Recovery Wiki-Heroin Addiction Recovery

Understanding Heroin Addiction Recovery.

This Wiki is in context to the Non 12 step program developed by Gulf Breeze Recovery called  THRIVE: Total Health Recovery.


Heroin is a highly addictive analgesic drug derived from morphine, often used illicitly as a narcotic producing euphoria.
Also known as: H, horse, skag, junk, sugar, China White, smack, etc

The History of Heroin:

opium was used in ancient times as depicted in sculpture for knowledge base recovery wiki for Gulf Breeze Recovery non 12 step holistic drug and alcohol treatmentHeroin, morphine, and other opiates trace their origins to a single plant—the opium poppy. Cultivation of the plant dates back to the earliest years of human civilization, and opium was used in ancient Mesopotamia. Opium was used both recreationally and as a medicine for centuries. Opium derivatives, including morphine, became widely used pain relievers, particularly in the 1800s. Heroin, too, was first synthesized for medical use.

What is Opium?

Opium comes from the milky sap of a flower called the opium poppy. The earliest reference to opium use and the cultivation of opium poppies comes from Mesopotamia around 3,400 B.C.

Referred to as the “the joy plant.” Opium cultivation spread to the ancient Greeks, Persians and Egyptians. Opium use in ancient Egypt flourished under the reign of King Tutankhamen, around 1333-1324 B.C., and the Greek author Homer referred to opium’s healing powers in the Odyssey.
It was used to help people sleep, to relieve pain and even to calm crying children.

Opium was likely introduced to China and East Asia in the sixth or seventh century A.D. through trade along the Silk Road, which connected the Mediterranean cultures of Europe to central Asia, India and China. The region stretching from Afghanistan and Pakistan eastward into India, Myanmar (Burma) and Thailand still produce much of the world’s opium poppies.

image of opium poppy in the wild for knowledge base recovery wiki for Gulf Breeze Recovery non 12 step holistic drug and alcohol treatment

What are the different types of opiates?

German scientist Friedrich Sertürner first isolated morphine from opium in 1803. Morphine, a very powerful painkiller, is the active narcotic ingredient in opium.

In its pure form, morphine is ten times stronger than opium. The drug was widely used as a painkiller during the U.S. Civil War. As a result, an estimated 400,000 soldiers became addicted.

By the second half of the nineteenth century, scientists had begun to look for a less addictive form of morphine, and in 1874, an English chemist named Alder Wright first refined heroin from a morphine base. The drug was intended to be a safer replacement for morphine.

Morphine is still the precursor to all other opioids, including prescription narcotic painkillers such as codeine, fentanyl, methadone, hydrocodone (Vicodin), hydromorphone (Dilaudid), meperidine (Demerol) and oxycodone (Percocet or Oxycontin).

What were the original medical uses for Heroin?

Before it became a popular recreational drug, heroin was used in medicine until its addictive properties became known.

In the 1890s, German pharmaceutical company Bayer marketed heroin as a morphine substitute and cough suppressant. Bayer promoted heroin for use in children suffering from coughs and colds.

What is "Black Tar" Heroin vs "White Powder" Heroin?

Since the mid-1990s, black tar heroin has been the main type of heroin available west of the Mississippi River. The traditional white powder form dominates the eastern half of the United States.

Black tar heroin typically comes from Mexico, while powder heroin is often imported into the United States from Colombia.

How did Heroin become illegal?

The Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914 was the first major piece of U.S. legislation to control the sale and use of opiates—was passed. The act passed restrictions on the distribution and sale of heroin and opium, as well as cocaine.

Ten years later, Congress made it illegal to make, import or sell heroin when it passed the Anti-Heroin Act of 1924.

What is the current understanding of Heroin
addiction and Withdrawal?

image of young female shooting up heroin (intravenous) for knowledge base recovery wiki for Gulf Breeze Recovery non 12 step holistic drug and alcohol treatment

All opiates, including heroin, morphine and narcotic pain relievers, can cause physical dependence, forcing users to rely on bigger and bigger hits of the drug to prevent withdrawal symptoms. Addiction can have devastating consequences for addicts, their communities and society as a whole.

An estimated 26 million to 36 million people worldwide abuse opiates, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. In the United States, an estimated 2.1 million people abuse prescription opiate pain relievers, and about 467,000 Americans are addicted to heroin.

In recent years, the rates of opiate addiction and opiate-related deaths have risen sharply: In just one year—from 2014 to 2015—the death rate from synthetic opioids increased by 72 percent, and heroin death rates increased by almost 21 percent, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This upsurge in opiate abuse has caused many officials to view the problem as an epidemic in need of a broad range of solutions to curb abuse and overturn the profound effects of opiate addiction.

Much of the information presented above courtesy of History.Com's article HEROIN, MORPHINE AND OPIATES

For a solution based on mindfulness call: (855) 400-6190

Contact Us Now!

Since 1935, there have been great strides taken in the fields of substance abuse, mental health, neuroscience and psychology that can now be applied to non-12 step holistic Heroin addiction and withdrawal treatment.

The main difference between the way Gulf Breeze Recovery’s non-12 step holistic recovery program called THRIVE® Total Health Recovery approaches Heroin addiction treatment and withdrawal vs a traditional program based on the 12-step program originally known as Alcoholics Anonymous is that Gulf Breeze Recovery’s THRIVE® program offers an “inside-out” approach. Those who struggle with heroin or alcohol addiction typically share a common misunderstanding regarding the source of their feelings and experience of life. From this misunderstanding, when people actually believe that situations happening outside themselves are capable of making them feel or experience life in a given manner, it makes absolute sense to take a drink or drug, form or maintain a toxic relationship or do anything else to alter a perceived negative feeling or experience, even become addicted to Heroin. Drinking or using Heroin is simply an innocent but misguided attempt to navigate through the world from an “outside-in” misunderstanding.

When I have no idea where my feelings are coming from, the pain of an uncomfortable feeling can be unbearable.

From an “inside-out” perspective, if I am sad, stressed or angry, I have an understanding that it is my own habitual thinking that is creating the feeling. Does that mean that I no longer have uncomfortable feelings? Absolutely not. It simply means that I know that my thinking is the responsible party. It is not my mom, my job, or a stranger in traffic that is making me feel a certain way; it is my thinking about the person or situation. Because nothing outside of me is creating my feelings, I don’t feel the need to reach for anything outside to alter them. My thinking is a natural, temporary and entirely innocent aspect of my human experience. The feelings that stem from that thinking are not indications that I am somehow not okay. On the contrary, they indicate that I am human and alive. There is no need to alter my feelings. I simply let them pass.

The biggest fear people have initially are getting through Heroin withdrawal.

At Gulf Breeze Recovery's medically licensed detox wing our team of Doctors and Nurses provide licensed medical care for guests experiencing withdrawal 24/7. We have discovered that when performed correctly, the detoxification process can be achieved safely and comfortably. We are a fully licensed medical detoxification recovery facility. To ensure you or your loved one’s safety, our detoxification wing is an acute care zone. Our team of doctors and nurses provide care 24 hours a day seven days a week. We are able to care for you or your loved one immediately upon admissions, which prevents any lapses of care for him or her.

With our THRIVE non-12 step, “inside-out” understanding we replace the drugs and alcohol with something much better.

With our THRIVE® non-12 step, “inside-out” understanding, however, the pain of an uncomfortable feeling becomes like the pain in a muscle while exercising. The pain is natural and I know that the pain is not an indicator of my health or inherent worth or value. I know without a doubt that the uncomfortable feeling is temporary, and that its purpose is simply to wake me up to my own thinking. It is a radically different experience.

This non-12 step alternative to traditional treatment modalities is not only effective as a means to attain sobriety but also as a way to achieve inner peace and happiness. It is a straightforward and sustainable way to achieve joy, experience more positive feelings and be less fearful of uncomfortable feelings. It is a way to finally captain your own ship and improve your whole experience of life itself.

Here Are Three Unscripted Testimonials of Guests Who Overcame Addiction to Heroin:

At Gulf Breeze Recovery we specialize in overcoming chronic relapse to Heroin because our program is different, individualized, and holistic. However, we end up sounding like we are selling when our guests say it so much better in their unscripted testimonials. Here are just a few, for more go to our testimonial page.


End Chronic Relapse and Start a New Life!


Contact Us, or Call: (855) 400-6190