Crimes Committed due to the Use of Alcohol and Drugs

By Sarfaraz Haider

Drugs and alcohol can be so destructive - (Kyan Douglas). There is a serious and hazardous relationship between alcohol, drugs and crime across the world. The use of alcohol and drugs can harmfully affect all the aspects of a person’s personal life, family life, social life, occupational life and spiritual life. Alcohol and drugs are occupied in offenses leading to detention. Such as household aggression, driving when drunk, land offenses, drug offenses, and public-order offenses.Alcohol Addiction is rooted to violent crimes, murder, rape, physical abuse, child and spousal abuse more than any illegal drugs .Alcohol is often a factor in violence where the enemy and the casualty know each other. Directly or indirectly, alcohol and drugs influence  every one of us, in our homes, in our families, in our school,  or in our community as well.

The relationship between drugs and crime is composite, and one question is whether drug use leads people into illegal activity or whether those who use drugs were are already predisposed to such activity. Many unlawful drug users commit no other kinds of crimes, and several who commit crimes do not use illegal drugs. However,in the severe state of addiction and drugs, it is highly likely that drugs and crime are interconnected with each other.

There are basically three types of crimes associated with drugs:

• The crimes that result from or involve individuals who use drugs, and who do crimes as a consequence of the effect the drug has on them. Their actions , reactions, responses and mental  processes, i.e thinking, reasoning, problem solving and decision making are all affected negatively.
• Crimes where an individual has to do crimes in order to support a drug habit. These may include economically related activities like robbery, drug dealing and prostitution. Drug addicts are also more likely to be arrested for crimes such as shop theft and stolen goods etc
• Crimes that consequence from the formation of the drug system. They include production, manufacture, transportation, and sale of drugs, as well as violence related to the production or trade of drugs, such as a territory war. 

Causes mentioned above create further problems 

• The sex business easily exploit women, men and children who are involved in drug use. Due to crimes caused by drug addiction, family's face different kinds of illegal complications like jail and court related issues. Many of whom are caught up in the criminal justice system. However, there is evidence that drug use is both a pre-determining factor in such sexual abuse and a means of coping with it.
• Though there is no “root” of abuse and no specific profile of abusers, many factors contribute and make abuse more likely to occur. Due to drug crime there are pressures on the family. Individuals face decrease social support and social network. Social isolation can all lead to parental anxiety and increase the chances that a parent will strike out at their child. 

Other sociological factors are also important in understanding why someone turns to drugs or alcohol or engage in criminal behaviors. These include living conditions, family, employment, marital status and mental hea

Focus on the Solution

• Treatment always works and people can feel better from addiction, maintaining self-denial from alcohol and drugs. Healing offers the best substitute for interrupting the illegal justice cycle for offenders with drug and alcohol problems & decease the criminal behavior. Prison should be a place where people can get the help they need.
• Treatment also saves money. many researches showed that substance abuse treatment saved more money than expenses of substance use in terms of fewer arrests, incarcerate, food stamp use, and less child welfare and medical costs because, criminal behavior decreases as alcohol and drug use decrease, and saving can be use for the benefit and welfare of family .Recovery is possible.

 By Sarfaraz Haider

Clinical Psychologist

Nishan Rehab, Multan.

Overcoming Negativity in Addiction Recovery

By Maryam Malik

Many of us have tried to fight substance abuse by simply deciding not to drink alcohol or throwing away the drugs. Our lives would be much better if only we could quit that easily. But it is so hard to quit the behaviors even after knowing they are harming us.

Addiction isn’t just about the behaviors you engage in. Rather, it’s a complex disease through which the brain’s decision-making processes lead you to act against your own best interests.

By learning how to change problematic thought patterns, we can take back control of our life and overcome addiction! One of the most important steps we can take on our recovery journey is learning how to become a positive thinker.

Make a Conscious Effort to Only Think Positive Thoughts

Positive people don’t live in a magical world full of rainbows and unicorns. Bad things happen to everybody, and we all spend a large portion of our time thinking about life’s challenges.

The difference between positive and negative thinker isn’t what we think about, it’s whether we choose to ruminate over our troubles or respond productively to them. For negative thinkers, every problem in life can feel like a massive boulder cutting off their path through life. But for positive thinkers, life’s struggles become an opportunity to climb over that boulder and continue on their path. The most common types of negative thought patterns are:

• All-or-nothing thinking—Assuming that anything less than perfection is a complete failure.
• Disqualifying the positives—Focusing on the negative aspects of an experience, but fail to acknowledge that these negative aspects are frequently intermingled with positive ones.
• Negative self-labeling—Reacting to negative circumstances by making negative judgments about yourself.
• Catastrophizing—Assuming that actions will result in the worst-case scenario.

When we take a step back and look at these thought processes, we can tell they’re unhelpful and irrational ways to approach problems. If a friend expressed one of these negative thought patterns, we would probably point out the ways in which their thought process was flawed — yet, we often don’t think to step back and correct our own faulty thought patterns.

Nishan Rehab not just focuses on quitting drugs rather help patients to confront problems with positivity. While we might have to cut old friends out of our life as we recover from addiction, our recovery process shouldn’t be a lonely time in our life. It’s important to have the right kind of social support when we are undertaking a life challenge such as overcoming addiction. Making a conscious effort to spend time around positive people can help our brains develop positive thought patterns. These thought patterns help us believe we can overcome the challenges we are facing. When our brain absorbs the speech and logic patterns of positive people, we find our self-talk will become more positive as well.

When it comes to overcoming addiction, you don’t have to go it alone. The experienced addiction specialists at Nishan Rehab are here to support you towards a life free of drug or alcohol addiction. Nishan specialists will design a plan just for you that address your specific needs, concerns, challenges, goals and interests.

By Maryam Malik

Clinical Psychologist

Nishan Rehab, Islamabad

ADDICTION IS A DISEASE

By Fayaz Ahmed

Some families and clients who visit Nishan Rehab for the treatment of Addiction don’t consider Addiction as a disease. They consider Addiction as a life style choice or habit. If Addiction is a life style choice then why can’t we change our addiction? Similarly if Addiction is a habit; according to Stephan R. Covey, habits are the intersection of knowledge and skill which can be adopted by repeating the actions. If so, then why can't we change the habit of Addiction. It means that Addiction is nor a life style choice neither a habit, it’s a disease and  should hence it should be treated like a disease.

What is disease?

When we listen to the word “disease” our brain works at a micro level and brings information in Nano seconds .e.g the word 'disease' will bring information like cancer, tuberculosis, diabetes etc, which indicate problem's/ dysfunction in the body mechanism. There are different definitions of the term disease. According to Merriam-Webster's dictionary, a disease is defined as “a problem that a person, group, organization, or society has and can’t stop or a condition that prevents the body or mind from working normally. World Health Organization defines health instead of defining the disease. According to WHO “health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well being, not merely the absence of any disease or infirmity”.

Defining addiction is a really tough call. Some define addiction as “as a chronic, relapsing brain disease that is characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences (NIDA)”. If we focus on the above mentioned paragraph we can call addiction a disease because it affects our brain (physical), mind and behavior (psychological), our relation with the society (social), our relation with the family (familial) as well as our relation with God and humans (spiritual well being).  

Most families dealing with addiction don’t enter in the treatment due to lack of knowledge and stigma. When addiction hits any family, they don’t accept that their loved one is suffering with addiction. They forget that Addiction never knocks on the door of anyone, it can affect everyone, it doesn’t discriminate, and it can affect people weather they are celebrities or normal people, it never takes permission or asks anyone before affecting them because it is a disease that can affect anyone, at anytime and under any situation. So it is important to understand that addiction is a disease and that it can be treated. Nishan Rehab is helping families to get their loved one's sober by joining the treatment protocol.

According to UNODC Addiction is a bio-psycho-social and spiritual disease which currently affects 6.7 millions of Pakistan's population. Factually, this disease is increasing by the day; though this fact is still not being taken seriously. Nishan Rehab is helping families to learn about addiction and providing the best services for the treatment of Addiction.

To get sick is not bad but to live sick is not good. Addiction is a disease and it can affect you, so don’t hesitate to get treatment for addiction. For help, contact Nishan Rehab International.

By Fayaz Ahmed

Clinical Psychologist

Nishan Rehab, Islamabad

No Need For Admission…..Do It As Out-Patient

By Doctor Talat Habib

In Pakistani society, it’s a usual norm that if someone is addicted to certain drugs or behaviors, he/she has to be admitted in a rehab facility to get treated. This is an obsolete phenomenon. Clients suffering from drug dependency can now enjoy recovery and sobriety without getting admitted in rehab. In Pakistan, Nishan Rehab is providing services where you or your loved one don’t need to be away from your daily routine and work and can be with family members and even then can get rid of drugs and alcohol.

But there are some tricky things attached when addiction hits you or your loved one. How do you know which type of program you or a loved one would best benefit from? Both types of treatment have distinctions which make them more or less appropriate for a patient’s needs, depending on the patient’s level and length of addiction.

Note that this is a general overview of the major differences between residential and outpatient treatment programs. To truly understand which type of program is most appropriate for you, a friend, or a family member, an in-person diagnostic assessment with a qualified professional is needed. For free evaluation, you can contact us using contact details of this blog page.

Outpatient Treatment Programs

Outpatient drug and alcohol treatment programs share many similarities with residential treatment programs, but in a differently structured environment. Outpatient programs provide patients with more freedom of movement which allows them to maintain a regular commitment to family, work, and educational responsibilities. Because of the ability to go home after a daily or evening program, patients are able to have a greater level of privacy and anonymity. They often do not need to explain a prolonged absence to friends, coworkers, or family members.

Unlike residential treatment programs, patients are not provided with the safe, secure environment that isolates them from negatively influencing factors. Patients return to their own environments after outpatient drug or alcohol treatment, and must voluntarily abstain from drug or alcohol use, which requires a greater amount of diligence. However, the benefit of this is that outpatient programs (like residential programs) provide a support network for patients in the form of official support groups, individual counseling, and family counseling so that patients are never alone in their recovery. Patients are provided with a strong support network of non-using peers and sponsors. Outpatient programs also focus on family support and involvement, and an immediately positive element of outpatient treatment is that patients can automatically apply the lessons learned from outpatient treatment programs to their daily experiences.

Which Type of Treatment Program Is for You?

You and your medical or counseling professional are best equipped to know which type of treatment is ideal for your situation. Be honest with yourself about how independently dedicated you can be in an outpatient program. Do you feel like the temptations to use based on daily stresses, friends and acquaintances, or lack of social support would be an issue in successfully completing outpatient treatment? Have you tried and been unsuccessful time and time again at stopping your drug or alcohol use by yourself or in outpatient treatment? Are you physically addicted to drugs or alcohol and absolutely require a medical detox prior to receiving treatment services? When you speak with a specialist about voluntarily entering drug and alcohol treatment, talk about your personal circumstances in order to figure out which aspects of outpatient or residential treatment programs would best suit you. Outpatient and residential drug and alcohol treatment programs both have life-changing benefits, and understanding which program will best help you achieve long-term recovery is one of the first steps toward becoming sober.

By Doctor Talat Habib

Program Director

Nishan Rehab, Islamabad

The Role of Learned Helplessness in Addiction

By Maria Tariq

In 1965, Martin Seligman and his colleagues were doing research on classical conditioning or the process by which an animal or human associates one thing with another. In the case of Seligman's experiment, he would ring a bell and then give a light shock to a dog before presented it with food. After a number of times, the dog reacted to the shock even before it happened: as soon as the dog heard the bell, he reacted as though he'd already been shocked.

But then something unexpected happened. Seligman put each dog into a large crate that was divided down the middle with a low fence. The dog could see and jump over the fence if necessary. The floor on one side of the fence was electrified, but not on the other side of the fence. Seligman put the dog on the electrified side and administered a light shock. He expected the dog to jump to the non-shocking side of the fence.

Instead, the dogs lay down. It was as though they'd learned from the first part of the experiment that there was nothing they could do to avoid the shocks, so they gave up in the second part of the experiment.

Seligman described their condition as learned helplessness, or not trying to get out of a negative situation because the past has taught you that you are helpless.

After the dogs didn't jump the fence to escape the shock, Seligman tried the second part of his experiment on dogs that had not been through the classical conditioning part of the experiment. The dogs that had not been previously exposed to shocks quickly jumped over the fence to escape the shocks. This told Seligman that the dogs who lay down and acted helpless had actually learned that helplessness from the first part of his experiment.

In addiction we see lots of people with this helplessness. Before coming to an addiction treatment facility, they must have tried to quit drugs in different ways. But all of their methods or ways fail. Due to those wrong ways or methods they learn helplessness. They think that there is no way to quit a drug or believe that all their efforts they put will not work. Therefore, they give up trying. They see themselves as failures, and lose all motivation and interest in life, at the same time putting themselves down and wallowing in misery. They are unable to understand that now they can change their lives because of their previous experiences. They feel unable to see thing new, bright, dazzling and beaming ways of life.

The only way to help people who suffer ‘learned helplessness’ is to concentrate on showing the addicted person that he can operate on his environment and be effectual perhaps by giving him simple tasks in therapy at which he can succeed, develop confidence and then move on to harder ones. The aim is to break the conditioned conviction that nothing ever works.

Maria Tariq

Clinical Psychologist

Nishan Rehab, Islamabad

Drug Abuse, Addiction, and the Brain

Many people do not understand why people become addicted to drugs or how drugs change the brain to foster compulsive drug abuse. They mistakenly view drug abuse and addiction as strictly a social problem and may characterize those who take drugs as morally weak. One very common belief is that drug abusers should be able to just stop taking drugs if they are only willing to change their behavior. We at Nishan believe this is a stereotype.

What people often underestimate is the complexity of drug addiction — that it is a disease that impacts the brain, and because of that, stopping drug abuse is not simply a matter of willpower. Through scientific advances we now know much more about how exactly drugs work in the brain, and we also know that drug addiction can be successfully treated to help people stop abusing drugs and resume productive lives.

What Is Drug Addiction?

Drug addiction is a chronic, often relapsing brain disease that causes compulsive drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences to the drug addict and those around them. Drug addiction is a brain disease because the abuse of drugs leads to changes in the structure and function of the brain. Although it is true that for most people the initial decision to take drugs is voluntary, over time the changes in the brain caused by repeated drug abuse can affect a person’s self-control and ability to make sound decisions, and at the same time create an intense impulse to take drugs.

It is because of these changes in the brain that it is so challenging for a person who is addicted to stop abusing drugs. Fortunately at Nishan or any Rehab, there are treatments that help people to counteract addiction’s powerful disruptive effects and regain control. Research shows that combining addiction treatment medications, if available, with behavioral therapy is the best way to ensure success for most patients. Treatment approaches that are tailored to each patient’s drug abuse patterns and any concurrent medical, psychiatric, and social problems can lead to sustained recovery and a life without drugs.

As with other chronic diseases, such as diabetes, asthma, or heart disease, drug addiction can be managed effectively.Yet, it is not uncommon for a person to relapse and begin abusing drugs again. Relapse does not signal failure; rather, it indicates that treatment should be reinstated or adjusted, or that alternate treatment is needed to help the person regain control and recover.

What Happens to Your Brain When You Take Drugs?

Drugs are chemicals that tap into the brain’s communication system and disrupt the way nerve cells normally send, receive, and process information. There are at least two ways that drugs are able to do this: by imitating the brain’s natural chemical messengers, and/or overstimulating the “reward circuit” of the brain.

Some drugs, such as marijuana and heroin, have a similar structure to chemical messengers, called neurotransmitters, which are naturally produced by the brain. Because of this similarity, these drugs are able to “fool” the brain’s receptors and activate nerve cells to send abnormal messages.

Other drugs, such as cocaine or methamphetamine, can cause the nerve cells to release abnormally large amounts of natural neurotransmitters, or prevent the normal recycling of these brain chemicals, which is needed to shut off the signal between neurons. This disruption produces a greatly amplified message that ultimately disrupts normal communication patterns.

Nearly all drugs, directly or indirectly, target the brain’s reward system by flooding the circuit with dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter present in regions of the brain that control movement, emotion, motivation, and feelings of pleasure. The over stimulation of this system, which normally responds to natural behaviors that are linked to survival (eating, spending time with loved ones, etc), produces euphoric effects in response to the drugs. This reaction sets in motion a pattern that “teaches” people to repeat the behavior of abusing drugs.

As a person continues to abuse drugs, the brain adapts to the dopamine surges by producing less dopamine or reducing dopamine receptors. The user must therefore keep abusing drugs to bring his or her dopamine function back to ”normal” or use more drugs to achieve a dopamine high.

At Nishan, we tell our clients that long-term drug abuse causes changes in other brain chemical systems and circuits, as well. Brain imaging studies of drug-addicted individuals show changes in areas of the brain that are critical to judgment, decision-making, learning and memory, and behavior control. Together, these changes can drive an abuser to seek out and take drugs compulsively — in other words, to become addicted to drugs.

Why Do Some People Become Addicted While Others Do Not?

No single factor can predict whether or not a person will become addicted to drugs. Risk for addiction is influenced by a person’s biology, social environment, and age or stage of development. The more risk factors an individual has, the greater the chance that taking drugs can lead to addiction. For example:

• Biology

  The genes that people are born with — in combination with environmental influences — account for about half of their addiction vulnerability. Additionally, gender, ethnicity, and the presence of other mental disorders may influence risk for drug abuse and addiction.

• Environment

  A person’s environment includes many different influences — from family and friends to socioeconomic status and quality of life, in general. Factors such aspeer pressure, physical and sexual abuse, stress, and parental involvement can greatly influence the course of drug abuse and addiction in a person’s life.

• Development

  Genetic and environmental factors interact with critical developmental stages in a person’s life to affect addiction vulnerability, and adolescents experience a double challenge. Although taking drugs at any age can lead to addiction, the earlier that drug use begins, the more likely it is to progress to more serious abuse. And because adolescents’ brains are still developing in the areas that govern decision making, judgment, and self-control, they are especially prone to risk-taking behaviors, including trying drugs of abuse.

Prevention Is Key

Drug addiction is a preventable disease. Research has shown that prevention programs that involve the family, schools, communities, and the media are effective in reducing drug abuse. Although many events and cultural factors affect drug abuse trends, when youths perceive drug abuse as harmful, they reduce their drug taking. It is necessary, therefore, to help youth and the general public to understand the risks of drug abuse and for teachers, parents, and health care professionals to keep sending the message that drug addiction can be prevented if a person never abuses drugs.

The solution is to quit drugs. Quitting drugs is an almost impossible task without professional guidance and counselling. Therefore, all addicts should find professional help or rehab centers in their vicinity’s where they can get help. At Nishan Rehab in Islamabad, Pakistan; we always welcome and help addicts and their family’s in all possible ways. We believe the epitome of our society should be to help stopping addiction and that is our passion and directive.

By Yahya Awan

Psychologist, Nishan Rehab