Brian: Stay with us.

Commercial Break

Jill: Welcome back to the Breakthrough Addiction Recovery Hour, I don’t think anyone but Judy Garland could have sung that song. I think she knew what it was like to wake up hating herself in the morning. I chose that because you know what if you are hating yourself in the morning, then today is the day to try to figure out what is going on and if it has to do with alcohol then hopefully we can clarify you know that you have the alcohol dependency that we have been talking about. So, also, it looks like we have a phone call

Brian: Gerald from Atlanta,

Jill: Hey Gerald

Gerald: I heard your program for the first time and I have used alcohol and to me drugs for a while now I just want to know if I do have a problem. One of my family members suggested that I slow down or stop certain days and you know just being sober those days and I just wanted to know if I do have a problem.

Brian: Well Gerald that is a great question and I really appreciate your openness about this and I can just give you a real quick little screening if you will answer a couple of questions or two um just be honest and maybe this will help you answer your own questions

Gerald: Sounds good

Brian: Have you ever tried to cut back on your drinking but found it difficult?

Gerald: That is one thing that I have had, or my significant other has well she wants me to try to cut back and limit it.

Brian: Have you been successful?

Gerald: Well on the days that I do are everything goes according to planned it’s just the days when I do get off I do have a drink or a I do addiction substances when I get home.

Brian: Have you or do you ever get annoyed when people get on you about your drinking levels.

Gerald: Yeah, at first maybe I was annoyed but being honest with myself I know I shouldn’t do it daily

Brian: That’s right. Do you ever feel guilty after you use?

Gerald: Uh, I don’t and that’s one of the things in the crossroads that I have been at. I do have my significant other that I don’t have , I do go to work and at the end of the day , it is almost like I feel entitled.

Brian: So you feel like you have earned the drink?

Gerald: Yeah

Brian: Well that sounds logical. Finally do you ever use alcohol to wake up in the morning or the eye opener drink.

Gerald: No sir

Brian: Well you know it sounds like there are a couple of areas here if you have tried to cut back and a couple things going on here that could be an issue the best we could recommend we could offer you a free consultation um that we can certainly guide you to and if you have pen and paper write the telephone number down and give us a call and we will set you up. 770-734-8091. We can explore and give some explanations.

Gerald: Sounds good to me.

Brian: Ok?

Jill: Gerald while you are writing I want to thank you for calling and allowing us to go through this screening, there are so many people out there that want to call in just you know can’t bring themselves to do it and you did.

Gerald: I have been in that position before, I didn’t care about anything but using but now that I am older it has all changed. I know that when I do have free time I am going to use.

Jill: The other thing you said about being entitled, some of those things can be understood through therapy and know where that is coming from and how that that can lead you back into a situation where you could be drinking a lot more, in the morning, our emotions sometimes can really lead us down that primrose path and we feel entitled until it has us and we are under it’s control. So, anyway I hope that this has helped you and call us for that consultation and we can do a lot more and if you come in and sit down and just talk through this you will have so much enlightenment through just getting this out and talking through it. It is amazing how this can work for you.

Brian: Thanks for calling Gerald

Jill: Well that was called the CAGE screening

Brian: One of the many screening tools used to identify whether or not individuals have difficulty. We said that we would give a quick definition of levels of people who drink and having some difficulty and how it moves. First of all there are those that can use it(alcohol) they drink on a regular basis but not experiencing difficulty or problems, second, is addiction, some people realize they could be an addictionr by experiencing family problems, vocational or legal problems, if true you are moving into the addiction area.

Jill: That’s where he sounded like he was and getting close to dependency

Brian: That dependence is when you need more and more to get the same effect and then when you stop you get into those withdrawals and then finally is you keep on using despite the consequences. So if any of these definitions fit you um, maybe this program is for you um, maybe you need to take a look at the drinking pattern because that can become proglematic not only from a legal side but now the dependence you have physiological problems. Hepititis and liver problems.

Jill: If you are just tuning in we are doing this because we are on the threshold of the summer and this is the time of year many people push the limit in terms of passing through the addiction into dependency. Just because of heavier use during the summer months and the excuses pile up for not stopping because I have the next drinking event and I have to participate. So, that is why the show today is about stopping and thinking about where you are on this scale. Reason with yourself, is alcohol a problem for me today? At Breakthrough Addiction Recovery we try to help you understand if it is a problem and what to do if it is. It is 770-734-8091 our number and we are available 24/7 by phone to talk about a consultation. Now you had another screening Brian didn’t you?

Brian: In fact this is fairly new. There are a few types and this is a quick screen in contrast to others that are longer but

Jill: Let’s do the first one before the break

Brian: This is the Rapid Alcohol Problem Screen, the first question we ask is, during the last year have you had a feeling of guilt or remorse after drinking. The reason why we ask that I believe is because it helps the person to realize is this a problem that is causing me to feel bad about the consequences that I am experiencing because if there is no real feeling of negative consequence then the real desire for seeking change really isn’t there. So, we have to really take a look at helping the person to say are the negative consequences that I am experiencing bad enough that I might really need to seek help to change the situation

Jill: That is feeling remorseful, in the last year? Interesting

Brian: That remorse you know do you feel bad about what you are doing? If not you may have a problem

Jill: 770-226-0920 get in on this conversation and we will be right back.

Commercial Break

Jill: Welcome back to the Breakthrough Recovery Hour, my name is Jill Mattingly

Brian: I am Brian Fujii

Jill: We are talking about alcohol dependency, what is your excuse for this summer 770-226-0920 we would love to have you call in and the last caller we had wanted us to do an on air screening to see if he had use and addiction problems, maybe you heard that and it clicked with you that this might be something that you are struggling with more than you would like to admit to yourself or your family members. The tendency to dismiss a problem is very strong when it comes to alcohol and is a baffling brain disease, it is very hard to pin down when it is actually stealing life from you.

Brian: Many people out there do not understand that alcoholism is a brain disease. It has a biological base and has signs and symptoms and certainly has the progression that if left untreated it will get worse. So when you talk about this first screening used to call the CAGE, now we are looking at another one that is The Rapid Alcohol Problem Screen. First, in the last year have you had guilt or remorse. Secondly, during the last year has a friend or family member ever told you about things you said or did while you were drinking that you could not remember. We call that the distinction between passing out and blacking out. A person can black out, be conscious and not remember the things that went on and so that component is like an amnesia related to what and this really raises a lot of feelings of embarrassment and low self esteem because here they were engaged and people thought they were listening and they could not remember. So the embarrassment is a real trigger and they

Jill: They don’t want to ask people, “What did I do last night?” That would tip others off to the fact that they really were in a state of intoxication and they thought they were covering up very well.

Brian: Then the third one is, during the last year have you failed to do what was expected because of the alcohol. Now we get into the performance end of this, it could be most basic. Did you pick up the children after school when you promised to? Or, did you go by and pick up the medications for your wife and forgot, or you could even get into the other areas of employment. Did you write your report or did you tell your wife to call in sick for you. So, performance is a big area and in many companies they are not going to be your counselor they are going to be interested in job performance and if alcohol or whatever is causing a job performance issue they will definitely be recommending a program or seek some kind of counseling.

Jill: A high percentage of our clients do come in stating that their employers know they are here and they have encouraged it greatly.

Brian: I am so glad you said it that way too Jill because so many times people who are suffering from alcoholism feel as if employers or supervisors really don’t understand and don’t care and that is not really the case.

There may be instances when that is true but in our day when people really understand that alcoholism is a major social concern, now whether or not they understand that it is a disease or bad habit, they know it is a problem.

Jill: You talked about remorse, amnesia and performance. I would like to apply it to a fictional person and maybe this might strike a chord with you. Let’s just say you are a dad and your daughter graduated last weekend from college and you went on the road and found you know, staying in the hotel with lots of celebration going on with the family and you started drinking like you usually do, or maybe starting earlier because of the celebrating that was going on, think about what happened with the drinking scenario the day of the graduation. One way you could do that is look at the pictures, were you intoxicated at the time of those pictures, how many drinks had you had. Were you proud of how you looked and

Brian: Were your family members proud? Were your

Jill: Look at your son or daughter, were they the evidence you were not yourself. Do you remember having the picture taken, the presents and dinner. Those are the things that we are talking about. Is this effecting your life? Are you missing out on your life because of alcohol?

Brian: That is what we need them to know, what they are missing out on is the life experiences as a result of black outs and the abusing,

Jill: Looks like we are coming to another segment end. When we come back we will talk about Breakthrough Addiction Recovery’s program and how we can afford wrap around care for those struggling with alcohol dependency. We will be right back, stay with us.

Commercial Break

Brian: Much of what we show here is that this is what Breakthrough Addiction Recovery does as a basis to help treat individuals with addiction. I notice first it mentions that you should start with a full psychiatric evaluation and that is what we do at Breakthrough. People ask why we need to do that why a psychiatrist? Well it is interesting to note that in this article that 50% or you know I think at Breakthrough the people that come through our doors it is higher than that closer to 95% the way they come through our doors have both an addiction issue as well as a mental illness such as anxiety major depressive disorder, bi-polar, post traumatic stress, these are the things we see happen most often. We need to stop asking which came first the chicken or the egg. Many people come into our program and they are using drugs and alcohol to medicate the uncomfortable psychiatric feelings.

Jill: I think most addiction treatment facilities if they are not large hospitals you have to be shifted back and forth from here is an addiction professional treating you and then you go to another to see a psychiatric professional or mental health professional. So, it is very important like the article is saying is find a place that has all of the integrated addiction treatment and you don’t have to be shifted back and forth and we can always look at all of the different things that are going on medically psychiatrically and psychologically and down into your support system what is missing and what needs to happen for you to be well. So uh that is the first one and that puts Breakthrough right there at the top of the list

Brian: Especially as you said we are a one stop shop because we have all of those services that they first mentioned. We can do the psychiatric and the psychological and they also said in the article to look for a therapist that has basically the types of programs that we use at Breakthrough is evidence based in that it has had a lot of research that has been done, empirical research, which means it is proven and shown. The kind of work that we use is the Matrix model and that is an evidenced based program that really demonstrates how medication combined with psychosocial support and teaching people new coping skills really makes addiction treatment effective. We see this all of the time

Jill: And I see listed here, cognitive behavioral therapy and that is just understanding and changing thinking patterns that lead to use, addiction and dependency. That is amazing when the second thing they mentioned is what all of our programs, our springboard is cognitive based therapy. Helping people to think properly about their lives and their use of addictive substances.

Brian: Cognitive restructure and we help you change the way you think and you can change the way you feel. This very direct process in helping and very much a social skill we are teaching them, a coping skill and that is what we are trying to do, not just a theoretical model, these are skills that they can actually apply immediately after they have been informed of how to do that skill, for example, how to reduce cravings, that is a big one in the beginning of addiction treatment. As we take a look at the third piece

Jill: I love the third one, that is usually why people don’t want to go cause they feel like they will be thrown in with all different types of people and problems and they are not going to feel safe, they are not going to want to talk about their issues and this third one says, do make sure you feel safe and understood by the therapist or the addiction treatment approach. I know for a fact that at Breakthrough Addiction Recovery that is one of the things I hear all of the time is that they are coming out of the psycho-education or the therapy and saying I feel so comfortable here, I feel like I can talk about anything that is going on with me and I am safe. So I don’t know if you’ve seen that,,

Brian: No, I hear that a lot and many times people that have gone through other programs don’t feel that safety and then the comfort level is very low.

Jill: We are at the end of our segment, let’s go to a break and we will get back to the list of things on MSN when we come back.

Commercial Break

Jill: Your agony can end and you can make a choice of what you need to do about your problems with alcohol or drug dependency. There are no excuses that are worth it, there are no excuses there is not a future date, the time is now whenever you are faced with reality with truth you should act. So that is why we did this show today is to keep you from hiding, keep you from being um, on that river in Egypt, DENILE. To bring you back and say, “Ok I do fit the criteria and it could be a problem in my life and it is time for me at least to sit with professionals and to say, tell me what there is out there, what can be done.” That doesn’t necessarily mean you are locked away for 30 days and it doesn’t necessarily mean drug or alcohol detoxification it could just mean getting your thinking corrected and understanding the underlying reasons why you are continuing in this habit or dependency.

Brian: It is really a road of discovery you know it is not a road to being locked up, like you said. This is a way that we can help you explore your issues your concerns and also your desire to get better. We do know that we offer such things as anti-craving medications that can really help you and I know so many times people want to quit but don’t know how and the point is that many times the cravings are so strong it is so difficult. At Breakthrough Addiction Recovery we use FDA approved medications such as Naltrexone and Suboxone that can really help people to get through the cravings in order for them to really work on the real issues of how they can change your thoughts and feelings to begin changing the way they behave. The bottom line, they want to change behavior.

Jill: It is so easy and safe and painless to sit on the couch with someone and talk about where you are, just like Gerald did a little while ago and look at it in a very friendly and laid back atmosphere. That is what we do at Breakthrough every single day is we see people uh, all of a sudden the light comes on and they start to be in an understanding that they have a brain disease and this is maybe a co-occurring problem such as anxiety and depression and I really can walk through this and the summer of 2008 really can be different for me and not just a series of things that I am you know, from one to another to another and then thinking maybe somewhere in the distance I will have time to deal with this, and like we said, if this has hit you in a way that has brought you out into the open and you see the truth it is time to call and our office number is 770-734-8091and someone will answer that phone 24/7 and if you get a voicemail someone will call you right back because they may be helping someone else.

Brian: Have a great day and thanks for listening.