Treatment for substance abuse

“Substance abuse is a mere satisfaction that lasts till you have no control of your own body”

“Control is when you can stop yourself from doing something wrong”

DIAGNOSIS –

When a person indulges in substance abuse they are assumed to be taking drugs or any substance in a large quantity and in a frequent manner, they are not able to control their want of the drug or substance.

They might not want to continue having the drugs but their mind and body get addicted and they little to no self-control.

Some general ways to diagnose –

Relying on substances to face difficult problems
Getting aggressive if denied the usage of the substance
Feeling lame and lazy without the substance
Feeling anti-social, not talking to family and friends
Using the substance in a stressful situation
Being prone to irritation
Insomnia or sleeping too much

Chemical dependent treatment –

Chemical-dependent treatment can also be taken as a program or center that helps the individual in leaving the substance or getting control of their body.

One of the most commonly used names is REHAB where the person is under observation and goes through medical tests so that the observers are familiar with the person’s problem and can diagnose it easily.

A person usually has to be admitted to these centers without their consent by their close ones.

Some types of therapies that are carried out-

Residential treatment – the addicted person is asked to reside for a set period of time in a formal setting and is observed thoroughly. The therapy gets modified for the person and the type of treatment that will suit better to the person under observation. It is organized and confrontational at certain times. It has two types –
Long-term residential therapy – this treatment is usually held for 24 hours. The addiction is viewed under psychological and social deficits.
Short-term residential therapy – this is relatively a brief treatment. this includes a 12-step approach.
Individualized counseling – focuses on two things, the first is to stop the drug abuse and usage and the second is to help the person in other perspectives of life. it helps the person to develop coping strategies and might provide some measures to abstain from drug abuse or usage.
Group counselor – in this setting the individual finds more people just like them, who are there to cope and learn to cope like them, and hence peer support is provided and comfort of not being an alien.

Detoxification (withdrawal therapy)- this therapy is especially used to detox the body of the drugs or the remains of drugs so that the body can heal. It is actually the first step in the treatment of drug abuse cases and can have adverse consequences in physiological or psychological ways in more ways than one.

Withdrawal can be done with the use of devices and other equipment so that if the person advances towards intoxicating themselves with the drug that they want to stay away from. The general way to cope with withdrawal system is –

Exercise daily – exercising daily helps release a chemical endorphin which helps in restoring the chemical balance and it helps with reducing stress, to sleep better too.
Eating healthy – drugs affect our body and mind on different levels so intaking healthy foods, vitamins, and proteins are necessary and advisable.
Maintain a schedule – maintaining a schedule can help in lessening the burden and stress which could have been the stimulation leading to the usage of drugs.
Indulging hobbies – indulging in hobbies can help in forgetting the stress and worries and about the addiction and the want of the drug. Leaning into something that can take us out of the lust of the drug and put the person in a new healthy world is one way.

BEHAVIOUR THERAPIES –

These therapies put forward the theory of deficits in behavior and thought patterns. The past experiences are analyzed thoroughly to understand the situation and problem.

After the trigger point or the cause is understood then the observer will take actions in accordance with the situation while aiming to change the faulty behavior that has been adopted.

SELF HELP SUPPORT GROUPS – is a group made of people with either the same type of treatment seekers or with people from different treatments with a leader who focuses on everyone and maintains the group to be organized and have an informal setting while the situation is handled.

People share their problems and try to connect themselves through their life stories so the feeling of being an alien is eliminated right away and there is nothing to judge but to actually learn from everyone else’s story. It is the most common and used form of treatment and people join these voluntarily.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy – in this people learn about their own faulty behaviors and their patterns. Cognitive-behavioral therapy helps in learning coping strategies and recognizing dicey situations. It is believed that the stress arises out of biological, psychological, and social fields. The biological stress gets subsided by relaxation procedures, psychological stress gets depleted by behavior and cognitive therapy procedures and for social stress, they manipulate the environment.

RATIONAL EMOTIVE THERAPY – rational emotive therapy as the name suggests helps in bringing positive thinking and rational beliefs and helps in understanding one’s own emotions and thoughts and make them better by observing and analyzing them. It will help recognize deep thoughts and feelings and modify them according to the person’s best suit.