Five Effective Treatments for Substance Abuse

Substance abuse is a pattern of consuming harmful chemicals that results in health-related and affects various aspects of a person’s personal and professional life. Individuals begin to get addicted to dangerous chemicals, such as heroin, cocaine, meth, etc., at a very you age. If left unchecked, regular usage can spiral down into a severe issue. Common reasons for people developing an addiction include peer pressure, thrill, stress, trauma, coping mechanisms, etc. If patients get the help they need at the right time, they can manage withdrawal side effects on time and set themselves on a speedy recovery. Listed below are a few standard treatment options available to addicts.

Detoxification

Detoxification involves cleansing the body of harmful chemicals while managing withdrawal symptoms. This process can require a blood transfusion, urination, or triggering vomiting. In over 80% of substance abuse cases, medical professionals use medicines to decrease the withdrawal symptoms associated with the substance. If more than one substance is detected in a person’s body, different medications to manage the symptoms related to each substance.

Rehabilitation programs

People with persisting addictive disorders require intensive treatment programs to help them overcome their habits. These long-term substance abuse treatment programs help individuals stay drug-free and continue with their social, personal, and professional responsibilities. Patients can choose from various inpatient and outpatient plans, depending on their condition and schedule. Licensed organizations, such as Delphi Health Group, help addicts choose a program tailored to their medical, personal and professional needs and help them get on the road to recovery. These facilities offer a safe living environment for people and provide them with every necessary medical assistance or intervention. There are some types of facilities that provide a therapeutic housing environment, including:

Short-term residential treatment: Such treatments focus on detoxification and prepare a person for a more extended period to stay within the therapeutic community by conducting intensive counseling sessions.

Therapeutic community: A person with some severe type of substance abuse disorder can seek long-term treatment. They would have to live in the rehabilitation facility for about 6 to 12 months with the care providers and people under-recovery. The onsite staff plays a crucial role in helping addicts recover from addiction and changing their attitude towards drug use.

Recovery housing environment: It’s a short-term stay for individuals that helps them engage with different responsibilities and modifications without using substances. Recovery housing provides financial handling tactics, searching jobs, and improved social connections between other individuals. Also, they help them in their final recovery stages by providing community support services.

Behavioral therapies

Therapy can be individual-based, in a group or family-based setting, relying on an individual’s needs and conditions. The onset of treatments is intense, involving numerous sessions, and then gradually decreases as symptoms improve. Different therapies are available, including cognitive-behavioral therapy, multidimensional family therapy, and motivational interviewing. All these therapies help individuals change thoughts and habits that lead them to substance use and increase their willingness to adopt changes in their behaviors. Also, it can change family dynamics around a teen or adolescent suffering from substance abuse disorder and encourage getting over denial through optimistic approaches.

Counseling and self-help groups

The motive of counseling people with addiction is to help them change their behaviors and attitudes towards using substances with addictive properties. Also, counseling can strengthen life skills and support different substance abuse treatments. Some types of therapies focus on the cause behind the substance abuse disorder, and others consider the behavioral characteristics of a particular habit. However, both approaches tend to help individuals in every possible way. In addition, counseling also involves another practical approach called self-help groups. Such groups engage recovering people with those individuals who have similar addictive disorders to motivate them and reduce their feelings of isolation. Also, they are a better source of education, information, and community.

Medications

People often continue to take medication even after recovery. However, most commonly in the detoxification process, medicines are used to prevent and manage withdrawal reactions depending on the person’s condition. Medication helps patients reduce cravings or relapse.

People with alcohol addiction need specific medication to manage withdrawal symptoms and reduce their cravings. Some of the drugs used in alcohol addiction treatment include Acamprosate, Naltrexone, and Disulfiram. These medications reduce the withdrawal symptoms associated with alcohol and prevent its relapse. Also, they help manage anxiety, dysphoria and ease the trouble for people having long-term withdrawal effects. Medication in conjunction with psychotherapy can help treat addiction and prevent withdrawal side effects from taking a toll on patients’ lives.

Conclusion

People with substance abuse disorders need prolonged intensive treatments and withdrawal management therapies. Substance-related treatment involves evaluating a person’s addiction’s severity to a specific substance and deciding a suitable course of action accordingly. This article highlighted a few methods to treat addictions. include detoxification, choosing inpatient/outpatient programs, CBT, counseling, and medication. Depending on the severity of the case, a combination of two or more of these yields enhanced results. Also you can follow these easy tips to help in recovery from addiction

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