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What To Expect At a Rehab Stay

On some level, we all have addiction issues. For most of us, these are extremely mild forms of addictions like a desire to indulge in an occasional piece of pie or rush home to watch our favorite television programs. The bottom line is that if these events didn’t occur we could go on with our lives. However, in some extreme cases people become overwhelmed by their addictions which can have a devastating impact on their lives and the lives of everyone around them. When an addiction has reached this critical stage, it might be recommended that a stay at a rehab facility could help them cope with their addiction and develop strategies to help reclaim their lives.

Checking into a rehab for treatment can be a great cause of anxiety in an individual, especially if they are caught up in the throes of substance abuse. One of the most common forms of substance abuse is with alcohol. Often an alcoholic turns to liquor to mask emotional pain or other mental illnesses. This is why the first phase of a rehab stay will often involve some form of detoxification. A qualified rehab facility can provide the kind of medical attention a person needs as they are going through a painful withdrawal.

Once the body has become “clean” you can begin the real work of recovery and target any mental health issues. This will involve some intensive forms of private and group therapy. After the initial stay, a patient will have the opportunity to continue the work as they return to their daily routines. The road to recovery can begin at rehab.

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Drugs, Signs, and Symptoms

If you suspect that a loved one has a problem with drugs, the feeling can be terrifying. Some warning signs and past history can alert you to the possibility of addiction.

Warnings of Addiction:

Certain warning signs may alert you to the fact that someone you love has a drug addiction. Warnings can be behavioral, physical, and psychological. However, it can be difficult to separate warnings signs from the ups and downs of life, especially in the case of teenagers. Beyond that, a loved one you worry could be abusing drugs might try to cover up these very symptoms and warning signs.

Behaviorally, performance at work or school may begin to suffer. Missing money, or constant borrowing, could be signs of stealing to fund a drug habit, and a sudden switch in groups of friends is also a warning sign. Physical symptoms could also signify a drug habit. Sleep patterns change, weight is lost or gained, and eyes are bloodshot. Psychological signs include shifts in attitude or personality not linked to any obvious personal event.

Why are some more Susceptible to Addiction?:

You may wonder how someone develops an addiction while others in similar situations do not. As with many things, biology and environment intertwine. Family history certainly plays into it. If someone has a family history of addictions, they are more likely to develop one as well. An early start to using drugs can also be an indicator. Preexisting mental disorders—anxiety, for instance—may predispose someone to a drug habit. At the same time, abuse or other traumatic events could lead to drug use.

Knowing signs and symptoms puts you in a place to help your loved one overcome his or her addiction.

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Treating Heroin Addiction

Heroin has long been considered one of the most dangerous drugs to be addicted to. True rehabilitation is considered a lifelong process and requires long-term medication. Because of the very quick way that heroin enters the blood stream – though it can be taken orally or smoked, the most common way that heroin is used is injected directly into a vein – the drug is highly addictive and its Heroin rehab was even considered dangerous for years because many replacement drugs didn’t work or just created new dependabilities. Pain killer methadone was the most popular drug used during heroin rehab but the drug came with some serious side effects. Seizures, allergic reactions and even irregular heartbeat and difficulty breathing were just some of the possible life-threatening side effects of using the drug.

However, scientists have completed studies that have revealed new options when it comes to treating heroin addiction. Prescription painkiller dihydrocodeine has been shown to be just as effective as methadone when helping heroin addicts kick the habit which in rehabilitation. Dihydrocodeine has several benefits, mainly for the clinics that provide the addiction treatments to patients. For instance, dihydrocodeine comes in a tablet form which makes it easier to store than the liquidated methadone. There are also less restrictions on its use because it is not as toxic. This also means that there is a significantly lower chance of a fatal overdose, which is important when dealing with the treatment of heroin addicts. For the patient, dihydrocodeine costs about half as much as comparable methadone treatment, on average.

Dihydrocodeine has been the perferred way of treating certain drug conditions by some specialists and in places where hazardous materials are highly regulated, like in prisons. But with the studies showing that it is as effective as other leading treatment options, the use of dihydrocodiene to treat heroin addiciton is likely to continue to rise and also gives users another option if they have bad reactions to methadone.

 

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Internet Powerful Tool When Confronting Alcohol Abuse

Alcohol is one of the most abused addictive substances in use today and treatment specialists are always eager to hear of more ways to help users confront and overcome their addictions. In a world where the Internet is becoming a daily part of many people’s lives, online interactive content must be considered as a possible treatment mechanism.

Researchers have determined that online interventions can be highly effective when used to identify whether people have drinking problems or when trying to educate alcohol users on the dangers of drinking in excess. In fact, online interventions have been shown to have a significant public health benefit that can actually be just as effective as face-to-face interventions.

When drinkers with possible problems with alcohol were exposed to an online survey that questioned them about their alcohol use, problem drinkers were more likely to self identify as such during the survey and showed considerable changes in their drinking behaviors after experiencing the online intervention. People who took the survey reduced their drinking by an average of 30 percent – up to seven drinks each week – and the reduction in alcoholic intake was sustained in both a three-month followup and a followup that occured six months after taking the initial survey.

Because of the stigma associated with seeking face-to-face treatment for a problem with alcohol, online interventions could have a much higher rate of success than traditional treatment options since problem drinkers may be more willing to seek help themselves on the Internet. The survey takes the information that the drinker has self-reported and gives a plethora of information and tips that the drinker can use to analyze their own behavior. For instance, the drinker’s results are compared to national averages, the user’s weight and average alcohol intake is used to let the drinker know what sorts of effects alcohol has effect on their body and gives them ways to reduce their risk.

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Recovery from Alcoholism Possible

Alcoholism is a horrible disease but it doesn’t have to be the end of life as you know it. Full recovery is not only possible but probable when a person recognizes their alcohol dependence and seeks help and even people who don’t seek professional treatment have a fairly good chance for recovery if they recognize their problem.

A 2002 study shows that more than one-third of people who exhibited signs of alcoholism more than a year prior had already achieved a “full recovery.” A full recovery means that the person no longer exhibits or experiences any symptoms of alcohol dependence or alcohol abuse. Out of people in the study, only one-quarter had received treatment for their problems with alcohol.

Fully recovered people typically abstain from drinking alcohol entirely or only drink small amounts during social occasions – at amounts lower than those thought lead to higher rates of relapse. Currently, the amount of alcoholic consumption that is thought to increase the chances of relapse is more than 14 drinks a week (or more than four drinks on an individual day). For women, that amount is more than seven drinks a week or more than three drinks on any individual day.

Out of the two-thirds of alcoholics that hadn’t yet realized full recovery, there was still news that should make anyone struggling with alcohol dependency feel positive about their chance of recovery. For instance, Almost 12 percent of the original people currently have no symptoms of alcohol abuse or dependency but do drink as much or more than the amount of alcohol traditionally thought to increase the chance of relapse.

More than one-quarter of the people who were part of the study were in partial remission. While they may still exhibit or experience symptoms of alcohol dependence or abuse, they are in treatment and moving toward a normal relationship with alcohol. The remaining quarter of people are still dependent on alcohol – but this shows that the recovery rate for alcoholism is achievable for the majority of dependents.

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Social Services as Part of a Comprehensive Addiction Treatment

Social services provide direct benefit to addiction patients who are looking to change their situations for the better to help break the cycle of drug use and relapse. Unlike mental health and medical services, social services help to identify the underlying problems that create a culture of drug use amongst addicts and work to change those situations to positive ones that actively promote rehabilitation. This is mostly done through job assistance and housing assistance. Social services can also help addicts who haven’t realized how their drug use indirectly affects other parts of their lives, including their families, their social lives and their careers. Seeing a way out of what can be seen as an inescapable situation is a giant step in the right direction when it comes to recovery.

However, social services also provide more indirect benefits to patients who experience social services as part of a comprehensive addiction treatment program. For instance, patients who benefit from social services stay in addiction treatment longer. Studies over the past few decades have confirmed the fact that patients who stay in treatment longer have better rates of recovery and lower rates of relapse. However, social services is such an important part of the recovery process that studies have shown that a 6 percent increase to the availability of social services to addicts in treatment programs is equivalent to the patients staying in other traditional rehab programs for up to 12 weeks.

“Given the stagnant state of comprehensive service delivery in recent years,” said Dr. Dean Gerstein, who led a 2004 study on the subject, “federal and state grants and policies should emphasize delivery of comprehensive services, especially housing and employment services, among high-needs populations.”

His study showed that access and use of social services during treatment directly related to patients having improved drug use outcomes following their rehab.

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What is Addiction?

While the immediate symptom of an addition – not being able to control the way you behave with certain triggers items like drugs, alcohol or sex, knowing what part of the brain creates or is part of maintaining an addition is an important first step in understanding how to properly treat addictions. An addition is more than just a compulsive behavior that addicts engage in for a thrill, although that thrill has been part of the conventional wisdom of how addictions work for the past several decades.

Previously, the accepted scientific reasoning for the way that someone becomes addicted is that drugs and other addictive elements take over the brain’s reward system and makes the user feel like they are experiencing some sort of physical or emotional payoff. Drug-taking or engaging in other types of addictive behaviors becomes an overwhelmingly rewarding feeling that rises in importance above all other aspects of life.

However, Dr. Dan Lubman and a group of scientists studying addictive behavior have identified another aspect of the brain that is affected when a subject becomes an addict: drugs and other addictive elements may actually interfere with the frontal brain circuitry that maintains the ability to retain inhibition and control. Brain science shows that the brain not only has an impaired way of understanding when to do certain activities (relating to the reward system) but also when not to do things – that is, the lack of inhibition and lack of control that comes as a result of taking drugs.

The new theory helps rehab clinics to understand another part of the puzzle that can be used to break the chain of addiction. The loss of control and frequency of relapses could never quite be explained solely by the idea that engaging in addictive behavior felt like a reward to the addict, but now that those who work in treatment centers understand that the inhibition circuits are impaired, new strategies can be developed.

 

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Bolstering Social Services Decreases Drug Abuse

People who are suffering from addictions need specialized care due to the chemical reactions in their brains that inhibit the ability to control their own behavior and the need to reward themselves with the addictive element they use to feel good. Providing comprehensive services to address these specific physical problems can help break the cycle of relapsing.

While many drug treatment programs around the world have taken a more direct approach in terms of mental health and medical services, social services like job training and housing mean the most in changing the life of addicts. When well placed, well staffed and well funded, social services can address the addictive behaviors directly as well as the many life problems that can contribute to drug use. They can also help to identify the family, social and financial issues that are brought up indirectly through drug use and help the user to change these circumstances for the better. Oftentimes, mental health and medical assistance works well but if an addict is placed back into the bad environment that contributed to the rise of drug use in the first place, relapses are especially common. That’s why social service programs is one of the largest factors in determining if an addict will recover or continue to use drugs or other addictive substances.

Historically, patients who have the most amount of life problems benefit the most from involvement in social service programs. This is because the physical removal of life situations that contribute to drug use – including physical surroundings, social-economic situations and friends – mean that there are less opportunities to turn to the reward or escape triggers that drugs and other addictive substances provide.

Of course, social services is not a perfect treatment, just like any other type of medical or behavioral treatment and other addiction therapy. The desire of the patient to change is key to recovery and social services is just one tool that can be used to show patients what life without drugs can be like.

 

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