My Addiction Info is a site focused on providing leading-edge, informed and well-researched content focused on addiction resources as well as mental health and wellness, recovery, and information for the family and loved ones of people who struggle with addiction.

Resources for Addiction and Recovery

So what are addiction resources?

To us addiction resources can be anything that’s relevant to someone who struggles with addiction directly or indirectly. For example, we are not affiliated with any rehab center, so our information is completely independent.

As a third-party, we provide unbiased information about specific rehab centers around the country. We also detail what it’s like to go to treatment for an addiction, and what to expect. We provide resources focused on insurance and paying for rehab as well since financial issues are often one of the biggest deterrents to people receiving treatment.

If you’re in the midst of active addiction and you want help but you aren’t sure where to begin, we’d like to be that addiction resource that helps you get started. Maybe you aren’t personally struggling with addiction, but you have a loved one who is and you’d like to learn more about what they’re going through and how you can help. Again, we provide addiction resources that are relevant to you.

What Is Addiction?

We hear a common question when people come to us for addiction resources, and that’s “what is addiction really?”

You may have an idea of what addiction is, but in reality, it’s very complex. Addiction is characterized as a disease.

Addiction is defined by compulsive drug seeking and using behaviors. Someone with an addiction will continue to use a substance or engage in a behavior in spite of it lead to negative consequences.

Despite how pervasive addiction is in the U.S., it’s misunderstood in many ways. It may be represented in different ways by rehab centers or the media. We want to cut through the noise and provide addiction resources and information that are real, to-the-point and accurate.

Addiction Treatment Resources

When someone is struggling with addiction and searching for addiction resources, they often want to learn more about treatment. Sometimes, having information about treatment for addiction can be a good motivating factor to actually receive help.

Addiction treatment can occur in many different settings and different approaches may be used. General types of addiction resources and treatment programs include the following.

Medical Detox

The first step for many people who are seeking addiction resources and treatment is a medical detox. Many addictive substances including alcohol and opioids lead to physical dependence. When someone is physically dependent on a substance and they stop using it, they will likely experience withdrawal symptoms.

Withdrawal symptoms can be difficult to cope with and can be severe or even life-threatening. During a medical detox, a patient is kept safe and comfortable as they go through withdrawal.

Many professional addiction treatment programs and rehab centers offer medical detox onsite.

Inpatient Rehab and Addiction Treatment

Inpatient rehab is residential meaning that patients check into a facility where they live and receive treatment for a period of time. Inpatient rehab may last anywhere from 30 to 90 days and sometimes longer.

Inpatient rehab usually takes a holistic approach to treatment, meaning the needs of the whole person are addressed and not just their addiction. Inpatient rehab usually includes group and individual treatment. Sometimes families and loved ones are included in treatment as well.

Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP)

A partial hospitalization program or PHP combines elements of inpatient rehab and outpatient rehab. During a PHP, treatment is intensive and lasts all day. At the end of the treatment day, participants can return home, however. Some participants in a PHP addiction treatment program might return to a sober living house.

Sober Living House

Another form of an addiction resource is a sober living house. A sober living house might be operated by a rehab center, a nonprofit organization or it might be privately run. A sober living house typically has a strict set of rules and guidelines for the people who reside there.

Benefits include a social support system, which is so important in the early days of recovery when someone is receiving treatment or has completed a treatment program.

Outpatient Rehab

Among the addiction resources and treatment options, outpatient rehab is most flexible. Someone might begin their treatment journey with outpatient rehab if they have a mild or short-term addiction.

Other people might start with a higher level of care such as inpatient rehab, and then gradually move into a lower level of care provided by outpatient rehab.

Everyone’s treatment journey is individual and unique depending on their needs.

Outpatient rehab can be as informal as a drug education program, or it can be more formalized and require a more significant time commitment, as is the case with intensive outpatient programs.

Mental Health Resources

Along with drug guides and rehab and recovery information, there’s another focus we have here at My Addiction Info and that’s mental health. Mental health is just as important as physical health and it often coincides with addiction.

Co-Occurring Mental Health Disorders

For example, people with various addiction disorders will also often have mental health disorders that may be diagnosed or undiagnosed. When someone has an addiction and another mental health disorder, it’s known as a co-occurring disorder.

There’s another way we approach mental health aside from something that occurs along with addiction.

We focus a lot of our content and addiction resources on the family and loved ones of people who have addictions. With that in mind, our mental health content may be relevant to family and loved ones on a personal level.

It’s our hope that you find our addiction resources to be thoughtful and pertinent. If you have topic ideas or things you’d like to learn more about or read more about, feel free to contact our addiction resources team at [email protected]