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Helping Loved Ones Confront Addiction through Effective Intervention

Intervention is usually helpful in addressing various forms of addiction, such as alcohol use disorder, compulsive eating, gambling, and the misuse of prescription or street drugs. The challenge in helping someone through addiction often lies in the individual's inability to recognize the severity of their situation. In many cases, a concerted formal intervention helps to resolve the situation.

Individuals struggling with addiction may resist acknowledging their problem or seeking treatment. However, they often experience the negative consequences of their behavior, which can affect not only themselves but also those around them. An intervention provides the loved one with an opportunity to figure things out before they get worse.

A successful intervention requires careful planning and is typically a collaborative effort involving family, friends, and a healthcare professional, such as a licensed alcohol and drug counselor. An interventionist or intervention professional may coordinate intervention efforts, which may include the support of people from the faith community or others who care about someone's struggle with addiction.

During the intervention, participants come together to speak with the individual about their addiction. They discuss the specific behaviors associated with the addiction and how these behaviors are harming the individual and those around them. They'll also offer a treatment plan with clear steps, goals, and guidelines.

The intervention process should begin with the development of a clear plan created in collaboration with an addiction professional, counselor, interventionist, mental health professional, or social worker. This plan includes gathering information about the addiction's causes, extent, and impact before forming the intervention team. The team then decides on the desired outcomes and follows up to ensure the intervention's success. The key thing is to carefully plan the intervention to ensure success.

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How to Create a Path to Financial Freedom

Understanding your financial goals, forming disciplined behaviors, and keeping a long-term view can help you create a road toward financial freedom. Establishing your definition of financial independence is the first step toward achieving that goal. This could range from having enough savings to cover emergencies to being able to retire comfortably or even pursuing your passions without financial constraints.

Often, the first step on this road is learning exactly where you are financially. Your income, debt, and spending will help you find areas that could call for work. This technique aids in creating reasonable financial goals that are fit for your long-term goals and attainability. Once you know your financial situation clearly, you may decide how best to distribute your resources.

It's essential to make saving and investing a habit. No matter how little, regular saving adds over time to provide a safety net and enable the attainment of more ambitious financial targets. Moreover, savvy investment increases your money, so it works for you rather than vice versa. Knowing the foundations of assets, such as stocks, bonds, and mutual funds, can be helpful in your quest for financial independence.

Debt management is another key to financial independence. Reducing or negating debt will liberate more of your income for investments and savings. Approaching debt management with a clear plan and concentrating initially on high-interest debt will help you save money over time.

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The Basics of Breathwork

An integral component of yoga, breathwork has been a focus in Eastern health and wellness for thousands of years. It is also a common part of many Eastern spiritual practices.

Practitioners of breathwork report many different benefits, but most techniques specifically aim to bring calmness and serenity to the body and mind. This aim seems generally reasonable when you consider that your breath brings oxygen to every part of your body.

Breathwork can be as simple as practicing long, deep breathing from the abdomen, allowing the chest to expand with each inhalation. More complex breathwork techniques include the 4-7-8 technique, which requires practitioners to count seconds as you breathe. Inhale for four seconds, hold it for seven, and then exhale for eight.

More advanced breathwork techniques include the breath of fire and holotropic breathwork. Breath of Fire involves inhaling with relaxed abdominal muscles and then using your abdominal core to push the air out upon exhaling. Holotropic breathwork aims to establish a continual pattern of inhalation and exhalation without distinct pauses between them.

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Innovative Construction Materials

The construction industry is undergoing a significant shift driven by the need for sustainable and eco-friendly building materials. Innovations such as biochar-based bioplastic cladding, 3D-printed mycelium, and water-filled glass are transforming the construction industry.

Biochar-based bioplastic cladding is carbon-negative and derived from agricultural and forestry waste. This recyclable material can sequester carbon, making it suitable for building facades, furniture, and other structures.

Additionally, 3D printing with living mycelium is a game-changer in architecture and construction. This technique uses discarded coffee cups to form a structure that enhances load-bearing and mycelium growth. The mycelium eats the coffee cup material, resulting in a fire-resistant, insulating architectural structure.

Water-filled glass is a revolutionary heating and cooling system that uses solar power. This eco-friendly solution turns large glass structures into sustainable energy models, cutting energy costs in half. The technology reduces the amount of solar heat that enters a building, thereby minimizing air conditioning use.

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Two New Georgia Housing Laws Take Effect

The General Assembly in Georgia passed two new housing bills that Governor Brian Kemp signed into law and took effect on July 1, 2024 - the Safe at Home Act (HB 404) and the State Housing Trust Fund for the Homeless Act (HB 1410). The state has tried to address its affordable housing shortage, and the two new pieces of state legislation may help ease the burdens of the homeless.

Sponsored by Rep. Kasey Carpenter (R-Dalton), the Safe at Home Act requires landlords to make their properties “fit for human habitation.” Rep. Carpenter said the goal of the new law is to keep Georgians out of third-world conditions. Making a property habitable means the basic amenities in the home work properly, such as the electricity, water supply, plumbing lines, and roofing.

The Safe Home Act gives renters three days to pay their rent before the landlord issues an eviction notice. Previously, a landlord could file an eviction case immediately if the renters failed to pay their rent on time. The new law also caps the security deposit at two months’ rent.

Next, the State Housing Trust Fund for the Homeless Act amended an earlier law with the same title. The amended law requires all program participants to comply with accountability requirements. The requirements include sobriety from drugs and alcohol, submission to related tests, and participation in substance abuse and mental healthcare counseling. The law also gives eligible participants funding for up to 18 months to allow them to transition to their permanent homes.

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Addiction - How to Address It and Help Those in Need

Substance use disorder (SUD) is a mental health issue that costs the lives of thousands of Americans annually, impacting millions of others. This is regardless of which drug is being abused; alcohol, cocaine, marijuana, opioids or anything else used addictively. At least 21 million Americans have one form of addiction, (most likely tens of millions more) and only 10 percent receive treatment.

Notably, addiction costs the US economy over $600 billion yearly. Most people who are more likely to use addictive substances are between 18 and 25 years old. Moreover, most people with substance use disorder say that they started using addictive substances before they reached 18 years of age.

There are various addiction treatment programs, including outpatient service, Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP), Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP), residential program (rehab), inpatient service, and Medications for Addiction Treatment (MAT). Alcoholics Anonymous being one of the most successful treatment groups and widely known.

Outpatient service involves a patient visiting a health center for nine hours or less weekly to receive treatment while staying at home. Like outpatient service, a patient continues to remain home in IOP. However, they attend between 10 and 20 hours of treatment weekly. With PHP, a patient receives eight hours of treatment daily and continues staying home.

A residential program, commonly called rehabilitation, provides addicts treatment in a residential setting. Treatment periods range from one month to a year. Inpatient service caters to people with serious medical conditions and chronic mental health issues. This program offers detoxification and rehabilitation services in a hospital setting.

There are also support groups, the two common ones being Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA). AA focuses on alcohol dependence recovery, while NA focuses on recovery from various substances, including stimulants, cannabis, opioids, and alcohol.

AA and NA have their meetings, literature, and principles, but they share the fundamental goal of helping individuals achieve and maintain sobriety through mutual support and the 12-step recovery program. AA founders developed the 12-step recovery program, and it is the most popular addiction recovery tool that helps people understand their journey before and after addiction.

Apart from the treatment options and support groups, some recovered addicts, and others who don’t have addiction issues also help others recover from addiction. Helping and supporting others is very powerful in aiding individuals overcome their addiction. It creates a sense of purpose and reinforces their commitment to sobriety.

Supporting those in addiction starts with the caregiver’s emotional, mental, and physical well-being. Caregivers should take care of themselves so that they’re in a good position to help others.

To begin, addiction is a disease that rewires the brain. People need to understand this and avoid making addicts feel ostracized or stigmatized. Additionally, those helping others should learn more about substance abuse, available treatment options, and how to use this information while offering support.

One should also not use emotional language when addressing an addict. A common sentimental statement people make is, “If you love me, you can stop.” This only evokes negative feelings that may worsen the addiction. Instead, one should express concern and give support.

However, there are limits to supporting someone. For instance, it is not advisable to enable another person’s addiction by, say, giving them money every time they ask for it. It is also crucial to allow one to learn from their mistakes so that they develop the skills to resist temptation and speak about their issues without shame.

Recovery support is a lifelong process. Relapse should not be seen as a failure but rather an indication that treatment may need adjustment. Indeed, many people who once struggled with substance dependence go on to live fulfilling lives in recovery.