Recovering Drug Addicts Research Articles

EFFECTS OF DHIKR SPIRITUAL MEDITATION PRACTICE ON THE RECOVERY OF DRUG ABUSER: A PHENOMENOLOGY STUDY

Meditation based intervention such as mindfulness-based therapy, mantra, yoga, Qi Gong and Zen are generally focused on the integration of Buddhism, Hindhuism and Western psychology. However, little is known about Islamic dhikr spiritual meditation. The present article intent to describe the implications of dhikr meditation to recovering drug addicts’ wellbeing and life based on their experiences. Phenomenological qualitative study design was used with face to face and semi structured interview. Six participants were recruited among recovering drug addicts who had been in the Islamic rehabilitation centre and still practising dhikr spiritual meditation. The entire interviews were recorded and transcribed into verbatim. Then, the transcripts were thematic analytically. Four broad domains which spiritual changes, shift of thought, emotional and behavioural transformation were revealed after consistent and prolonged period of continuos dhikr spiritual meditation. Findings revealed that consistent practice of dhikr meditation has give an apparent impact on recovering drug addicts’ cognitive, emotion and behaviour. In conclusion, the individuals’ belief, values, culture, and spiritual paradigm should be addressed by healthcare professional and counselor to develop holistic strategy for drug addiction therapy.

Postmodern Depthlessness and the Psyche

Abstract This article will consider how Carrie Fisher's presentation of the postmodern psyche draws attention to the popular assimilation of Freudian theory during the twentieth century and foregrounds the cultural currency of psychoanalysis and therapy in the Hollywood community. Postcards From the Edge follows the progress of recovering drug addict, Suzanne Vale, whose experience is often characterised by emotional, psychological, linguistic and reality displacement. I begin my discussion by examining the numerous acts of displacement exhibited in the text before considering how the postmodern displacement of reality is linked to Fisher's presentation of the contemporary psyche. The acts of displacement in the novel involve a generalised sense of substitution, replacement or removal as well as offering a more specific engagement with the Freudian concept of displacement as the projection of an anxiety or desire from an original object onto the image of another.

Inquiry into faith-based social reintegration programs for recovering drug addicts in Nigeria

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to subject faith-based organizations (FBOs)-operated social reintegration programs for recovering drug addicts to scrutiny to understand their effectiveness in addressing the three-pillar social needs.Design/methodology/approachUsing concurrent mixed methods research design, a sample size of 156 respondents, 15 in-depth interviewees and 12 key informants was selected purposely from three FBOs and three National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) State Command Areas in Nigeria. Data were collected using questionnaire survey, interviews, observation and document review, and then analyzed using descriptive and content analyses.FindingsFindings showed nine different noncore social reintegration programs for recovering drug-addicts with different required rates of participation and diverse purposes. Also, the results showed that the three-pillar social needs of recovering drug addicts for successful reintegration into the society were not provided for by the FBOs. Finally, findings showed that majority of the respondents were only slightly satisfied with the overall services rendered at the selected FBOs, and these services were not properly monitored by relevant government agency.Social implicationsAppropriate regulations that will check and balance the activities of treatment providers involved in social reintegration is recommended to achieve optimal level of physical, psychological and social health for recovering drug addicts.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge ,this is a pioneer study that investigated faith-based social reintegration programs for recovering drug addicts in Nigeria.

Effects of exergames on motor coordination and balance in convalescent drug addicts: a feasibility study

Background and objectives: Drugs are public health problem in terms of mental and physical impairments. As respect to the physical commitments, addicted people present severe motor coordination and balance disturbances. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of exergames on the rehabilitation of motor coordination and balance in recovering drug addicts. Participants and methods: This is a prospective non-randomized, self-controlled study. Nine male addicts aged 25.78 ± 6.76 years were recruited from the Rescuing Lives Center for Recovery from Alcohol and Drugs, Altamira, Brazil. The intervention consisted of sixteen 45-minute sessions involving the use of virtual reality games (Xbox 360 Kinect console). Evaluations were performed before and after the intervention. The static and dynamic balance was accessed by the Berg Balance Scale, Timed Up and Go test and 6-minute walk test. The motor coordination was assessed by the Senior Motor Scale. Gait was also analyzed using an inertial sensor (G-Walk). This study was conducted at the Rescuing Lives Center for Recovery from Alcohol and Drugs, Altamira, Brazil and received approval from the Human Research Ethics Committee of the Universidade do Estado do Para - XII Campus (certificate number: 2.129.360) on April 7, 2017. Written informed consent was obtained from each participant. Results: Significant improvements were found in the Berg Balance Scale, Senior Motor Scale and Timed Up and Go test (sitting and standing) after intervention (P 0.05). Conclusion: Virtual reality is a promising technology for improving motor coordination and balance in recovering drug addicts.

Prolonged abstinence from cocaine or morphine disrupts separable valuations during decision conflict

Neuroeconomic theories propose changes in decision making drive relapse in recovering drug addicts, resulting in continued drug use despite stated wishes not to. Such conflict is thought to arise from multiple valuation systems dependent on separable neural components, yet many neurobiology of addiction studies employ only simple tests of value. Here, we tested in mice how prolonged abstinence from different drugs affects behavior in a neuroeconomic foraging task that reveals multiple tests of value. Abstinence from repeated cocaine and morphine disrupts separable decision-making processes. Cocaine alters deliberation-like behavior prior to choosing a preferred though economically unfavorable offer, while morphine disrupts re-evaluations after rapid initial decisions. These findings suggest that different drugs have long-lasting effects precipitating distinct decision-making vulnerabilities. Our approach can guide future refinement of decision-making behavioral paradigms and highlights how grossly similar behavioral maladaptations may mask multiple underlying, parallel, and dissociable processes that treatments for addiction could potentially target.

A Study on Experience of Occupational Activity of the Recovering Drug Addict

A Study on Experience of Occupational Activity of the Recovering Drug Addict

Working for Recovery: How the Americans With Disabilities Act and State Human Rights Laws Can Facilitate Successful Rehabilitation for Alcoholics and Drug Addicts

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and West Virginia Human Rights Act (WVHRA) protect addicts’ rights by providing that no covered employers may discriminate against addicted workers or job applicants because of their addiction. These laws recognize that recovering drug addicts, and society at large, are harmed by exclusion, discrimination, and unaccommodating workplace conditions. By better utilizing these laws to ensure access to gainful employment for recovering addicts, the labor and employment bar can make an important contribution to resolving the vexing opioid epidemic.

Identity as a Moderator and Mediator of Communication Effects: Evidence and Implications for Message Design

ABSTRACTAdvertisements, movies, and other forms of media content have potential to change behaviors and antecedent psychological states by appealing to identity. However, the mechanisms that are responsible for persuasive effects of such content have not been adequately specified. A recently proposed model of communication effects (the prism model) advances the study of mechanisms and argues that identity can serve as both a moderator and mediator of communication effects on behavior-relevant outcomes. These intervening roles are made possible by the complex nature of identity (including multiple self-concepts and sensitivity to cues) and messages that cue the importance of and activate particular self-concepts. This article builds on development of the model by presenting empirical support based on re-analysis of an experiment in which participants viewed either a more-stigmatizing or less-stigmatizing portrayal of a recovering drug addict. In line with the model's propositions, exposure to the less-stigmatizing condition led to increases in perspective taking which then led to more acceptance (mediation by identity), while level of perspective taking also changed the effect of condition on acceptance (moderation by identity). These results provide support for the model's proposition of simultaneous intervening roles. The authors discuss implications for strategic communication research and practice.

Oral health in drug addict adolescents and non psychoactive substance users.

The purpose of this study was to compare oral health between adolescents who are recovering drug addicts and adolescents who report not having used psychoactive substances. A retrospective observational Case-Control study was conducted on 60 subjects per group, aged 15 to 25 years, paired according to sex, age and educational vulnerability. Dental and sialochemical examinations were used to determine oral health/disease/care indicators. Psychoactive substance use habits were obtained from clinical records. DMFT index for Case adolescents was 8.58}4.34, doubling the mean value for the Control group, which was 4.33}4.30. CPI was compatible with gingival-periodontal health in 45% of the Control subjects, but only 20% in the Case group. CPI categories 2 and 3 had different distributions according to the study group, with CPI2=33%, CPI3=0% for the case group and CPI2=57%; CPI3=5% for the control group. Mean values for stimulated saliva for Case and Control groups, respectively, were: salivary flow (ml/min) 1.42}1.08; 0.98}0.41, salivary pH 6.96}0.33 6.86}0.27, and buffer capacity expressed as final pH, 6.73}0.29, 6.61}0.28. Wilcoxon's test for independent samples showed significant differences (p<0.05) between Case and Control for the variables White Spot, Non-Cavitated Carious Lesions, Cavitated Carious Lesions, DMFT, Components D and M, Salivary Flow and Buffer Capacity. There was significant association between the D component in DMFT and use of psychoactive substances, both in single drug and polydrug users. Oral component status was worse in recovering drug addicts than in non-users of psychoactive substances.

“On the Porousness of Certain Borders”: Attending to Objects in David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest

Roughly halfway through David Foster Wallace’s mammoth and labyrinthine 1996 novel Infinite Jest, the character Don Gately—a recov ering drug addict and live-in employee of a halfway house in Boston, Massachusetts—encounters a biker named Bob Death at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. In an exchange between the two, Bob tells Gately a joke whose punchline becomes crucial in ferreting out the novel’s thematic crux and indeed the ethical perspective of its author. Having asked Gately whether he has “by any chance … heard the one about the fish” (445), Bob Death recites a joke that was later reused by the novel’s author in a commencement speech delivered at Kenyon College in 2005 (collected post

Faith, Hope, and Love

This article is a theological reflection upon recovering drug addicts’ conversion testimonies. The three theological virtues faith, hope, and love serve as a basis for a theological analysis of testimonies of spiritual transformation. Emil Brunner’s idea of temporal experience characterized by the triad of the past, present, and future is discussed in the light of these three theological virtues. An interconnectedness of three dimensions of time and its influence on a convert’s personal identity is explored showing how faith, hope, and love serve as the time-markers demonstrating the importance of past, present, and future in the participants’ accounts. It is argued that Brunner’s ideas are applicable to the practical-theological analysis of conversion testimonies of recovering substance users. His three temporal modalities help understanding of recovering users’ spiritual transformation.

Evaluation of Recovering Drug Addicts' Oral Lesions on Admission to Fazenda Da Esperança (Manaus-Am)

Evaluation of Recovering Drug Addicts' Oral Lesions on Admission to Fazenda Da Esperança (Manaus-Am)

Addiction and Spiritual Transformation. An Empirical Study on Narratives of Recovering Addicts’ Conversion Testimonies in Dutch and Serbian Contexts

The article examines how recovering drug addicts employ testimonies of conversion and addiction to develop and sustain personal identity and create meaning from varied experiences in life. Drawing on 31 autobiographies of recovering drug addicts we analyze conversion and addiction testimonies in two European contexts (Serbia and the Netherlands, including a sample of immigrants). The analysis shows how existing frames of reference and self-understanding are undermined and/or developed. We first describe the substance abuse in participants’ addiction trajectory. Next, we outline the religious aspects and the primary conception of recovering addicts’ conversions as an example of spiritual transformation and narrative change. Moreover, participants select and creatively adapt cultural practices in their testimonies. In many of these examples (mostly in the migrant sample) converts clearly employ elements from their personal and family histories, their ethnic and religious heritages, and their larger cultural and historical context to create a meaningful conversion narrative.

Reducing Stigma and Out-Group Distinctions Through Perspective-Taking in Narratives

We examine how viewers' narrative involvement is impacted by a character's membership in a highly stigmatized group. In particular, we explore how perspective-taking with a character, a dimension of the identification construct (J. Cohen, 2001), influences in-group/out-group perception. Participants viewed 1 of 2 edited versions of the film Sherrybaby, where the main character was manipulated to be relatively more stigmatized (recovering drug addict) or less stigmatized (single mother). As predicted, participants differed with respect to perspective-taking—the highly stigmatized character corresponded to less perspective-taking. Furthermore, the mediation and moderation results lend support to the argument that perspective-taking increases perceptions of in-group belonging and is of particular importance in determining whether a narrative influences in-group/out-group perspectives.

Dental profile of a community of recovering drug addicts: Biomedical aspects. Retrospective cohort study

Objectives: to obtain a biomedical oral profile of a community of adult drug addicts in treatment by analysing their dental health, with a view to determining whether the state of their oral health could be attributed primarily to their lifestyle and the direct consequences of drug abuse on their overall condition, rather than to the effects of the drugs used. Experimental Design: the study was conducted under the terms of an agreement between the Complutense University of Madrid’s (UCM) Odontology Faculty and the City of Madrid’s Substance Abuse Institute. Seventy drug addicts and 34 control group subjects were examined. The study assessed oral hygiene habits, systemic pathology, type of drugs used and the duration of use, oral pathology, oral health indices, risk of caries based on saliva tests, oral candidiasis and periodontal microbiology. Results: statistically significant differences (p<0.05) were found between the test and control groups for practically all the variables analysed. In the drug users group, dental hygiene was wanting, systemic and oral pathology prevailed and the decayed/missing/filled teeth or surface (DMFT/S) indices denoted very poor buccodental health. The saliva tests showed a substantial risk of caries and candidiasis rates were high. By contrast, with a single exception, the microbiological studies detected no statistically significant difference between drug users and control groups periodontal flora. Conclusions: drug-dependent patients had poor oral health and a significant increase in oral pathology, essentially caries and periodontal disease. Their risk of caries was high and the presence of candidiasis was representative of their poor general and oral health. Drug users’ poor buccodental condition was more closely related to lifestyle than to drug abuse itself. Key words:Buccal, dental, drug addicts.

Dialogues for Sobriety: Health Learning in the Context of Addictions – A Hungarian Model

A Hungarian school of social work, a rehabilitation centre for recovering drug addicts* and several secondary schools cooperated to build an inspiring context for health education by working out fresh and innovative methods in the prevention of addictions. These methods were evaluated by using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. Outcomes reflect participants' emotional involvement and release of creative energies in the dialogic process. *This is how Narcotic Anonymous members normally identify themselves and the authors have adopted their wording.

Relapse of Intravenous Drug Use Triggered by Enfuvirtide, a Parenteral Antiretroviral Medication

Fuzeon® (enfuvirtide; Hoffmann-LaRoche, Nutley, NJ) is a parenteral medication prescribed to antiretroviral-experienced HIV patients. Clinicians are frequently concerned when prescribing enfuvirtide to former drug addicts because of the risk of triggering relapse, however, no previous report has described this adverse event. We describe two HIV-infected patients, previously abstinent from injection drug use, who experienced relapse or near-relapse situations after starting treatment with enfuvirtide. Along with the concerns related to adherence and to injection site reactions, clinicians who prescribe enfuvirtide should consider and discuss the risk of triggering relapse among former or recovering drug addicts.

“Analysis Paralysis”: The Suspicion of Suspicion in the Fiction of David Foster Wallace

“Analysis Paralysis”: The Suspicion of Suspicion in the Fiction of David Foster Wallace

Tattoo Removal: Three Snapshots

These snapshot essays are based on fieldwork conducted at an East L.A. tattoo removal clinic serving a population of former prisoners, ex‐gang members, and recovering drug addicts. The snapshots explore gendered lifeways surrounding these categories and are based on ethnographic accounts of women who seek bodily and social transformation.

Who Said 75 Is Old?

In May 2009, Jan Buttram and Bara Swain began team teaching a weekly writing workshop at Women-in-Need, a women's center for substance abuse and wellness. The hour-long workshop begins on a simple premise: everyone has a voice. For 1 hour, the participants are relieved of their roles as mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, girlfriends, or recovering drug addicts. For one hour, our common bond is to have our voices heard. The workshop, Communicate Sober, is attended by women ages 18 to 50. Some are homeless and living in the New York City shelter system. Others are survivors of physical and sexual abuse. Many are single women who have lost temporary custody of their children. All are in the recovery process. The structure for the workshop includes journal writing, improvisation, and weekly writing exercises. The prompts for the timed writing exercises include found objects, literary quotes, song titles, animal masks, photos, and household items. The results are read at the end of class. At each subsequent workshop, we design and distribute an illustrated chapbook of the women's work. The prompt for these stories and plays was to write about aging senior citizens or from the point of view of an elderly person. Timing the exercise allowed the writer to tap her unconscious and pay close attention to what she felt through the process of association- random sensations, ideas, and memories. This group of extraordinary women have voices that should not be silenced. Thank you for giving Erin, Hanan, Lindsay, Milady, and Victoria the opportunity to be heard. WHO SAID 75 IS OLD?: WRITTEN BY VICTORIA AQUINO GRANDMA PAT: 75 GRANDSON GEORGE: 25 GEORGE: Hey, Grandma, what you doing? GRANDMA: Well, I'm getting ready to go on a date. GEORGE: A date! Woman, are you crazy? You should be home knitting or something. GRANDMA: Georgy honey, pass me my cane. (Grandma gives George a clunk with her cane.) GEORGE: Oww! What was that for? GRANDMA: Boy, when you get to my age, it's like being young all over again. You could never be too old to date, shoo! I got a good 50 years of experience under my belt. Just ask your grandpa, may he rest in peace! That old coot couldn't get enough of me. GEORGE: Well, just be home at a reasonable time. (Grandma gives George another clunk with her cane.) GRANDMA: You better get out of my house so I can get ready! GEORGE: Well, I guess Grandma got her groove back. GRANDMA: Honey! I never lost it! Now give me some sugar! I AM SO GLAD TO SEE YOU: WRITTEN BY JAN BUTTRAM I am so glad to see you. I dropped my cane, and I can't bend my knee, so I can't reach it. I've been holding onto furniture all day. I tried hooking it with the mop . . . didn't work. I tried getting a rope around it . . . didn't work. I tried getting my toes under it. Didn't work. I won't call the police because they've got bigger problems than my cane and I knew you were coming back- but I got scared you wouldn't come. So I called you . . . you didn't answer. I said, Gladys, you are in a pickle. Where were you that you didn't answer the phone? Come here. Look, there it is-wedged between the bathroom door and the hallway. I kept moving it but not in the right direction. You are the best kid to come and help me. I'm leaving you all my things when I die. I'll write it all down so you can tell my kids, she gave everything to me because I stopped by to see her and helped her find my blankety-blank cane. THIS IS BECAUSE OF YOU, MR. BROWN: WRITTEN BY MILADY RIVERA This is because of you, Mr. Brown. Because of your inspiration, I am who I am today. You are age 86 with so much energy and love, and I wanted to be just like you. As I grew up talking, watching you, I got to admire the person you are, and I wanted to be just like you when I'm your age. Hopefully, still alive! You are vibrant and forthcoming for a man in a wheelchair. …