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Dealing with Addiction: Where to Seek Help In Ontario
Monique Zizzo
Have you been directly or indirectly affected by substance addiction? It is an issue that can cause excruciating heartache not only for the person attempting to overcome it, but also for the loved ones around them. Fortunately, there are various treatment centres across Ontario that offer help for those suffering with addiction and resources for people who are being negatively affected by someone else's addiction.
There are a few things you should know about addiction to become better educated and have a better chance of defeating it: According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, addiction is considered to be a relapsing brain disease. This may seem like a surprising classification, but it's technically a “brain disease” because drugs change the structure and function of the brain, and these effects have the potential to be long-lasting. It's also important to note that addiction is not the same as and is easier to recover from than physical dependence. While addiction includes the craving of substance use for pleasure and relief, physical dependence develops after the body has adapted to regular exposure to the substance, and if the person tries to stop they experience withdrawal symptoms. So, it's best to begin treatment in the 'addiction' phase before it progresses to physical dependence, but it is completely possible to get treatment for and recover from both.
For friends or family members of someone with an addiction, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health provides counselling, free education, and support, all of which is confidential and 100% free. It includes 8-week psycho-educational groups and even has couples counselling for partners that are going through this problem. This “Family Addiction Service” is located at 60 White Squirrel Way in Toronto.
For people who are seeking help for their own addiction, there are Ontario Addiction Treatment Centres (OATC) scattered across the province, so no matter where you're located there will be help nearby. Click on this link to get more information on a treatment centre close to you. OATC recognizes values that are important for beating addiction. Life-long learning is one of these values; acquiring new knowledge and skills that you can incorporate for the rest of your life is important to avoid relapse and keep up the effort. However, when relapse it is not a sign of failure, it is extremely common and treatment can be continued after it occurs. After all, addiction is a relapsing brain disorder.
The above interventions focus on substance addictions, and there are many locations available that treat behavioural addictions to things like sex or gambling. In fact, there's a positive correlation between sex and gambling addictions: both of these actions can cause the release of dopamine, which is also prominent in substance addictions. These are also referred to as “impulse control disorders”, and are more ambiguous than substance addictions as there is no external drug that causes a direct physical dependence. To make matters more confusing, one can turn nearly anything into a behavioural addiction: the internet, shopping, plastic surgery – even looking like Justin Bieber! (check out this case on My Strange Addiction).
You can better determine if yourself or a loved one has a behavioural addiction by observing if there are the following symptoms are present:
Difficulty controlling impulses
Habits that continue to repeat despite negative consequences
Hiding or lying about the behaviour
Taking irrational risks for the sake of the behaviour
There are are 31 professionals in Ontario that are registered sex therapists, located in 15 different cities, that can help with sex addiction treatment. Contact information for each city can be found here.
Not everyone feels comfortable with receiving treatment or therapy in person. For those addicted to gambling that would prefer anonymous and less direct help, Ontario Problem Gambling Helpline is available for consultation. Their phone number is 1-888-230-3505. To get in contact via online, chat or e-mail, visit their website. They offer listening and support, and will also point you in the right direction if you're looking for other services.
To conclude, there's plenty of support available to you if you've been affected by addiction in any way. Recovery is possible.
There are a few things you should know about addiction to become better educated and have a better chance of defeating it: According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, addiction is considered to be a relapsing brain disease. This may seem like a surprising classification, but it's technically a “brain disease” because drugs change the structure and function of the brain, and these effects have the potential to be long-lasting. It's also important to note that addiction is not the same as and is easier to recover from than physical dependence. While addiction includes the craving of substance use for pleasure and relief, physical dependence develops after the body has adapted to regular exposure to the substance, and if the person tries to stop they experience withdrawal symptoms. So, it's best to begin treatment in the 'addiction' phase before it progresses to physical dependence, but it is completely possible to get treatment for and recover from both.
The above interventions focus on substance addictions, and there are many locations available that treat behavioural addictions to things like sex or gambling. In fact, there's a positive correlation between sex and gambling addictions: both of these actions can cause the release of dopamine, which is also prominent in substance addictions. These are also referred to as “impulse control disorders”, and are more ambiguous than substance addictions as there is no external drug that causes a direct physical dependence. To make matters more confusing, one can turn nearly anything into a behavioural addiction: the internet, shopping, plastic surgery – even looking like Justin Bieber! (check out this case on My Strange Addiction).
You can better determine if yourself or a loved one has a behavioural addiction by observing if there are the following symptoms are present:
