




Facts
Individual and/or group counseling and other behavioral therapies are critical components of effective treatment for addiction. In therapy, patients address motivation, build skills to resist drug use, replace drug-using activities with constructive and rewarding nondrug-using activities, and improve problem-solving abilities. Behavioral therapy also facilitates interpersonal relationships. Outside of the home, one of the first things that suffers when teenagers start using drugs is schoolwork. Young drug users may cut classes or skip school altogether as securing and using drugs becomes a more important part of their life. Their grades fall and teachers notice a lack of motivation. These students may find themselves getting in trouble more often as they become less concerned with the school's rules and how others perceive them. Ecstasy is most often taken in combination with other drugs, intentionally or unintentionally. A person taking ecstasy might also drink alcohol; smoke marijuana; or take cocaine, methamphetamine, PCP, ketamine or additional "club drugs," among others. In different regions of the country, users have nicknames for particular drug combinations with ecstasy. For example, "candy-flipping" is a name for mixing LSD with ecstasy. The ways in which these drugs react with ecstasy is still unclear, partly due to a phenomenon called synergy. Synergy refers to a reaction that magnifies the effects of drugs when they are combined. The effect of one dose of drug plus another dose of drug might add up to two, or because of synergy this combination of one plus one might add up to three or four or ten. Although alcohol is a depressant and ecstasy has stimulant properties, they both dehydrate the user, possibly in a synergistic fashion. Many of the other drugs taken at the same time as ecstasy produce similar physical reactions, such as modifications in heart rate, blood pressure, and body temperature. Therefore the health effects described in the previous section could be magnified many times over, explaining why most emergency room visits involve multiple drugs. It is difficult to identify specific reactions ecstasy has with other drugs because most of the time it is unknown what drugs are being combined with each other. Some harmful effects might be due to synergy; others could be related to metabolism. Metabolism is the process that breaks down substances that are taken into the body and eliminates them. Some drugs, both legal and illegal, modify how the body would normally metabolize ecstasy, which could lead to a toxic buildup of very high concentrations of the drug in the system. However, because of the uncertainty of drug combinations and reactions with ecstasy, it is difficult to predict when a harmful reaction could occur. Congress enacted the Controlled Substances Act (P.L. 91-513) in 1970; its provisions consolidated existing statutory regulations, changed the system of penalties for drug law violations, and increased regulation of pharmaceuticals. The Act provided five schedules for drugs: Schedule 1 includes drugs with a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use (including heroin and marijuana, though experimental use of the latter has been permitted in certain cases); Schedule 2 includes drugs with a high potential for abuse and an accepted medical use (including cocaine and morphine); and Schedules 3-5 are applied to drugs with a progressively lower potential for abuse. Meanwhile, the establishment of the Drug Enforcement Administration in 1973 combined the drug control efforts of five federal agencies into one. |
Detox
Detox is necessary when an individual through their chronic use of drugs or alcohol has developed an addiction. The objective of detox is to help the individual achieve a drug and alcohol free state. Detox is intended to relieve the physical symptoms of withdrawal and helps prepare the individual for entry into drug rehabilitation. Therefore, the ultimate goal of detox is preparation for long term recovery from drug and alcohol addiction.
Therapeutic Community
An effective therapeutic community attends to the many needs of the individual, not just his or her drug use. Care given at a therapeutic community addresses the individual's drug use and associated medical, psychological, social, vocational, and legal problems. Also, a therapeutic community will continue to be flexible and provide ongoing assessments of the individual's needs, which may change during the course of care.
Remaining in care at a therapeutic community for an adequate period of time is critical for treatment effectiveness. The time depends on an individual's needs. For most people, the significant improvement is reached at about 3 months in treatment.
Relapse
Relapse is a term used to describe when an individual who has quit using drugs starts using once again. A relapse can mean just a one time use, a long term continues period of using or anything in between after a period of sobriety has taken place. An individual begins to experience a psychological relapse long before their first use after
quitting. Some things that can lead to relapse both physically or psychologically include: 1. Being in the presence of drugs or alcohol, drug or alcohol users, or places where you used or bought chemicals. 2. Feelings we perceive as negative, particularly anger; also sadness, loneliness, guilt, fear, and anxiety. 3. Positive feelings that make you want to celebrate by using. 4. Listening to others past drug use stories and just dwelling on getting high. 5. Believing that you no longer have to worry (complacent). That is, that you are no longer stimulated to crave drugs/alcohol by any of the above situations or by anything else – and therefore maybe it’s safe for you to use occasionally.
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.
Dependence
Dependence is the compulsive use of a substance despite negative consequences which can be severe; drug dependence is simply excessive use of a drug or use of a drug for purposes for which it was not medically intended. Physical dependence on a substance (needing a drug to function) is not necessary or sufficient to define addiction. There are some substances that don't cause addiction but do cause physical dependence (for example, some blood pressure medications) and substances that cause addiction but not classic physical dependence (cocaine withdrawal, for example, it does not have symptoms like vomiting and chills; it is mainly characterized by depression).
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