Common Drug Addictions
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Drug Detox

Drug detox is a crucial step in the early recovery process. However, detox can be physically, emotionally, and psychologically challenging. Detox should always be done under medical supervision and in an approved drug detox center.

Detoxing your body from drugs is tone of the first steps in becoming free from drug addiction. Let our trained addiction coordinators help you to find the treatment you need to overcome the addiction. Call today.

Drug Detox: Just the Beginning of Drug Treatment

Drug Detox
Drug Detox

Using drugs to self-medicate, for recreational use or even as prescribed, can leave a person vulnerable to addiction.  Depending on the type and amount of drugs used, the addiction could progress rapidly. The speed with which one becomes addicted to drugs is dependent upon numerous factors such as biological (genetic), environmental, psychological, spiritual, emotional and physical factors. Once that addiction has taken hold of the mind and body, professional help from a drug treatment center is required to treat the disease. A medically staffed detox center followed by a scientifically based drug treatment program is the most effective treatment currently available.

The recovery process begins with detox. Without the proper care in a medically monitored detox, a drug addict runs the risk of giving in to cravings and returning to compulsive drug seeking behavior. Withdrawal symptoms can be so uncomfortable that an addict left unattended for even a brief period of time may attempt to flee from the detox center.  Therefore, it is important that the detox occurs in a medically supervised facility with a high staff to patient ratio.

Drug Detox Center

These centers aim to safely eliminate all toxins from your body and prepare you for addiction treatment. Because of the potential medical and psychiatric problems that occur during the detox process, and because each substance has its own set of withdrawal symptoms, medical supervision alone can manage the potential medical and psychiatric problems that can occur any time during the detox process. 

Emotional, psychological, and psychiatric conditions may arise even for those drugs without clearly defined medical withdrawal symptoms such as those experienced during cocaine withdrawal. Intensive medical and clinical treatment on a unit in a drug detox center can address drug cravings and psychiatric changes such as anxiety and paranoia. Medical problems such as malnutrition and organ system dysfunction must be treated first and stabilized before an addict can enter a drug rehab program.

Important components of a detox center are:

  • 24-hour medical supervision
  • Appropriate withdrawal process that aims to prevent suffering and medical complications
  • Individualized treatment plans
  • Medical staff experienced in detox
  • Psychiatric care

The length of one’s stay in a detox program depends on a variety of factors including the type of drug used, the frequency and amount of use, comorbid medical or psychological issues, and the patient's motivation.  It is especially important that the drug addict be completely honest with the healthcare provider to allow for the development of the most effective and appropriate addiction treatment plan once detox has been completed. Drug rehab should always immediately follow detox, as the longer the time between the two, the greater the risk of relapse.

If you're suffering from a drug abuse problem, there are detox centers that can help you now. Addiction consumes the drug user's life and the lives of those around him/her.  Addiction invades all areas of life; financial, employment, social, legal, and medical concerns will arise due to drug abuse.

If you feel the power of drug addiction over you and you know it's time to break this form of enslavement but you don't know how, Recovery Connection® is here to help Call and get help now. All calls are confidential.

If you are addicted to a single drug or a combination of drugs it is strongly suggested that you find an inpatient drug detox. Drug withdrawal can be extremely painful and dangerous and can affect the health of your heart, lungs, brain, and other vital organs. Withdrawal symptoms begin shortly after the drug was last taken and can last 3-10 days or longer. During this time, a person can experience a variety of symptoms that will require immediate medical attention.  The addicted person should enter a drug treatment program after the detoxification process is complete.

A common misconception is that detox constitutes a full substance abuse program. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Medical personnel familiar with the detox process will be able to moderate and manage these withdrawal symptoms as they arise. The danger of detoxifying in the privacy of one's home is the inability to immediately respond to medical complications. Some of the complications from drug withdrawal are:

  • Irregular Heart Rhythm
  • Seizures
  • Hallucinations
  • Delusions
  • Irritable Bowel Syndrome
  • Vomiting
  • Diarrhea
  • Shakes
  • Psychotic Break
  • Insomnia

A common misconception is that drug detox constitutes a full substance abuse program. Nothing could be further from the truth.  The reality that confronts an addict once he/she has completed the drug detox, is returning home, only to find that life is still unmanageable.  In this setting, a relapse is quite possible.

Drug addiction detox does not address the combination of issues that may be the underlying factors for the addiction. A comprehensive drug treatment center with a detox unit can facilitate a seamless transition. In the event that the patient is required to travel from a detox facility to a substance abuse program, it is best to have the transfer planned in advance to avoid any disruption in the process.

In a drug rehab, the focus of attention is on issues such as anxiety, depression, chronic pain from an accident, or other health issues, which may require specific addiction related education classes. Life skills for handling stressful situations, tools to cope with triggers, relapse prevention, aftercare planning, and 12-step meetings all contribute to maintaining sobriety. Drug rehab provides the addict with all the tools, skills and knowledge needed to build a strong foundation for recovery.



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