Drug Abuse, Treatment

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Brought to you by Russ Ferstandig, MD. 

 

Addiction is defined as the repeated engaging in behaviors that are detrimental to an individual's well being, and substance abuse and addiction is an increasingly-prevalent problem at the Jersey Shore.

According to statistics recently provided to Patch.com that discussed New Jersey communities with the largest number of reported heroin and opiate abuse cases in 2012, Brick, Toms River, Lacey, Jackson, and Middletown were all in the top 20.

Local law enforcement authorities have told area media outlets that the number of young people seeking treatment for opiate addiction increased "by 12 percent between 2010 and 2011," and myriad reasons have been cited for that, from increased drug purity, to increased availability of certain drugs, to stress from Sandy.
Regardless of the reasons, identifying those who are abusing is important.

This page, brought to you by area psychiatrist Dr. Russ Ferstandig, is meant to arm 94.3 The Point listeners with the information they need to know about the drug abuse problem in Monmouth and Ocean counties, and provide resources for how they can get help.

Listen to Dr. Russ' weekly program Living Better with Dr. Russ on NewsTalk Radio WOBM 1160 and 1310 Saturday morning at 9 a.m.

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To listen to any episode of Living Better with Dr. Russ click HERE and be sure to read all of Dr. Russ' Pearls of Wisdom HERE.


During a recent interview with Lou Russo, Ferstandig told the Point that he offers a unique perspective to help those with addictions.


"Not being someone who was at all prone to addictive behavior, nor a lover of drugs, I mistakenly thought that I could safely try smoking a small amount of freebase cocaine to better understand its impact on people.  Sadly, within about 10 seconds of first smoking a small amount of freebase cocaine, I knew, without doubt, that I had crossed the line from an infrequent casual drug user to someone who was addicted to cocaine.  My life was instantly changed for the worse and started to unravel in just about every way possible.

Fortunately, when one has a strong will, as I do, it is also possible for anyone to dig out of the hole of addiction if they are willing to be totally honest with both themselves and others, and put in the huge amount of personal and relationship work and time necessary to make that transformation back to sober living.  Ironically the process necessary to dig out of a life-consuming addiction is the same process necessary to become the best person possible.

As I dug out of my addiction and worked to reestablish my belief in myself and relationships with family and friends, I found that the same skills and experiences that made me a good psychiatrist could be used to make me a good addiction doctor.  I set out to become as educated as possible in addiction, becoming certified by the American Society Of Addiction Medicine in 1995, the main authority in the addiction world at that time, and then board certified by the newly formed American Board Of Addiction Medicine in 2013," Ferstandig said.

In this segment, Dr. Ferstandig discusses the issue of substance abuse in the area.

He emphasizes that there is often an underlying issue, such as depression, that must be dealt with in addition to addictive behaviors.

In this second interview with Dr. Russ, he explains to Lou Russo about how his treatment approach differs from others.

In this latest interview with Dr. Russ, he discusses the idea of marijuana as a "gateway drug."


Check back to this site regularly for the latest news related to the drug problem in Monmouth and Ocean Counties.

In this segment, Dr. Russ discusses the keys to successful treatment:

Dr. Russ, patient Mary and Lou during a recent interview.

 

 

 

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