Addiction Treatment

Guide to addiction treatments including:

• Addiction Treatment Providers
• Addiction Treatment
• Acute Withdrawl Treatment
• Addiction Therapy Treatment
• Addiction Treatment Matrix

While addiction or dependency is related to seemingly uncontrollable urges, and arguably could have roots in genetic predispositions, treatment of dependency is conducted by a wide range of medical and allied professionals.

Provides Of Addiction Treatment

Providers of addiction treatment include:

• Addiction Medicine Specialists
• Psychiatrists
• Appropriately trained nurses
• Social workers
• Counselors

Addiction Treatment

Treatment for addition is typically a two step process:

1. Treatment for acute withdrawal
2. Treatment to help resist the addiction in the future.

Acute Withdrawl Treatment

The goal of withdrawal therapy [detoxification] is to help the patient cease taking the addicting drug as quickly and safely as possible.

For some, withdrawal therapy may be safely done on an outpatient basis; others may require placement in a hospital or a residential treatment center.

Addiction treatment of acute withdrawal often includes:

• Medical detoxification - doses of anxiolytics or narcotics to reduce symptoms of withdrawal.
• Acupuncture detoxification
• Ibogaine - an experimental drug proposed to treat withdrawal and craving.
• Surrogate drugs - in chronic opiate addiction, a surrogate drug such as methadone is sometimes used as a form of opiate replacement therapy.

Withdrawal from different categories of drugs produces different side effects and requires different approaches.

Central nervous system depressants

The side effects of withrawal of central nervous system depressents occur in three stages:

Minor - may include restlessness, anxiety, sleep problems and sweating.

Moderate - include hallucinations, whole-body tremors, seizures, and increased blood pressure, heart rate and body temperature.

Serious - may include delirium [potentially life-threatening]. Withdrawal therapy may involve gradually scaling back the amount of the drug.

Central Nervous System Stimulants.

Side effects of withdrawal typically include depression, fatigue, anxiety and intense cravings.

Some patients may experience suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts, paranoia and impaired contact with reality (acute psychosis). Treatment during withdrawal is usually limited to emotional support from your family, friends and doctor. Your doctor may recommend medications to treat paranoid psychosis or depression.

Opioids

Side effects of withdrawal of opioids, such as heroin, morphine, oxycodone or codeine, can range from relatively minor to severe.

Minor - include runny nose, sweating, yawning, feeling anxiety and craving the drug.

Severe - include sleeplessness, depression, dilated pupils, rapid pulse, rapid breathing, high blood pressure, abdominal cramps, tremors, bone and muscle pain, vomiting, and diarrhea.

Doctors may substitute a synthetic opiate, such as methadone, to reduce the craving for heroin and to gently ease people away from heroin.

The most recently approved medication to ease withdrawal from opiates is buprenorphine [Suboxone, Subutex]. Buprenorphine is the first narcotic medication used for the treatment of addiction that may be prescribed in a doctor's office rather than a treatment center.

Addiction Therapy Treatment

After detoxification, therapies such as counseling, addiction treatment programs and self-help group meetings aim to teach the addict ways to resist the addicted substance and to strengthen their life coping skills.

Clinical leaders in recent years have attempted to tailor intervention approaches to specific influences that effect addictive behavior.

Therapists will help identify whether patients with chemical dependencies are interested or not interested in changing.

Therapeutic interviews with the patient help both parties discover factors that led the patient to embrace unhealthy, addictive sources of pleasure or relief from pain.

Therapy treatments help the patient plan specific ways to avoid the addictive stimulus, and to learn healthier ways to find satisfaction.

Counseling

Counseling takes many forms and may be with the individual, with family, and often a combination of both. Counseling is facilitated by a psychologist, psychiatrist or addiction counselor. All aim to help the addict resist the temptation to resume their previous addiction behaviour.

Behavior therapies also help the patient to develop ways to cope with drug cravings, teach strategies to temptation and prevent relapse. General life coping skills form a big part of the counseling program, hence it can involve talking about the patients job, legal problems and relationships with family and friends.

Counseling with family members aims to help them improve their communication skills and to be more supportive.

Treatment programs

Treatment programs generally include the same counseling as above, but are more structured in terms of attendance. They are offered in outpatient, residential and inpatient programs.

See Recovery Without Walls Program

Self-help groups

Most self help groups use the well proven 12-step model first developed by Alcoholics Anonymous. The 12-step program recognizes that addiction is a chronic disorder with a danger of relapse. Ongoing maintenance treatment [medications, counseling and attending self-help group meetings] is necessary to prevent a relapse.

Addiction Treatment Matrix

Treatment approaches universal focus on the individual's ultimate choice to pursue an alternate course of action.

NEXT: Prevention of Addiction

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