Drug Abuse Treatments

The importance of finding the correct drug abuse treatment could mean the difference between a successful addiction recovery or another relapse.
Drug abuse treatments have to be tailor made for every individual as symptoms can differ from person to person, so each person’s recovery is unique.
People used to believe that detoxification removed or cured addiction; however this is not true. Detox only removes the physical symptoms of drug abuse.
Detoxification is only the starting point in effective treatment and the movement towards addiction recovery but it’s hardly enough to ensure long term abstinence from drugs.
Remember that there are no shortcuts or an easy way out of drug addiction! Once addicted that person cannot return to ‘normal’, social use of drugs or alcohol.
Below is an outline of some drug abuse treatments that are available for people struggling with addiction. Please contact us for advice on rehab centers.
Methadone Maintenance
Methadone maintenance is a drug abuse treatment which helps heroin addicts to suppresses cravings and withdrawal symptoms that they might feel for approximately 24 hours.
However, patients can become dependent on methadone as they were to heroin, and in some cases people find themselves using methadone for years after receiving drug abuse treatment.
To make it easier to manage the withdrawal symptoms of the dependence to methadone, daily dosages will slowly be decreased over time.
Methadone is viewed as pharmaceutical grade heroin and its benefit is that it has a long half life. The danger is that people cross addict and this has given methadone a street value.
12 Step Drug Abuse Treatments
Based on the programme devised by Alcoholics Anonymous, 12 step treatments are aimed at helping individuals recover from drug abuse.
The treatment, depending on the severity and nature of the addiction, can be done on an in-patient basis, where the individual stays in a rehabilitation centre or as an outpatient, where attendance of regular meetings is required.
12 Step drug abuse treatment centers facilitate patient’s movement through the 12 steps whilst combining other professional modalities like MET (motivational Enhancement Therapy) and CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) to better assist people that have been abusing drugs.
This eclectic approach uniting many different schools of thought and approaches is often successful precisely because it can draw on various modalities to meet drug abusers needs.
Outpatient Drug Abuse Treatments
Outpatient treatment involves the use of regular meetings for those in need of alcohol and drug rehabilitation.
The time period for this treatment process is usually 4 to 6 weeks and involves similar methods to in-patient treatment but allows patients to attend work in the day time and sleep at home with their families at night.
Outpatient rehab is an especially effective drug abuse treatment as patients haven’t yet crossed the line into a full blown addiction and can still hold down jobs and take care of family responsibilities.
This part time rehab is structure in such a way to provide as much support as possible whilst allowing drug abusers to keep on with their lives.
Again, depending on the severity of the case, drug addiction counsellors normally use this treatment for people who moderately abuse drugs.
However for those who are addicted to drugs, the recovery success rates of inpatient treatment is much higher.
Inpatient Drug Abuse Treatments
Inpatient treatment involves a residential stay at a drug rehabilitation center and can be seen as the best form of treatment for heavily addicted individuals.
Unlike outpatient treatment, the amount of medical care involved in inpatient treatment is greatly increased.
Inpatient treatment can either be done on a short term basis or on a long term basis.
Short term inpatient drug abuse treatments are run by drug addiction treatment consultants usually over a minimum period of 28 days, where the aim is to first medically detoxify the addict (the easiest part of treatment) and then set about helping people to find ways to abstain from drug use and once again live a normal and happy life.
Long term inpatient treatment involves 24/7 treatment for those who are profoundly abuse drugs.
Some drug abuse treatments use a therapeutic community model, where people involved in the individual’s life, family, friends, employers and the drug counsellors, work hand in hand to help the patient move towards an ongoing addiction recovery.
The time frame for this treatment is unspecified as for severe dependencies treatment lengths of 90 days have proven to be more effective.
Contact us right now to find the best ways to access quality rehab centers and live a life free from drug abuse.