Alcohol is one teratogen that could greatly have an effect on the woman’s pregnancy. People may not be aware of its danger and still allow a woman to drink alcoholic drinks during her pregnancy, but the effect of this would be carried by the baby for the rest of his or her life. Alcohol is one of the known causes of mental and physical birth defects specifically in the United States. Though, this is only a possibility, the rate is high.

There is an incident where a pregnant woman consumes alcohol, a disorder called Fetal Alcohol Syndrome would take place in the embryo. Alcohol crosses the placental barrier and can stunt fetal growth, create distinctive facial stigmata, damage neurons and brain structures, and cause other physical, mental, or behavioral problems. The main effect of FAS is stable central nervous system damage, especially to the brain. Developing brain cells and structures are underdeveloped by prenatal alcohol exposure, often creating a collection of primary cognitive and functional disabilities including poor memory, attention deficits, impulsive behavior, and poor cause-effect reasoning, as well as secondary disabilities for example, mental health problems, and drug addiction.

The signs and symptoms of a having fetal alcohol syndrome are low birth weight, small head circumference, developmental interruption, organ dysfunction, facial abnormalities, including smaller eye openings, flattened cheekbones, and indistinguishable philtrum (an underdeveloped groove between the nose and the upper lip), epilepsy, poor coordination, poor socialization skills, such as difficulty building and maintaining friendships and relating to groups, lack of curiosity, learning difficulties, including poor memory, inability to understand concepts such as time and money, poor language comprehension, poor problem-solving skills, behavioral problems including hyperactivity, inability to concentrate, social withdrawal, stubbornness, impulsiveness, and anxiety.

As said earlier, damage of the central nervous system is the main feature of fetal alcohol syndrome. Central nervous system damage can be assessed in three areas such as structural, neurological, and functional deficiencies. Structural impairments may include microcephaly (small head size) of two or more standard deviations below the average, or other abnormalities in brain structure. During the first trimester of pregnancy, alcohol impedes with the migration and organization of brain cells, which can make structural deformities within the brain. During the third trimester, harm can be caused to the hippocampus, which plays a role in memory, learning, emotion, and encoding visual and auditory information, all of which can create neurological and functional CNS impairments as well.

When structural impairments are not observable, neurological impairments are assessed. Neurological problems are showed as either hard signs, such as epilepsy or other seizure disorders, or soft signs. Soft signs are broader, nonspecific symptoms, such as impaired fine motor skills, neurosensory hearing loss, poor gait, clumsiness, poor eye-hand coordination.

Functional impairments are assessed when structural or neurological impairments does not exist. Functional impairments are delays due to prenatal alcohol exposure (rather than hereditary causes or postnatal insults) in observable and measurable domains related to daily functioning, often referred to as developmental disabilities.

No evidence exists that can determine exactly how much alcohol ingestion will produce birth defects. Individual women process alcohol differently. Other factors differ the results, too, such as the age of the mother, the timing and regularity of the alcohol ingestion, and whether the mother has eaten any food while drinking.

Alcohol easily goes through the placental barrier and the fetus is not at all equipped to get rid of alcohol than its mother, so the fetus tends to receive a high concentration of alcohol, which remains longer than it would in the mother’s system. this is the reason why the child is the one greatly affected when in fact it is the mother who consumes the alcohol. Unfortunately true.

As unusual as it seems, there are individuals who cannot deal naturally with their emotions. An emotional problem is not just a simple problem. One is not able to function well due to the disruption of its emotions. Usually, people would use defense mechanisms as to cover up their emotional problems. However, this would in turn cause some commotion in their daily lives. And, moreover, it could affect the people around them. Moreover, emotional problems could be caused by alcoholism or any addiction problems. When one is addicted, the person does not only become physically attached to the object of addiction, but also he or she becomes emotionally attached to the object of addiction.

Emotions Anonymous is a twelve-step organization, similar to Alcoholics Anonymous. It provides to people whose emotions are causing difficulties in their lives. Emotions such as depression, anxiety, fear, loneliness, anger, compulsion, and obsessions are the most common in which the members had to deal with. this organization started on July 6, 1971. Emotions Anonymous meetings are self-supporting by intentional contributions of its members. Emotions Anonymous is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization, or institution, nor does it endorse or oppose any causes. The primary purpose of Emotions Anonymous is to show its members how to stay well emotionally and how to help others to become emotionally well.

This is the twelve-step program being used by Emotional Anonymous:

1. We admitted we were powerless over our emotions — that our lives had become unmanageable.

2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.

9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

With emotions anonymous, people in all walks of life are able to look for help from others and may find comfort and guidance from those who have been there and had done that, or even share compassion with people are experiencing the same thing. Indeed, social support is very important and could be a cure to emotional illness.

To add, admitting to oneself that a superior being controls your life and you can turn to that superior being in time of needs is part of spirituality. It is God’s spirit that can grant you the strength and courage to face your problems. It is the admission that you do not have to burn yourself out fraught to solve all your problems on your own. It is the openness to let go of your sense of over-responsibility and let God have some authority over the problems. Spirituality is also the identification that humans consist not only of physical matter but also have a spiritual dimension that needs daily care in order to survive.

here are three foundational characteristics of spirituality are faith, hope, and love. Faith is what allows the person to believe that a supreme being is helping them in times of trouble, sorrow, and pain. Faith is the belief that God will never abandon or forget you during your time of need. Furthermore, spirituality is quickly identified in people who have hope and trust in God’s mercy, wisdom and justice. Their hope enables them to “let go and let God.” Their hope enables them to hand over their sense of over responsibility, guilt, rescuing and enabling to God’s hands. Their hope enables them to take a “tough love” stance in order to get assistance for the troubled persons in their lives. Also, when one gives love, concern, and generosity to others, there is spirituality. With spirituality, people are altruistic and giving in their approach to the world. They are able to make a difference in people’s lives.

The border between spirituality and religion rises a conflict. The two terms may be sometimes used by people interchangeably, yet one should be clarified with its distinction. Religion is an institution established by man for different reasons- exert control; instill morality, stroke egos, or whatever it does. On the other hand, spirituality is born in a person and develops in the person. It may be kick started by a religion, or it may be kick started by a revelation. Spirituality extends to all facets of a person’s life. Spirituality is chosen while religion is often times forced.

On a personal note, I do believe that spirituality has more weight than religion. As what was said, religion is oftentimes forced, thus, usually, people practice religious rituals out of obedience to the religious tradition. But, true spirituality is something that is found deep within oneself. It is a way of loving, accepting and relating to the world and people around. It cannot be found in a church or by believing in a certain way.

Will, or the drive to do something is an ability that every people are capable of having but they are yet to discover it. Will power is the ability to conquer laziness and procrastination. It is the ability to reject unnecessary impulses. It is the ability to carry out a decision and follow it with perseverance until its successful accomplishment. It is the inner power that overcomes the desire to indulge in unnecessary and useless habits, and the inner strength that overcomes inner emotional and mental resistance for taking action. As they say, it is one of the corner stones of success, both spiritual and material.

Usually, the concept of willpower is mostly useful in the process of modifying behaviors and eliminating bad habits. Everyone possesses some addictions they wish they could overcome, such as smoking, excessive eating, laziness, procrastination or lack of assertiveness. To overcome these habits or addictions, one needs to have will power and self discipline. They make a great difference in everyone’s life, and bring inner strength, self mastery and decisiveness.

People may ask how they are able to have willpower most especially with all the influence of media nowadays. Commercials have attempted to position their products as a substitute to willpower. They start by saying that willpower doesn’t work and then attempt to sell you something “fast and easy” like a diet pill or some wacky exercise equipment. Often they’ll even guarantee impossible results in a dramatically short period of time.

But actually, willpower does work. Willpower is a concentration of force. You gather up all your energy and make a massive thrust forward. You attack your problems strategically at their weakest points until they crack, allowing you enough room to maneuver deeper into their territory and finish them off. To be able to apply willpower, one should first choose an objective. Then, create a plan of attack, and finally, execute the plan. An effective method for developing and improving these abilities is to do certain activities, which you would rather avoid doing due to laziness, procrastination, weakness, shyness, etc. By doing something that you do not like doing or are too lazy to do, you overcome your subconscious resistance, train your mind to obey you, strengthen your inner powers and gain inner strength. Muscles get stronger by defying the power of the barbells. Inner strength is reached by overcoming inner resistance.

To have willpower is never easy. It takes time for you to fully acquire this capability. Furthermore, practicing your capacity to have willpower in trying to do the things that you hate to do. In your everyday dealings with things such as having to wash the dishes, cooking a healthy meal instead of ordering fast food, and having to wake up in the morning to run a mile or two, you can put into practice willpower, resisting the temptation and evil caressing hands of laziness.

Additionally, in more serious cases such as quitting drug use, the first step is having the willpower and determination to change and quit the bad habit. In rehabilitation centers, patients are trained and encouraged to practice their willpower and take control over their lives, over their addiction.

One of the very potent thing is willpower. When people have willpower, they will be able to do the things that in the first place they are very unwilling to do. It is like with willpower, you are fighting your resisting mind.

Cocaine was regarded as a status drug in the year 1970s for the reason that cocaine was pricey. The introduction of inexpensive crack increased the convenience of this substance, and crack has become the drug of choice for many drug users, especially for inner-city disadvantaged youth. This has been the beginnings of the growing crack addiction. Crack’s accessibility, ease of concealment, wide availability, and low cost has increased its use. The reality that crack is smoked rather than injected has added to its popularity.

The preconceived notion that drug addiction only happens on the street is largely false. It is not new to us that celebrities have their “shining moments” when it comes to substance abuse. They may look pleasant and very much happy in front of cameras, but their deepest secrets are yet to be revealed. A number of celebrities have already been into rehabilitation to fight their crack addiction, heroin, or even alcohol addiction.

Drew Barrymore was one of the very early celebrity known that spearheaded headlines because of her wild child antics. At the age of nine, Drew was already smoking cigarettes. She was an alcoholic at 11, a marijuana smoker by 12, and a cocaine addict by 13. She went to rehab twice and even tried to commit suicide when she was 14. Right now, that is all in the past. Her wild child days behind her, Barrymore has grown into a sober, responsible and productive woman. Aside from starring in a slew of hits, she has also become a producer, forming the production company Flower Films with friend and partner Nancy Juvonen in 1995. Her company is responsible for hits like Charlie’s Angels and 50 First Dates. This goes to show that anybody messed up with drugs can revive from life.

There are actually two sides to this Oprah-Winfrey-was-a-drug-addict story. On one hand, there’s the remarkable TV moment in the 90s when she tearfully told in her own talk show that she had smoked crack cocaine while in her 20s, but never said anything about an addiction to the drug or anything else. On the other hand, there’s the more recent allegation made in a tell-all book by a previous boyfriend that Oprah was in reality, a regular cocaine user in the 80s, and was in fact under the influence during her show tapings.

Right now, we can clearly see that Oprah Winfrey has triumphed over the use of cocaine. As of September 2008, Forbes has listed Oprah to acquire wealth worth over $2.7 billion. CNN and Time Magazine dubbed her “arguably the world’s most powerful woman”. She is quite the success story, sordid drug past or not.

Any kind of substance addiction, be it crack addiction can happen to anyone in all walks of life. Life is largely unpredictable. One time we are laughing with friends living the good life, the next time we know, we are shaking and craving for a drug we never thought we couldn’t seem to live without. People may be aware of the effects of drugs if abused, yet they still give in to curiosity, probably, or to pressure and thus end up living miserably. However, there is always hope for every addict in this world. Life doesn’t end in addiction. Giving up is ends life.

Subutex binds so tightly to the opiate receptors, that taking heroin or methadone will have little or no effect. This drug is usually used in narcotic drug treatment programs, and prescribed in varying doses. The effects of subutex are less pronounced than those of other opiates, giving the individual the feeling of being somewhat “normal” once more. Buprenorphine is an opioid that is used to wean people off their addiction to stronger opioids such as morphine, diamorphine (heroin) and methadone. It is prescribed as a replacement for such drugs. By acting on the same opioid receptors as other opioids, buprenorphine prevents the physical withdrawal symptoms that occur when these drugs are blocked. Physical cravings is then being stopped. Over time, the dose of buprenorhpine is gradually lessen until it can be stopped completely. Moreover, buprenorphine substitution therapy for opioid addiction must be used together with other medical, social and psychological treatment.

However, after medication, it is not an assurance that the person would become free from drug dependence. One’s body would eventually adapt to the effects of subutex and thus would possibly become dependent to it. Meaning to say, the person may be free from heroin addiction but in turn, become a subutex addict. Science has found a substance that could counterfeit the effects of certain drugs such as heroin and methadone, to stop withdrawal syndrome. However, just like any other drugs, subutex still has a negative effect on the body.

Drowsiness; dizziness; weakness; constipation; headache; nausea or vomiting; slow, shallow breathing; mental changes; mood changes (depression); stomach or abdominal pain; liver problems; dark urine; yellowing eyes; skin changes; vision changes; and death due to overdose are some of the side effects of subutex. These effects could be qualified upon taking subutex. Moreover, it could worsen if the drug is taken together with other substances such as alcohol.

Subutex (buprenorphine) can cause drug dependence. If the use of subutex is suddenly stopped, the person may experience withdrawal symptoms and/or the desire to relapse and consume the addictive drug once more. When taken together with other drugs (antidepressants, alcohol, sleeping medicine, etc.), subutex may enhance their effects and cause severe health hazards. Subutex can cause death from overdose if injected with a tranquilizer.

The increase of subutex addiction cases can be attributed to fact that it is very accessible and the price is affordable. The fact that buprenorphine costs less than heroin and is more accessible has hastened the development of illegal markets in various countries. Buprenorphine manufactured in India, for example, is smuggled into Nepal and Sri Lanka, as well as Bangladesh, where it is used by 90 percent of the country’s intravenous drug users, according to a UN Drug and Crime report last year.

It is quite alarming to imagine that no single drug is free from becoming an object of dependence. People have to be watchful in taking both prescribed and non-prescribed drugs. These definite drugs could somehow be thought of as a traitor. At first they act as if they are giving you upbeat effects. Then later on, you become addicted to the drug and take the drug

despite the depressing it is eliciting. It’s like the devil that lured you to eat the apple from the forbidden tree and then left you when everything else went wrong.

Studies have been made as to determine the real effects of suboxone to the patient. Suboxone tablets have been studied in 575 patients, Subutex tablets in 1834 patients and buprenorphine sublingual solutions in 2470 patients. A total of 1270 females have received buprenorphine in clinical trials. Dosing recommendations are based on data from one trial of both tablet formulations and two trials of the ethanolic solution. All trials used buprenorphine in conjunction with psychosocial counseling as component of a comprehensive addiction treatment program. There have been no clinical studies made to evaluate the effectiveness of buprenorphine as the only component of treatment.

In a double blind placebo and active controlled study, 326 heroin-addicted subjects were at random assigned to either Suboxone 16 mg per day, 16 mg Subutex per day or placebo tablets. The primary study comparison was to assess the efficacy of Subutex and Suboxone independently against placebo. The fraction of thrice-weekly urine tests that were negative for non-study opioids was statistically higher for both Subutex and Suboxone, than for placebo.

Since suboxone is a blend of two currently marketed medications, buprenorphine and naloxone, it gives a combination of a weak narcotic (buprenorphine) and a narcotic antagonist (naloxone). The latter is added to put off addicts from injecting the tablets intravenously, as has happened with tablets only containing buprenorphine; because it contains naloxone, Suboxone is very likely to generate intense withdrawal symptoms if misused intravenously by opioid-addicted individuals. Buprenorphine is a partial agonist at the mu-opioid receptor and an antagonist at the kappaopioid receptor. Naloxone is an antagonist at the mu-opioid receptor.

Like most addictions, suboxone or subutex addiction is quite unavoidable. The drug is not supposed to be used occasionally. It must be used as a nonstop treatment method and thus, may become harmful if usage is stopped too quickly. Like heroin, suboxone could result to a “euphoric” feeling. It cannot be denied that the person who is continuously taking the drug has a very high risk of becoming dependent and addicted to the drug. It has a mechanism that imitates the actions of unsurprisingly occurring pain-reducing chemicals called endorphins. Endorphins are found in the brain and spinal cord and decrease pain by combining with opioid receptors. However, opioids also act in the brain to cause feelings of euphoria and hallucinations. This very much illustrates their addictive tendencies among people who are taking them in a long-term basis.

Moreover, in taking in suboxone, one should be very careful. As much as possible this should be taken with great administration by a medical expert. This medicine may cause drowsiness. If affected, do not drive or operate machinery. Drowsiness will be made worse by alcohol, tranquilizers, sedatives and sleeping tablets such as benzodiazepines. Taking these in mixture with buprenorphine can also cause potentially dangerous problems with breathing and so should be avoided while taking this medicine. The liver function should be often monitored while receiving treatment with this medicine.

Drugs like these are very useful and helpful in battling with drug addiction. However, there has never been a substance that has been found to be an effective medication for addiction that is at the same time non-addictive. Science may have been in the process of trying to find the perfect drug that would provide us with the two benefits.

Substances, therefore, must be taken with caution and correct supervision from medical professionals. In addition, it is the accountability of the individual himself to look after his in-take of a drug. He should be the one controlling the drug, not the other way around.

As they say, we all are crazy. We all have that craziness within us. It is just a matter of how we manage our differences and extremities that we are able to handle our craziness. Moreover, many ask if mental illnesses really do exist. The English-speaking world has not always used medical language to explain the behavior we now label as symptomatic of mental disorder. Descriptions were sometimes framed in quite different terms, such as possession. What we now call mental illness was not always treated as a medical problem. Non-English-speaking nations in the West have had changes in their linguistic usage and their treatment of the mentally ill roughly parallel to Anglophone countries. Anthropological work in non-Western cultures suggests that there are many cases of behavior that psychiatry would categorize as symptomatic of mental disorder, which are not seen within their own cultures as signs of mental illness.

However, nowadays, it has been discussed that mental disorders are really existing mental conditions that may be a reason of trouble in a person’s thinking, feeling, mood, ability to relate to others and daily functioning. Just as diabetes is a disorder of the pancreas, mental illnesses are medical conditions that often result in a reduced ability for coping with the ordinary demands of life.

Mental illnesses can affect persons of any age, race, religion, or income. Mental illnesses are not the outcome of personal weakness, lack of character or poor upbringing. Mental illnesses are curable. Most people diagnosed with a serious mental illness can experience relief from their symptoms by actively participating in an individual treatment plan. In addition to medication treatment, psychosocial treatment such as cognitive behavioral therapy, interpersonal therapy, peer support groups and other community services can also be components of a treatment plan and that assist with recovery. The availability of transportation, diet, exercise, sleep, friends and meaningful paid or volunteer activities contribute to overall health and wellness, including mental illness recovery.

Unfortunately, society may be responsible for one’s failure in recovering form a mental illness. When the person is treated inside a medical institution, he or she is given sufficient treatment and is treated as if they are normal. They are given proper care and attention so as to promote recovery. However, when they go out into the real world after some time, society, upon knowing their past, would most likely mock them and treat them differently. Society would look at them as someone who still has the mental disorder and resultingly, it would make them feel worse and thus, could trigger an occurrence of the mental illness once again.

The feelings of inadequateness would cause problems for a person with mental disorder. He would think that he I not worthy to live in this world given that he could not function properly anymore. However, support from family and friends would be a great help for the patient to view life differently and positively. Thus it is the role of the family to provide the patient with love and care so as to sustain his recovery.

The sex and love addiction anonymous was founded to cater to those who have been a victim of this addiction to sex and love. This was created by a previous Alcoholics anonymous member. Though, he had been sober, he was unfaithful to his wife for a period of time. He founded sex and love addiction anonymous as an try to discontinue his compulsive sexual and romantic behavior.

“Bottom-line behaviors” are persuaded to be identified on members of the organization. The organization recognizes these behaviors as “any sexual or emotional act, not regarding its initial impulse may be, which leads to loss of control over rate, frequency, or duration of its occurrence or recurrence, resulting in spiritual, mental, physical, emotional, and moral destruction of oneself and others.”

To aid their group members on the road to recovery, Sex and Love Addiction Anonymous utilizes the 12-step program and the 12 traditions. The excellent thing with the organization is that since everyone is a victim, they are empathic about each other’s experiences and feelings. Thus, they claim to understand what the other person is going through and are able to offer support through sharing and meetings. To quote, “we found in each other what we could find nowhere else: people who knew the depth of our pain. Together we found hope and the care of a loving Higher Power. Our commitment is to help others recover from sexual addiction, just as we have been helped.”

Sex and Love Addiction Anonymous’ twelve-step program are the following:

1. We admitted we were powerless over sex and love addiction – that our lives had become unmanageable.

2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood God.

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

7. Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings.

8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

10. Continued to take personal inventory, and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with a Power greater than ourselves, praying only for knowledge of God’s will for us and the power to carry that out.

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to sex and love addicts, and to practice these principles in all areas of our lives.

And here are their Twelve Traditions:

1. Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon S.L.A.A. unity.

2. For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority — a loving God as this Power may be expressed through our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.

3. The only requirement for S.L.A.A. membership is the desire to stop living out a pattern of sex and love addiction. Any two or more persons gathered together for mutual aid in recovering from sex and love addiction may call themselves an S.L.A.A. group, provided that as a group they have no other affiliation.

4. Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or S.L.A.A. as a whole.

5. Each group has but one primary purpose — to carry its message to the sex and love addict who still suffers.

6. An S.L.A.A. group or S.L.A.A. as a whole ought never to endorse, finance, or lend the S.L.A.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property, or prestige divert us from our primary purpose.

7. Every S.L.A.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.

8. S.L.A.A. should remain forever nonprofessional, but our service centers may employ special workers.

9. S.L.A.A. as such ought never to be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.

10. S.L.A.A. has no opinion on outside issues; hence the S.L.A.A. name ought never to be drawn into public controversy.

11. Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, TV, film, and other public media. We need guard with special care the anonymity of all fellow S.L.A.A. members.

12. Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.

Some tips about depression treatment facts are as follows:

Be realistic with your goals. Set achievable goals and don’t overwhelm yourself. Celebrate the little wins. Try to get into the mindset of small victories along the way and not one big one at the end of a difficult process.

Be accepting of stress and work to control it. You must realize that there will always be some amount of stress in life. If you are realistic about the goals you set and really think about what you can and cannot do. This will help you be able to manage stress so it does not overwhelm you.

Know the importance of opening up to your friends and family. It is natural to not want to involve the people you love with your problems. But they love you too and want to help you get back to yourself again. It is usually better to release your issues than let them fester inside.

Take time for yourself. It is important to have dreams to follow and take some time out to do so. It’s healthy and just as necessary as everything else you must do.

Depression treatment is not easy, but being depressed is much harder. Do research on methods and ideas of treating depression and get on your way to a happier, healthier, and longer life.