How to get rid of Drug addiction?

Drug Addiction:

Drug Addiction or substance use disorder affects the person’s mentality and behaviour leading to an uncontrolled use of both legalized and illegal drugs.  Addiction can happen either by experimental usage or exposure to the drugs. Not all drugs take the same time to get addicted; the condition varies from drug to drug. With prolonged usage, the person even finds it difficult to abandon the drug usage. Attempts to stop usage without proper treatment may cause withdrawal symptoms like intense carvings and feeling of being physically ill.

Behavioral Changes:

·         Strong drug urges

·         Over dosing

·         Overuse of money on Drugs

·         Making sure of regular supply

·         Lack of social and recreational responsibilities

·         Participating in illegal activities

·         Drug influenced rash driving

·         Experiencing Withdrawal symptoms

Symptoms:

The symptoms for addiction varies for each variety of the drug abused such as

·         Cannabis- Euphoria, heart rate increases, Reddish eyes, Anxiety, Slow reaction to stimuli

·         Synthetic drugs- Mood elevation, Paranoia, Agitation, Confusion, increased sex drive

·         Hypnotics- Drowsiness, speech slurries, Memory problems, Dizziness

·         Stimulants- Exhilaration, Rapid speech, Dilation of pupils, Insomnia, Impaired judgement

Drug addiction can lead to other diseases like HIV through needle sharing or unprotected sexual activities. An addiction psychiatrists or drug counsellor can help you overcome this addiction. Emergency care is needed when the person have OD, Seizures, Chest pain, other physical and psychological reactions.

Drug Rehabilitation:

It is the process of medical, therapeutic and psychological treatments that helps the person to recover from their substance use disorder to avoid the various consequences it causes.

 Treatment can be provided in three ways: Medication, Residential and experimental. Various programs like sober houses, care centers, counselling can help in rehabilitation process.

Relapse is a major factor concerning the treatment for addiction. A treatment involving detoxification, medication, behavioural therapy such as Cognitive-behavioral therapy, Multidimensional family therapy, Motivational interviewing, and relapse prevention is needed to sober out a drug addict.

Medication treatment includes the use of certain drugs that can be used as counter measures for addiction. Methadone and Buprenorphine are the most used for addiction and used as maintenance medications and detoxification aids. Naltrexone stops euphoria and reduces the risk of relapse. Other drugs like bupropion, nortriptyline, Acamprosate, disulfiram, and topiramate can also be used.

Counselling can be done on individual basis or as group therapies like crisis counseling, weekly or daily counseling, and drop-in counseling supports. Counsellors develop a recovery program to re-establish healthy behaviour, social status and for coping. Counselling follows the following treatments:

·         Twelve-step programs

·         SMART Recovery

·         Client-centered approaches

·         Psychoanalysis

·         Relapse prevention

·         Cognitive therapy

·         Emotion regulation and mindfulness

·         Dual diagnosis

Recovery in drug addiction remains subjective as the standards have not been set. It has been considered as near abstinence by certain organizations and as complete abstinence by others. This fact is complicating the individuals from choosing rehab programs.