Drug Rehab

What is Drug Rehab?

Drug Rehab also known as drug rehabilitation refers to a program or a facility that helps individuals that are addicted to any type of drug whether prescription or illegal. In these programs or at the facility, the person learns how to overcome their addiction as well as learn how to live life without the need of the substance.

Drug rehab is usually considered as an option when the addiction to a drug is interfering with their relationship, their life, their work, or other aspects of their lives. The way in which most drug rehab programs work is to help the person relearn how to live their lives without the substance being a part of their life. The program teaches these individuals how to deal with stress and be a positive and contributing member of society.

What does Drug Rehab Involve?

Basically, the way in which a drug rehab program works is first ridding the body of the substance and then learning how to deal with life without the drug.

Detox is the first step in which a person is going through withdrawal symptoms.

Drug Rehab programs help individuals using different medications and medical supervision to ensure the person suffers less withdraw symptoms and no major health issues occur. The length of time a person is involved in this part of the program depends on the type of drug the person has been using.

A residential drug rehab program normally lasts for 28 days.

In this program, the individual will live at a residence with others working through their drug addiction. This is one of the most popular drug rehab programs as it is a house in most cases with individuals addicted to a wide array of substances.

During this program, each person will be required to wake up at a specific time each day, go to classes on substance abuse, attend other classes that are aimed at self help, attend one on one counselling sessions, attend group counselling sessions, and do chores around the home.

All drug rehab programs usually have some type of Therapeutic Community treatment. This program is based on self help where the person can take an active part in their recovery.

Counselling is a very important aspect of any drug rehab program where the individuals will have a chance to talk with a counsellor and others that are also having problems with drug addiction.

For any drug rehab program to work effectively family and friends must also be involved with the counselling sessions or must be supportive in the decision and learn how to be supportive.

One thing family and friends must remember is that drug rehab will not work if a person is not ready to receive help. Until a person actually believes they have a problem and want help no program will successfully work.

You can admit a family member into a 30 day drug rehab program and they can successfully make it through the program, but once they return home they can go back to their lifestyle including the drug.

How can Drug Rehab Help?

If the person is truly ready for a change and has the desire to rid their life of the drug addiction, drug rehab can be very successful. In most cases, after drug rehab especially the residential program, the person has learned to be able to carry on daily activities without using any type of drug.

Detox or detoxification will rid the body of the drug. Once the drug is out of the body, the body no longer needs the drug. However, the craving may still be there for a long time to come due to the feelings one achieves with the use of the drug. This is where the counselling sessions come into play.

With the counselling sessions, a person can learn that others suffer from the same problems, which will also show that he/she is not alone in the world. Working through the reasons a person turns to a drug to help them make it through a day will often help them learn how to deal with the stress or other issues that may be at the root of the addiction.

If you have been taking a drug for a long time, it would not be in your best interest to stop taking the drug without medical supervision. Depending on the type of the drug, withdrawal symptoms can be extremely severe, & in extreme cases even fatal.

To ensure that a drug rehab program is the best option for you talk with your doctor and then advise your family and friends of your decision. They will be there to give you support in your decision.

Learn about drug abuse, drug addiction, & drug addiction treatment.

Drug Addiction Treatment

Drug addiction treatment is designed to help those that are addicted to various drugs to stop depending on them.

There are several different drug addiction treatment facilities and programs that offer various programs, different forms of help, and last for various amounts of time.

One very important aspect of drug addiction a person must remember, is that detoxing your body is not enough to stop using the drug. Whatever is at the root of the drug addiction may still be still present, and a drug addict must learn to live their life without the drug as a crutch before they will no longer be addicted.

In the majority of cases, you will find that the best drug addiction treatment programs uses a combination of therapies and services that will meet the needs of each personal individually.

Residential drug addiction treatment programs involve individuals living at a treatment facility in which they must be drug and alcohol free.

Most of these programs involve the person living at the facility for between 30 & 90 days.

While in the drug addiction treatment facility, each person will be living in a roommate situation with others that are also addicted to drugs or alcohol. Every day will be monitored and will include tasks around the facility such as cooking, cleaning, etc… along with self help classes and individual & group counselling sessions.

Relapse prevention programs for drug addiction include partial hospitalisation and intensive outpatient programs.

Partial hospitalisation is a drug addiction relapse prevention program that meets at least three times per week but can meet up to five times per week. Each session lasts for several hours with all participants receiving medical monitoring as an outpatient.

Intensive drug addition outpatient programs work around a persons work, family, or other commitments. In most cases, these meet three times per week for around three hours.

The majority of times, the drug addiction treatment will be centered on the person’s needs and the types of drugs they are using, for example, a person that is addicted to a drug such as heroin will have different needs than a person addicted to marijuana.

Some individuals that are having drug problems also have other medical or mental health problems that should also be addressed. Special needs may be required according to a persons age, sexual orientation, culture, race, gender, pregnancy, housing, employment, among others.

A few medications that might need to be used during a drug addiction treatment program include:

If the patient is addicted to opioids, the medications may be methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone.
If a person is addicted to alcohol the medication often used include Disulfiram, acamprosate, naltrexone, and topiramate.

The above-mentioned drugs help individuals overcome the addiction to the drug during the withdrawal stage.

Other medications may also have to be used to help with withdrawal symptoms such as antidepressants, anti-anxiety agents, mood stabilizers, and antipsychotic medications.

Therapy and counselling is one of the most important factors in drug addiction treatment programs. These sessions can help reinforce behavioral contingencies and promote a lifestyle without the use of drugs. Along with counselling sessions, friends and family can be a support system for those trying to cope with life without drugs.

Every type of drug addiction treatment program helps a person detox their body, learn to live life without the drug, and work through various emotions and situations that make the person want to use the drug.

Once a person has gone through the drug addiction treatment program, living life without drugs can be achieved and a drug free life can once again be enjoyed, although the importance of the support of family, friends, counsellors, and former addicts cannot be over emphasised.

In the majority of cases, a drug addiction treatment program where the person enters into a residential treatment program has greater success.

The main reason this type of program seems to work the best is that this program works with the entire person, their body, mind, and their being. During the time the patient is at the residence they will perform day-to-day tasks without the drug, talking with counsellors, and going to classes on drug addiction.

All of this will better prepare the person for life without the drug once they see that they made it through the program.

Learn more about drug abuse, drug addiction, & drug rehab.

Drug Addiction

How is drug addiction defined?

Drug addiction is defined as the mental or physical dependence of a drug. However, this is a short and sweet definition that only skims the surface.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition categorised three different stages of drug addiction, which are preoccupation/anticipation, binge/intoxication, and withdrawal/negative affect.

The characteristics of preoccupation/anticipation include constant cravings and preoccupation with obtaining the drug.

The characteristics of binge/intoxication include using more of the drug than required to experience the usual effects that the drug had originally.

The characteristics of withdrawal/negative affect include experiencing acceptance, withdrawal symptoms, and decreased enthusiasm for normal activities.

The main reason individuals become addicted to a drug is the effect they experience when using the drug, however, different effects are associated with different drugs.

Cocaine and methamphetamine often produces the effect of increased energy. Heroin, oxycontin, & benzodiazepines often produces the effect of relaxation. The drug stimulates the pleasure center of the brain and once the drug is not taken the person can become uncomfortable or even experience pain, thus the desire to keep taking the drug.

Drug addiction can become such a problem that it begins to interfere with relationships, work, and even the health of an individual.

Signs and Symptoms of drug addiction

Drug addiction has several different signs and symptoms, which can be different according to the drug that a person might be taking. The effects a drug has on a person physically or mentally is also of course different according to the type of drug they might be taking.

The pattern of drug addiction is the same, on the other hand, no matter the type of drug a person may be using.

One of the first signs of drug addiction is that the drug becomes more important than anything else does in the world including their family, friends, job, and other activities the person at one time enjoyed.

In the majority of cases, the emotional and physical consequences of drug addiction are that a persons judgment is impaired which can lead to dangerous situations.

Mental or emotional signs of drug addiction include:

Being unusual talkative
Anger
Anxiety
Increased irritability
Abnormal calmness
Unresponsiveness
Indifference
Depression
Suspicion
Delusions
Temporary phobias
Hallucinations

Physical signs of drug addiction include:

Increased energy (seen with stimulants)
Restlessness (seen with stimulants)
Inability to sleep (seen with stimulants)
Unusually slow movements (seen with opiates, benzodiazepines, and barbiturates)
Unusual slow speech (seen with opiates, benzodiazepines, and barbiturates)
Unusual slow reaction time (seen with opiates, benzodiazepines, and barbiturates)
Confusion (seen with opiates, benzodiazepines, and barbiturates)
Disorientation (seen with opiates, benzodiazepines, and barbiturates)
Rapid weight loss or weight gain
Excessive sleepiness
Sudden changes in dress (eg wearing long sleeved shirts to hide injection marks)
Sinusitis
Nosebleeds
Persistent cough
Bronchitis
Coughing up excessive mucus or blood
Dental problems

Finding specific items in a persons room or belongings can also be a sign of drug use or drug addiction including:

Pipes
Roach clips
Syringes
Razor blades
Small handheld mirrors

Causes of Drug Addiction

There are many different reasons that one can become addicted to any drug since the force behind drug addiction is the inability to get relief from untreated physical or mental pain. Drugs can be a very tempting to help a person to handle depression, stress, and loneliness.

A few risk factors that help contribute to drug addiction include:

A family history of drug addiction – at this time there is no scientific evidence that places genetics or a person environment with drug addiction, but a person that has a family history of drug addiction is at greater risk for abusing drugs.
Untreated mental illness – a person suffering from mental illness may use drugs to help overcome their problems can become addicted if they are not receiving medical supervision.
Untreated physical pain – a person that has any type of pain may use drugs to help ease the pain can become addicted if they are not receiving medical supervision.
Peer Pressure – usually teenagers fall prey to this risk factor as their friends are doing drugs and he/she want to be liked and therefore begin taking drugs, which can lead to drug addiction.

Learn more abour drug abuse, drug addiction treatment, & drug rehab.

Drug Abuse

What is drug abuse?

Drug abuse is similar to drug addiction in that once a person begins to abuse drugs they can quickly find themselves becoming addicted.

Drug abuse is the use of illegal drugs, or can be the use of prescription drugs when a person begins to take more than prescribed. Many individuals become addicted to prescription drugs and the doctor may keep providing the drug but not in the quantity desired. The person will then find other ways in which to obtain the drug.

A person abusing drugs may or may not become addicted, however, in most cases, these go hand in hand. Once a person begins abusing drugs by using them to forget their problems, relieve stress, or to enjoy that “high”, they begin to depend on the drug to get through the day. This is when it becomes a drug addiction.

Drug addiction is a compulsion that causes the seeking and use of a drug no matter what the consequences may be. Once a person begins to abuse drugs, the craving takes control and the craving for the drug is more important than life itself.

This means if a the drug was in a bag sitting on the railway track with a train heading straight towards the bag, the person that is addicted will walk in front of that train to get the bag of drugs, not considering the consequences to their own safety.

How drug abuse affects the body

Drug abuse affects individuals differently according to the type of drug they may be abusing, however, the drugs work by tapping into the way in which the brain communicates to the rest of the body, such as the way the brain sends, receives, and processes the information.

Drugs have two ways in which they can interrupt the brain processing system, which includes by imitating the way the brain controls this process and by over-stimulating the way the brain works.

Marijuana contains what are called neurotransmitters, which have a similar structure to the chemical messengers that the brain produces. This drug along with heroin uses these neurotransmitters to fool the receptors in the brain, which will activate nerve cells and send the wrong or different messages.

Cocaine and Methamphetamine cause the nerve cells to release the neurotransmitters that the brain produces, except in much larger quantities, causing a rush or high. In some cases, as well as releasing neurotransmitters, these types of drugs may affect the neuro chemical balance of the brain, disrupting the communication pattern of the brain and leading to behaviour similar to that found in people with mental illnesses such as manic depressive disorders.

How drug abuse affects people physically

Once again the way in which the drug affects a person physically has a lot to do with the drug itself.

Stimulants can give a person quite a bit of energy and they will be “up”, but as the drug begins to wear off the person may feel very depressed and have no energy.

Physical signs of drug abuse include:

(With Stimulants)

Cycles of increased energy
Restlessness
Inability to sleep

(With opiates, benzodiazepines, and barbiturates)

Unusually slow movements
Unusual, slow speech
Slow reaction time
Confusion
Disorientation

Other drug abuse symptoms may include:

Rapid weight loss or weight gain
Cycles of too much sleep
Changes in the type of clothing worn (eg like wearing long sleeved shirts to hide injection sites)
Sinusitis (with snorted drugs)
Nosebleeds (with snorted drugs)
Persistent cough (with smoked drugs)
Bronchitis (with smoked drugs)
Coughing up excessive mucus (with smoked drugs)
Coughing up blood (with smoked drugs)
Severe dental problems (often seen more with methamphetamine)

How drug abuse affects people mentally

The most common ways drug abuse affects people mentally include:

Abnormal calmness
Abnormal unresponsiveness
Cycles of unusually talkative or “up” mood, often associated with unlimited energy
Depression
Delusions
Increased anger
Increased anxiety
Increased irritability
Indifference
Suspicion
Temporary phobias
Temporary hallucinations

How drug abuse affects the family

Living with a person who is abusing drugs can put an enormous strain on the family, often causing the family unit to break down, since drug abuse can lead to marital problems, physical abuse of family members, poor work performance, and in many cases the loss of a job.

Drug abuse disrupts the normal flow of a family with most family members afraid to say or do anything that might let others know about the drug abuser. In many families, the families begin to cover up, give the person money, and even deny the person has a problem.

How drug abuse affects the unborn child

Pregnant women may not realize the problems they are passing on to their unborn child which can include:

Low birth weight
Addicted babies that go through withdrawal after birth
Fetal alcohol syndrome
Physical, developmental, and psychological abnormalities

Learn more about drug addiction, drug addiction treatment, & drug rehab.

Drug Rehabilitation

This section deals with drug rehabilitation, drug abuse, drug addiction, drug addiction treatment, and drug rehab.

You can access the information your need from the links above or from the drop down menu.

The aim is to give people who have issues with drugs, and their families and friends, the information they need to start and address the problems faced by drug dependence.