Things You'll Need:
- Physician
- Addiction treatment specialist
- Behavioral therapist
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Step 1
Recognize that you have a problem, or help the loved one you want to help treat that she has a problem. Opiates cause physical addiction, generally marked by intense craving for the drug shortly after discontinued use, and repeated indulgence in drug use despite being cognizant of the risks involved. If you want to help treat a loved one, talk to a mental health or addiction treatment professional about intervention strategies.
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Step 2
Check in to an addiction treatment center, or take your loved one to check in once he has recognized his problem and agrees that he needs treatment. Check with as many local facilities as possible if you encounter waiting lists.
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Step 3
Detoxify under the watchful supervision of medical staff. It is absolutely essential that opiate cessation be attempted only when qualified professionals are readily able to assist in case of an emergency. Opiate withdrawal is not only unpleasant, painful and difficult, but can trigger other serious medical conditions.
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Step 4
Receive behavioral therapy or individual or group counseling in an institutional setting once acute withdrawal has passed. After the initial withdrawal period is over, it will be followed by a lengthy period of general irritability and opiate craving. During this time, it is essential that you continue to treat both the physical symptoms and psychological consequences of opiate cessation.
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Step 5
Understand the underlying psychological drives that first led you (or your loved one) to opiate addiction. Most experts agree that this is an essential step in slaying your demons once and for all. Self-understanding is a very important weapon in a recovering addict's arsenal with which to fight the urge to relapse.
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Step 6
Continue your therapy even after your release from the care clinic by joining a support group. Narcotics Anonymous, for example, will welcome you. Addiction recovery experts universally agree that a post-treatment support structure helps immeasurably in long-term recovery from drug addiction.
Comments
LODweed said
on 3/24/2008 Very well-written and a good basic rundown of the process.
MusiciansMallet said
on 9/26/2007 READ 3 PRIOR POSTS 1ST!
Also, some drugs used in combination with narcotics in many pharmaceutical formulations can cause adverse health reactions if abused. For example, ibuprofen and acetaminophen (found in vicodin and vicoprofen) can cause liver damage and even failure if high enough doses are consumed. In their purest form and in no combination with other drugs, the majority of opioids are benign in the body, the only risk associated w/ their use is dependency and withdrawal. This is why opioids are effective medicines used for years at time if needed.
I'm not trying to minimize the risk of addiction. Opioid dependency can cause one to engage in risky, self destructive behavior,i.e.- commiting crimes in order to obtain drugs, deteriating interest in personal responsibilities, financial and occupational instability, deteriating concern for one's health, neglection of family, etc.
MusiciansMallet said
on 9/26/2007 There was another misleading fact i'd like to point out. The vast majority of opioids in their purest form are not harmful to the body and are actually quite benign on internal organs. While using street drugs or dirty drugs can result in various health problems; this is a result of impure additives being "cut" into the product. Heroin, for instance, is very similar in structure and effect to morphine, and is just as safe (in its purest form); infact, its chemical name is diactyl-morphine.
There are a few Opioid drugs however that can cause physical harm as a direct result of their abuse. For example, Propoxyphene (darvocet) is a potent blocker of cardiac membrane sodium channels and can result in Pulmonary edema. Hydrocodone based drugs are also known to cause hearing loss in high doses.
MusiciansMallet said
on 9/26/2007 I am a recovering heroin addict and have majored in pharmacology for 4 years. Some of the facts conveyed by the author are misleading and simply untrue.
While extremely painful, opiois withdrawal's direct effect on the body is harmless--seizures are not possible (unless the patient is epileptic), and death is not possible (only one report death from opioid withdrawal, from methadone. The woman was incarcerated, was epileptic, and didn't recieve treatment for seizure activity). Unless the dependent individual has other underlying health issues, no severe medical conditions can arise from this. Some indirect complications can arise however, i.e.- dehydration from diarrhea and vomiting, malnutrition from lack of appetite, etc.