drug withdrawal treatment

Drug Detox For Cocaine and Methamphetamine Addictions

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Drug Detox | LakehouseRecoveryCenter.comToday, a large number of Americans are addicted to heroin and painkillers. And fortunately, for them, when they go through drug detox, there are medications available that assist in the drug withdrawal treatment process.

When physicians work with those addicted to heroin or painkillers, they can prescribe methadone, naltrexone, and suboxone to treat opiate addiction.

These federally approved treatment drugs help reduce the side effects of withdrawal and curb cravings which can lead to relapse.

However, for those who are addicted to cocaine and methamphetamine, there aren’t medications that can serve as antagonists. An antagonist is defined as a substance that interferes with or inhibits the physiological action of another.

In other words, in drug detox a medication can be prescribed that can inhibit the effects of withdrawal. For many years, cocaine and methamphetamine addicts have been prescribed benzodiazepine tranquilizers to help minimize the discomfort of drug detox. But tranquilizers are also addictive and in many cases, addicts are simply ending one addiction to begin another.

Tranquilizers are still frequently used in cocaine and methamphetamine detox, but only because there are not better options available.

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Drug Addiction Therapy: Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention

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Drug Addiction Therapy | LakehouseRecoveryCenter.comThe Addictive Behaviors Research Center at the University of Washington developed Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention for working with those who suffer from addictions. The therapy is intended to rework the imprisoning thoughts that keep an addictive cycle in place. With a practice of mindfulness, those addicted to alcohol, for example, can become aware of the triggers that lead him to drink, to participate in destructive habitual patterns, and to follow the unconscious and automatic reactions that lead to making poor choices.

Using mindfulness as an aspect of drug addiction therapy has proven to support success in arriving at sobriety. Mindfulness is the practice of becoming conscious of your internal and external environment. It is a mental state achieved by focusing on the present moment, while acknowledging and accepting the existing feelings, thoughts, bodily sensations, and surrounding activity. Today, it is often used as a therapeutic practice among therapists and psychologists. And because of recent research on the effects of mindfulness on the brain, more and more drug treatment centers are beginning to incorporate the therapeutic modality.

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Addiction Help: Learning About Your Early Attachments

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It is well recognized now that the quality of attachment an individual has with his or her parents in early childhood determines how well that child will thrive. Early attachment is a core issue that has great influence on one’s mental health throughout life.

For instance, the first five years of life determines the success of that child in school, work, and in relationships. Those children who have had secure parental attachments are well equipped to go out into the world and are able to succeed. Those with poor attachments to their caregivers, due to trauma, neglect, or abandonment, will likely be anxious, fearful, and withdrawn. These children may be more vulnerable to developing an alcohol or drug addiction. Those who experience high levels of stress and anxiety will tend to self-medicate with drugs, sex, gambling, alcohol, or other types of addiction. Essentially, the child with a poor attachment with his or her caregiver may later use drugs as a way to manage the anxiety or other intense emotions and perhaps even develop a life-long struggle with addiction. And they may eventually find themselves in drug detox and substance abuse treatment facilities.

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