This is an option that is different then 12 steps. It is a science based resource for addiction and alcohol abuse, and even includes online meetings and more. http://www.smartrecovery.org/
by BRENDA WILSON
You can also LISTEN to the story at the link!
Teenage smoking is often thought of as kind of innocent experiment, but a drag on a friend's cigarette may be the beginning of something that will be hard to shake.
A study of adolescent smokers in the journalPediatrics tracks the course of addiction to nicotine among a group of sixth-graders. After following 1,246 middle-school children for four years, researchers say a pattern emerged of occasional smoking that led to an addiction to tobacco: A cigarette a month will do it.
"When people are just wanting a cigarette, every now and then, they think they just enjoy smoking," says study coauthor Dr. Joseph DiFranza of the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. "As time passes, then they start to notice they will crave a cigarette. So even when they are with someone who is not smoking, something will pop into their mind that will tell them it is time for a cigarette."
He adds, "When they get to the point of needing a cigarette, that means they have an urgent need to smoke and they have to smoke to get it out of their heads."
More Than Just A Taste
A third of the young people in the study had inhaled from a cigarette. Nearly two-thirds of those who'd tried cigarettes said they smoked at least once a month, and half said they experienced symptoms of dependence.
That's how 19-year-old Julia DiGeronimo's habit started ...
more at the LINK
Kids with Addiction Issues More Likely to Play 'Choking Game'
January 22, 2010
Six percent of 8th-graders surveyed in Oregon said they had taken part in a dangerous game where kids choke each other to produce a sense of euphoria, and researchers said that adolescents with addiction or mental-health problems are among those most likely to play, the Associated Press reported Jan. 14.
The "choking game," sometimes called Pass-Out, Space Monkey, Flatliner, or Blackout, produces its desired effect by starving the brain of oxygen. The study found that it was especially popular in rural areas.
The survey of 8,000 students at 114 Oregon schools was conducted by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and reported in the Jan. 10, 2010 issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
This article summarizes an external report or press release on research published in a scientific journal. When available, links to the sources are provided below.
What comes to your mind when you hear the word “alcoholic” or “addict?” Do you think of simply a social outcast; or do you think of anyone who may be affected by addiction, from teens to college students; from homemakers to licensed professionals from every walk of life?Well, if you can envision a chronic brain disease that can affect anyone at any time - you can understand what addiction looks like today.