Addiction is a disease of the brain. A physiological change in the brain that causes the addict to crave the drug over everything else.
To recover the addict needs help to manage this craving, to arrest the disease and begin living again.
There is no one way each person becomes addicted, and there is no one treatment for this disease. Most important to any recovery is the desire to be clean. If you want recovery, you can overcome the cravings, the drugs, the disease.
Listed and linked here are many resources to help you recover. There is no cure, but there is treatment and with desire and treatment there is recovery.
Click here for more information about the disease of addition.
Click here for more information about treating addiction.
We have created a concise directory of the area resources. This directory can be used as a handout, quick reference or as part of a package. Please feel free to use it and share it. We appreciate any feedback you might have.
Click Here for the Resources Directory.
There are hotlines for the Cincinnati area. They run 24 hours, 7 days a week.
Treatment center are places for detox, inpatient treatment, intensive outpatient treatment and outpatient treatment. Treatment can include education about the disease of addiction, how to manage the disease, and if needed medical assistance.
Cincinnati Area Treatment Centers
Regional Treatment Centers
Medically Assisted Treatment uses Suboxone, Vivitrol, Methadone and other medicines to curb the cravings of the disease. This medicines do not take the place of active involvement in recovery programs.
Shelters are places to take refuge from the homelessness that is so common with the disease. They are also places where help can be found.
Sober Living Houses provide a clean environment for an addict to start and build their recovery. They are homes where help can be found, treatment is supported and living with the disease is learned.
Using illegal drugs poses multiple health risks. Support for addicts in active use is available to help with HIV, Hepatitis C, pregnancy, SEP and recovery.
Addiction is a family disease. Just as the addict is affected by the disease, so is the family affected by the addict. Parents, wives, and friends become overwhelmed trying to help the addict and control the disease. Children suffer as the disease encourages neglect of loved ones. There is help for those close to the addict.
There are other resources available to support the addict, their family and friends. This includes child services, national hotlines and Alcoholism resources.
Remember, as long as their is breath, there is hope. Keep trying different resources, different programs, different meetings until you find the one that works for you.