Do You Know the Dangers Of Salvia?

Salvia Divinorum, or Salvia - as it is more commonly know - is a natural herbaceous perennial plant producing white colored flowers during peak summer months. In recent years, experimental drug users and teens have utilized the leaves of the Salvia plant to achieve an altered mental state. Because the drug is still legal in the U.S. and most countries around the world, these leaves are often grown and sold in local health food stores without restriction. In this entry, we will take a closer look at this plant to help our readers gain a broader perspective of its effects and dangers.

What Does It Do?

Though commonly smoked, salvia users can chew the plant to achieve the same effect. The drug affects users differently according to body weight, body chemistry, and whether or not additional substances are involved. The effects of salvia are instant in most users, affecting the brain’s parietal lobe, limbic system and overall vestibular function.

Physical Effects

Salvinorin-A – a substance found in salvia – is known to cause psychoactive side effects. Some users may faint, pass out, or lose their ability to function until the drug has worn off. Some users report bright lights of visions; others a loss in basic motor skills.

Psychiatric Dangers

Those who have suffered or currently suffer from various forms of mental illness may experience relapse following salvia intake. The drug has been shown to trigger episodes of schizophrenia, panic attacks and borderline personality traits. Though most of these symptoms tend to subside as the drug wears off, some users place themselves at risk for more prolonged episodes.

Don’t have a stroke, K?

Is drug and alcohol abuse to blame for early life strokes? A recent study suggests so!

A stroke is a condition where an individual’s brain cells expire due to lack of oxygen. Direct causes may include artery rupture or a blood flow obstruction. Those who experience strokes may lose their ability to speak, encounter memory issues or partial paralysis.

Though many often associate strokes with the elderly, new research suggests a direct correlation between heightened stroke risk in younger people and the abuse of drugs and/or alcohol.

“Substance abuse is common in young adults experiencing a stroke,” wrote researcher Brett Kissela. With this point in mind, it is recommended that stroke sufferers aged 55 and younger be screened and potentially counseled for substance abuse issues.

Certain substances, such as methamphetamine's and cocaine have been found to heighten the risks associated of a more immediate stroke. “We know that even with vascular risk factors that are prevalent – smoking, high blood pressure… most people still don’t have a stroke until they’re older”, stated University of California neurologist Andrew Josephson. “When a young person has a stroke, it is probably much more likely that the cause of their stroke is something other than traditional risk factors.”

Though an array of factors can be attributed to heightened stroke risks, perhaps drug and alcohol abuse should be considered the most avoidable. In the grand scheme of things, there are plenty more ways to celebrate, indulgences to consume, and sensations to experience in the days, weeks, months and years to come.

Choose your vices wisely.

When Is An Alcohol Intervention Necessary?

When it comes to addiction, it can be difficult to determine the best route when considering potential recovery options. In some cases, it may be necessary to confront the addict by way of intervention.

Interventions are orchestrated attempts by close friends and family members to get a loved one the help they require to properly address an addiction to negative and destructive behaviors. If you are considering the possibility of an intervention for a friend or relative, the guide below will provide you with some tips to help determine the best course of action.

1 – Verify the exact ailment your loved one is suffering from. Before you can properly address an issue, you must first be able to determine the exact problem. With alcoholism, you should look for the following behaviors: Daily drinking, irritability, mood swings, missed work, and strained relationships are all common points to look for.

2 – Determine whether the individual is willing to seek help on their own. An intervention should be used only as a last resort. If your loved one recognizes the issue before them and is willing to accept help, then there will be no need for an intervention. If your loved one is interested in getting help, provide them with all the support you can muster.

3 – Discuss your concerns with close friends and family members of the individual to see whether anyone else shares your viewpoint. If you find a number of other people to validate these concerns, it may be time to seriously consider an intervention.

4 – Get in touch with a professional interventionist. Intervention specialists can aid throughout the planning, organization, and implementation of an intervention. Communicate your concerns and worries to the specialist while listening to what they have to say regarding a potential coarse of action. If your specialist deems an intervention necessary, then it’s time to move forward with an intervention plan.  

Intervention Tips & Strategies

If you have a loved one suffering from an addiction, finding them consistently under the influence can be painful. Though the idea of an intervention may seem a bit extreme to some; it is a positive way to help your loved on understand the extent of their issues while working towards a positive outcome for all involved.

Friends and Family

Make sure to include close friends and family members of the addict. Though it can be difficult to get everyone on the same page, the potential for a positive outcome will be heightened with a unified group. Participants should be supportive, loving, and compassionate throughout the process, with an end goal of getting the subject the help they require.

Professional Help

Intervention services are always a huge help to friends and family members throughout this process. A trained interventionist will be able to help organize, plan, and moderate the intervention, while serving as authoritarian, educator and mediator.

Denial

Some addicts may not realize that they even have a problem. These individuals have fallen into the routine of addiction, where their perception of normality has become skewed. This denial must be broken if the addict is to alter their behaviors and seek help. In order to break through this barrier, intervention participants must offer real life examples of how the addiction has negatively affected their lives, and the life of the addict.

Blame – Anger – Shame

Blame, anger and shame should each be avoided throughout the intervention process. Participants are encouraged to disregard these emotions and feelings during the intervention while embracing empathy, compassion, and love. The more positive friends and family members are towards the situation, the better chance there will be for a happy result.

Staging An Intervention – A How-To Guide

Planning an intervention is a wonderful means of offering help to someone who is struggling with addiction issues. When uncertainty comes into play, seeking the aid of a trained interventionist may provide you with the support and guidance you need to ensure a happy outcome. Intervention services are able to offer experience and organizational skills, while helping participants understand what to expect throughout the process.

1 – Get in touch with treatment facilities that offer services that cater to the type of help the individual requires. Different programs will often specialize in different areas As such, it’s important to locate a facility that understands and is able to provide the type of treatment needed.

2 – Communication is key. Prior to the intervention, be sure to meet with all participants, including the interventionist to discuss exactly how the event will be handled. It is important for each participant to be on the same page; acting as a unified force, rather than individually.

3 – Select a location, date and time that works for the majority of your participants. Though it can be difficult to accommodate everybody’s schedules, it’s important to understand that this process has little to do with convenience; this is life or death.

4 – Invite only those who are respected and loved by the individual struggling. This should include individuals who understand the severity of the issue at hand, and who are interested in working towards a positive outcome.

5 – Stay focused. Stay Positive. A dark, accusatory, and dreary atmosphere will do little to alter your addict’s behaviors. Going into the intervention with a helping of love, compassion, and understanding will work to break down the addict’s defenses, while working to better than chances of a positive response. Leave your blame, anger, and other baggage at the door. Understand that regardless of the addict’s decision following the intervention, that a positive and healthy change is underway for you, and everyone else involved. 

How To Write An Intervention Letter

An intervention letter is something written by a loved one to a person struggling with substance abuse or some other self-destructive behavior. During a drug intervention, the subject is invited to a specific and neutral location, where family and friends have come together for the express purpose of communicating their concern and love for the individual. Each participant writes out and reads aloud a letter of their own, with a request that the subject seek help.

1 – Begin your letter with an affirmation of affection or love for the individual. Write out a few line recalling happy times, specific events, and special instances that were shared in a positive manner between you and the recipient.

2 – Cite specific incidents that involve negative behaviors as exhibited by the individual when under the influence. Detail your anger, hurt, and embarrassment. If the intervention subject happens to be your spouse, you may want to include details pertaining to how these behaviors have negatively impacted the relationship and children. Avoid exaggerations, and stick to the facts, leaving little room for argument.

3 – Request that the individual accept the help being offered. Outline consequences that will take place if help is not sought. Be specific and firm: “If you don’t seek treatment today, this marriage is over.” Provide them only with consequences that you are actually able to enforce. Close your letter with a statement of affection and love, while making a final appeal for the subject to seek help.

4 – Perhaps the most important aspect of any intervention letter is honesty. Avoid accusatory language that may drive the individual inward. So long has each incident can be described in detail, there is no reason to sugar-coat the reality of the situation. 

Family Intervention – A How-To Guide

Each and every family keeps its own unique dynamic; the specifics of which are largely dependent upon the personalities of the members within. When a single member is struggling with a particularly difficult obstacle, it is crucial to rally around that person to help ensure a positive and successful outcome. In this entry, we will discuss how to properly plan and implement a family requested intervention with a healthy dose of love, care and forethought.

Instructions

1 – Plan ahead. Get in touch with the individual’s close friends and family members well in advance to ensure they are able to attend the intervention. This will work to ensure that a strong and determined support system is in attendance once the intervention is unveiled.

2 – Contact a professional interventionist to organize and moderate the event. These individuals can help direct you throughout the planning process, while serving as an authoritarian figure during the actual intervention. Dealing with an intervention can be stressful enough without the burden of catering to everybody else’s concerns and questions. An interventionist will be able to ease these stresses, while asserting a dominant role outside of the family dynamic.

3 – Make certain that the individual in question will be at the designated meeting spot at the specified time. When requesting their attendance, you may be forced to be a little vague… but know that this serves only the greater good. Long story short, do not tell your loved one about the upcoming intervention!

4 – Hold the intervention. Provide each participant the opportunity to communicate their concerns with love, respect, and confidence. Avoid any blame, negativity or personal character attacks. Remember that the point of the intervention is to help, not hurt.

5 – Do your best to reach a positive outcome. Whether the individual agrees to treatment, rehab, or another serious lifestyle change, the goal should always be to leave the intervention in a better position than prior to it.