Addiction Resources

Fentanyl has become one of the deadliest drugs in the United States, driving overdose numbers to levels that were unimaginable just a decade ago.

Heroin is made from morphine, a natural compound found in the opium poppy. Through a chemical process called acetylation, morphine is converted into diacetylmorphine, which is the technical name for heroin.

Heroin is a highly addictive opioid derived from morphine. It’s classified as a Schedule I controlled substance in the U.S., meaning it’s illegal, has no accepted medical use, and carries a high risk of abuse and addiction. 

Alcoholism doesn’t happen overnight. Often, it’s a gradual problem that emerges over time and due to various factors. For some people, alcohol dependency is linked to genetics and environmental stress. For others, it begins as a way to cope with trauma, mental health struggles, or social pressure - then slowly turns into a physical and emotional dependence. Family history, brain chemistry, cultural expectations, and life circumstances also all play a role in who develops alcohol use disorder and why.

Feeling anxious from time to time is completely normal. However, when these symptoms begin to interfere with everyday life, anxiety can become a problem—and disrupt your ability to function. This can signify that an anxiety disorder is at play. ‍With chronic anxiety, the unfortunate truth is that many people turn to unhealthy means to cope - including substance use. This can lead down a slippery slope toward addiction, causing even more issues. Below, we explore the intricate link between anxiety disorders and addiction and the treatment options available.

‍When you’re struggling with addiction—or supporting someone who is—knowing where to turn locally can make all the difference. 

With access to the right resources and care, recovery is possible. Whether you’re just starting recovery, helping someone you love, or staying strong in your sobriety, Richmond offers various support and resources to help you every step of the way.

Inpatient rehab is a form of addiction treatment where you live on-site at a facility and receive 24/7 medical and therapeutic care.

While rehab offers a safe and supportive environment to get sober, integrating back into your daily life may involve new challenges and temptations. Fortunately, there are many ways to prepare for this and avoid or manage your triggers. 

Relapse is a common part of the recovery journey, and experiencing a setback doesn’t erase the strength or progress you’ve built along the way. In fact, research shows that up to 85% of people in recovery experience at least one relapse in the first year. 

For many individuals, maintaining sobriety is a lifelong commitment that requires ongoing effort, support, and awareness. While completing a rehabilitation program is a significant achievement, the path to lasting recovery often includes challenges and potential setbacks - including relapse.

Relapse is a common part of the recovery process. About 40-60% of individuals experience a relapse at some point in their recovery journey. But post-relapse, it can feel as though you’ve failed or let yourself (and maybe others) down. You might question your progress. You might feel unsure about the next step.

When people think about drug withdrawal, they often picture illegal substances. But the truth is that some of the most challenging withdrawals come from medications prescribed by your very own doctor. Prescription drug withdrawal can happen to anyone, even those who take their medication exactly as directed.

Detox is often the first step in recovering from a substance use disorder. This is when the body clears out the abused drugs or alcohol. The purpose of supervision and monitoring during this detox phase is to help you get through withdrawal safely and as comfortably as possible.‍

Your last day of rehab may bring about a strange mix of feelings all at once - you might feel pride, relief, nerves, and more. And perhaps in the depths of your mind, there’s a voice wondering, “What now?”

When someone you love enters inpatient rehab, you may wonder how visiting works - and even if it’s possible. After all, being separated from someone you care about may come with a mixed bag of emotions, including loneliness, uncertainty, sadness, pain, and more.

Deciding to enter inpatient rehab is a big and brave step to take. But once that decision is made and you’re ready to accept help, the question may quickly become: What do I bring? 

Outpatient rehab is a form of addiction treatment where you attend scheduled therapy and support sessions during the day and return home afterward.

Our phones have almost become an extension of us. It can feel daunting to think about handing it over to someone else and being cut off from the world. So, can you bring your phone to rehab?

‍When you think about relapse, you might picture major stressors, conflict, old friends, or difficult memories playing a major part. But triggers aren’t necessarily loud and obvious. In fact, boredom is a relapse trigger for many, and it’s often unexpected.

‍Recovery is hard work, and staying sober requires ongoing effort, commitment, and support. But even when you’re doing everything right—attending meetings, working with a therapist, or building healthy habits—life has a way of throwing curveballs. Bills pile up. Relationships get complicated. Work demands feel endless. And before you know it, stress becomes a constant companion. 

If you’re in recovery, you’ve likely felt how hard and fast cravings can hit, sometimes without warning. They might show up during a stressful day at work, when boredom creeps in, or as you pass a place associated with your past habits. In early recovery, these moments can feel especially overwhelming, since your usual ways of coping are no longer an option.

‍In the midst of addiction, recovery can feel next-to-impossible. For many, they’ve tried to stop on their own but cravings and withdrawal symptoms have continued to fuel the cycle of addiction. And maybe this sounds all-too-familiar. However, recovery is possible; you don’t have to do it alone.

For many people, the hardest part of getting help isn’t admitting they need it; it’s worrying about how they’ll afford it.

GHB was once sold openly in health food stores as a workout supplement and sleep aid, and it even occurs naturally in the human body in tiny amounts. But this everyday reputation is exactly what makes it so easy to underestimate. And it doesn’t mean there isn’t any risk.

PCP addiction can feel isolating and frightening. However, it is treatable. And recovery is absolutely possible with the right support. 

K2 and Spice are often marketed as a safe, legal alternative to marijuana. But they’re neither. And in many cases, they’re far more dangerous. 

Inhalants sit in kitchen cabinets, garages, or under bathroom sinks, making them particularly accessible to anyone, including teens and young adults.

What looks like a harmless party trick - a balloon, a quick laugh, a buzz that’s gone in a minute - has quickly become one of the fastest-growing and most misunderstood inhalant problems in the country.

For many individuals in recovery, winter is more than just cold and dark. As the days get shorter and the sun disappears before dinner, anyone’s mood and energy can plummet alongside it. But for those in recovery, staying sober can feel that much harder, too.

Finishing a residential program is a huge milestone. But it’s just the start of your recovery, not the finish line. 

Individual therapy is a private, one-on-one conversation between you and a licensed therapist, revolving around the specific thoughts, triggers, and experiences driving your substance use. This is where the real work of recovery happens.

When you or someone you love is in crisis, knowing who to call shouldn’t be the hard part. Sadly, it often is. 

Short Pump has grown fast, from farmland and a single crossroads a few decades ago to Short Pump Town Center, West Broad Village, and established neighborhoods like Wyndham and Twin Hickory. It’s become one of the busiest parts of western Henrico.

Mechanicsville sits at an old crossroads, and it still feels that way. In this Hanover County community, you know your neighbors, coach each other’s kids, and see familiar faces at the shops along Mechanicsville Turnpike.

With its coal-mining heritage, Midlothian is a primarily family-friendly area in Virginia, featuring cul-de-sacs and strategic urban design. But this doesn’t mean everyone is doing well. Addiction can happen to anyone.

St. Mary’s has been on Bremo Road since 1966, and most people in Richmond’s West End have a memory of some kind tied to it—such as a baby born or a grandparent’s heart surgery.

Being at any hospital or medical center, including VCU Medical Center, has a way of making things impossible to ignore. Maybe it was an emergency room visit. Or a night in a hospital bed. Or a phone call about someone you love.

You’ve made the hardest decision of your life. And now everyone around you seems to have feelings about what happens next. Your family wants the “old you” back. They’re watching. Hoping. Sometimes hovering. And underneath your own hard work of staying sober, you may be carrying the weight of trying desperately not to disappoint anyone. 

Addiction can trample friendships and relationships, leaving a lack of social support in its wake. On top of this, many friendships may be based around substance use. This means that after rehab, these relationships aren’t worth keeping, and doing so can often be harmful and triggering for the individual in recovery.

When a panic attack hits, you just want it to stop. And drugs or alcohol may seem like an easy way to quiet this internal alarm. But as time goes on, substance use can actually make anxiety and panic attacks worse.

Maybe withdrawal has been harder than you expected. Or maybe you miss your family, you’re worried about work, or you’re starting to feel better and wonder if you still even need to be in rehab.

Recovery capital is the sum of all the internal and external resources, such as your health, coping skills, relationships, housing, and sense of purpose, that you can draw on to start and sustain recovery from addiction.

Some people assume that after several days of detox, they can handle the rest from there. This is a common misconception: you feel clearer than you have in months and assume the rest will be easy from this point onward. But the truth is, medical detox is only the beginning.

You’ve made the decision to get help—or maybe you’re close to making it—but now your mind won’t stop racing. Where will I sleep? Will they take my phone? Will everyone judge me the moment I walk in? 

Drug addiction is layered with secrecy, shame, the fear of being judged, and more. In turn, many facing the struggles of addiction feel isolated. Yet, isolation only feeds addiction, which is where group support can be an invaluable part of your recovery journey.

Maybe you’ve been thinking about attending your first AA meeting. Or maybe you’ve been to a few before and are simply looking for one closer to home. Either way, walking into a room full of strangers and talking about something personal can feel intimidating.

12-step programs work by combining a structured sequence of steps with regular peer-support meetings and one-on-one guidance from a sponsor. Together, these elements help you move from honestly acknowledging your addiction to repairing past harm, and eventually, toward maintaining lasting recovery. 

Your heart beats around 100,000 times a day, and it never gets a single moment off. But substance use can place varying degrees of stress on this vital organ. And it’s not something that should be taken lightly. Ongoing substance abuse may lead to heart issues and even heart failure.

Around the clock, your liver filters your blood, clears out toxins, and helps your body repair itself. However, drug or alcohol use can place excessive strain on this organ, often without any warning signs until the damage is done.

Tapering simply means stepping down gradually instead of stopping all at once, giving your body the time it needs to adjust.

PHP, IOP, or OP—which should you or a loved one chose? And what does these acronyms stand for anyway? 

Detox is one of the most difficult hurdles in recovery. Completing it, however, is a major accomplishment—one that should be celebrated.

It’s undeniably hard to watch someone you love disappear into addiction while they insist nothing is wrong. You can see where it’s heading, you’ve pleaded, you’ve lost sleep—and still they refuse help. 

Harm reduction is about keeping people safe and alive, even before they’re ready to stop using substances.

In many cases, isolation may offer some form of protection. It can feel safer than being seen, judged, or asked the hard questions. But over time, this retreat becomes one of the biggest threats to lasting sobriety and change.

Getting sober is a huge achievement. This deserves recognition. But it doesn’t mean you’re recovered. 

The short answer is that the length of brain fog varies from person to person. Most often, the worst of it happens during the early days of recovery.

As a society, we rely on first responders. They are the first people there when disaster strikes or an emergency hits. 

Finances can be, well, stressful, even without substance use involved. It may make it difficult to relax or even reach out for help, especially when you need it the most.

Narcan can be found in pharmacies, schools, public buildings, and even vending machines. Its positive impact is undeniable as it’s saved countless lives. But this doesn’t mean it’s well understood.

For thousands of years, Indigenous cultures around the world used these substances in spiritual and healing ceremonies. In fact, hallucinogens generally have a rich and versatile history. So, let’s take a closer look.

Many quickly assume hallucinogens are all-natural substances. This goes hand in hand with the assumption that they’re all safe. But both of these statements depend on the specific hallucinogen. 

Online, fake news tends to spread fast. In forums and other corners of the internet, you’ve probably read claims indicating hallucinogens are safe or “impossible to overdose on.” While some of this is true, it doesn’t mean they don’t come without risks.

Maybe you’ve watched your parents, a sibling, or another close relative struggle with addiction. You’ve seen the spiral and experienced the rollercoaster of emotions first-hand. So, if addiction happened to someone who shares the same genes as you, could it happen to you?

In short, yes, Narcan® (naloxone) works on heroin overdoses. It rapidly reverses the effects by displacing heroin from the opioid receptors in the brain that control breathing, often restoring normal breathing within 2 to 3 minutes.

There’s no exact dose of heroin that’s guaranteed to kill, but for someone with no opioid tolerance, as little as 30 milligrams of pure heroin can be fatal.

Heroin comes from the opium poppy, a flowering plant grown mostly in Mexico, Colombia, and parts of Asia. The plant produces a milky sap that’s processed into morphine, then chemically converted into heroin in man-made labs.

Maybe someone you love is using meth, or maybe you are, and you want to know what can actually help in an emergency. 

Meth was first synthesized in 1893 by a Japanese chemist, and it was never intended to become what it is now. It started as a pharmaceutical experiment but ended up becoming one of the most addictive substances in the world. So, how did this happen? 

Meth (methamphetamine) is a synthetic stimulant built from a precursor chemical (usually pseudoephedrine or a compound called phenyl-2-propanone or P2P) combined with a mix of industrial poisons, such as drain cleaner, battery acid, lithium pulled from batteries, lantern fuel, and more. The specific ingredient mix depends on where and how a batch is cooked. But it’s safe to say that none of these chemicals should end up in the human body.

Technically, there’s no safe amount of meth. However, the dose most often cited as lethal is around 200 milligrams for someone with no tolerance, but people have died from far less, sometimes from a single first-time use. 

The meth being used in America today isn’t the same meth that existed 10 or 15 years ago. It’s stronger, purer, and comes from a completely different place than decades ago.

Narcan (naloxone hydrochloride) has saved countless lives. But it, unfortunately, won’t reverse a cocaine overdose.

Cocaine is a powerful and highly addictive stimulant. It’s devastated communities and claimed countless lives. But its story didn’t start here. Surprisingly, it began thousands of years ago in the Andes mountains in South America. 

Most people know cocaine as a white powder — something that shows up in news headlines, Hollywood movies, and addiction stories.

Cocaine is one of the most dangerous and widely misused substances in the United States. While it is often glamorized in pop culture, the reality is that cocaine can kill. And it can do so quickly, unpredictably, and without warning. 

Cocaine is one of the most recognized and destructive illegal drugs in the world. But most people know very little about where it actually comes from. 

In short, yes, Narcan can reverse a fentanyl overdose. 

Fentanyl was invented in 1960, more than six decades ago, by a Belgian pharmacologist named Paul Janssen. At the time, it was hailed as a significant step forward in pain medicine. 

Fentanyl is involved in the majority of overdose deaths in the United States, touching communities of every size, background, and income level.

Fentanyl often ends up in the hands of people who never intended to take it. It’s frequently found in counterfeit pills, in cocaine, and in substances people thought were something else entirely. 

A lethal dose of fentanyl can be as little as two milligrams, an amount so small it would barely cover the tip of a pencil.

Yes, Cigna does cover drug and alcohol rehab.

Fentanyl has reshaped communities, overwhelmed emergency rooms, and driven overdose deaths to record highs. But even as fentanyl dominates headlines, many people aren’t entirely sure what it is—or how it fits into the broader category of drugs known as opioids.

Worrying about money shouldn’t stop someone from getting the help they need, which is why it matters to know what your insurance actually covers.

Cost is one of the biggest reasons people put off getting treatment. But the truth is that many Anthem BCBS members in Virginia have coverage that includes substance use treatment.

Benzodiazepines are among the most widely prescribed medications in the country, but that doesn’t mean they leave your body quickly. Depending on the specific drug, how often it was used, and the type of test being administered, benzos can remain detectable anywhere from a single day to several weeks. 

The high from meth is intense but brief. The drug itself, however, stays in your body far longer than most people expect. 

Hallucinogens are a broad and varied group of substances, and how long they stay in your system depends on which drug was used, how much, how often, and what kind of test is being administered. 

Maybe you took someone else’s Adderall to get through a deadline. Or maybe you’ve had a prescription for years, and lately you’ve been taking more than you should. Or maybe you just want to know how long it stays in your system before a drug test. 

Most people expect early recovery to feel like relief. And in some ways, it does—but it also tends to feel raw, unpredictable, and emotionally exhausting in ways that can catch you off guard. 

Perhaps it’s been years since you’ve used. You’re pretty far into your recovery journey. And maybe life is stable. It’s good right now. You have people you care about and who care about you. You have a career. But suddenly, you experience that familiar nudge. A craving comes out of nowhere.

A birthday. A holiday. The anniversary of a loss—or the anniversary of getting sober. These dates carry more emotional weight than we give them credit for, and for people in recovery, this weight can show up as something unexpected, a craving. 

When most people think about addiction recovery, they often imagine simply not using anymore. And yes, sobriety is your foundation. Yet, it’s not the starting line. 

In certain situations, it can be tough to know if you have a problem. You might not fit the regular profile of an addict. You might not even use every day.

“You’re not the same person anymore. ”Maybe you heard this from an old friend or a loved one. And it’s okay if it stung a little.

Wondering if you can afford rehab can add stress to an already stressful situation. And untangling the insurance lingo and fine print can be really difficult when you’re in the midst of addiction.

Maybe you’ve thought about getting help. And maybe you’ve even looked into it. But then the same worry creeps in: What happens to my job? 

Addiction can feel isolating. You may struggle to reach out for help, perhaps because it’s hard to admit you have a problem or you don’t want to disappoint those you love. Whatever the reason, many people find the first step is the hardest.