Food addictions, although using the term covers the subject, come in many different varieties in itself. Someone may have a chocolate addiction, or a fast food addiction. No matter what type of food addiction someone might have, a certified addiction counselor can help a person to overcome their addiction weakness. You see, a certified addiction counselor is not meant for a specific addiction per se. Although a certified addiction counselor may specialize in one area of an addiction, the next counselor will more than likely specialize in a different area of addiction.

What you need to know is how the counselor can help you before scheduling counseling appointments or in house treatments. You have every right to screen a certified addiction counselor to make sure that what they can offer you the help you need to overcome your hurdles. You may find that you have to screen many different counselors before finding the right certified addiction counselor for you.  It’s important you are in sync with the counselor.  What I mean by this is that you not only like the counselor but you respect their viewpoints.  I once went to a counselor and I knew within minutes that I wanted to get out of there and never come back.  But yet, I once saw a counselor years ago and I found the hour long appointment was too short.  You will know.

When you decide to make an appointment to assess the compatibility with one, make sure the consultation is free of charge. There should be no reason for a counselor to charge you for simply trying to find out whether they are the right person for you. Of course there are counselors that claim they specialize in all additions and can help almost anyone.  Their fees may be very competitive if not lower than others who do specialize in a certain field. The downside to this option is forfeiting the benefits of working with a certified addiction counselor who is specialized in working with people who are trying to overcome addictions just like yours.

There are several pros and cons of online counseling. First, let us tackle the pros.

• Online counseling is an easy, convenient and affordable and since it is offered from the convenience of your own home, you do not have to deal with traffic or specific appointment times.
• Web based or online counseling offers a certain degree of anonymity.
• Online counseling also allows you to access the resources of professionals and experts who are not based in your home town.  You could live in a remote town in the USA but access the services of a professional counselor based in Sweden.

Online counseling has its cons as well.

• Anonymity could also be a liability.  Unless the online counseling you undertake is from a credible source, you could be taken for a ride. The so called professional providing you with online counseling could very well be a student out to make some money on the side.  Even reputed online counseling professionals, who are otherwise good, might indulge in underhand practices.
• Internet security of information transmitted over the internet.  Care must be taken to ensure that your personal information does not fall into untrustworthy hands.

Whatever you choose however, do remember that online counseling is one of the ways in which you could help yourself or a loved one deal with issues. Use it with care as you would any other medical or mental treatment. And there is no reason why you should not benefit from online counseling. 

My heart goes out to the Penn family, who lost their brother, Chris Penn.  Chris had used multiple drugs in his day, but apparently had conquered them many years before his death.  Still the implications are that, despite his drug addiction treatment and recovery efforts, Chris may have died due to drugs.  This is where I think about relapse as a very real concern for those that are in recovery or working a program in a drug addiction treatment program.  The idea of being clean and sober forever is often not a reality: hence the “one day at a time” slogans you hear or speak. 

My closest friends have relapsed.  My distant acquaintances have relapsed.  Some have died.  Some have returned to drug addiction treatment programs.  Some drug addiction treatment programs promote a new scheme or program claiming amazing successes (often with celebrity endorsements).  But, it’s the same nightmare for those who have an addiction.  When full blown addicts continue to do his/her drug of choice again (even after having been away from it for years) is to pick up where he/she left off.  They chase the high, they try to escape, and the consequences are right where they were when they stopped using.

The temptations to relapse are everywhere.  Relapses are in your old “stomping grounds,” dealers, old using friends, and bars.  Addicts are vulnerable to what some drug addiction treatment programs call the YET syndrome—YOU’RE ELIGIBLE TOO.  Robert Downey Jr. is the most spotlighted relapse—despite his genius, he was in and out of drug addiction treatment programs for years before recovery took hold for him.  River Phoenix died from relapse.  Chevy Chase, Drew Barrymore, Charlie Sheen, and Christian Slater will be able to describe relapse and recovery, too.  It has been said that one drug addiction treatment is just about as effective as any other, which is just about as effective as no drug addiction treatment.

I guess the saying holds very true: for most of us, one is too many, a thousand never enough.

Similar to the other SSRIs, Zoloft acts by boosting the amount of serotonin present in the synapses between nerve cells.  Because serotonin is a mood enhancing neurotransmitter, the main use for Zoloft is for depression.  Many SSRIs, including Zoloft, have been shown effective in treating forms of anxiety disorders as well.  Just like the other SSRIs, Zoloft does not add any serotonin or mood altering chemicals to your body, but rather helps your body to better use its own natural mood stabilizing machinery. 

Zoloft does have side affects which should be considered.  The most common side effects of Zoloft include insomnia, asthenia, tremors, confusion, reduced libido, sexual dysfunction, constipation, diarrhea, dizziness, dry mouth, sweating, and nausea.  Most users of Zoloft will experience one or more of these effects during the first months of use, but with time they often fade.  More rarely, users of Zoloft may experience weight lose, mania, or hypomania.

Depression and anxiety are the two most common forms of mental illnesses.  Unfortunately, like most mental illness, these disorders often have a certain amount of social stigma attached to them.  For this reason many people suffering from these conditions are unwilling to seek treatment, and often develop harmful self-medicating habits.  When considering whether or not to seek treatment for depression or anxiety, it is important to understand that these disorders are an issue of brain chemistry, and are very hard to overcome without help.  After consulting with a physician, you may or may not determine that and SSRI like Zoloft is right for you, but without any therapy or treatment these disorders generally get worse.

Today, there are a wide variety of treatments available for both depression and anxiety.  Zoloft and other SSRIs are one approach to treatment, but should not be considered ‘cures’ for depression or anxiety.  Rather, they should be used in conjunction with other forms of therapy and treatment to maximize the positive effects in combating the disorders.  Healthy diet, frequent exercise, counseling, support groups, talk therapy, expressive arts, meditation, and prayer are all effective measures in treating both depression and anxiety, and together with the use of an SSRI like Zoloft, the chances for recovery from these conditions is very good.

Note to Reader:  Everyone gets depressed at one time or another and everyone has anxiety at some point in their life.  The important question is:  Does it affect your balance of life enough that you cannot cope.  The best course of action is to discuss your symptoms with your doctor and decide from their if you want to pursue taking medication.

But great and moving films aside, some of us have a deeper connection to mental disorder, one that seeks, for example, a solution for schizophrenia or an ADD recovery plan or an autism treatment that works to re-socialize and satisfy the needs of the patient and his or her family.  It is the latter, autism treatment, that demands attention here today.

If you study the autism treatment pamphlets, you will learn that many attempts are made to find solutions for a condition that includes abnormal social skills/interactions/responses, repetitive characteristics such as rocking or rituals, unique speech codes, and lack of affect (no eye contact, no sense of danger, value, importance, no humor, etc.).

You will also find progressive methods and approaches for autism treatments, some of which are aligned with western medicine, others which include more homeopathic approaches.  One autism treatment program that deserves investigating is the Son-Rise Program.  The Son-Rise Program have a unique program that stems from their amazing story of beating all the odds against their autistic son.

To give you some idea of just how many autism treatments are out there, I have outlined a few.  They are only briefly addressed but are by no means intended as medical advice in total:

Antibiotic Treatment - Anti-fungal Treatment- based on the notion that colon problems and common bowel problems are prevalent in autistic individuals, and can cause everything from hallucinations to the autism itself–anti-fungal therapies involve sugar-reduction, yeast-free diets, medications, and anti-fungal supplements.

Behavior Modification- based on the belief that behavior that is rewarded is more likely to be repeated, behavior modification as an autism treatment attempts to treat “inappropriate, repetitive, and aggressive” behaviors.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment- based on theories that autism and other developmental disorders take origin in viral infections, auto-immune disorders, and encephalitis (and encephalitic lesions), hyperbaric oxygen treatment has been studied and used to balance and return oxygen to the compromised blood supply to the brain.

Medications- based on the knowledge that various symptoms (focus problems, anxiety, aggression) accompany autism, medications are used to treat not the disorder as a whole but symptoms that appear in the autistic individual.

Naltrexone Treatment (NTX)- based on the understanding of an excess of opioids in the brain, NTX is a drug that works against the opioids by blocking them.

Other therapies and autism treatments are still under way, being studied, or coming under the fire of controversy.  Secretin, administered transdermally; stimulants, anti-depressants, benzodiazapenes, and even dietary modifications, for example, are, as always, touted by one group who find success and rejected by another group that worries about the dangers of mistreatment.

So it may be as it was with Rainman, when his brother took him to a small-town doctor and the intake nurse said, “Artistic?  He’s artistic?”  Then again, it may be that the doctors and medical practitioners you seek support from will have the latest and most effective of autism treatments.  Bless you in your search.

I started to get anxiety attacks when I was driving over one particular bridge.  I felt closed in on this bridge and that there was no way out.  I still feel anxious when driving over this bridge, but I have learned techniques that help.  If I am lacking sleep, then dealing with anxiety is much harder.  I carry music CD’s with me that contain my favorite songs, and listening to them can take my mind off the reality of driving over the bridge.  Another thing that has helped my feelings of anxiety, is to carry water with me.  If I sip the water while driving over the bridge, I feel better.  I don’t know if this has anything to do with the water, or it’s the act of drinking the water that takes my mind off what I am doing.

When you avoid dealing with anxiety it can become a physical problem. You can get sick easily, and if you are fighting with a condition, you aren’t going to have the same results you would have with a clear and balanced mind. Emotions are more powerful than people realize, and they can severely affect your physical health. If you are having problems dealing with anxiety you should make sure you get some help dealing with everything you are feeling and fearing inside.

I recommend seeing your doctor for help with dealing with anxiety. I had to go to two doctors as the first one just told me to avoid what makes me anxious (driving over that bridge).  That wasn’t an option so I sought the advice from another doctor.  A doctor may offer short–term medications, or they may refer you to someone who can help you talk things through without having to take medications. Though dealing with anxiety is not very easy, it is better to deal with your anxious feelings rather than mask them with medication.  Life is so much better when you come out on the other side. It may seem dark and dreary while you are going through it, but sunnier skies are out there for you if you just work towards them.

Some children are just naturally hyper, but do not have ADHD. Some children are just naturally more active and defiant, but this does not mean they have this condition. Many teachers who are simply overwhelmed like to slap the ADHD label on children when in fact they just have classrooms that are too large, and not enough help with the children. The most important reason you should gather information on ADHD before visiting your doctor is so that you have knowledge when you take your child in. Not all doctors are correct, and if you aren’t happy with the diagnosis, having information on ADHD procedures and tests will help you decide if you need a second opinion.

Information on ADHD is everywhere, so you have to sift through the piles and piles of information. Look for the most reliable sources when searching, and remember that not all information on ADHD you find will be completely accurate or up to date. You may want to look in a bookstore or in a library for information, as well as reputable sites on the Internet. If you find a support group for parents of children with this condition, they may tell you the best and most reliable sources of information on ADHD.

A great resource that I found for information on adhd was our local pediatrician.  I went to the family doctor with serious concerns about our son’s behaviour and the learning challenges that he was having in school.  The pediatrician was a wealth of information as he had such a vast amount of experience with children with the same challenges.  The pediatrician could also seperate the symptoms of ADHD with those of children who suffered from attention deficit disorder (ADD) as opposed to full blown ADHD.

If you find out your child does indeed have ADHD, you might want to join a support group.  Again, your local pediatrician can put you in touch with any of these local or community resources.  You will need more information on ADHD to know how to proceed. There are prescription medicines your child can take, but many parents find that these drugs alter their child’s whole personality and mood and choose not to use them. The more information you get on ADHD, the more power you have to make the right decision on how to help you child deal with what they are going through.

The good news is there are a lot of different treatments for depression, but to someone struggle with the condition they can all seem somewhat daunting.  While antidepressants have been very effective for many people, they are not without plenty of side effects. 

There are natural cures for depression as well.  In fact most forms of treatment for depression are natural cures for depression.  It wasn’t until more recent years that ‘unnatural’ cures for depression were even developed.  One very natural cure for depression that works for many people is getting more frequent exercise. 

While it may seem hard to fathom how going for a run will make you feel happier, regular exercise has been shown to lead to reduced anxiety and depression in many different recent studies.  Both depression and anxiety result from imbalances in brain chemistry, but brain chemistry is directly linked to our lifestyle and health habits.  We’re not meant to lay around all day, or sit at a desk for hours on end.  Our bodies and brains are still in ‘hunter and gatherer’ mode, and just being inactive is often enough to mess up our brain chemistry. 

Also, the supplement SAM-e (‘sammy’) is often effective for many people.  It is available without prescription and serves as an additional natural cure for depression, as it is a chemical made naturally by your body.  While it is expensive, it has a high rate of improving symptoms of its users, and can be used safely in conjunction with antidepressants.

Another natural cure for depression - some use Saint John’s wort, a.k.a. Hypericum perforatum. St John’s wort is an herb that has been said to contain compounds—such as hypericin and hyperforin—which contribute to what the Greeks said would successfully “ward off evil spirits,” as it was known as the drug that would preside “over an apparition”…which is where it’s name came from.

Others use natural cures for depression that are said to simulate the SSRIs—the selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors.  When the serotonin levels in your brain are off (imbalanced), your mood is plummeted.  On an up and down picture representing normal to depressed moods, say, your mood would be down at the bottom.  A high or happy beyond normal person’s mood would be way up at the top.  You come from the bottom, the SSRI comes from the top, and the effect/result is a leveling off somewhere in the middle.  Some amount of sunlight exposure seems to be linked to serotonin production.

5 Hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) and tryptophan are said to do the same thing, but are natural cures for depression versus intense chemical cures (such as Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, for example).  So 5-HTP supplements the missing or diminished amounts of serotonin and tryptophan by being what depression.org calls the “intermediate step” between the two.

Other natural cures for depression include physical and some mental efforts.  Like power-walking, exercise, yoga, and some forms of meditation have been found to adjust the imbalances of serotonin and other mood stabilizing chemicals in the brain.  And it goes along with the logic that visualization techniques, which therapists can help you practice, can be tailored toward the positive, to counter the misery that is depression. 

Fortunately, there are all kinds of people and programs that can offer help with anger management for children problems. There are a lot of anger management children approaches and different treatments, so it is hard to speak about any one as the answer for all kids out there, but it is true that some are better than others. When you are looking for anger management children’s treatment, you would do well to use your common sense, like with anything else. If you come across a anger management children treatment that promises miracles, please read between the lines. There are no miracles here.  Parents are often hopeful for a quick and easy solution to all of their anger management children problems, but that is just not the reality. The reality is that solving a behavior problem such as anger management children takes a lot of time, a lot of patience, and above all, a lot of love.

My experience is that you, as the parents, know your child better than anyone.  Have patience and try to understand what is going on in your child’s life.  Give it time, there could be things that are upsetting your child’s daily routine that we as parents think are not significant.  These reasons could be significant enough to your child and they know of no other way of dealing with this upset except through anger.  This seems to be a trait that is found more in boys.  It happened to us when my son was in Grade 3 in a French Immersion Program in school.  We thought he was doing great, his reports from school were alright and he had good friends, but then all of a sudden he started acting out in anger.  It took us the better part of the school year to learn that he had a learning disability and really struggling in French.

Of course, if you do need to get some anger management children treatment, there are a lot of good places to start. Go by your schools counselor and see if he has any recommendations. A lot of the time, a school counselor can recommend a good psychiatrist or psychologist who will specialize in anger management children issues, which can be just what you need. Also ask for recommendation on books that you can read on anger management in children, to help you learn to understand what your child may be going through.  Look into other things that are going on -  does your kid have learning problems? Does the child have a good social life? These are the most important questions that you will have to ask yourself if you really want to make a big difference in your kids anger management troubles.

Alzheimers Disease affects the mind in such a way, that the person (at least in our situation) cannot function in normal situations. In our situation, Dad started living more and more in the past, and less and less in the present. One time, when Dad’s wife was sick and in the hospital, he couldn’t remember where she was. “Where is she?”, Dad would ask. She is at the hospital, we would reply. Five minutes later, we would repeat the same discussion. We would do this over and over.

In our case, as Alzheimers Disease progressed, Dad would stop recognizing us. One time, my husband went to visit and Dad hollered and yelled at the strange man who had come over. Dad even threw a punch when the strange man known as his son came into the home.

Alzheimers Disease is a disease that never seems to stop. As Dad’s condition worsened, he would start wandering off – not knowing where he was. We had to get a door alarm that would sound when the door was opened to keep him from leaving. However, even that didn’t work all the time. One time, in winter, Dad wandered off in his P.J.s. We had to call the police to help us find him.

Now Dad has moved to a secure facility that is designed to care for patients with Alzheimers Disease. He seems happy, but it is hard for us, to see his life so drained of what it was and what it could still be if he  didn’t have Alzheimers Disease.  I think Alzheimers Disease affects the whole family. If we visit, he doesn’t know who we are. He doesn’t even remember that we were there. He still remembers that he was married, but he doesn’t remember to whom he was married to.

What causes Alzheimers Disease? The doctors don’t know for sure. Doctor’s know that each patient reacts differently to the disease and the disease progresses differently for each person. What are your chances of acquiring Alzheimers Disease? Well, once you’ve hit the ripe old age of 85, your chances are about 50/50. There is still no treatment for the disease. For our family, we take comfort knowing that Dad is happy and not in pain, even if he doesn’t know us anymore.