Drug Addiction | Detox Recovery

Effective Addiction Recovery

Recent research indicates that as many as 50 million Americans suffer from drug addiction and/or alcoholism. Many of these people seek help in rehab programs and addiction recovery centers, but the rate of success is unfortunately quite low. The reasons behind this unfortunate truth are vast and varied, but typically it comes down to two fundamental factors: the level of commitment to healing from the patients, and the totality of the treatment they receive.

There isn’t much that can be done to alter the attitude of addicts; they cannot truly be helped until they decide they are ready. But once they adopt this mindset (usually after they have hit rock bottom), they must receive comprehensive care that treats all of their issues, from the core cause through to the symptom. Quick fixes simply do not work.

Medical detox is an important first step in addiction recovery. When a person has been habitually exposing his body to certain substances over a long period of time he can become chemically dependent on them. When he is denied his fix he will get extremely sick; vomiting, excessive sweating, seizures, muscle pain, anxiety and insomnia are common symptoms of this withdrawal. This process is so unbearable that addicts who try to quit on their own almost always relapse. That is why it is crucial for patients to enter a medical detox facility where they can be helped through this ordeal under the supervision of trained health professionals.

Once the drugs have been cleansed from the addict’s system, he must undergo psychological analysis to determine the cause of his addiction. 75% of people who become dependent on drugs or alcohol do so because they have an accompanying mental disorder of some type. This is known as a dual diagnosis. Dual diagnosis treatment is critical because without proper identification of the root of the problem, recovery is impossible. For instance, a patient may discover he has subconsciously turned to marijuana as a way of self-medicating his anxiety disorder. When he learns how to deal with his fears and emotions in a healthy way, the chances are good he will no longer need to rely on the drug.

Dual diagnosis treatment is critical because without proper identification of the root of the problem, recovery is impossible. For instance, a patient may discover he has subconsciously turned to marijuana as a way of self-medicating his anxiety disorder. When he learns how to deal with his fears and emotions in a healthy way, the chances are good he will no longer need to rely on the drug.

When a comprehensive approach to treatment, one that considers all scientific, medical and mental variables is followed, effective addiction recovery can be possible.

by Allison Savage

The Consequences of Drug Addiction

The effects of drug addiction are far reaching and go way beyond just affecting the life of the addict. Drug addiction has an effect on families, companies, schools, and friendships. It also has an effect on the body of the addict and could possibly affect the health of those around the addict.

People who use drugs experience a wide array of physical effects other than those expected. The excitement of a cocaine high, for instance, is followed by a “crash”: a period of anxiety, fatigue, depression, and an acute desire for more cocaine to alleviate the feelings of the crash. Marijuana and alcohol interfere with motor control and are factors in many automobile accidents. Users of marijuana and hallucinogenic drugs may experience flashbacks, unwanted recurrences of the drug’s effects weeks or months after use.

Sharing hypodermic needles leads to an increased risk of HIV and some forms of hepatitis. That, along with increased sexual activity among drug addicts can greatly increase the incidence of people becoming infected with AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases.

There are over 10,000 deaths directly attributable to drug use in the United States every year; the substances most frequently involved are cocaine, heroin, and morphine, often combined with alcohol or other drugs. Many drug users engage in criminal activity, such as burglary and prostitution, to raise the money to buy drugs, and some drugs, especially alcohol, are associated with violent behavior.

The user’s preoccupation with the substance, plus its effects on mood and performance, can lead to marital problems and poor work performance or dismissal. Drug use can disrupt family life and create destructive patterns of codependency, that is, the spouse or whole family, out of love or fear of consequences, inadvertently enables the user to continue using drugs by covering up, supplying money, or denying there is a problem.

Pregnant drug users, because of the drugs themselves or poor self-care in general, bear a much higher rate of low birth-weight babies than the average. Many drugs (e.g., crack and heroin) cross the placental barrier, resulting in addicted babies who go through withdrawal soon after birth, and fetal alcohol syndrome can affect children of mothers who consume alcohol during pregnancy. Pregnant women who acquire the AIDS virus through intravenous drug use pass the virus to their infant.

Drug abuse affects society in many ways. In the workplace it is costly in terms of lost work time and inefficiency. Drug users are more likely than nonusers to have occupational accidents, endangering themselves and those around them. Over half of the highway deaths in the United States involve alcohol.

Drug-related crime can disrupt neighborhoods due to violence among drug dealers, threats to residents, and the crimes of the addicts themselves. In some neighborhoods, younger children are recruited as lookouts and helpers because of the lighter sentences given to juvenile offenders, and guns have become commonplace among children and adolescents. The great majority of homeless people have either a drug or alcohol problem or a mental illness-many have all three.

Drug addiction has an effect on all parts of life for the drug user, the family, and society as a whole. The time to get help for an addiction is NOW before its effects become so far-reaching, they cannot be recovered.

by Alden Robinson