Drug addiction or substance use disorder is a state when the user looses the ability to control the consumption of drug and becomes dependent on the drug/ substance for daily activity causing both physical and psychological damages inspite of having adverse consequences. Alcohol, nicotine, marijuana, sleep and anti-anxiety medications are few of the known substances considered as drugs and may cause heart diseases, brain disorder, and malfunctioning of any organ of human body and may even lead to death if not treated at the right time. Drug addiction diagnosis requires an extensive evaluation which is inclusive of assessment by a psychiatrist, drug counsellor, etc. Though no permanent cure exists for treating patients with drug addiction, detoxification has been found to be the first step for deaddiction. Other popular addiction treatments are medications and counselling programs.
Some of the factors, which enhances the chances of drug addiction, are mentioned below:
Biological Factors: Genes inherited from parents, stage of development and at times ethnicity or gender can also affect a person’s chances of drug addiction. Scientists have evaluated that a person’s gene that includes environmental factors (epigenetics) can contribute to a person’s risk of drug addiction by approximately 40-60 percent. Studies have shown that teenagers and mental disordered individuals are exposed to greater risk of drug addiction than others.
Peer and School: Peers and friends have a strong influence on a person for drug addiction especially during teens. Teens who are drug addicted can sway even those without risk factors by influencing them to experience the same for the first time. Children with low social skill or poor performers in school are more prone to become drug addicted.
Home and Family: The home environment plays a pivotal role particularly during childhood for children to get drug addicted. Parents or older family members consuming drugs or alcohol and evening breaking law can influence their children’s risk of future adoption of drug addiction.
Early use: Research studies have proved that individuals who start using drugs at a tender age are more prone to develop serious problems. The primary cause being these drugs can have harmful effect on the brain during development stage which might be a result of a combination of early social and biological factors, including exposure to lack of a stable home, physical or sexual abuse, genes or mental illness.
How the drug is taken: The addictive potential of drugs entering the brain within few seconds is enhances through smoking or injecting a drug into veins, leading to a powerful rush of pleasure. However, this intensity drops abruptly within few minutes. Scientists have demonstrated that this powerful contrast drives individuals to repeatedly use drugs for recapturing the feeling of pleasure that ultimately leads to drug addiction.
Some common symptoms of drug addiction are listed below:
Drug addiction is treatable, like other chronic diseases such as asthma or heart disease; it cannot be cured completely but can be managed effectively. The primary treatment of opiods (drugs like heroin or fentanyl or prescription pain relievers) starts with medication, which may at times is applied in conjunction with some form of behavioural therapy or counselling. Drug deaddiction from alcohol and nicotine can be dodged utilizing legitimate medicine. On the other hand, behavioural therapies is prescribed for individuals with addictions to drugs like stimulants or cannabis. This includes addressing each patient’s pattern of drug use by drug and alcohol therapist coupled with drug related mental and social problems.
As mentioned in the introductory section of this article, substances are drugs having addiction potential. This may range from alcohol, caffeine, to paint thinners, sleeping pills, tobacco /nicotine. A single test is not sufficient enough to diagnose substance abuse. Healthcare providers, psychiatrist at addiction treatment centres evaluate a patient’s condition based on his/ her medical history and behaviour encompassing the substance use and requires continuous care and long term treatment. The primary forms of treatment include:
Other types of treatment include:
The first stepping-stone for treating patients suffering from drug addiction is detoxification. This substance abuse treatment consist of clearing a substance from the body by limiting its withdrawal reactions. Detox centres in Delhi NCR or Gurgaon will use medications to reduce medical symptoms for 80% of cases while for patients addicted to multiple substances, medications are applied for each substance to reduce withdrawal symptoms.
Depending on the criticality of the case, health care providers apply therapies on a one-to-one, group, or family basis. This process is intensive at the preliminary stage with the number of sessions reducing gradually over time as the condition of the patient improves.
Different therapies are listed below:
Cognitive-behavioural therapy: In this addiction treatment at detox centers in Delhi NCR and Gurgaon, patients are taught to recognize and change ways of thinking associated with use of such drugs.
Multi-dimensional family therapy: In this addiction treatment at detox centers in Delhi NCR and Gurgaon, teens or adolescents are exposed to family function thus improving substance-related disorder.
Motivational interviewing: In this addiction treatment at detox centers in Delhi NCR and Gurgaon, the willingness of a drug addict to change and adjusting behaviours is maximized.
Motivational incentives: In this treatment, abstinence of an individual for such substances is encouraged through positive reinforcement.
Longer-term treatment programs offered by drug rehabilitation centre in Delhi NCR and Gurgaon for drug addiction focuses on drug-free practise and resume social, professional, and family responsibilities. Some of the facilities providing therapeutic environment are given below:
Short-term residential treatment: Such type of substance abuse treatment involves intensive counselling whose primary focus is detoxification, preparing the drug addict to sustain within a therapeutic community for longer duration.
Therapeutic communities: In this substance abuse long-term treatment, the patient would be living in a residence for a period of 6 to 12 months along with on-site staff for recovery. Staffs and community play key role to help the patient recovery from and changes in behaviours and attitudes toward drug use.
Recovery housing: In this substance abuse short-term treatment, drug rehabilitation centre in Delhi NCR and Gurgaon send patients to housing for stay and engaged with responsibilities. This leads to adaptation of the patient to a new, independent life without use of on-going substance. The treatment too incorporates advisory services for taking care of funds and finding work, as well as giving the bolster for last stages of recuperation and community back administrations.
Self-help groups
Drug rehabilitation centres/ addiction treatment centers at Delhi NCR and Gurgaon, encourage drug addicts to meet others with the same addictive disorder that leads to boost in motivation and reduces feelings of isolation of such drug addicts. Some of the popular examples are Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA). Such self-help groups offering drug addiction treatment can be reached through consulting experts at Delhi NCR and Gurgaon and by internet search.
Medications
Using medication, withdrawal symptoms can be reduced during detoxification. Long-term use of such medicines help in reduction for alcohol craving thus preventing relapse, or return to use of such substance after having recovered from addiction. Alcohol use disorder can be managed using the following medications as prescribed by drug therapists:
Naltrexone: To prevent the action of opioid receptors in the brain, naltrexone is applied which reducing reward and euphoric effects produced due to alcohol consumption leading to reduction of the risk of relapse.
Acamprosate, or Campral: Consumption of this medicine reduces long-term withdrawal symptoms, including sleeplessness, anxiety, and a general feeling of unhappiness and deserves special mention for patients with severe substance-related and addictive disorders.
Disulfiram, or Antabuse: This medication when applied disrupts the breakdown of alcohol, which in turn reduces adverse effects of alcohol consumption including irregular heartbeat, feeling sick, and facial redness of such patients. It has also proved to be effective for patients with high levels of motivation toward recovery.
As mentioned in some earlier section, that detoxification is the primary drug addiction treatment. These are many detox centers in Delhi NCR who offer 7-Day to 30-Day detox programs depending on a number of factors namely, type of substance/ drug being used, length of time a substance/ drug was used for, quantity of substance/ drug used. These detox centres apply detoxification in combination with therapy by the addiction recovery process. Assessment of the habit, stabilization utilizing appropriate medicine and treatment taken after by progressing bolster are common strategies taken after in most detox centers.
Drug Addiction being a substance use disorder causes physical and psychological damage which is difficult to treat and requires on-going care. Drug rehabilitation centers/ addiction treatment centers at Delhi NCR and Gurgaon have specialized drug therapist who offer specific medical, mental, social, occupational, family, and legal needs of such patients to help in their recovery. Let us extend our love and support to our loved ones and anyone showing symptoms of drug addiction to eradicate substance use disorder.
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