Substance Abuse - The Process of Clinical Evaluation

How is a substance abuse evaluation done? If you have ever wondered
whether or not there is a method to this sort of test, the following
article will shed a lot of light on the subject.

Essentially, counselors and doctors know whether or not a person has
been abusing a particular matter from the start. Still, in order to
recommend someone for clinical treatment, professionals must be able
to determine whether or not a person is truly addicted. So, how is a
substance abuse evaluation done? Most professionals use the same
method in order to find out. The type of test given to a person that
is suspected of addictive behavior is called a "CAGE" test, and this
type of test is a lot trickier than you may think.

Upon first glance, the CAGE test doesn't really appear all that
insightful or intrusive. However, someone that is highly trained will
look for certain responses to the follow questions. C: Has anyone ever
felt you should Cut down on your drinking? A: Have people Annoyed you
by criticizing your drinking? G: Have you ever felt Guilty about your
drinking? E: Have you ever had a drink first thing in the morning
(Eye-opener) to steady your nerves or to get rid of a hangover? If a
patient response positively to one or more of these questions, they
are likely to have an abuse issue.

How is a substance abuse evaluation done when a professional uses the
MAST method? Interestingly, studies have shown that white females
simply do not respond all that well to the CAGE method, which has
prompted researches to devise the MAST method. The first MAST question
is: have you ever had a drinking problem? The second question is: when
was your last drink? For some reason, white females seem to respond
better to these questions than to any other method.

There are many other methods used in order to determine someone's
abuse level, and many of them are targeted specifically for one group
or another. As it turns out, those that are within certain cultural
groups respond differently to varying questions. Even if a person that
has an addiction knows about these methods before going in to see a
professional, counselors and doctors know when a person is telling the
truth.

Now that you know the answer to the original question (how is a
substance abuse evaluation done?), you may be able to ask yourself
these questions if you are have any concerns. However, it is not
recommended that you try these questions on any one that you suspect
of having an abuse problem. Instead, try and get them to see a
professional for best results.

Aazdak Alisimo writes about substance abuse recovery programs for
SubstanceAbuseRecoveryPrograms.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1075938

A Few Tips on Dealing With a Drug Addict

When you have a loved one that is addicted to drugs it is very easy to
become extremely angry with them.

And why shouldn't you be? When they are on drugs they become a
different person. They become easily irritated and take it out on you.
They lie and even steal from you. They take advantage of your kindness
and become hostile when you say anything about their drug problem.

When someone treats you like this it is very hard to realize that they
are, in fact, a very sick person and in need of intense treatment. It
is hard to understand that they are not in their right state of mind
and need to be restored to sanity.

As someone whom has been entrenched in the drug addiction,
intervention, and treatment arena for a number of years I would like
to make something very clear to you. The person you are dealing with
is a very very ill person, indeed.

What I will attempt to do is offer a couple of suggestions that may
help you cope with your addicted loved one more effectively.

Don't Take It Personally

No matter what they say or do, do not take it personally. Any
negativity that they project toward you is simply a reflection of the
pain that they feel inside. It is not a personal attack on you.

If you should acquire a drug intervention team to aid you in
disrupting their drug use, the intervention expert will tell you the
same thing.

Avoid Enabling

If you give them everything they demand, they will only expect more
and become more angry, hurtful, and disrespectful when they don't get
what they want.

If you are to give them anything it should be a surprise drug
intervention and if they do not accept help through that, give them
the boot. Sometimes tough love is the besty alternative.

Call for Help if Necessary

What do I mean by this?

I mean that if they become violent or aggressive toward you, call the
authorities. If you show your addicted loved one that you are not
afraid to call for help from the police they will probably think twice
before they become physically violent with or around you again.

Drug Intervention

Last but certainly not least. As I mentioned previously, the most
beneficial thing you could possibly do for your loved one is to offer
them help. The most effective way to do this is by obtaining the
professional assistance drug intervention experts.

If after reading this article, you feel you need further assistance it
would be wise for you to seek professional help. You can find an
abundant supply of professional drug intervention experts online.

I hope that my article has been helpful and I wish you the best!

For more information on Intervention
[http://www.interventiontreatment.com] or Drug Intervention visit
[http://www.interventiontreatment.com]

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1221764

How Long Does Marijuana Stay in Your System? Answering the Question

"How long marijuana stays in your system" is an interesting question,
and a very popular one on the Internet. Answering it is trickier than
you might believe, but the answer is important if you are
administering a drug test.

The first important distinction to make is that even if someone is no
longer experiencing the effects, or "high," of marijuana, it is still
in their system. And it is not so much marijuana that is in your
system, but its active chemical, THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol).

Drug tests look for THC by analyzing saliva, hair, or urine, and
sometimes blood. The variation in how long THC can be detected in a
standard saliva, hair, or urine consumer drug test might surprise you.

In the case of saliva, marijuana escapes the system quickly and takes
longer than most drugs to be detected. About an hour after use,
marijuana can be detected by a home saliva drug test. It takes about
12 hours for marijuana to begin leaving saliva - after that time, the
accuracy of a saliva-based home drug test drops greatly.

When it comes to urine drug testing, the amount and frequency of
marijuana smoked by the user makes a huge difference in how long THC
can be detected. Marijuana can stay in your urine for up to 45 days;
somewhere between a week and 30 days is more typical. Someone who uses
marijuana frequently or daily can expect to be positive on a drug test
for at least three weeks or more after giving up the habit. And
one-time users should not expect to get a negative drug test result
just because they only tried the drug once - a urine drug test will
still find them positive from a few days to over a week after use.
Marijuana use can generally be detected from 2-5 hours after initial
use in the urine.

Although marijuana/THC may have left the saliva and urine, it can
still stay in your system - in your hair follicles. When you consume a
drug, it enters the bloodstream. Blood nourishes your hair and helps
it to grow, and if the blood has any drug traces in it, they become
trapped in the hair and grow out along with it. After about a week of
drug use, the hair will grow out far enough from the scalp to be cut,
and drug use can be detected in that hair. Drugs take a very long time
to deteriorate in hair - consumer hair testing labs will only go back
90 days (industry standard) but courts and so forth can mandate a test
that analyzes the hair over a longer period. Naturally, your body hair
will also contain drug traces, and since body hair grows more slowly,
the detection window for body hair is considered to be a year. The
only caveat is that with hair drug testing, marijuana does not always
incorporate well with the hair, so even a frequent user may test
negative (while someone who smokes rarely might test positive). It is
unknown as of yet why this is the case, as this phenomenon does not
occur with any of the other commonly hair tested drugs like cocaine.
Basically, hair drug testing can detect marijuana in your system, but
is less reliable than urine tests, which are 98% accurate.

One of the factors that most influences how long marijuana stays in
your system is the frequency of use. THC is fat soluble, and when
marijuana is smoked the fat cells in the body absorb the THC. Over a
few days, the THC diffuses into the blood and your body becomes clean.
However, if you continually smoke, more THC will be taken into your
fat that can be let out into the blood, and thus THC (and therefore,
evidence of marijuana use) will stay in your system much longer. In
fact, the New Scientist, a scientific journal, documents (rare) cases
of former heavy users who, experiencing significant weight loss, start
excreting "old" previously stored THC into the blood as a result of so
much fat being burned up.

So when you ask the question of how long marijuana stays in your
system, it is important to note - what part of the system do you mean?
If you are testing a child or an employee you suspect of long-term
use, you will want to ask these questions. Since marijuana is so
variable, it may prove most wise to simply purchase a drug test and
find out if you or the person you want to test is indeed clean.

Robyn Schelenz is an author with Home Health Testing, an online home
health and home drug test business. You can learn more about marijuana
and drug testing by visiting our Marijuana Drug Test page.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3906257