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Drug Addiction Treatment The term “drug addiction” is often synonymous with feelings of shame and embarrassment. Therefore, the idea of having to undergo drug addiction treatment can also carry with it a stigma. This common misperception sometimes keeps people from enrolling in treatment because they feel they are admitting that somehow they are different then other people…maybe even less than other people. But the truth is that drug addiction is a condition that plagues 1 out of every 10 people in the United States. In fact, the number of people that experience drug addiction in one form or another in the U.S. is an astronomical 30,000,000 people. Of the approximate thirty million that do experience some form of drug addiction, only 20% or so actually seek help in the form of residential drug addiction treatment. This means that if you or your loved one seeks help, you are already in the winner’s circle. Believe it or not, most people simply resign themselves to living with an addiction and slowly over time that condition, or a variant of that condition, complicates their life and eventually kills them. So give yourself some credit…just seeking help places you solidly in the category where there is optimism on the horizon! Drug Addiction is Essentially a Type of Disease Drug addiction can be viewed as a disease. And drug addiction treatment is the recommended treatment for that disease. People who experience drug addiction are no different than people who experience some other medical condition that requires treatment for the disease to be put into remission so that they can experience recovery from that disease. Read this statement that was issued by the American Academy of Pain Medicine, the American Pain Society, and the American Society of Addiction Medicine in 2001: “Addiction is a primary, chronic, neurobiologic disease, with genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations. It is characterized by behaviors that include one or more of the following: impaired control over drug use, compulsive use, continued use despite harm, and craving.” The problem with overcoming drug addiction is complex and it has to do directly with the idea that the term “drug addiction” carries with it feelings of shame and embarrassment. If Drug Addiction is a Disease, why is it Often so Hard to Enroll in Drug Addiction Treatment? Here are some important questions: 1. Why is it so hard to overcome drug addiction? 2. Why do so few people comparatively enroll in drug addiction treatment? To examine the first question, one first has to recognize that many people still falsely believe that drug addiction is a condition based in choice. But one surely wouldn’t say the same to a diabetic would they? No one would tell a diabetic that they must simply choose not to be diabetic! The idea that a diabetic could think their way out of being a diabetic is comical. Everyone knows that in order for a diabetic to be treated they have to get medical help. Medications, evaluations, dietary adjustments and exercise would all be indicated treatment measures for a diabetic. Well, the same principle of seeking treatment services for drug addiction applies to people who have the disease of addiction. Unfortunately, many people, including drug addicts have a hard time accepting this truth and that directly results in lower recovery rates for people who suffer from the disease of addiction. It’s pretty hard to treat a disease if you won’t even admit that you have one. The second question correlates directly to the first. The reason people often don’t enroll in drug addiction treatment is because they either have bought into the idea that they have a moral problem v. a preventable disease, or they are too ashamed to admit they can’t solve their drug addiction problem on their own. In the first scenario, where the individual has bought into the idea that they can choose not to be a drug addict, the person afflicted will often resort to intense measures attempting to moderate or hide the ramifications of their drug addiction. This can lead them into a “hiding” of sorts. In other words, they begin to deny the true implications and consequences of their condition. They might even over time begin to blame consequences correlating to their condition on other factors. For example: · A person suffering from addiction begins to miss work. They are eventually terminated from their place of employment. Rather than say, “I have been terminated because I can’t show up to work due to my drug addiction” they might say, “My boss is a real jerk and always had it in for me!” This perceptual pattern can persist all throughout the drug addict’s life in differing situations and in various forms. They eventually become a victim of circumstances v. a person who learns from their mistakes. Doomed to repeat the same mistakes over and over and over… · A person suffering from addiction is married and has two young children. Their partner files for separation. Rather than say, “My partner filed for separation because I have changed from who I used to be due to my drug addiction” they might say, “My spouse always was a real *****!” This pattern again can persists in all different sorts of interpersonal relationships and eventually leads the drug addict to be isolated or surrounded by similar people who also view the world the way they do. Misery loves company… In the case of the person suffering from drug addiction they often have to totally change their perception of life’s occurrences to the false belief that life just has it in for them. They have to do this because if they didn’t, and they accepted responsibility for their drug addiction, they would have to make changes that they either don’t want to make, or that they feel ashamed to admit they need to make. So again, for the person who is willing to seek drug addiction treatment…you really are in the winner’s circle because most people usually refuse to accept responsibility for their disease or to put in the tremendous effort of getting themselves help. The Concept of Drug Addiction RECOVERY In the same way a cancer patient can undergo treatment and gain remission and recovery from cancer, so can person suffering from drug addiction undergo treatment and achieve addiction recovery! Granted, the treatment is different but the principle is exactly the same. We know a lot about drug addiction in 2009. More importantly, we know what specific areas need to be treated in order to recover from drug addiction…they come directly from the statement issued by the American Academy of Pain Medicine, the American Pain Society, and the American Society of Addiction Medicine in 2001. These are: · The neurobiological factors of addiction; · The genetic influencers on the development of the addiction; · The past, present and anticipated future psychosocial factors influencing development, manifestation and maintenance of addiction; · The past, present and future environment factors influencing development, manifestation and maintenance of addiction; · Clinical treatment of compulsivity, craving management and the development of consequence oriented thought processes. What that means… It means that effective drug addiction treatment should offer the following: Psychological Assessment / Psychiatric Evaluation Drug and Alcohol Counseling Group Therapy Experiential Therapy Disease Model Education Addiction Education Trigger Identification and Corresponding Coping Mechanisms Impulse Awareness Shame Reduction 12 Step Education Recovery Fundamentals Relapse Prevention Education Meditation Techniques Physiological Healing
For further information about how to achieve drug addiction recovery call 877 415 4673. With help, anyone can overcome drug addiction. They just need the right treatment delivered in the right way!
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