What is the meaning of the term drug rehabilitation? What is its significance in drug treatment?
Drug use takes a toll on the abuser's psychological, social, physical and financial health. Also being illegal, it only adds to the negative consequences. Drug rehabilitation is a psychotherapeutic or medical treatment given to enable the patient to put a stop to this drug abuse and avoid these consequences. This feat is achieved by treating the patients with required medication and counselling. In rehabilitation, the patient can share his/her thoughts with the other addicts, therefore building an understanding among themselves. It is the main priority of rehabilitation that recovery is a permanent process so the chances of relapsing are none or very scarce. The patients are taught to accommodate to a drug-free environment.There are twelve-step programs too that focus on changing the patient's habits corresponding to addiction
How many types of drug treatment programs are there and what are they?
There is an abundance of drug treatment programs, which are easily reachable so anyone who wishes to come clean can get help without delay or any complications. Drug treatment programs are classified into several types- residential treatment (in-patient), out-patient, local support groups, extended care centers, recovery or sober houses , addiction counselling, mental health, and medical care. Let us have a thorough look into these types.
Inpatient residential treatment- Residential treatment programs are based in non-hospital settings where the patient is given extensive care all 24 hours of the day. In this treatment, not only the patient, but other patients, staff and the program's entire community is involved where they focus on developing the patient's personal accountability, responsibility and social productivity. The activities in this treatment are such that destructive thoughts of behavior and damaging beliefs of the residents are addressed and they are taught more constructive ways to interact with each other.
Outpatient treatment: These programs are less expensive than in-patient treatment programs. The services provided are in accordance with the individual's characteristics and needs. These treatment programs are more convenient for the people with jobs and extensive social supports. Some outpatient programs are modified to treat other mental health disorders in addition to one's drug disorders.
Counselling- Drug counselling not only focuses on ceasing illicit drug and alcohol abuse, but also helps in identifying individual's behavior and problems corresponding to their addiction. Counselling can be done in a group setting as well on an individual basis. The patients are taught suitable coping strategies when subjected to potential risk. Not only the addict himself, but also the family members and close friends who are affected by their addiction are encouraged to work together. Sometimes an addict may refuse to enter treatment programs as they are afraid to confront their addiction, in that case his/her family may request help from professionals whose primary goal is to coax that individual into cooperating with them. Colleagues from the patient's workplace can take place of the family if required.
Twelve-step programs - Sometimes a victim resorts to drug abuse as a coping mechanism when he/she is plagued by a lifelong disease which renders them powerless against their problematic behavior and the person fails to remain clean by him/herself, in those cases twelve-step programs come in power. The main feature of twelve-steps programs is to establish that the patient admits their addiction, wish to sustain a normal lifestyle and seek professional help to be able to do so. This treatment program is found to be more effective for the treatment of alcohol addiction and less so for illicit substance abuse.
Treating Criminal Justice-Involved Drug Abusers and Addicted Individuals- It has been found that drug treatment programs have more success rate when the individual is under legal coercion as they are under legal pressure to stay in the programs for as long as needed. It is often that drug addicts come into contact with criminal justice system as substance abuse is illicit, so there is direct intervention from the legal system and the addicts are subjected to drug treatment programs which work to abstain substance addiction as well as cause a significant decrease in the crime rate. Records have also shown that starting drug treatment in prison and continuing the same treatment after release produce positive outcomes.
Medical care/Medication - Methadone, buprenorphine and other opioid medications are used to treat addictions depending on opioids such as heroine, morphine and oxycodone as they work to abstain these cravings and thereby reducing the risks associated with it. Similarly for treatment of both alcohol and nicotine addiction -Ibogaine- and for alcohol dependence alone -Acamprosate, disulfiram and topiramate- are found to be effective.
Cognitive therapy- This therapy works on people of any age, be it adolescents, adults and older people. In CT, the victim's thoughts and behavior is recognized. The therapist starts by identifying the victim's thoughts and behavior patterns that contribute to or jeopardize their recovery from drug addiction. After that, they help the victim to shift their focus from negative or unhelpful thought patterns to a more realistic and positive approach.
Relapse prevention- The function of relapse prevention therapy is to identify the underlying issues that counteract the patient's attempts to remain sober despite their best efforts and address them with whatever tactics seem most appropriate. Its main function is to rid the individual of the defeating feelings that jeopardize their recovery process. Therefore, prevention relapse therapy is a cognitive-behavioral approach that identifies and prevents high-risk situations. It is essentially a collection of effective techniques which are intended to enhance self-control by implementing suitable coping strategies.