Drug Addiction Treatment Blog

People who suffer from drug addiction and alcoholism need to join an alcohol drug detox program to get them the help that they need. If you are suffering from drug addiction or alcoholism, chances are you have figured out that you cannot detox on your own. You need an alcohol drug detox program to help you get rid of the substances in your system safely. There are a variety of reasons to join an alcohol drug detox program including safe detoxification, help with drug rehab, and a brand new life.

 One reason that you should join an alcohol drug detox program is so you can safely detoxify your body from the substances that you have been abusing. When you go through the detoxification process more than likely you will have to deal with the negative effects of detoxification such as withdrawal. Drug Alcohol Detox is not an easy process and many times there can be both physical and psychological problems that occur during the process. Being involved in an alcohol drug detox program can insure that you have the medical help you need to make it through the drug detox process.

To locate a drug detox program call the national drug detox helpline at 1-866-99-DETOX.

Another reason to join an alcohol drug detox program is that they often go on to help you rehabilitate as well. After you go through the initial detox part of the addiction treatment program you can go on to identify problems that lead to drug addiction and you will learn how to overcome the problems. Drug rehab programs help you learn to stay away from things that will draw you back into addictive behavior and get you on the right track to staying clean.

One of the greatst benefits of going through an alcohol drug detox program is that it gives you the chance to change your life. Once in the drug detox program you will have that chance. 

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What is dual diagnosis?

A dual diagnosis occurs when an individual is affected by both chemical dependency and psychiatric/emotional illness. Both illnesses may affect a person physically, socially, psychologically, and spiritually. Each illness has symptoms that interfere with a person’s ability to function effectively. The illnesses may affect each other, and each disorder predisposes to relapse in the other disease. At times the symptoms can overlap and even mask as each other, making dual diagnosis treatment and diagnosis difficult. To fully recover from dual diagnosis, a person needs to treat/address both disorders.
Other names for dual diagnosis are:

• Co-morbid disorders
  
• Co-occurring disorders
  
• Concurrent disorders
  
• Co-morbidity
  
• Dual disorders
  

What is the relationship between mental illness and substance abuse (dual diagnosis)?

Alcohol abuse and drug abuse have many negative connotations in our society. For many, drug abuse and alcohol abuse  is perceived to result from lack of willpower, laziness, or selfishness. Sadly, these erroneous perceptions also extend to a group extremely vulnerable to drug abuse – people with mental disorders.

• Those with a mental disorder can be very sensitive to the effects of drug abuse; not only can it be easier to abuse drugs; it can also be harder to quit.
  
• Like the rest of the population, a person with a mental disorder is more likely to abuse drugs if there is a family history of alcohol and drug abuse.
  
• Environmental factors such as peer pressure, location, and the availability of the drug also contribute to a pattern of drug abuse in the mentally ill.
  
• Drug use can interfere with prescribed medication, increase symptoms of a mental condition, and increase relapse risk.
  
• Having difficulty developing social relationships, some people find themselves more easily accepted by groups whose social activity is based on drug use.
  
• Some believe that an identity based on drug addiction/alcoholism is more acceptable than one based on mental illness.
  

A person with a dual diagnosis may sincerely try to recover from one illness and not acknowledge the other. As a person neglects the mental illness, that illness may resurface. This recurrence may in turn lead a person to feel the need to “self medicate” through drug/alcohol use to combat symptoms of the mental illness or side effects of medications. This relief or change is temporary at best and usually leads to hospitalization.
Over time, the lack of progress towards recovery from dual diagnosis may:

• Trigger feelings of failure and alienation
  
• Lead to trouble finding housing, because of difficulty living at home and non-tolerance in the Rehabilitation or care facilities
  
• Lead to loss of support systems
  
• Result in frequent relapses and addiction treatment stays.
  

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Methadone-associated Deaths Not Caused Primarily By Methadone Diverted From Methadone AddictionTreatment Programs 

Methadone-associated deaths are not being caused primarily by methadone diverted from methadone addiction treatment programs, according to a panel of experts convened by SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)

“While deaths involving methadone increased, experiences in several states show that drug addiction treatment programs are not the culprits,” said SAMHSA Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) Director H. Westley Clark, M.D., J.D., M.P.H. He cited the expert panel consensus report at the Sixth International Conference on Pain and Chemical Dependency in New York City in early February.

Methadone-Associated Mortality, Report of a National Assessment concludes that “although the data remain incomplete, National Assessment meeting participants concurred that methadone tablets and/or diskettes distributed through channels other than opiate treatment programs most likely are the central factor in methadone-associated mortality.”

Hospital emergency department visits involving methadone rose 176 percent from 1995 to 2002. The rise from 2000 to 2002 was 50 percent, according to SAMHSA s Drug Abuse Warning Network.

SAMHSA convened the panel in May 2003 to determine whether its methadone regulations were allowing diversion of methadone from clinics or whether the rise of methadone mentions in hospital emergency rooms and reports of deaths were due to methadone coming from other sources.

To locate an effective addiction treatment program please call the toll free addiction treatment helpline at 1-800-511-9225.

 

The panel - state and Federal experts, researchers, epidemiologists, pathologists, toxicologists, medical examiners, coroners, pain management specialists, addiction medicine specialists, and others - concluded that the methadone from reported deaths came from sources other than opiate treatment programs.

“The participants in the meeting reviewed data on methadone formulation, distribution, patterns of prescribing and dispensing, as well as relevant data on drug toxicology and drug-associated morbidity and mortality, before concluding that the cases of overdosing individuals were not generally linked to methadone derived from opiate treatment programs,” said SAMHSA Administrator Charles G. Curie, M.A., A.C.S.W.

The panel based its conclusion that methadone is coming from other sources on data showing that the greatest growth in methadone distribution in recent years is associated with its use as a prescription analgesic prescribed for pain, primarily in solid tablet or diskette form, and not in the liquid formulations that are the mainstay of opiate treatment programs that treat patients with methadone for abuse of heroin or prescription painkillers.

The experts surmise that current reports of methadone deaths involve one of three scenarios: illicitly obtained methadone used in excessive or repetitive doses in an attempt to achieve euphoric effects; methadone, either licitly or illicitly obtained, used in combination with other prescription medications such as benzodiazepines (anti-anxiety medications), alcohol, or other opiates; or an accumulation of methadone to harmful serum levels in the first few days of treatment for addiction or pain, before tolerance is developed.

“SAMHSA will continue to monitor the situation to ensure that SAMHSA s supervision of opiate treatment programs is always in the public interest,” Mr. Curie emphasized.

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