Drug Addiction Treatment for Opiates
Opiate addiction is a potentially deadly disease, but drug addiction treatment gives addicts the chance to turn their lives around before it’s too late. Even the most desperate heroin and Oxycontin abusers can gain control of their cravings and make lasting recoveries with the right drug rehab program. Unfortunately, opiate addicts are often in such poor physical and mental shape that they are unable to seek therapy on their own. In order to help those who are unable to help themselves, communities need to raise their awareness of the therapies used during drug addiction treatment.
Rapid Detox
Most people who attend rehab must undergo detoxification. This short process of drug deprivation and withdrawal is crucial for helping people overcome their immediate physical compulsions to use drugs. Unfortunately, withdrawal puts opiate addicts at particularly high risk for irregular heartbeat, seizure, cardiac arrest, and other life-threatening medical complications.
To prevent these complications, doctors have begun using specialized medications to induce rapid detox. Patients can often experience days of withdrawal in hours. This process is still painful and potentially dangerous, but it allows opiate addicts to quickly detoxify and begin their longer-term therapies.
Inpatient Rehabilitation
Almost all opiate addicts will have to begin with an inpatient drug addiction treatment program. They live full-time at their treatment facilities for one to three months, and they undergo fifty or more hours of intensive therapies each week. These high levels of supervision and therapy are essential to combat the mental, emotional, and physical effects of opiate addiction
Reality Therapy
Inpatient treatment is incredibly effective at producing long-lasting lifestyle changes in people who abuse heroin and other opiates. However, it can be difficult for addicts to apply their clinical teachings to real-life situations. To make for easier transitions between rehab clinics and the outside world, addiction specialists use reality therapies.
The most important reality therapy is the simple mimicking of lifelike environments. Inpatients have access to same types of amenities they use in normal life, and they are required to perform basic tasks such as shopping and cleaning for themselves. By maintaining daily rituals while receiving intensive therapies, patients become well-prepared to apply their lifestyle changes to the outside world.
Reality therapy also teaches addicts to recognize the difference between situations they can and cannot control – and to act accordingly to prevent relapse. For instance, heroin addicts will be able to control their daily commutes to avoid dealers’ houses and parks where they used to get high – locations which can act as powerful addiction triggers. However, they may not be able to control stressful situations at work. When they encounter uncontrollable daily stressors in the outside world, they must be prepared to use their coping mechanisms to stay calm and mitigate cravings.
Biofeedback Therapy
Opiates take dramatic tolls on users’ bodies. Addicts lose their abilities to recognize the physical warning signs of drug cravings – a phenomenon which exacerbates addictive behaviors and makes recovery all but impossible. To help patients regain their mind-body connections, rehab clinicians use biofeedback therapy.
Biofeedback machines allow doctors to monitor patients’ vital signs as they are subjected to controlled levels of craving-inducing stress. When addicts make connections between their cravings and identifiable physical changes, they become well-prepared to avoid relapse later on. For example, an addict who sees in increase in perspiration rates in response to personal questioning will understand that sweating is an indicator of impending drug cravings.
If you’re suffering from addiction to opiates or other drugs, there is no time to waste. Call the number above now to talk to one our dedicated addiction specialists, 24 hours per day. We are standing by day and night to get you started on one of the most successful drug addiction treatment programs in the country.
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