Psychological treatment for Opiate Addiction
Opioids are synthetic or natural drugs that are derived from chemical syntheses or poppy plant. These drugs include both legal and illegal drugs. Examples of legally prescribed drugs are codeine, morphine and oxycodone.
Opioids are prescribed by healthcare professionals to help people deal with pain. These drugs bind brain receptors that are responsible for sensations of pleasure, pain relief and reward. These drugs are especially helpful to those who are suffering from acute pain. Most doctors prescribe opioids when no other medicine is successful in reducing pain. However, since the drug has several psychological and pain relieving properties, it is amongst the most abused substances currently available.
When people increase their dose without consulting their healthcare provider or when they take illegal opioids, the route administration of the drug is altered. Many people take the drug in powdered form or inject themselves with water that contains opioids. These methods increase the absorption speed of the drug which leads to a rush that has instant effect on the positive sensations. Please note that opioids have the potential of addiction and abuse even when they are taken as prescribed. Taking these drugs for more than a few weeks can lead to physical dependence on these drugs. Even though physical addiction to opioids takes a few weeks, psychological addictions can result in a few days.
Opiate Addiction
If you suspect that you are addicted to these drugs, there is a high probability that you are. Here are a few signs of Opiate Addiction:
- You spend several hours every day trying to locate or recovering from the side effects of the drugs.
- You have made several unsuccessful attempts to reduce your usage or quit altogether.
- You continue to take these drugs even after you know that these drugs cause psychological, physical, social and financial problem.
- When you don’t take opioids, you experience withdrawal symptoms. These symptoms get alleviated when you start taking these drugs again.
- You don’t have any regards to your personal and professional obligation and are only interested in using these drugs.
- You have developed tolerance to these drugs and you start taking higher doses to get the same effect.
Psychological treatment for Opiate Addiction
Counseling can play an important role in treatment of opiate addiction. People living in Scottsdale can visit opiate abuse counseling Scottsdale to get help for treating people with addiction. There are many outpatient and residential programs that use both behavioral therapies and medications to help people change their lives and stop opiate abuse. In counseling sessions, patients are encouraged to make changes in their lives and are praised for the progress they make.
Some of the important benefits of counseling include:
- Improving patients motivation for recovery
- Patients learn skills for stopping addiction and avoiding relapse
- Accelerates the process of recovery
- Involves family and friends in treatment activities
Even though counseling can help people with opiate addiction, the first step of the recovery process is the willingness of the patients to make changes in their lives. Patients must understand their condition and must take all possible steps to recover from the problem.
Category: Addiction, Health Problems