Scheduling and Drug Classification Charts: Making Sense of Drugs
What Is The Addiction Treatment Process?
The journey from addiction to sobriety is a complex one, with many different winding roads, hills, and valleys, and maybe even a few U-turns along the way too. Giving up drugs and alcohol is a life-changing decision that requires commitment and hard work, and for many, getting started is the hardest part.
Perhaps you’ve been struggling with drug and alcohol abuse for years and you’ve reached the end of your rope. You’re finally ready to get help, but the whole process seems daunting. Where do you even begin? How do you know who to trust and what can you expect from the process? (more…)
Generation “Heroin” – The Generation Addicted to Heroin
Here in America, there are six living generations, which contain fairly distinct groups of people. Each of these generations has different likes, dislikes, and attributes. They have had collective experiences as they aged and therefore have similar ideals. A new generation is developing, the characteristics include: Lying, worsening performance at work or in school resulting in loss of jobs, lack of attention to hygiene, great loss of motivation in life and future goals, withdrawal from friends and loved ones, repeated stealing and deceptive behavior, and hostile behavior, and even death due to lack of heroin addiction treatment. These are a few traits of a heroin addiction and the heroin epidemic. (more…)
Opiates: A Primer
Opiates are drugs derived from morphine, which occurs naturally in the seed pod of certain varieties of the poppy plant. Opiates are some of the most commonly abused substances in the United States, and abusing them can quickly lead to addiction and dependence. (more…)
Opiate Addiction and Withdrawal: Why Treatment is Essential
Opiates are a class of drugs that include heroin and prescription painkillers like OxyContin and Vicodin. Widely abused and highly addictive, opiates can produce a marked sense of euphoria and wellbeing. The brain immediately learns to associate these feelings of pleasure with the drug, and cravings can begin to set in after the initial use.
Opiate Addiction and Dependence
An opiate addiction has developed when you are unable to stop using heroin or a prescription painkiller despite the negative consequences it causes. Addiction is not the same thing as dependence, although addiction and dependence typically occur together.
Opiates produce a high level of tolerance very quickly, which means that the brain changes its way of functioning to compensate for the presence of the drug. With chronic abuse, tolerance continues to build, and the brain may soon require opiates in order to function “normally.” When opiates are subsequently withheld, withdrawal symptoms set in as the brain’s way of telling you it has developed a physical dependence on the drug.
Signs and Symptoms of Opiate Addiction
According to the National Institutes of Health, some of the signs and symptoms of opiate addiction include:
- Continuing to use opiates despite negative consequences to your health, relationships and finances as well as legal problems associated with the abuse.
- Neglecting duties at home, work or school.
- Increasingly neglecting personal hygiene.
- Needle marks on the arms, legs, hands or feet.
- Stealing or borrowing money to buy drugs.
- Engaging in risky behaviors while under the influence.
- Finding that you’re unable to stop using the drug even though you want to or have tried to.
Treatment for Opiate Addiction and Withdrawal
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, willpower alone is very rarely enough to conquer an addiction. Additionally, the withdrawal symptoms associated with opiate detox can be excruciating, and the vast majority of those who try to detox without professional intervention will quickly turn back to drugs to make the pain stop.
Medical detox will be the first step in treatment if you have developed a physical dependence on opiates. During medical detox, various medications are administered as needed to alleviate the intensity of withdrawal symptoms, which include hot and cold sweats, abdominal cramping and diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, intense cravings and muscle aches. These symptoms may be severe, but they aren’t life-threatening.
In many cases, medications like methadone and Suboxone, which stave off withdrawal symptoms and cravings without producing the euphoric effects of opiates, will be used to help wean addicted individuals off of the drug of abuse. Managing an opiate addiction in this way enables you to work on restoring your life and addressing the various underlying issues without distraction.
Once the physical dependence has been broken or your addiction is under control with the help of medications, various treatment therapies will be used to address the complex issues underlying the opiate abuse. Common therapies used to treat opiate addiction include cognitive behavioral therapy, which will help you identify and replace harmful thoughts, attitudes and behaviors, and motivational interviewing, which will help you identify your own intrinsic motivation for wanting to recover from chronic opiate abuse or addiction.
There Is Hope
Beating an addiction to opiates may seem like an insurmountable task, but treatment is designed to make withdrawal and treatment as pain-free as possible. A high-quality treatment center will offer a holistic approach to treatment that includes both traditional and alternative therapeutic approaches that address issues of the mind, body and spirit for overall wellness and successful healing from an addiction. In most cases, taking the first step toward treatment is the hardest part of recovery.