If you’re one of the 18 percent of Americans that suffer from an anxiety disorder, you are at greater risk of acquiring an addiction, or substance abuse disorder. People with anxiety are two to three times more likely to become dependent on drugs. 20 percent of the people with an anxiety disorder also develop an addiction. The impending, and often irrational, fears that an anxiety disorder induces make it more likely for an individual to try using drugs or alcohol in the first place. People with social anxiety may drink or use drugs to feel at ease, to fit in, or to be able to engage in social conversation with people they don’t know. Even if the high from a substance makes a person’s anxiety more acute or intense, an individual may continue to experiment with drugs for the veil that they wrap around reality. Then, becoming addicted to the substance that is experimented with is more plausible with anxiety because drugs often generate a euphoric feeling that relieves or masks the person’s anxiety and depression. However, it is never a sound strategy to combat mental instability with drugs because the dopamine releasing effects of intoxicating substances makes the anxiety-ridden person feel more anxious and depressed after they have stopped using the drug, which is one of the tell-tale details of the vicious cycle of addiction. If you or anyone you know is addicted to drugs or alcohol, please call…

Stories are one of the most powerful sources of inspiration we have to draw upon. When protagonists face and subsequently overcome seemingly impossible challenges, it can provide a guiding light as we attempt to overcome our own struggles. For those that struggle with addiction, it can especially difficult to envisage an end of dependency. Thankfully, these fictional characters who struggled with addiction can help demonstrate how a person can overcome their personal challenges in order to walk the road to recovery. Charlie Pace, LOST Each of the characters on ABC’s 2007 series LOST had their own personal demons with which to contend. While many of the characters struggled with personal relationships, Charlie Pace had to overcome his addiction to heroin. A member of the one-hit-wonder band Driveshaft, Charlie followed his older brother Liam into an addiction to heroin. A few years later, his brother had enrolled in an addiction recovery program and gotten clean, but Charlie was still addicted — in fact, he was in the bathroom using drugs when Oceanic 815 went down. After surviving the plane crash, Charlie would regularly sneak off to use heroin, until he was caught by Locke, another survivor, in the first season episode “The Moth.” Locke took Charlie’s stash, but told him that he would give back the drugs if Charlie asked three times, since it ultimately had to be Charlie’s decision to stay clean. At the end of the episode, Charlie asks…

There is long uttered, grotesque stereotype that characterizes the Native American people as alcoholics and drug addicts. Where does this caricature come from? Stereotypes, however egregiously incorrect or misled, derive from somewhere. It is our duty as Americans to examine why the indigenous people of our country are illustrated like this? If it’s true, then why? And what can our society do to enable Native Americans to overcome addictions? If you or anyone you love is addicted to drugs or alcohol, please call us at United Drug Rehab Group so we can connect you with the perfect addiction treatment center for your needs, goals, objectives, and situation. A study in 2014 found shocking results that showed that 27 percent of Native American eighth graders have tried alcoholic beverages, 34 percent have tried smoking marijuana, and a staggering 4.5 percent of eighth graders have snorted cocaine. A general survey of the United States found that American youth’s numbers are at 13.8, 7.2, and 0.7 percent respectively. These disparities are partly due to the economic inequities between each demographic. One study shows that Native Americans are twice as likely to live in poverty. Other studies show that you are more likely to use drugs and alcohol if you hovering around the poverty line. Around 20 percent of people on welfare admitted to using an illicit drug a year prior to being surveyed. Oppressive history has not only debilitated and eradicated the Native…