An addiction to drugs is a very complex illness to deal with. Choosing the best treatment option for a drug addict should not be taken lightly. Addiction to illegal substances has so many dimensions and affects so many aspects of an addict’s mind and body that treatment is not as simple as going cold turkey. Contrary to what some may think that it is not as easy as just abstaining from using drugs. There are actually many components included in each step of the treatment of drug addiction and each of these is aimed towards treating the effects of the addiction on the body. Some require repeated treatments in order to recover fully.
The recovery will involve episodes of strong cravings for drugs that a drug addict will most probably succumb to, even if he or she is aware of the grave consequences. This is the reason why when considering treatment options, you should make sure to pick one that best matches the personality of the addict.. If you think that they have the tendency to give in to cravings easily then you might benefit from having your withdrawal and detox done in a medically supervised facility. If tehy are not a long time user and you believe that they can survive detox in the company of somebody you trust then you can consider other options.
Approaches to Drug Treatment
Medication
The use of medication that were specially formulated to suppress cravings, reduce the severity of withdrawal symptoms will be very effective for those who have been using for a long time. Medication will help manage the extreme highs and lows that drug addicts experience as they go through withdrawal and this has shown to increase the success of their recovery from addiction.
Methadone and buprenorphine are 2 of the most effective medications that help suppress cravings. These medications makes recovering addicts more receptive to behavioral treatments that accompany the recovery process. However, these medications also have their own risks. They both are synthetic opiates. Rather than getting off of a drug, this method involves replacing one addiction with another addiction. Methadone is actually more addictive than heroin, and because of its longer half-life (meaning it stays in your body longer), it is actually easier to overdose on it.
For someone who has been a long time user, these sort of treatment options might be the only ones that can help them deal with the severe withdrawal they would otherwise experience. For others, just detoxing completely will be a much better recovery solution. Although the withdrawal will still be uncomfortable, there are a lot of supplements for opiate withdrawal on the market, such as Elimidrol, that can help provide some relief for some of the withdrawal symptoms. These opiate withdrawal supplements will help make the detox bearable, so that the addict can get the drugs out of their system. Then they will be free to focus on other areas of their recovery.
Behavioral Treatments
It is very important that drug addicts seek behavioral treatments to accompany medications or as follow up after successfully overcoming detoxification. Behavioral treatments are geared towards correcting and modifying the behavior and habits of the addict and help them adapt healthy lifestyles. These treatments also help the addict cope with drug cravings as they come and enables them to identify triggers so that they can avoid them and prevent relapse.
There are several outpatient behavioral treatment programs that a recovering drug addict can participate in. Cognitive behavior therapy will help addicts recognize situations where they are most likely to take drugs again and gives them the proper coping mechanisms in order to avoid them. Multidimensional family therapy works best for adolescents who are already involved in drug abuse and focuses on improving the function of family in the adolescent’s life in order to address drug abuse patterns. Motivational interviewing measures the addict’s readiness to seek treatment and stop the addiction, while motivational incentives makes use of positive reinforcement as a tool to encourage abstinence.
