Searching for Meaning from Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama is the location where Martin Luther King Jr. was jailed and subsequently wrote his famous treatise on injustice titled: Letter from a Birmingham Jail. In a similar vein, there are people imprisoned by the uncompromising affliction of addiction.
There isn't any place in the country that's safe from the nefarious disease and Birmingham is no different. A lot of people who fall into addiction have forgotten who they are and what they live for.
Recovery, then, becomes a process of reclamation--where you learn who you are and what you should live for.
How Can I Help My Loved One Who Struggles with Addiction?
The best way to help someone struggling with addiction is to hold an intervention for them. An intervention gathers family and friends to help communicate the heartbreak the addiction causes.
A lot of times, people who struggle with addiction do not realize the hurt they are causing others.
Communicating this to them in a non-judgmental manner can go a long way in providing them with an alternative to their abuse. Isolation often serves as a catalyst for addiction, so when people in active addiction understand that they are loved and cared for, they can make a change.
If you want to start again, seek out help and call us now: (866) 578-7471 .
Should I Travel for Treatment?
If you are from the Birmingham area, you should consider traveling for treatment in order to start again in a place where people don't know your name. There are several benefits to traveling for treatment beyond anonymity. It also keeps you from falling back in with the people who helped begin your addiction.
Lastly, if you travel out of state, it will be incrementally harder to leave the treatment center if you think treatment is rough. It kind of forces you to fight through it.
The beginning to twelve step programs started with a group of Alcoholism who identified as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). Since the movement of AA several other groups have adopted and arranges the 12-step process to meet their particular needs and issues with addiction and behaviors. Other groups who have adopted the process of AA are: Cocaine Anonymous (CA) , Heroine Anonymous (HA), Crystal Meth Anonymous (CMA) , Narcotics Anonymous (NA), etc.
- Official Government Website : FindTreatment.gov.
- In Birmingham. (2021). : The Top 5 Reasons Birmingham is in Travel + Leisure’s “Top 50 Places to Visit in 2021.”
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022). : Vital Statistics Rapid Release
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services. (2021). : Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS) 2019 (Revised)
- Yurkanin, A. (2021). : Health officials raise the alarm over overdose deaths in the Birmingham area
- National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2020, June 3). : Principles of Drug addiction Treatment: A Research-Based Guide (Third Edition): Is drug addiction treatment worth its cost?
- Alabama Department of Mental Health. (n.d.). : Substance Abuse Treatment Services
- Abraham, A. J., Andrews, C. M., Grogan, C. M., D’Aunno, T., Humphreys, K. N., Pollack, H. A., & Friedmann, P. D. (2017). : The Affordable Care Act Transformation of Substance Use Disorder Treatment
- Healthcare.gov. (n.d.). : Mental Health and Substance Abuse Coverage.
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (n.d.). : The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act.
- Alabama Medicaid. (2022). : Qualifying for Medicaid
- Medicare.gov. (n.d.). : Mental health care (inpatient)
- CMS. gov. (2021, November 12). : 2022 Medicare Parts A & B Premiums and Deductibles.
- Medicare. gov. (n.d.). : What’s Medicare Supplement Insurance?
- Alabama Department of Insurance. (2020). : Insurance Companies Offering Individual Major Medical Coverage in Alabama
- Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama. (n.d.). : What Health Coverage Can Do For You
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2014). : What is Substance Abuse Treatment? A Booklet for Families.
- National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2019, January 17). : Treatment Approaches for Drug Addiction DrugFacts
- National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2020, June 3). : Principles of Drug addiction Treatment: A Research-Based Guide (Third Edition): Types of Treatment Programs
- National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2020, September 18). : Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment: A Research-Based Guide (Third Edition) Principles of Effective Treatment
- Zgierska, A., Burzinksi, C. (2016). : Substance Use Disorder Treatment: Complementary Approaches
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2005). : Substance Abuse Treatment for Persons with Co-Occurring Disorders
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2021). : Key substance use and mental health indicators in the United States: Results from the 2020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2022, June 10). : Medication-Assisted Treatment
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2022). : Medication-Assisted Treatment
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2020). : Key Substance Use and Mental Health Indicators in the United States: Results from the 2020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2022, April 13). : Methadone
- National Alliance on Mental Illness. (2021). : Buprenorphine/Naloxone (Suboxone)
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2022, April 21). : Buprenorphine
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2016). : Advisory: Sublingual and Transmucosal Buprenorphine for Opioid Use Disorder: Review and Update
- National Alliance on Mental Illness. (2021). : Naltrexone (ReVia).
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2021). : Medications for Opioid Use Disorders
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2015). : Medication for the Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorder: A Brief Guide
- National Alliance on Mental Illness. (2021). : Acamprosate (Campral)
- Alabama Public Health. (2015). : HB208
- Alabama Public Health. (2021, December 8). : Pharmacy
- Jefferson County D.A. (n.d.). : Drug Court
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. (2022). : Drug Overdose Mortality by State
- Alabama Department of Public Health. (2019 July). : Overdose Surveillance Summary
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality. (2019, 2020). : National Survey on Drug Use and Health
- Alabama Medicaid. (n.d.). : Your Guide to Alabama Medicaid
- Alabama Medicaid. (n.d.). : State of Alabama, 1905(a)(29) Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT)
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (2020 March). : Medicare & Your Mental Health Benefits
- McCarty, D., Braude, L., Lyman, D. R., Dougherty, R. H., Daniels, A. S., Ghose, S. S., & Delphin-Rittmon, M. E. (2014). : Substance Abuse Intensive Outpatient Programs: Assessing the Evidence
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Office of the Surgeon General. (2016). : Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2022). : Naloxone
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (n.d.). : Buprenorphine Practitioner Locator
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2022). : Naltrexone
- U.S. National Library of Medicine. (2017). : Disulfiram
- U.S. National Library of Medicine. (2016). : Acamprosate
- Alabama Department of Public Health. (n.d.). : Standing Order of the State Health Officer Naloxone Distribution for Overdose Prevention
- Alabama Administrative Office of the Courts. (n.d.). : Accountability Courts. Educational Programs
- United States Government Accountability Office. (2021, March). : Drug Abuse, Most States of Good Samaritan Laws and Research Indicates They May Have Positive Effects
