Health, Body & Soul

Archive for the ‘Addiction’ Category

Extending health care to more kids

OneWorld Community Health Center is looking for 6,000 kids.

The agency that generally provides health care to the underserved has received 6,264 from the federal government to create a program to enroll thousands of children in either of two government insurance programs for low-income children.

Many metro-area children are eligible but aren’t enrolled because their families don’t know the programs exist or don’t know their kids could qualify, said Andrea Skolkin, chief executive officer of OneWorld. That means some of those children are going without health care or are getting far less than they could.

OneWorld’s goal is to enroll at least 6,000 children. The agency’s outreach effort has just begun.OneWorld will place staff members in day care centers, schools, after-school programs, churches, food pantries, organizations and other places.

“We want to be where people are versus making people come to us,” Skolkin said.

They will contact families at those sites and determine whether they have children who qualify but aren’t enrolled in Medicaid or the state’s Children’s Health Insurance Program.

The staff members will have laptops to take down information and scanners to scan in citizenship documents and proof of Nebraska residency. Children must be citizens to receive the health care benefits.

The agency also will take referrals. For information, call 502-8888.

OneWorld, based in the Livestock Exchange Building, 4920 S. 30th St., has hired a director and will employ five full-time staffers for the program. OneWorld also has a clinic in Plattsmouth.

President Barack Obama this year allocated million to agencies in 42 states and Washington, D.C., for programs to conduct enrollment efforts over the next two years.

Through a competitive process, OneWorld was one of 69 entities to receive money. Iowa doesn’t have a program among the 69. An additional million will be distributed in 2012.

Enrollment among children in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program has gradually risen in Iowa and Nebraska. The economy has worsened and awareness of the programs has broadened, spokesmen in Iowa and Nebraska say.

A child qualifies for Medicaid if his family’s annual income is at or somewhat above the federal poverty level, which is ,310 for a family of three.

Qualifying for CHIP isn’t as stringent. In Iowa, the state raised the CHIP ceiling this year to 300 percent of the federal poverty level, or ,930 for a family of three. Nebraska raised its income ceiling for CHIP from 185 percent this year to 200 percent, or ,620 for a family of three.

The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services has estimated there may be close to 15,000 eligible children who aren’t enrolled. The Iowa Department of Public Health estimated there could be as many as 38,000 children who aren’t covered.

Drug Addiction Help for You and Your Loved Ones

Drug Addiction Help Options

There quite a number of ways for an individual to get help with their addiction all over the country. It is important to note that today, in the information age; we live in a time where technology has a lot to offer in terms of help and proper guidance. There are help institutions that offer help online or even on mobile cellphones. This is definitely something people should look at as it is an effective way to get help for yourself or for your loved ones. As a precautionary method, remember to choose the best help possible as there are a lot of scammers out there that are only interested in making money, and not even to completely help those that are in need.

For those who have financial limitations, the best way to get help is to avail of state run institutions such as rehabilitation centers run by the government. These institutions are always willing to help those in need. The only sad thing about these centers is that they are poorly equipped and usually lack the proper funding to completely those afflicted by addiction. In most cases, those who enter these government institutions usually tend to take this help for granted and merely stay there to lapse time and leech off freebies the governments want to offer. In other words, the help individuals get here do not have a follow through method, often leading to the individual going back into old habits; the cycle goes on and on.

More often than not, the best treatments one can get to address the needs for drug addiction help is to enroll in programs of private facilities. The good thing about these facilities is that you can assure yourself that the proper funding and programs are implemented to help cure the afflicted individuals. In most cases, most of these centers focus on the same things which include the well-being of the mind and of the body. To properly rid yourself of addiction, it is important that these two aspects in a person’s life are well taken cared of.

In order to get the best drug addiction help, a lot of thinking and research has to be made in order to get the results you are looking for. The best thing to do is to choose the institution that best fits an individual’s persona. It is also a good thing to make sure that the institution that offers the help has a good track record of patients who do not relapse on addiction and are capable of living good and long term progress out in society.

The addiction phenomenon

Addiction is one of the greatest problems that our modern society is facing. People are becoming addicted to drugs, coffee, TV, internet, games – and these are just a few of them. After drug addiction, computer addiction is a problem that is sky-rocketing.

In order to understand the phenomenon let’s take a closer look at the definitions:

Addiction is a persistent, compulsive dependence on a behavior or substance. The term has been partially replaced by the word dependence for substance abuse. Addiction has been extended, however, to include mood-altering behaviors or activities. There is a growing recognition that many addicts, such as polydrug abusers, are addicted to more than one substance or process.

addiction /ad•dic•tion/ (ah-dik´shun)1. the state of being given up to some habit or compulsion.2. strong physiological and psychological dependence on a drug or other psychoactive substance.

addiction [?dik?sh?n] - a compulsive, uncontrollable dependence on a chemical substance, habit, or practice to such a degree that either the means of obtaining or ceasing use may cause severe emotional, mental, or physiologic reactions.
(source: Dorland’s Medical Dictionary for Health Consumers. © 2007; Mosby’s Medical Dictionary, 8th edition. © 2009)

Some researchers speak of two types of addictions: substance addictions (for example, alcoholism, drug abuse, and smoking); and process addictions (for example, gaming, gambling, computer, spending, shopping, eating, and sexual activity).

Computer addiction (it includes video game addiction, internet addiction): A disorder in which the individual turns to the Internet or plays computer games in an attempt to change moods, overcome anxiety, deal with depression, reduce isolation or loneliness, or distract themselves from over whelming problems. The elderly, as well as children and adolescents, are particularly vulnerable because they may not realize the extent of their dependency. In many instances, individuals with computer addiction may seek help for another condition, such as depression, phobias or other addictions.

So how we become addicted? In certain areas of the brain when dopamine is released it gives one the feeling of pleasure or satisfaction. These feelings of satisfaction become desired, and the person will grow a desire for the satisfaction. To satisfy that desire the person will repeat behaviors that cause the release of dopamine.  Often these behaviors can result in addiction due their effect on dopamine, and that addiction can have negative effects on a person’s well-being.

The Time Magazine made a poll about the most common addiction and here are the observations they made.

- Drugs: An estimated 3.6 million people are dependent on drugs. On average, 8.000 try them for the first time each day, and 700.000 are undergoing treatment for addiction. More than half of first-time users are female and younger than 18.

- Tobacco: There are about 71.5 million users of tobacco products in the U.S. About 23.4% of men and 18.5 of women are cigarette smokers, with cigarette use lowest in Western states and highest in the Midwest; 44.3% of young adults ages 18 to 25 use tobacco, the highest rate for any age group.

- Internet: Like compulsive gambling, Internet addiction is thought to be an impulse-control disorder that can disrupt social relationships. There is disagreement as to whether is should be formally considered a disorder. Though substance abusers strive for abstinence, an Internet addict’s goal is often to attain moderation.

- Gambling: Two million American adults, or 0.67% of the population, are thought to be pathological gamblers, wagering heedless of the consequences. Their moods generally follow the arc of their winning and losing. An additional 4 to 8 million are considered problem gamblers.

- Caffeine: It’s the most widely used mood-altering drug in the world and is routinely ingested by about 80% to 90% of Americans, primarily through soda and coffee. A daily brewed cup of joe, with 100 mg of cafferine can lead to physical dependence/ Withdrawal symptoms are experienced by 40% to 70% of those trying to quit.

- Sex: About 16 million Americans suffer from compulsive sexual behavior, the least understood of all addictions. A third are women; about 60% of all sex addicts were abused in childhood. An addict is dependent on the neurochemical changes that take place during sex and is consumed by sexual thoughts.

- Food: An addiction to food effects as many as 4 million U.S adults and is strongly linked to depression. About 15% of mildly obese people are compulsive eaters. Binge eating, thought to be the most common eating dissorder in America, is considered bulimia when a person purges to lose weight.

It’s amazing how all this disorders are dealt with in present day society. Some of them like computer games are over-looked and considered an ok-past time activity. Many of us often neglect them or under-realize all the severe implications they have about our day to day life.
If you have a similar problem or know someone that faces a similar condition you can visit EscapeWoW for professional advice.