Trying to stop drug addiction by yourself is extremely hard. Without the right drug addiction treatment programs, the process can rattle you psychologically, emotionally and physically.
In case you or a loved one is aiming to end this bad habit, here are the 8 programs that can help you achieve your goal faster and safer.
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What Are My Options For Drug Addiction Treatment?
There are myriads of options available to drug addicts for their recovery. However, the type of treatment that would be appropriate for a patient would depend on his level of addiction.
For people who are in the early stages of their addiction, their treatment can require routine visits to rehabilitation centers. For acute to severe cases, they may need to be admitted to facilities.
To ensure patient safety, medical and health experts must first assess a patient thoroughly to ensure that their plan of treatment will be effective and safe.
Drug Addiction Treatment Programs
1. Psychotherapy
Most people who turn to drugs are frequently mentally unstable. They experience a lot of stress, depression and disappointments. They feel extremely lonely.
Psychotherapy can help patients deal with these emotions better. Treatment is typically carried out by a psychologist, psychiatrist and social workers. They perform psychological assessments on their patients to figure out how they can help them.
The key to the success of this treatment is in resolving a patient’s psychological issues.
2. Family counselling
Drug addiction doesn’t only affect the actual patients; their families can suffer, too. They can experience frustrations, stress and even stigmatization.
Family therapy is geared towards helping family members become support systems for the patient. They undergo counseling that will teach and assist them on how to cope with their patient’s recovery process.
3. Mutual support groups
Mutual support groups help patients get over their sense of inferiority and insecurity. They give patients the chance to talk about their problems and come up with opinions and practical solutions.
A couple of mutual support groups do exist. There is the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA) just to mention a few. They offer support to both men and women undergoing rehabilitation.
4. Outpatient treatment programs
If you are really serious about getting out of the shackles of drug addiction, medical care and support should be your top priority.
For those busy patients that do not need intensive care to get better, a flexible outpatient treatment plan can be the best program for you. You’ll need to come at regular intervals for checkups and assessment of your progress.
5. Residential drug treatment centers
In the case of chronic addiction as well as cases where outpatient treatment schedules do not seem to be yielding results, an intensive 24-hour treatment center is the next best option.
With this drug addiction treatment program, patients stay in a residential setting that makes close monitoring easy. With patients totally secluded from normal life, tendencies of relapsing into addiction will be reduced.
They will have more time with their psychologists and psychiatrists as well as have less exposure to factors that can trigger a relapse, such as relationship issues and social problems.
6. Sober Living
Sober living can be the last stage of the rehabilitation process for some patients. For chronically addicted patients, it may take awhile before they reach this phase. This is to avoid overwhelming them right away.
When you’ve been secluded for several years and months, adjusting to the outside life won’t be that easy. Aside from the change in your environment, you’ll also be re-exposed to the factors that caused your previous addiction.
If you’re not prepared enough, there’s a good chance you’ll fall back to your previous habit.
7. Prescription medication
Medication can be a part of the patient’s treatment process under certain conditions. Take, for example, the effects of withdrawing from drug use.
It may take awhile for the body to get used to the changes. As it is adapting, it experiences a lot of side effects, such as depression and anxiety. It can experience stress, too.
To mitigate them, your doctor can prescribe medications such as Buprenorphine, Baclofen and Topiramate. Usually, they are given for a certain period only and tapered slowly until there are no more side effects or withdrawal symptoms.
8. Inpatient hospitals
If the risk of health complication is very high, the patient may temporarily be admitted to a hospital. As soon as his health stabilizes, he’ll receive the next course of his treatment in a recovery facility and then he’ll be closely monitored.
It all begins with you
The starting point of breaking free from drug addiction is in acknowledging and accepting that you are in dire need of help. If you can’t recognize your vulnerability, you’ll see no problem with your addiction and behavior.
Once you are able to admit and understand your condition, you need to reflect on the factors that triggered your bad habit. By taking some time to reflect, you’ll be able to give your counselor or psychologist the help they need in coming up with the right drug addiction treatment programs for you.
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