Independence-School - Independence Intervention Tips

What Are The Medications And Devices That Help Treat Drug Addiction?

18 July 2023 : Nelson Harris

There are several medications and devices that can be useful at different stages of treatment to help the patient stop using drugs, continue treatment, and avoid relapse. Withdrawal treatment. When a patient first stops using drugs, she may experience various physical and emotional symptoms, including restlessness or insomnia, depression, anxiety, and other mental health disorders. Certain medications and treatment devices relieve these symptoms, making it easier to stop using drugs.

Help to continue treatment.

treatment

Certain treatment drugs and some mobile apps are used to help the brain gradually adjust to the absence of the drug. These treatments work slowly to prevent drug cravings and have a calming effect on body systems. They can help patients focus on professional counselling and other psychotherapies related to drug treatment.

How do behavioural therapies treat drug addiction?

Help to avoid relapses. Science has taught us that stressors related to drug use (such as people, places, things, and moods) and drug exposure are the most common triggers for relapse. Scientists have created therapies to interfere with these triggers and help patients continue their recovery.

Treatment and Recovery

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive behavioural therapy seeks to help patients recognize, avoid, and cope with situations in which they are most likely to use drugs.

Contingency management

Contingency management uses positive reinforcement, such as giving rewards or privileges for not using drugs, attending and actively participating in counselling sessions, or taking treatment medications as directed.

Motivational stimulation therapy

Motivational stimulation therapy uses strategies to take full advantage of a person’s willingness to modify their behaviour and initiate treatment.

Section 1.10.32 of "de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum

Family therapy helps people with drug use problems (especially youth) and their families to examine the factors that influence use patterns and improve overall family functioning.

12-Step Facilitation is an individual treatment usually delivered in 12 weekly sessions to actively prepare the person to participate in 12-Step mutual support programs. 12-step programs, such as Alcoholics Anonymous, are not medical treatments but offer social support and complement medical treatment. 12-Step Facilitation follows the phases of acceptance, surrender, and active participation in recovery typical of 12-step programs.

Is it possible to successfully treat addiction?

Yes, addiction is a treatable disorder. Research into the science of addiction and the treatment of drug use disorders has led to the creation of proven methods that help people stop using drugs and return to productive lives, a process called recovery.

Can addiction be cured?

As with other chronic illnesses, such as asthma or heart conditions, drug addiction treatment is usually not a cure. But it is possible to manage addiction successfully. Treatment allows people to counteract the harmful effects of drugs on the brain and behaviour and regain control of their lives.

Does a relapse in drug use mean that the treatment has failed?

No. The chronic nature of addiction means that for some people relapse — that is, going back to using the drug after trying to quit — can be part of the process, although newer treatments are designed to help prevent that from happening. Relapse rates for drug use are similar to rates for other chronic diseases. If a person stops following the treatment plan, he will likely relapse.

Treating chronic diseases includes modifying deep-rooted behaviours, and relapse does not mean that the treatment has failed. When a person recovering from addiction relapses, it’s a sign that they should see their doctor about restarting treatment, modifying it, or trying a different treatment. Although relapse is a normal part of recovery, with some drugs, it can be very dangerous and even deadly. If a person resumes using the same amount of drug that he was using before stopping, it is easy for him to overdose because his body is no longer used to the level of exposure to the drug that it had before. An overdose occurs when a person consumes enough of the drug to produce unpleasant sensations or symptoms that endanger the person’s life or cause death.

Overcoming Addictions: Tips To Help An Addict

25 July 2023 : Nelson Harris

Accept the problem if you want the addict to accept it.

It is hard to admit reality, so the problem is denied. Pride, shame or pain from betrayed trust do not allow a minimum of objectivity at first: he is not like the others.

The problem can be denied in many ways, for example, downplaying it, claiming that it is something for young people, thinking that with age these behaviours resolve themselves, looking the other way… Accepting the situation is opening your eyes to the reality that the addict lives. Accept the person in front of you, not the one in your head.

Love the addict with responsible love.

In 2010, John Kent Harrison directed the film When Love Is Not Enough. We often need a different concept of love. We believe that to love is to endure without limits, to sacrifice ourselves… This idea of love is not mature but is not enough to help an addict. The addicted person will try to manipulate us repeatedly, and we must love them responsibly and intelligently. To love does not mean to be deceived.

Setting limits and keeping them firmly is the best way to show love to that person. Please don’t make it easy for him. If you don’t do your part, you don’t enjoy the comforts of home: food on the table, clean sheets, a hot water bath, money in your pocket… Either you help, or you look for a life elsewhere. The limits are clear: I will not give you what you need to continue consuming.

Seek specialized help

Many people continue to understand that addiction is a vice, not a disease. And that is why they relate to the addict from a moral paradigm in which they reprimand, humiliate, punish, compare… They believe that in this way, they will be able to make him react. No matter how much you love him, a disease is not cured with advice and affection. You have to put yourself in the hands of specialists (doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists, therapists…); only specialized help will end the addiction disease.

Do not be discouraged if the addict does not want to go to a centre specializing in addictions; this is normal at first; This is the denial phase. The important thing is that the family participates. He will come later.

Face the situation with the addict.

Don’t be willing to do everything for him without him (the addict). Speak, and communicate with the addicted person decisively and without fear to put his reality before him, knowing that he will most likely continue to deny it. Do not forget that, in the first phase, the general characteristic of the addict is denial, lies, victimhood and manipulation. He points to specialized help as the only possible solution and does not negotiate it.

The detoxification treatment is a long job where you must put in much effort and patience. Be wary of magic solutions. No matter how well you see the patient, his head needs time.

Firmly demonstrate the resolution to refuse to live with the drug.

Some family members do not firmly maintain the attitude of rejecting the addiction. Some days they are permissive to the addict, and the next day, they make drastic decisions in the face of the same problem. This double message goes against the recovery of the person. Family members must form a block and be firm, maintain the decision of not wanting to live with drugs, alcohol, gambling…

It is also very important to bear with patience and fortitude the tenacious insistence of the addict to abandon treatment, judge everything that sounds like therapy absurd, question their therapists or rehabilitation methods, and complain about everything done in the centre.

In reality, you want to escape control or generate the discomfort you need to justify your next consumption. To do this, they will threaten reprisals, attempt blackmail, pit parents and siblings against each other, and form alliances with other people (grandparents, partners, friends) to sabotage the firmness of the family and end up getting away with it.

New patterns of life

When he starts his treatment, show yourself to be a collaborator when it comes to eliminating all the toxins from your house, reorganizing his new schedules and occupations, and increasing his participation in family life. It is necessary to seek a union in daily activities: work, leisure, etc.

Also, set clear limits which do not lend themselves to interpretations, as indicated by their therapists. And, above all, if he doesn’t do his part, you do yours and do everything the therapeutic program asks of you.

Similarly, you should verify their claims because the addict is a mythomaniac and tends to lie or exaggerate. The money he manages must be carefully controlled; he must not be left alone or with toxic companies, etc.…

How to Leave Drugs Alone? It’s Possible?

23 July 2023 : Nelson Harris

Is it really possible to quit an addiction? How to leave drugs alone? Perhaps these questions can be the first of the steps to achieve it. Drug use implies a serious and high risk to mental health, as well as physical health. However, it is frequent that the person who is addicted to a drug-substance is not aware of the problem.

In fact, someone with an addiction may have lost control of their life and not even consider asking for help until the addiction has caused problems of all kinds.

It is possible to stop an addiction on your own, however, you should know some important aspects that can make the initial detoxification process on your own somewhat complex.

How to leave an addiction alone?

The most problematic thing about the detoxification process of a substance or drug is the so-called “withdrawal syndrome”.

The withdrawal syndrome consists of a set of symptoms produced by various physical and mental alterations, which occur as a result of suddenly stopping the consumption of a substance.

The withdrawal syndrome stage is a complex phase full of discomfort and intense symptoms that can also increase the risk of relapse.

One of the changes that occurs during the active use of a substance is that this addiction often affects the frontal cortex of the brain, therefore impulse control and judgment are impaired.

Another important modification is in the brain’s reward system, in which the memory of the sensation of previous rewards is activated, causing more cravings or desires to consume the substance despite the negative consequences.

Withdrawal syndrome is an overwhelming experience. However, a clear and appropriate line of professional intervention can make the recovery process much shorter and more manageable than quitting the addiction on your own.

Steps to leave drugs alone

To determine whether to quit an addiction alone or even with a professional intervention, it is important to consider the motivation for which this abandonment of consumption is sought.
There is no doubt that quitting will make you take more control of your life and allow you to achieve the goals and objectives you desire.
In addition, quitting substance use will improve your quality of life and prevent the development of diseases and health problems associated with drug use.
However, also motivations such as family intervention status, personal or work ambitions and expectations for the future, among others, can represent an important motivator to maintain your focus on your recovery.

Some of the Drug Intervention strategies that will help you recover

Set clear goals and be determined to change. It may be a better option to set a goal that you achieve progressively than to try to quit drugs cold turkey on your own. Progressively reduce both the quantity and the number of doses.
Write down the reasons why you want to stop using and keep them in mind to remember them whenever necessary.
Change your environment by distancing yourself from people associated with drug use.
Make it difficult to get the substance, for example, throw away the drugs and avoid carrying cash with you to reduce the risk of buying more.

Home Remedies to Quit Drugs

22 July 2023 : Nelson Harris

Quitting drugs and other addictions implies a complicated process that involves both physical, mental, emotional and biological aspects.

The following are some recommendations that will help you overcome withdrawal symptoms and help you quit drugs:

Avoid addictive replacement behaviors

Often when a person is trying to quit drugs, they start practicing other types of addictions to replace the old habit.

For example, a person who is quitting cocaine may choose to start binge eating as a replacement mechanism.

Like drugs, the practice of addictive behaviors involves neurological and psychological processes to the sensations produced by the consumption of other drugs or addictions.

You can solve this problem by finding satisfaction in the common experiences of a normal life. Address any underlying emotional or physical issues, seek professional help to identify any additional issues.

Reevaluate your friendships and relationships

When you are coming off drugs, it is likely that as your recovery takes place, some social changes are taking place around you as well.

It may take some time and effort to restore the trust of family members or friends who were involved in the addiction.

Reevaluating friendships will allow you to discover those people with whom you should have limits because they are a potential danger for your relapses and to value those others who keep lives away from addictions.

change your routine

Considering your environment will help you eliminate or move away from all those factors that can trigger cravings and increase your risk of relapse.

Avoid going to the places of your routine related to the consumption of drugs or addictive substances. For example, it may be necessary to avoid bars or change social patterns that are related to drug use.

Learn to manage stress

While it’s true that keeping your schedule busy can help you avoid thoughts of addiction, too much stress can instead increase your anxiety level and push you back into old spending habits.

It is important to plan your schedule so that you can have moments of calm, sleep between 7 and 8 hours a day, do healthy and pleasant activities, among others.

In fact, in some cases, drug use began as an escape route from strenuous work dynamics; in these cases, it may be convenient to consider changing jobs, especially if there is a high risk of relapse.

Intervention Counselor

Whether you decide to quit an addiction on your own or get involved in a treatment plan, getting support is a valuable resource in your recovery.

Find people nearby you trust and talk to them about your plan to quit drugs.

Just knowing that there are people around you who will accompany you in this process and who will be willing to help you, will give you greater strength to face the challenges of detoxification.…

How Does The Brain Recover From Drugs?

21 July 2023 : Nelson Harris

The drugs or addictive substances capable of causing brain damage are diverse, for example, alcohol, methamphetamine, among others.

Some of these drugs, as in the case of cocaine, may be responsible for causing micro-strokes. This translates into significant and sometimes irreversible brain damage that will gradually diminish your abilities.

However, cessation of use and detoxification of the offending drug may result in better cognitive health.

Drugs interfere in the way in which neurons send, receive and process all those signals emitted by neurotransmitters.

Basically, drugs can alter the chemical functioning of the brain and cause a series of reactions associated with the specific effect of the substance.

However, once detoxification of the substance takes place, the brain can resume normal function in most cases.

Of course, in the long term, it is possible that the risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease is greater compared to people who have never used drugs.

The sooner you manage to stop using, the better the prognosis for your brain health.

Why do I need medical intervention Services ?

Asking for medical support to stop using substances is essential to be able to receive tools and strategies to facilitate the process of change.

Rehabilitating from an addiction can be a long process that involves physical and psychological consequences that can increase the risk of abandonment and relapse into consumption.

Addiction therapies allow you to approach detoxification in a personalized way and adjusted to your own concerns, but with professional support at all times.

The treatment will not be the same for all people and it will be adapted according to the level of severity of the addiction.

The treatment will not always require hospitalization in special residences , but it could consist of outpatient treatment, in which you can carry out your usual occupations.

In any case, the trained medical professional will indicate the most appropriate treatment. This will ease your detoxification process and help ease your withdrawal symptoms.

Appropriate treatment can range from psychological and behavioral therapy, group therapy and, in some cases, may include medication to treat some addictions.

Medical intervention to treat addictions to substances is a tool that will help you overcome the objective of quitting consumption more quickly and with a clear path.

The 4 phases of the recovery process of Substance Abuse Intervention.

In the process of recovering from addictions to substances, important changes occur both at the cerebral and psychological level. As for the first, neurochemical changes occur at the level of the central nervous system, these changes translate into a biological readjustment that in turn will imply changes that will manifest themselves through signs and symptoms of a physical and psychological nature.

The application of an early recovery therapy is important, in which the patient and his family or immediate environment are explained what each of the four phases that he will face throughout his recovery process consist of and what they are. These phases are the following:

The first phase of recovery, is that of withdrawal or withdrawal syndrome, begins with the first abandonment of the use of the substance or substances, lasts between 1 and 2 weeks. The withdrawal syndrome is, without a doubt, the protagonist of this stage, this implies for the patient the physical detoxification of the substance, which usually causes intense desires to consume, depression, anxiety, low energy, irritability, insomnia, paranoia, memory problems… and a long etcetera. All these signs and symptoms will obey, as we have commented, the cerebral neurochemical readjustment. It is necessary that both the person and their family understand what these emotional states are due to and that they will end up subsiding.

The second phase of recovery is that of early withdrawal or honeymoon, this phase is usually characterized by the presence in the patient of a state of well-being and even euphoria when feeling or thinking that their problems with the substance/s are practically resolved.

It lasts from 4 to 6 weeks and is characterized by the patient’s increased energy, increased optimism, mild paranoia… these feelings can lead the person to be overconfident that can cause problems since the patient may think that it is not necessary to prolong the treatment, they can increase their exposure, especially to external triggers, consume another type of substance different from the one that caused their addiction… For all this it is very important that patients know about the existence of this phase and what its main characteristics are, so they can know the risks and prepare how to face them using all the strategies available to them so far (structured calendar, knowledge of their triggers, maintaining their attendance to the group,doing physical exercise to release endorphins, stop thinking…).

Once again, it is crucial that the patient’s relatives know the characteristics of this stage.

On many occasions, both family members and the patient himself benefit greatly from psychological support, either by requesting a face-to-face consultation or through an online consultation with an expert in psychology.

The third phase of recovery is the prolonged abstinence or wall phase. It is undoubtedly one of the most feared by patients since it is assumed or experienced as a setback because the energy level drops, emotionally the person feels apathetic, sad and in some cases states of anhedonia manifest. It can last between 3 and 4 months; the person may face almost continuous changes in his lifestyle, feelings of sadness and anger, loneliness, family conflicts, his sexual life may be affected, desires for consumption may reappear…

All this can lead the person to believe that they will never recover, thus increasing their hopelessness in the face of the situation and the chances of relapse that they usually justify through their state of mind. It is necessary to emphasize the importance that knowledge of this phase has for their relatives and to emphasize that all these changes follow the adequate stabilization of brain neurochemistry and that the symptoms will pass over time.

The fourth and last phase is adaptation and resolution, it lasts between 4 and 6 months, the person has already overcome the symptoms of physical withdrawal, improving almost all its effects, but this does not mean that their recovery process has finished. In this phase, the patient feels that having overcome the wall phase, his life can return to normal, this being a false belief.

The main objective of this phase is to maintain the lifestyle that has been implanted little by little throughout each stage of recovery and accepting that this stage or process is for life. Because in this phase emotional stability is increased, the decision-making process and emotional state of the patient are clearly improved. This fact can lead you to become interested in doing activities you like and incorporating them into your new lifestyle. It is very important that the person through the different supports of him (family, friends…) and himself, develop and maintain a balanced lifestyle.

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