Wednesday, January 21, 2009

The Workings Of Drug Rehabilitation

By Leland Michaels

In past times, drug addiction treatment has been focused mainly on counseling. But research has shown lately that most people with substance addiction have chemical imbalances that make recovery harder to accomplish.

Often times, chemical imbalances can be fixed by a change in the patient's diet, having an active and healthful lifestyle or by use of prescribed supplements. Drug rehabilitation usually addresses two parts of drug dependency.

Rehab begins with the physical dependency. There will usually be a process of detoxification to help the patient handle withdrawal symptoms. When someone uses a substance regularly their mind is used to having it present in their system.

This is the reason your body develops a physical tolerance to drugs such as heroin, cocaine, nicotine and alcohol. It also means your body will require more of the drug to get the same effect with regular use.

Abruptly stopping use of any drug may cause withdrawal symptoms. Your body can take weeks or even months to get over the withdrawals.

The second area of treatment is the psychological dependency on the drug. Patients are usually exhorted or even required not to hang around with people who still use the substance. Along with this they are encouraged to examine and change habits caused by their addictions.

Many programs emphasize that the rehab process is ongoing, and is never fully complete. For legal drugs like alcohol or cigarettes, abstaining completely rather than partaking in moderation is advised.

Since alcohol and tobacco is so easy to find, using them in any amount can lead to a relapse. Abstinence is controversial but widely considered the best way to correct the addiction. - 15683

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