What is drug addiction rehabilitation?

There are many addictive drugs, and rehabilitation for specific drugs can differ. Rehabilitation also varies depending on the personality and needs of the patient.

Problems associated with an individual's drug addiction can vary significantly. Addiction knows no race, class or gender. Many people with a drug addiction also suffer from mental health, occupational, health, or social problems. These underlying problems make their addictive disorders even more difficult to treat. Even if there are few associated problems, the severity of addiction itself ranges widely among people.

There are a variety of scientific based approaches to drug addiction rehabilitation. Drug rehab can include behavioral therapy (such as counseling, cognitive therapy, or psychotherapy), medications, or their combination. Behavioral therapies offer people strategies for coping with their drug cravings, teach them ways to avoid drugs and prevent relapse, and help them deal with relapse if it occurs. Some drug-related behavior places a person at higher risk for AIDS or other infectious diseases. Behavioral therapies can also aid in reducing the risk of disease transmission. Case management and referral to other medical, psychological, and social services are crucial components of rehabilitation for many patients. The best programs provide a combination of therapies and other services to meet the needs of the individual patient, which are shaped by such issues as age, race, culture, sexual orientation, gender, pregnancy, parenting, housing, and employment, as well as physical and sexual abuse.

Drug addiction rehab can include behavioral therapy, medications, or their combination.

Treatment medications, such as methadone, LAAM, and naltrexone, are available for individuals addicted to opiates. Nicotine replacement therapies (patches, gum, nasal spray) and bupropion are available for individuals addicted to nicotine.

Components of Comprehensive Drug Rehabilitation

The best drug addiction rehabilitation programs provide an individualized combination of therapies and other services to meet the needs of the patient.

Medications, such as antidepressants, mood stabilizers, or neuroleptics, may be an important factor in treatment success when patients have co-occurring mental disorders, such as depression, anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, or psychosis.

There are a wide variety of settings for drug rehabilitation that are available in many different forms, and differing lengths of time. Because drug addiction is typically a chronic disorder characterized by occasional relapses, a short-term, one-time treatment often is not sufficient. For many, rehabilitation is a long-term process that involves multiple interventions and attempts at abstinence.