober and kick substance abuse for good.

Get Help

Getting clean isn’t something most people are able to do on their own, especially if their addiction or substance abuse has lasted for years and years. However, there are some ways that you can get help without going into a medical detox program, or if you simply need additional support after exiting a medical detox program.

If you simply need outpatient help to stay clean and fight addiction and substance abuse, a Boca Raton IOP Center can be your best bet. You will find the support you need to stay sober without having to check into a medical facility that can mean giving up your work and family for an extended period of time.

Not everybody needs that kind of help, especially if they have received it in the past. For some individuals, outpatient care is the best method for dealing with addiction and substance abuse in a productive manner.

By • Drug Abuse • • Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Jan 13 2014

Per Wickstrom Best Drug Rehab founder

There are many types of addictions, but it has been found that addictions to physical substances wind up being the most harmful. When substances such as illegal drugs cross the blood-brain barrier, what ends up happening is that the body’s entire chemical balance is altered, and the brain ends up craving the very drugs that caused the altering. If the body doesn’t get the drugs it craves, what ends up happening is symptoms of withdrawal, which can cause a lot of physical misery. Common symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and body tremors.

Non-addicts are probably bewildered at the thought of people willingly ingesting chemicals that would cause such horrible side effects, but you have to remember that in small doses, the drugs do not generally trigger these symptoms – not initially, anyway. And the craving for more is often satisfied before the chance to experience any withdrawal occurs. However, there are plenty of drug users that ultimately end up hooked not so much for the pleasure the drug causes, but for the relief it brings in terms of warding off the symptoms of withdrawal.

Breaking the cycle of drug addiction is not easy, but with the property resources and support from family, friends, and qualified medical professionals, it is possible. Breaking a drug addiction begins with acknowledging that drugs do in fact cause physical addiction. How do you know if your drug use is more than a simple habit? Well, a habit is something that is done by choice, and you can choose to stop it at any time, without any physical or psychological consequences. But an addiction is almost impossible to stop on your own, and there can be many physical and psychological side effects that can happen if you abruptly stop taking the drugs your body is used to having.

What causes some people to become addicted to drugs or even legal substances like tobacco and alcohol, while others can try it once or even ten times and experience no addictive tendencies? This is something that is still not fully understood. Some experts, such as Per Wickstrom Best Drug Rehab founder, believe that there are people who are simply born with addictive personalities, and it wouldn’t take much to trigger an addiction. Others feel that it’s more about a person’s upbringing: if people grow up around addicts, they too will become an addict, simply because it’s a learned behavior. Others blame the drugs themselves, and the body’s tendency to become addicted to certain chemicals.

But the bottom line is, addiction can happen to anyone, and when it does, it takes a lot more than simple willpower to break the cycle. Often the assistance of a professional rehabilitation facility and/or the use of outpatient services will be required. Breaking a drug addiction is not an easy feat, but if you persevere and use the many services available from drug rehab centers, you can break free. Surround yourself with supportive family members and friends, and break ties with any fellow drug addicts, in order to have the best chance at success.

By • Drug Abuse • • Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

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