First responders endanger their lives to be of service to others, but in doing so, they are often at risk to becoming addicted to alcohol and drugs. To begin with, what is a first responder? They are trained professionals who arrive first at the scene of an emergency.

While we are driving, we might hear sirens, and pull over to the right side of the street to let ambulances, fire trucks, and police cars zoom by. Inside those vehicles are first responders, en route to a critical situation. When such an event occurs, there is no time to spare. These courageous men and women must get to the scene of the emergency as fast as possible. Imagine the stress that they are in, knowing that the lives of civilians depend on them!

While they bear the immense responsibility of saving lives, at times, they might be too late. Sometimes death has already occurred, as in the case of a reported homicide. Besides law enforcement, other first responders include paramedics and firemen, combat veterans, park rangers, corrections officers, emergency medical technicians (EMT’s) and other rescue workers.

While these brave men and women are highly trained to deal with horrifying events, they are still human beings with emotions. Because of their work, some experience posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), trauma, and other co-occurring disorders, so they resort to using and/or drinking to camouflage their distress. When veterans return home from combat operations, they carry deep and dark wounds within. Sometimes they go into shock, and feel cut off from the rest of “normal society.” That’s when PTSD, often followed by substance abuse, develops or worsens.

Symptoms of PTSD in First Responders

PTSD symptoms include recurring nightmares, flashbacks, and intrusive, upsetting memories, stemming from their experiences while overseas. According to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, veterans who have been affected by PTSD include 31% of those who served in Vietnam, 10% of the military that served in Desert Storm, 20% of Iraqi war veterans, and 11% of veterans from the war in Afghanistan.

Once afflicted with PTSD, war veterans are privy to depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideations. Reliving a horrifying memory can cause panic attacks and intense depression. According to a 2015 Vanity Fair article on PTSD and the military, many soldiers reported that seeing other people die, including the enemy is one of the more traumatic events that they have ever experienced in their lives.

Outliving the incident, while others die, is called survivor’s guilt, which is a feeling that other first responders are privy to experiencing, especially if they were not able to save those whose lives were in danger, or if they are confronted with a homicide that occurred after they were alerted of a posing danger to life.

The Need for Addiction Help for First Responders

Resorting to drugs, alcohol and tobacco provides temporary relief, until substance addiction sets in. For first responders, admitting that they have been traumatized by their experiences can be taken as a sign of weakness, and some are at risk for losing their badges or jobs by disclosing that they need help. And their fears are not far from the truth.

According to a 45th Space Wing News article, illicit drug use among active military personnel remains at a low level, most likely because of the military’s zero tolerance policy towards drug use. Random drug testing is often conducted among active military personnel to ensure that this strict policy remains in effect. Discovery leads to humiliation, and a dishonorable discharge. However, while abuse of illicit drugs remains at a low, abuse of prescription drugs is greater among service members than among the public and it’s getting worse.

Additionally, the work of a first responder is physically hazardous, and when harmed on the job, painkillers are often prescribed. Once the injured individuals realize that their painkiller provides temporary relief for their emotional, as well as physical pain, an opiate addiction is right around the corner. Another huge issue that first responders face is alienation from society.

According to the Killology Research Group, law enforcement and solders are part of a subculture, where civilians are known as sheep. Criminals, and the enemy are the wolves. And the police, and veterans are sheep dogs that protect the sheep from the wolves. While this is a great metaphor, one notices the invisible wall that divides these “warriors” from the rest of society.

Drug Rehab for First Responders

When it comes to substance addiction, first responders require clinical, evidence-based treatment for their substance abuse, and co-occurring disorders. Additionally, peer support is crucial in healing feelings of loneliness and despair. It’s important for licensed professionals who work with first responders to have the experience and compassion that is required.

At Cycles of Change Recovery Services, we are sensitive to the needs of the brave men and women who risk their lives on a daily basis in order to be of service to civilians in danger. Our addiction center for first responders offers the specialized treatment that you require. Our clinical team will provide you with an individualized treatment plan that will help you recover from the damages of substance abuse, as well as mental health issues like PTSD, trauma, and stress.

Therapy Methods for PTSD Treatment

Our evidence-based modalities include cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), a problem-focused and goal directed therapy, behavior modification counseling, dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), motivational interviewing, which implements change in high-risk lifestyle behaviors, and bio-sound therapy which focuses on helping clients with trauma.
Learning relaxation techniques can help first responders control stress, as well as the onset of panic. We offer meditation and yoga to help clients get grounded, alleviate stress and feel inner peace.
Additionally, many first responders experience shame, and regret. At Cycles of Change, we implement a 12-step approach, where our clients find inner serenity by connecting to a Higher Power of their understanding. Our 12-step processing workshops allow clients to make peace with their pasts, remove feelings of guilt, learn how to live in the moment and feel hope for the future, knowing that recovery will provide their lives with new meaning, and fortify them with a strength that comes from working the steps.

We offer critical incident stress management (CSIM), which caters to the needs of first responders, as well as safety sensitive clients.

Locations in Palmdale, CA and Las Vegas, NV

While based in Palmdale, California, we maintain a satellite facility in Las Vegas, Nevada, which provides comprehensive assessments, and transportation to one of our gorgeous Antelope Valley facilities.

We believe that the brave men and women who do so much for our community, and our country require compassionate, comprehensive and professional care.

We look forward to your call.

For more information, visit our Las Vegas location page to learn more about our program.

According to a 2015 Los Angeles Times article, a young college graduate died of an overdose from the synthetic drug, MDMA, commonly known as Ecstasy, while attending the Electric Daisy Carnival rave at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Raves are huge dance parties featuring electronic dance music, DJ’s and often live performers. The word, Rave, was first used in the late 1980’s, when ecstasy was referred to as a “soft drug” and taking Ecstasy made individuals feel less self-conscious and more social.  Also, rave attendees became less inhibited while dancing and socializing, so raves became chaotic, noisy and crowded affairs held in rundown, vacated buildings.

By the 1990’s when there were countless raves across the nation, the drug Ecstasy became synonymous with attending a rave. Raves and Ecstasy are a dangerous combination, and after Ecstasy was linked to countless deaths, the drug fell out of favor for a period of time. And lately, Ecstasy has been making a comeback, because raves have become major commercial events, almost like rock concerts, and are held in large venues, like the Carnival at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Since the Electric Daisy Carnival rave moved from Los Angeles to Las Vegas in 2011, there have been five reported deaths resulting from MDMA overdose.

One of the reasons that the rave moved, was due to a Los Angeles Times investigation which discovered that security at the rave was highly inadequate, and that clients participating in the rave were prone to rampant drug and alcohol use.

In 2016, the San Bernardino County Sheriff Coroner’s Division ruled that the deaths of three attendees at July’s HARD Music Festival in San Bernardino, California, had died from ecstasy overdose.

Additionally, the two-day rave that hosted 146,000 people only had nine medical transports!

So while these companies are trying to create the illusion that raves are now legit, some companies don’t provide the proper security, or first aid personnel that is required during these large, moneymaking events.

MDMA affects the brain quickly. Users swallow a pill or in some cases, snort a powder form of the drug, to achieve euphoria. MDMA supposedly makes people feel “love.” MDMA use can lead to acute dehydration or exhaustion, and combined with nonstop dancing, the user might collapse, become comatose and die.

When mixed with alcohol or other drugs, the probability of a fatality rises dramatically.

One of the most frightening aspects of Ecstasy use at raves is that an individual might be having an adverse reaction to the drug, but friends or other rave attendees might not notice, thanks to the loud music, a crowded dance floor and flashing neon lights. And if they took MDMA themselves, chances are that they are caught up in their own high.

That spells a tragic situation in the making.

Emergency rooms visits from adolescents and young people due to ecstasy abuse have risen, and as of 2016, Ecstasy deaths have quadrupled.

Ecstasy’s street names include X, E, XTC, Molly, Love Drug, Scooby snacks, and happy pill.

MDMA is classified as a Schedule 1 drug, a category that also includes heroin, cocaine and LSD.  The drug’s chemical compound parallels Methamphetamine and the hallucinogen Mescaline.

When taken moderately, MDMA provides feelings of bliss, enhanced awareness and get-up-and-go, which is another reason that the drug is connected to raves.  Heavier doses can lead to hallucinations, intense paranoia, depression, and aggression.

Ecstasy can permanently damage the neurons that transmit serotonin to other neurons inside the brain. Since serotonin is a mood stabilizer, a lack of this crucial monoamine neurotransmitter leads to feelings of hopelessness and despair, and long-term ecstasy use leads to permanent feelings of clinical depression.

The National Institute of Mental Health reports that during the teenage years, the brain is still under development. The teenage brain does not look like an adult brain until the adolescent is in his or her early 20’s. Since brain-imaging research concludes that long term MDMA use causes permanent injury to the brain, adolescents are particularly vulnerable to its devastating effects.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse reported that the brains of research monkeys that had not been given Ecstasy for seven years exhibited abnormal brains that revealed a major loss of serotonin neurons.

Additionally, long-term MDMA users are prone to liver failure. And those feelings of “love?” Well, that can cause users to engage in unsafe sex, which can lead to them getting or conveying HIV/AIDs or hepatitis.

MDMA takes effect between 30 and 45 minutes after ingestion, and on an average the high lasts between three and four hours. People with an empty stomach will typically feel a buzz after 15 minutes. Overdose symptoms include a sharp increase in body temperature, which can trigger a complete breakdown of muscles, as well as heart failure.

A recent article in The Guardian, a British newspaper, reported that young women are more prone to dying from MDMA than men. This is an interesting phenomenon because the ratio of men and women taking Ecstasy is 2:1. Studies indicate that the strength of the pills is much higher these days, making the drug more toxic. The UK Daily Mall reported that the chemical in MDMA can lead to water retention, and females are more susceptible to death because of how the chemical in Ecstasy interacts with a woman’s metabolism and the hormone estrogen.

In 2016, a young woman died of Ecstasy after her brain became full of water. Chances were that she became dehydrated, and drank water, which inadvertently caused her death.

On an Ecstasy forum, a young woman posted that 30 minutes after she took a pill, she thought she was going to lose her mind. Many of her friends laughed at her, but luckily she survived a “bad trip” and swore that she would never take Ecstasy again.

Research is still in the works, but it appears that women are more vulnerable to the harmful effects of taking MDMA.

Ecstasy withdrawals that result from long term abuse include depression, (which in many cases is irreversible), agitation, insomnia, memory problems, and lack of concentration.

Physical symptoms include nausea, chills, blurred vision, teeth clenching, rapid eye movement, and muscle tension.

There is a naïve belief among some users that Ecstasy is not dangerous, and that it’s safe to take. The truth is that Ecstasy is volatile, dangerous and deadly.  A professor from the Kings College’s, Drug Control Centre in London summed up Ecstasy use perfectly, by saying, “Taking Ecstasy is like playing Russian roulette.”

Get help with Cycles of Change Recovery Services today.

Often in recovery, we will hear the term co-occurring disorders.

What exactly does that term mean?

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA), co-occurring disorders, previously referred to as dual diagnoses, are the co-existence of both mental health and a substance abuse disorder.

Mental health disorders that often come into play with substance abuse and addiction include depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), schizophrenia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

According to Psychology Today, examples of co-occurring disorders include combinations of depression and cocaine, depression and opiate addiction, anxiety and benzodiazepine addiction, schizophrenia and marijuana addiction, opiate addiction, PTSD, and anxiety cocaine addiction. These groupings can include other mental health and/or chemical substances.

These mental health disorders are often challenging to diagnose while a person is actively drinking and/or using because many chemical substances can promote depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, and other mental illnesses.

Initially, addicts might experience relief from their depression and anxiety by drinking and/or using. But after they develop a tolerance to their drug of choice, the drug stops making them feel good and backstabs them. This makes addicts drink or use more in a desperate effort to feel good. But often, they end up feeling more depressed. Then, they might resort to ingesting even more or adding another drug to their chemical cocktail.  At that point, they might overdose or die.

Another important factor to address when it comes to co-occurring disorders is that it is often difficult to discern if the mental illness or the substance abuse disorder came first.

This dilemma parallels the “What came first? The chicken or the egg?”

Like I did, some self-medicate with drugs and/or alcohol to alleviate symptoms of depression and anxiety. Sometimes addicts shop around from drug to medicine until they find the right fit. Basically, that’s how I “coped” with my own mental illness. I tried speed, moved onto codeine, and then experimented with heroin. Luckily, I only tried heroin twice, thanks to experiencing horrifying withdrawal symptoms. Shortly after that, I was introduced to cocaine while I was bartending in a club on the Upper West Side in New York City. Somehow, I could afford my habit, and after several years, cocaine pulled a number on me.

My last coke experience reminded me of the 1979 sci-fi film, Alien, starring Sigourney Weaver. During the film, Kane (played by John Hurt) becomes the host for the Alien, a creature that later bursts out of his chest.

During my last rendezvous with cocaine, I truly believed that I had a rat scuffling around, underneath my rib cage, inside my chest cavity. I know that sounds crazy, but that’s what I imagine. I honestly thought that the rat would burst out of my torso just like the Alien erupted out of Kane!

Instead of getting clean, I shopped around for another drug.

I did not care for hallucinogens. I tried acid once and had a bad experience. And, I wasn’t keen on marijuana.

So that’s how I ended up an alcoholic.

Years later, when I saw a psychiatrist in Brentwood, California, I did not tell him that I was an alcoholic. He diagnosed me with OCD and prescribed Celexa, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), along with Cymbalta.

I am sure my meds did not mix well with the booze.

Four years after I got sober, another psychiatrist diagnosed me with bipolar disorder. She made a more accurate diagnosis because I did not have a substance abuse disorder masking my mental health issue.

And there are some addicts whose substance abuse disorder precedes their mental illness.

Ecstasy is a good example of a drug that can cause depression or anxiety because chronic abuse of that particular drug leads to a permanent mood disorder.

Clients with co-occurring disorders are more challenging to treat than those with just substance abuse or mental health disorder.  These individuals are more vulnerable to relapse, but once they get clean and sober, their mental health issues can worsen without proper treatment.

The bottom line is that newly clean and sober addicts who suffer from co-occurring disorders require clinical, evidence-based care. And it’s hard to find the right care. Just going to a therapist who has no clue about substance abuse or only participating in a traditional peer recovery group might not be enough.

Clinical, evidence-based treatment addresses both substance abuse and mental health disorder. This treatment program ideally includes group and individual therapy, participation in a peer recovery program, life skills coaching, and experiential therapies, including psychodrama, bio-sound therapy (for trauma), art therapy, and music therapy.

Evidence-based practices include cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and motivational interviewing.

CBT is used to treat mood disorders like depression and anxiety. Clients are taught to challenge damaging thought patterns about themselves and their negative thinking about the world.  CBT uses a hands-on, practical approach. Addicts tend to get lost in their heads and often hate themselves. Sometimes their self-esteem is so destroyed that they feel like the world hates them.

While they might have undergone a toxic relationship with a parent or partner or are experiencing estrangement from a loved one, their negative feelings about the world are not based on reality.

CBT helps them change negative thinking into positive attitudes and behavior. Usually, CBT is combined with psychotherapy, which allows the therapist to create an individualized treatment plan for each client.

Participation in a peer recovery program, like AA/NA, helps addicts receive ample support. By learning to rely on a Higher Power and each other, addicts learn how to maintain their sobriety one day at a time.

A comprehensive clinical, evidence-based program will offer 12 steps, processing groups. The staff takes clients to AA/NA meetings and helps them work through their actions. Often therapists and addiction counselors are in recovery themselves, and under their guidance, clients are wisely educated on the 12 steps.

It is also important to remember that AA founder Bill Wilson suffered from depression. After he got sober, he searched for help outside the 12 steps.

Many AA members were disturbed by Wilson’s depression, and some actually said that Wilson was not working the program! Even Wilson himself believed the same thing and said,

“I used to be rather a guilt-ridden about this…I blamed myself for inability to practice the program in certain areas of my life.”

Depression is a mental illness and requires the help of licensed professionals.

Even the Big Book, which Bill Wilson co-authored with Dr. Bob Smith, says, “We are convinced that a spiritual mode of living is a most powerful health restorative. … But this does not mean that we disregard human health measures. … Though God has wrought miracles among us, we should never belittle a good doctor or psychiatrist. Their services are indispensable in treating a newcomer and in following his case afterward.” 

That excerpt alone reiterates the fact that clients with co-occurring disorders require dual diagnosis support.  By participating in a comprehensive, evidence-based program, they have an excellent chance of maintaining their sobriety, rebuilding their lives, and truly comprehending the beauty of recovery.

Las Vegas Satellite Drug and Alcohol Recovery Satellite Office