Drug addiction is a chronic disease that affects both the brain and behavior. The main characteristics are compulsive and uncontrollable substance use despite the consequences for the users and their loved ones. It’s a treatable disease at AddictionResource with various ways, forms, and interventions, such as medications and behavioral therapies. Free drug rehab centers are often the first place where people with both drug use disorder will turn to. Professional help and assistance are crucial because addiction is a relapsing disease. Since there is no universal treatment for everyone, finding the most effective treatment approach is crucial to avoid a reversion to drug use. Says the experts from definingwellness.com.
The goals of all drug treatments are to help an addicted person stop using and to stay drug-free. However, the process of healing can take a very long time so staying in the program is another reason why people with an addiction problem should be monitored continuously.
Behavioral therapies and counseling are the two most common forms of treatment. They can be combined with medications, but since some of these therapies can be highly addictive, the treatment plans have to be regularly reviewed or modified according to the current condition of the patient. This kind of approach is standard for almost every free drug addiction treatment. Unfortunately, detoxication is just a first step on the path to sobriety, while short-term treatments are hardly ever sufficient.
Mental health and drug abuse are very closely connected. Schizophrenia, personality, and mood disorders can affect how a person behaves and interacts with the world. People who suffer from these conditions will often try to find a temporary way out or simply a coping mechanism for a short break or relief from their psychiatric disorders.
Alcohol, drugs, and other addictive behaviors are often a dysfunctional way of managing life with these drug use disorders and other health issues. During any addiction treatment, the good mental condition is almost impossible to achieve, so reaching for the free drug rehabilitation center or free alcohol treatment is the best way to handle the relation between mental health or any co-occurring disorder and addiction.
According to the US survey conducted in 2016, over 8 million adults, which is 3.4% of all adults, had suffered from both drug addiction and mental illness in the previous 12 months. During the same period, 2.6 million adults had some co-occurring mental condition while using drugs.
Besides mental issues, people with a substance use problem can also struggle with one or several co-occurring disorders. For example, most common addictions might include the following disorders:
- Alcoholism with panic disorder and schizophrenia, cocaine use and depression, poly-drug abuse (no preference to a particular drug), and borderline personality disorder.
Most people with drug addiction use medications during detoxification during the drug treatment period to prevent possible withdrawal. The use of medications can be extended to future phases as well. In these cases, the goal is to prevent relapse, decrease cravings, and to re-establish normal brain function. - For people who used more than one substance, which is not so uncommon, the therapy will probably include more than one medication. Methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone are often used to treat opioid addiction. These medications target the same part of the brain as heroin or morphine and will successfully suppress the cravings in most cases. However, if not taken with professional monitoring, these medications can induce chemical dependence and addiction.
- Medications used to treat mental illnesses can also be abused and eventually create very high dependence. Some of them, such as those from the benzodiazepine group, contains some tranquilizing components that can cause serious addiction if taken too often or for too long. However, if used as prescribed, for a short period and only when necessary, they can be extremely effective. According to US physicians, people with addiction problems should use antidepressants or neuroleptics rather than benzodiazepines.
- Another potentially risky medications are amphetamine-based drugs, such as Ritalin and Adderall. They are often prescribed to people with a behavioral disorder. Unfortunately, because of their stimulatory effects, people tend to misuse them for completely different purposes.
How to Ensure Substance Abuse Treatment Doesn’t Become an Addiction
Treatment becomes an addiction when a person uses it for another reason other than to reduce cravings and curb substance abuse. To ensure that treatment doesn’t become an addiction, medications should be prescribed in inpatient settings. If prescribed in outpatient settings, patients should visit the clinic every day for monitoring and administration of the right doses. That’s because the majority of these medications are powerful opiates with possibly addictive qualities.
For instance, people use methadone to overcome heroin addiction. However, this medication puts them at the risk of abusing it due to their opioid dependency history. Methadone is, in fact, the preferred substance for some addicts. Therefore, whenever a person uses more than the prescribed amount of methadone or uses the medication without a prescription, they abuse it.
However, this medication does not cause similar euphoric effects with morphine and heroin. That’s because it is meant to do the opposite. Essentially, it is designed to block pleasurable sensations that people experience when they use opiates.
But, this medication has sedative effects. And although these effects are limited, they can become euphoric. Additionally, they can be great enough to make a person not fit to engage in activities like driving.
Some of the major effects of this treatment include euphoria, sedation, and decreased reaction time. They are also associated with drowsiness, dry mouth, droopy eyelids, muscle weakness, low blood pressure, decreased body temperature, and reduced attention span and reaction to light. These euphoric effects of treatment can also increase depending on the administration method.
The Bottom Line
Treating substance use disorder is a complicated and lengthy process, but treatment programs for people with drug addiction combined with some co-occurring psychiatric disorder demand a compassionate approach. The first step is to find addiction and mental therapists who can evaluate the situation and accurately diagnose it. The next phase would be to find a rehab facility that can support treatments for both conditions. Of course, pharmacological therapy, individual counseling, and other recovery services should also be involved in the treatment until both addiction and co-occurring diseases are under control.
Therefore, finding the nearby free drug rehabilitation center or free drug treatment program would be an excellent way to start with the healing process.
