Recognizing the Need for Opiate Addiction Treatment
An addiction to opiates is very strong, and takes a lot of perseverance, support, and understanding to overcome.
Opiate drugs do a good job at relieving most all types of pain, be it from an injury or from chronic conditions like cancer. Drugs, such as codeine, Demerol and Dilaudid offer effective pain relief properties unlike any other types of medication. Unfortunately, these drugs carry the same addictive potential as heroin, another opiate drug.
According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, over 12 million adults reported using opiate drugs for non-medical purposes in 2010. Those who use opiates for long periods of time eventually lose the ability to stop using the drug. Once a person reaches this point, thereās a definite need for opiate addiction treatment.
Opiate Dependence vs. Opiate Addiction
While the terms āopiate dependenceā and āopiate addictionā are often used interchangeably, they do differ in significant ways. Someone whoās been prescribed pain pills for a back injury can become physically dependent on the drugās effects.
People who get to the point where they āfeelā they canāt make it through the day without the drugās effects are dealing with an addiction. Opiate addiction treatment helps addicts deal with both the physical and mental components of addiction.
Tolerance Level Increases
Over time, the brain naturally develops a tolerance for opiate effects. When this happens, a person must take larger doses of the drug to experience the same desired effects. The brain then develops a higher tolerance level, which in turn drives users to take even larger doses.
The longer a person uses the weaker brain functions become as tolerance levels continue to rise. This cycle will continue indefinitely unless a person receives needed opiate addiction treatment.
Psychological Changes
With ongoing exposure to opiateās effects, the brain inevitably starts to develop chemical imbalances that affect a personās emotions and perceptions. By the time most people enter opiate addiction treatment, other psychological disorders have begun to take root.
Psychological changes associated with opiate abuse include:
Mood swings
Problems concentrating
Depression
Confusion
Opiate addiction treatment helps a person replace addiction-type thinking and perceptions with a healthy outlook on life.
Changes in Behavior
As opiate addiction progresses, the drug takes on greater and greater importance in a personās life. Eventually, a personās motivations and actions will revolve around getting and using drugs. Unusual behaviors will surface on a more frequent basis to the point where a personās personality and morals have changed completely.
Changes in behavior make take the form of:
Missing work
Lying
Stealing
Isolating
Changing social circles
Opiate addiction treatment helps recovering addicts regain their sense of self and re-establish normal, everyday lives.
Opiate Addiction Treatment
The physical and psychological pull of opiates can quickly overwhelm a personās ability to cut back or stop using. Opiate addiction treatment programs employ a wide range of techniques for helping recovering addicts take back control of their lives.
Recognizing the need for opiate addiction treatment is the first step towards recovery. Without needed treatment the ongoing cycle of addiction will make it all but impossible for a person to break the drugās hold on his or her life.
There can be a lot of debate about whether it is better to seek a drug rehab center that is close to home or find one that is a substantial distance away. For every facility that claims it should be the former, you can find one that promotes the latter. In reality, they’re both right….
Defined by the NIDA, addiction is a chronic compulsive condition that is highly prone to relapse. It can be difficult for a recovering addict to stay sober during the holiday season, where most celebrations include alcohol and other indulgences that can trigger a relapse. If you or a loved one has relapsed and has an….
There are more than 14,500 specialized drug treatment facilities in the United States. These facilities provide counseling, behavioral therapy, medication, case management, and other types of services to persons with substance use disorders to help assist in their recovery from addiction, according to NIDA. Drug abuse and addiction are treated in physicians’ offices and mental….
It can sometimes be difficult to keep cheerful and to be confident in oneās self while attending rehab. Being away from your family and friends can be very hard, and while you are learning quite a bit about how to create a better life for yourself, free of drug abuse, the weight of these changes….
According to the National Library of Medicine, process addictions are a disease much like a typical drug addiction. This is prompting more research into what a process addiction is, how people are affected by it, and how to treat it. Hundreds of thousands of people are affected by process addictions every day and many of….
You probably think most people drink. Maybe you make exceptions for really religious people and those with allergies. Of course they donāt drink. But, for the most part, it seems like everyone drinks. A couple glasses of wine with dinner, a couple of beers with pizza, a couple of cocktails after a rough day. Sound….
In Lafayette, New Jersey, a treatment center has hired a new chief executive officer to oversee their facility. Stanley Frank, RN, MBA will be the new CEO of Sunrise House Treatment Center. In addition to the facility, Frank will run American Addiction Centers, which is the overseeing group that includes Sunrise House and many other….
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, with a good rehab program you have an excellent chance of beating your addiction. As with anything you want to change, you need a reason to stop taking drugs. There are many reasons available and you only need to choose one. 1. You will Get your Life….
There is mixed evidence as to whether drug addiction is actually predisposed by the genes or not but one thing that is known for sure is that addictive behavior is predisposed. What this means is that although actually being addicted to drugs may not be genetic there are genetic factors that play a role in….
Once you’ve decided to get help, you’ve chosen an inpatient drug rehab center for your treatment needs and you’ve decided on a date to be admitted to the program you’ll have to start packing your bags for your extended stay in treatment. What do you bring? Some things are not acceptable in inpatient drug rehab….