Dual Diagnosis Drug Treatment

The addiction treatment recovery program I attended helped save my life. As resistant as I was some how the staff at the addiction treatment recovery program got me to listen and follow their suggestions. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t want to, because at first I didn’t even want to be in addiction treatment, much less and addiction recovery program in Florida.

I wanted to leave this addiction treatment recovery program so bad one day, they even called my parents in for a meeting. I couldn’t believe it, first addiction treatment and now my family…..but guess what…..after my mother finished crying, I said I would try. I would try my best to stay in the addiction recovery program and complete addiction treatment.

My Addiction Recovery

Days went by and low and behold I started to get this addiction recovery thing…..I began to understand why I was so resistant to addiction treatment and the process of addiction. When my family visited the addiction recovery program this time, I had invited them. I would reccomend anyone with an addiction to get into an addiction treatment recovery program now.

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There has been an enormous increase in the number of people seeking cocaine addiction treatment. Cocaine addiction treatment providers in most areas of the country report that it is the second most commonly cited drug of abuse among their clients. The majority looking for addiction treatment smoke crack cocaine, and are likely to be poly-drug users, or users of more than one substance.

The widespread abuse of crack cocaine has stimulated extensive efforts to develop addiction treatment programs for this type of drug abuse. Cocaine addiction is a complex problem involving biological changes in the brain as well as a myriad of social, familial, and environmental factors. Therefore, cocaine addiction treatment is complex, and must address a variety of problems. Like any good treatment plan, addiction treatment strategies need to assess the psychobiological, social, and pharmacological aspects of the patient’s drug abuse.

Through the use of sophisticated technology, scientists can actually see the dynamic changes that occur in the brain as an individual takes the drug. They can observe the different brain changes that occur as a person experiences the “rush and the high” and finally, the craving of cocaine. They can also identify parts of the brain that become active when a cocaine addict sees or hears environmental stimuli that trigger the craving for cocaine. Because these types of studies pinpoint specific brain regions, they are critical to identifying targets for developing medications and treatments to treat addiction.

Cocaine is a principal drug threat to the United States. Both powder cocaine and crack cocaine are prevalent throughout the country, and overall availability is stable. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Field Divisions report that powder cocaine and crack are readily or widely available, and most describe cocaine as the greatest drug threat to their areas. Obviously, many more residential and long-term addiction treatment resources are needed.

Cocaine addiction treatment can best be found through contacting the national cocaine addiction helpline. The cocaine addiction helpline can match your addiction treatment needs with the addiction treatment program able to meet them. The cocaine addiction helpline can be reached toll free at 1-800-511-9925. The service the helpline provides is at no cost and is available 24/7.

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Drug Addiction and Depression

There is always a reason for drug addiction. Addiction doesn’t exist in isolation, after all; it’s the product of causative conditions, evidence of an underlying disease that quite literally compels addicts to use drugs. In many instances, that underlying disease comes in the form of clinical depression…and so it is that the most successful drug rehabilitation programs are those which take full stuck of their patients’ mental health. To beat drug addiction, you’ve got to eradicate the roots of the thing. Anything short of comprehensive drug recovery just isn’t good enough.

The equation is a fairly simple one: Depression hurts. Drug use makes it feel better. Depression patients are prone to addiction because drug abuse, for them, constitutes a sort of self-medication, a mechanism by which to ease the ache that characterizes depression itself. With that in mind, it’s fair to say that a drug rehabilitation program which doesn’t address a patient’s underlying emotional wellness can’t achieve much of anything at all; an addict who checks out of a drug rehabilitation center with a lingering case of clinical depression is almost necessarily doomed to relapse. Effective drug rehabilitation is and can only be drug rehabilitation that helps you get all-the-way better.

The most adept drug rehabilitation plans, in this sense, are those that foster meaningful psychological recovery in drug rehabilitation patients ( dual diagnosis treatment ). To get better for good, a drug rehabilitation patient has got to develop new ways of relating to himself and the world; drug rehabilitation, when it works, works because it helps patients reformulate their personal notions of self-esteem and self-control. Obviously, such a reformulation can’t occur outside the context of intensive depression treatment. You can’t win the fight against drug addiction, you might say, without taking down depression in the process.

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Drug Addiction Treatment

Drug addiction treatment comes in a variety of forms. Depending upon the individual’s drug of choice and the depth of addiction, different addiction treatment options are more appropriate. They can be residential, where the addict moves into a 24-hour clinic or care center focused on their recovery or non-residential in which the addict comes to group meetings or therapy on a regular basis.

Drug Detox

For each of these drug addiction treatment options, detoxification or drug detox is the first step. This involves the client or patient going through the physical symptoms of withdrawal that occur when they stop using. Symptoms vary according to the drug of choice, the length of drug addiction, and the amount used per dosage. Physical manifestations of the drug detox usually begin within hours of the last dose for the most severe drugs and can be quite intense. It is best to undergo drug detox from opiates or narcotics under the supervision of a medical doctor.

Types of Drug Addiction Treatment

Once detoxification is complete, any number of drug addiction treatment styles follows. Some involve substitution in which one drug takes the place of another under medical supervision, like methadone treatment for heroin addiction. Other addiction treatment methods prescribe to total abstinence of all drugs, others focus on finding the least harmful method of sustained drug use and still others are religious or spiritual in nature. They include:
• Methadone maintenance – Narcotic and especially heroin use is replaced with a prescription for methadone that is monitored by a doctor and gradually reduced over time until the user is free from addiction.
• 12-step addiction treatment – Both spiritual and non-spiritual versions are available free of charge and feature meetings in which fellow addicts in recovery meet and share their experiences and lend each other support.
• Harm reduction – Methadone maintenance and needle exchanges are forms of harm reduction in which addicts are encourage using more safely in order to minimize overdose and the spread of disease.
• Inpatient residential addiction treatment – Residential centers provide 24-hour medical care, continuous therapy and one-on-one counseling both short- and long-term and provide structure for addicts struggling to rebuild their lives without their substance of choice.
• Outpatient treatment – Non-residential centers provide a base of support and therapeutic options for those who require a less-structured form of drug treatment.

For immediate help you can call the national drug addiction helpline at 1-800-511-9225.

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Medical detox is a process in which individuals are systematically and safely withdrawn from addicting drugs, usually under the care of a physician. Drinking alcohol or using drugs causes physical dependence over time in some people. Stopping the use of alcohol or drugs results in physical withdrawal from these substances in people with a physical dependence. The drug detox process is designed both to treat the acute physiological effects of stopping drug use and to remove residual toxins in the body left as a result of using the chemicals found in drugs and/or alcohol.

Detoxification can be done on both an outpatient basis (mental health centers, addiction clinics or private clinics) or inpatient (hospital or residential treatment center). Inpatient detoxification allows the patient to be closely monitored, avoids exposure to the substance of abuse, and can speed up the process of detoxification. Outpatient detoxification has the advantage of being less disruptive to the patient’s life and less expensive. The choice of setting depends on many factors such as the drug of abuse, amount and length of history of abuse, psychosocial issues, patient’s age, and co-existing medical and/or psychiatric conditions among others.

While addiction treatment centers often have their own detox program, others make arrangements for their patients with a detox program at nearby sites, including hospitals and clinics. There are licensed detoxification facilities in most areas of the United States.

Detoxification programs can be found by going to www.99detox.com or calling 1-800-99-DETOX.

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Drug Treatment

Drug treatment is a term used to describe the process by which an individual gains the understanding and tools to rebuild their lives and learn to live a normal, drug and alcohol free life. Often drug treatment is not only the process of going through a rehab, but also a life-long process to abstain from drug use. Drug treatment consists of many different phases. First and usually most physically demanding, is the detox phase. It is in this phase of the rehab process that the toxins resulting from the drug abuse are removed from the body. Depending on the seriousness of the drug addiction and the drugs used, this process can take anywhere from a few days to several weeks. Complete drug treatment cannot begin until the body has become independent of the drug’s harmful and addictive toxins. Secondly, drug rehab moves on to the educational and skills-building phase. In this phase, the addict meets with counselors and undergoes group and individual therapy to understand the powerful illness of addiction and the most effective ways for that individual to overcome his or her disease. The length of this process depends on the individual and severity of the drug addiction. Often, for more serious addictions, long term drug rehab is recommended, lasting a period of 2 to 3 months. The third and longest phase of drug rehabilitation is after rehab has been completed. It is in this phase that an addict must take the skills learned at the drug rehab and apply them to the real world in order to maintain sobriety. This process will not end for the rest of the addict’s life and it is here that many addicts experience relapse, forcing them back into the rehab process, starting at the beginning with the often painful and dangerous detox phase.

With the continuing rise in numbers of people addicted to illegal, prescription, and over the counter drugs and alcohol, drug rehabilitation centers have played a central role in helping millions recover from the often life threatening disease of addiction. Since so many different kinds of people suffer from drug addiction, including more and more teens these days, a blanket approach to drug rehabilitation is no longer efficient in this battle. Today, drug rehabilitation comes in a variety of forms, some of which include residential, outpatient, sober living homes, support groups, and long term rehab. In the fight to regain control over their lives, addicts and alcoholics must determine what kind of addiction treatment is best for their rehabilitation to be successful. Some mild cases of drug addiction are adequately addressed by outpatient rehab programs. Here, the addict can attend therapy and counseling sessions on a group and individual basis several times a week for a few hours after work, then return home at the end of the day. Many of these programs are coupled with group meetings like Alcoholics Anonymous as well. For more serious addictions, many drug rehabilitation centers offer residential treatment programs. Here, an addict will undergo more intense therapy in a residential setting where they will live amongst certified counselors and therapists for whatever length of time is necessary. Generally, the minimum length of time spent at a residential drug rehabilitation center is 28 days, however depending on the severity of the drug addiction, some addicts may require longer stays up to and beyond 3 months. These residential treatment programs are usually coupled with support groups. For many addicts, it is recommended that they continue aftercare once the drug rehab program has been completed. In this part of the rehab process, an addict will live at a place called a sober living home. This is more like a transitional living environment where recovering addicts will live amongst one another in a substance-free environment while attending work, school, and other outside activities. This serves as a way for addicts to apply the skills they’ve learned in drug rehabilitation to the real world, while still remaining under the umbrella of support they had in rehab. Sober living can serve as a gradual, more seamless transition back into society.

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For years people that worked in drug treatment centers beleived that if a person was depressed it was because they had been using drugs for so many years and the lifestyle they had led. They had good reason to be depressed and after they completed drug treatment and got on the road to recovery, all would be well. Unfortunately for many completing a drug treatment center, their depression did not lift and they began using drugs again to cope with it.

The solution was to enter a different drug addiction treatment program for relapse prevention treatment, all the while nobody is looking at the depression. Then I was referred to a psychiatrist trained in addiction medicine who said that while I needed cocaine addiction treatment, I suffered from a dual diagnosis and needed dual diagnosis treatment. that my depression was only made worse by my drug use, but that I did indeed suffer from a depression that needed to be treated in a dual diagnosis treatment program.

When I entered this dual diagnosis treatment center, while they treated my cocaine addiction, by me entering a cocaine detox program, a psychiatrist saw me and recommended an antidepressant. As soon as I finished cocaine detox, he reevaluated me and I did indeed need medication. Today, many years later, I still take medication and am 8 years away from my cocaine addiction. While I certainly needed drug addiction treatment, I needed to be in a dual diagnosis rehab more. Thank you Stepping Stone Center for Recovery.

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