




Facts
Treatment or intervention programs can help prevent drug addiction from being passed down from one generation to the next. Until the mid-1980s, very few drug treatment programs directly involved spouses, parents, or other family members in their treatment of the patient. After that time, family therapy became the treatment of choice for most drug abusers, especially in the area of alcoholism treatment. Family-centered drug interventions are very effective in getting family members off drugs and keeping them off. In contrast, if adolescents are treated individually and their family system has not changed, they often return home to resume the same behaviors that had earlier led them toward addiction. Including other family members in an adolescent's drug treatment makes the treatment more complicated. But it also allows the family therapist to help the drug abuser maintain family love and relationships. Strengthening family relationships may eliminate an individual's addictive behaviors. Successful alcoholism treatment is currently based on family systems. For instance, research has revealed that the spouses of alcoholics often support their spouse's addiction in ways they themselves do not understand. Helping the spouse of the alcoholic to change his or her behavior can help the alcoholic overcome his or her addiction. Family therapy is also helpful for young adult heroin addicts. Researchers found a significant decrease in heroin use by young adults when family-focused therapy was employed. A study over several years of 136 adolescents also supports the effectiveness of a family therapy program when compared to individual counseling combined with a family education program. In this study, family therapy intervention significantly reduced drug use for 54.6 percent of the adolescents. The best drug treatment, however, may be a combined treatment. The individual should receive treatment that teaches social skills and strategies for coping with stress. The family should receive treatment in which family members learn how to nurture each other. Combining the two approaches offers creative solutions to the problem of drug abuse in the young. In case there be any doubt about the government's intent to prosecute and jail people charged with drug offenses, it is worth noting that between 1980 and 1997, drug arrests tripled in the United States. In 1997, four out of five drug arrests (79.5%) were for possession. Despite the costs, America's appetite for cocaine in its various forms seems insatiable. Political and civic leaders have organized to try to free America from the grip of the cocaine epidemic, but are divided on how best to do this. One faction proposes that America support a war on the coca fields in South America on the assumption that by destroying them, the supply of cocaine will dry up. Another faction proposes that America can stop cocaine trafficking only by providing more money for law enforcement, health practitioners, and social service workers to deal with the demand for the drug at home. Repeated use of heroin requires higher doses to achieve the high. This is known as "tolerance." Eventually, when dependence sets in, the user rarely achieves the same high that drew him or her to the drug the first time. Instead, the user seeks the drug to avoid WITH DRAWAL symptoms. Life becomes a constant struggle to find the money to pay for another fix, to find the dealer and buy the fix, and to find a way to achieve the high. Some experts estimate that as many as 80 percent of heroin addicts never free themselves from opiates. Once the habitual use is established, it is extremely difficult to stop. |
Withdrawal
Withdrawal is what happens when a person who is addicted to drugs or alcohol discontinues use. There are numerous symptoms that take place both physically and emotionally when an addicted individual stops using. Withdrawal can last a few days to a few weeks and may include nausea or vomiting, sweating, shakiness, and anxiety. Keep in mind; this only occurs if a person has regular, heavy use of a drug or alcohol. Withdrawal can be extremely uncomfortable without professional help. Treatment for withdrawal from alcohol or drugs may require a medical professional to be present. Drug and alcohol rehabilitation is often the best way to overcome withdrawal and its symptoms as well as recovery from drug addiction.
Abstinence
Abstinence is the act or practice of refraining from indulging a desire. The type of abstinence we are referring to here is abstinence from drugs and alcohol. This term has two connotations when it comes to abstaining from drugs. The first refers to drug or alcohol treatment programs that aim to help an individual stop using drugs or alcohol for the rest of their lives. The time abstinence is also used in drug education and prevention. It refers to trying to stop children from ever using drugs.
Drug Rehabilitation
Drug rehabilitation is a place or program that an individual enters to treat a drug or alcohol addiction. Through therapy and education, the individual is restored to their former non-drug using self. They are then able to re-enter society clean and sober. There are many reasons why a person would need to attend a drug rehabilitation program. Some of the many reasons are: the inability to control their drinking or drug use, alienating their friends and family, problems with the law, and problems at work. Also, there are several different types of drug rehabilitation programs available: inpatient, outpatient, residential, short-term, and long-term.
Drug Side Effects
Drug addiction and abuse comes with a heavy price. There are drastic drug side effects associated with drug misuse and abuse. Drug side effects from legal and illegal drugs can range from mild itching to comas and death. In addition to the physical drug side effects mentioned, there are many psychological drug side effects of drug abuse; the most serious being drug addiction and overdose.
Intervention
An intervention is when a group of loved ones and/or a trained intervention counselor meets with the person in need of help for the purpose of breaking down their denial and motivating them to immediately seek drug addiction treatment. Often, individuals in the midst of drug addiction engage in a variety of self destructive behaviors. Although baffling to friends and family members such people generally either aren't aware on a conscious level that they have a drug addiction problem, or even when they know they have a problem they may cling to the false belief that the problem will somehow go away without any outside help. When an intervention is held a moment of clarity is created
for the addict. Most people struggling with the problem of drug or alcohol
addiction will accept help the very day of the intervention.
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