Trying to locate appropriate treatments for a loved one, especially finding a program tailored to the particular needs of an individual is a difficult process. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is an accessible resource and maintains a Web site (www.findtreatment.samhsa.gov) that shows the location of residential, outpatient and hospital inpatient programs for drug addiction and alcoholism throughout the country.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Doctors developed cognitive behavioral therapy as a method of preventing relapse when treating a patient with problem drinking. Later cognitive doctors adapted behavioral therapies to help individuals addicted to cocaine. Cognitive behavioral strategies stem from the theory that learning processes play a critical role in the development of maladaptive behavioral patterns. Individuals learn to identify and correct problematic behaviors by applying a range of different skills to stop drug abuse and to address other problems that often exist with it. Therapies for treating alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine and nicotine exist. Cognitive behavioral therapy generally consists of a collection of strategies that aim to enhance self control. Specific techniques include: exploring the positive and negative consequences of continued use, monitoring oneself to recognize drug cravings early on and to identify risky situations for use and developing strategies for coping with and avoiding risky situations associated with the desire to use. A central element of cognitive behavioral therapy is anticipating problems and helping patients develop effective coping strategies. Research indicates that the skills individuals learn through cognitive behavioral approaches remain in use after the completion of treatment. In several studies, most people who choose a cognitive behavioral approach to recovery showed progress throughout the following year. Current research focuses on how to produce effects that are even more powerful by combining cognitive behavioral therapy with medications for drug abuse and with other types of behavioral therapies. Researchers are also evaluating how best to train treatment providers to deliver cognitive behavioral therapy.

Epiderme

Epiderme is the one-stop for skin care. Moisturizers help keep skin youthful with elasticity. The epidermis is the outer layer of the skin. The epidermis helps the skin to regulate body temperature. The epidermis with the dermis forms the cutis. The epidermis is composed of four to five layers of skin, depending on the region of skin. The epidermis contains no blood vessels and nourishment of cells is by diffusion in the deepest layers from blood capillaries extending to the upper layers of the dermis. The amount and distribution of melanin pigment in the epidermis results in skin color variation in Homo sapiens. Melanin is in the small melanosomes, particles formed in melanocytes from surrounding keratinocytes. The size, number and arrangement of the melansomes varies between racial groups, but while the number of melanocytes can vary between different body regions, the number of melansomes remain the same in individual body regions in all human beings. In white and oriental skin, the melansomes aggregate but are small in size. Comparatively, in black skin, the melansomes are larger and distributed more evenly. The number of melansomes in the keratinocytes increases with UV radiation exposure, while their distribution remains largely unaffected.

Sensitive Skin

Sensitive skin is a thin or a fine-textured skin that reacts quickly to both heat and cold and therefore sunburns and windburns easily. It is commonly dry, delicate and prone to allergic reactions. Temperature changes, some detergents, cosmetics and alcohol (used on the skin) can all cause irritation, leaving the skin red and blotchy, with visible surface veins. The skin is the largest organ of the human body. Its size (about 20 square feet on an average sized adult) and external location make it susceptible to a wide variety of diseases, disorders, discolorations and growths, as well as to damage from the environment and the aging process.