What Are Your Drug Addiction Treatment Options?
Drug addiction is a dangerous and complicated disease that ruins families and ends lives. Every year, thousands of people succumb to its dangerous allure. This is where addiction treatment comes into play. Many people know that treatment is the best way to overcome an addiction once it begins, but what are your drug addiction treatment options?
Medications
Though not appropriate for all drug addictions, or in every circumstance, there are several medications that are available for helping with substance abuse recovery. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, medications are used in addiction treatment for several purposes. These include:
- Maintenance therapy
- Easing withdrawal symptoms
- Relapse prevention
- Treating co-occurring disorders
While medications can be very useful for all of these purposes, treatment that only consists of medication is rarely successful.
Support Groups
Support groups of various kinds are also useful tools in treating drug addictions. There are many different kinds of these groups, including:
- Mutual support groups, such as Narcotics Anonymous
- Family support groups
- Community support options
- Religious support structures
Alone, these groups are not effective in combating drug addiction. However, all of these different support groups can be very useful when they are part of a comprehensive treatment program.
Therapy and Counseling
The most important treatment options in addiction therapy are behavioral therapies and counseling. This includes:
- Aversion therapy
- Individual counseling
- Contingency management
- Group counseling
These techniques teach you the causes of your addiction and how to resist the cravings and triggers that contribute to your substance abuse.
Non-Traditional Treatments
The more traditionally accepted treatment options do not always work for every person or every addiction. For this reason, many successful treatment centers offer alternative options. These may include:
- Acupuncture
- Herbal supplements
- Massage therapy
- Spiritual healing
These and other alternative options may be just what you need to beat your drug addiction, particularly when they are combined with mainstream methods.
Whatever options work for you, what is most important is that you seek treatment. Every day that you delay the drug addiction grows stronger and the damage it has caused gets worse.
Important Answers about Your Drug Addiction Treatment
Much has been learned about addiction in the last century. So much knowledge, in fact, that there are now treatments available for it that have relatively high success rates. Even so, you may still have many questions. There are several answers you need to know about your drug addiction treatment.
Treatment is the Best Option
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the changes to the brain caused by an addiction are nearly impossible to overcome without the help of professional treatment. While it is true that some people stop using drugs on their own, the chances of successfully doing so are extremely low. Drug addiction treatment is the best way to combat an addiction.
There are Different Kinds of Treatment Facilities
It is also important to know what kinds of drug addiction treatment facilities exist. Inpatient facilities require you to live in them during treatment, while outpatient facilities allow you to maintain your responsibilities while recovering. There are also facilities that combine both inpatient and outpatient services to better fit your needs.
More Treatment Options are Better
Drug addiction is a very complicated disease. No two people experience it the same way and there is no single treatment that works in every situation. This means that there needs to be a diverse variety of treatment options available for a facility that deals in addiction to be successful.
Aftercare is Important
In addition to being complicated, drug addiction is a chronic relapsing disease. This means that it has no cure, and sufferers may begin using again, even after being drug free for an extended period of time.
It is also true that the majority of overdose deaths occur as a result of relapse. This is why it is essential that any treatment you receive offers aftercare and follow-ups to prevent these relapses.
You Need Treatment Now
The damage that drug addiction does to the brain and body is progressive. For every day that the addiction continues, the damages it causes continue to worsen. Many of these may even be irreversible. Also, drug abuse will always end in death if it is not stopped. This is why you need treatment now. Do not wait until it is too late to take back your life.