Drug rehabilitation (often drug rehab or just rehab) is an umbrella term for the processes of medical and/or psychotherapeutic treatment, for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and so-called street drugs such as cocaine, heroin or amphetamines. A psychoactive drug or psychotropic substance is a Chemical substance that acts primarily upon the Central nervous system where it alters Brain A prescription (℞ is a health-care program implemented by a Physician or other medical practitioner in the form of instructions that govern the plan of care for an individual Recreational drug use is the use of Psychoactive drugs for Recreational purposes rather than for work, medical or spiritual purposes Cocaine ( benzoylmethyl ecgonine) is a Crystalline Tropane Alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the Coca plant Heroin ( INN: diacetylmorphine, BAN: diamorphine) is a semi-synthetic opioid synthesized from Morphine, a derivative Amphetamine, and related drugs such as Methamphetamine are a group of drugs that act by increasing levels of Norepinephrine, Serotonin, and Dopamine The general intent is to enable the patient to cease substance abuse, in order to avoid the psychological, legal, financial, social, and physical consequences that can be caused, especially by extreme abuse.

Two-fold nature

Drug rehabilitation tends to address a stated twofold nature of drug dependency: physical and psychological dependency. Physical dependency involves a detoxification process to cope with withdrawal symptoms from regular use of a drug. Withdrawal, also known as withdrawal/abstinence syndrome, refers to the characteristic signs and symptoms that appear when a drug that causes Physical dependence is With regular use of many drugs, legal or otherwise, the brain gradually adapts to the presence of the drug so that the desired effect is minimal. Apparently normal functioning of the user may be observed, despite being under the influence of the drug. This is how physical tolerance develops to drugs such as Marijuana, heroin, amphetamines, cocaine, nicotine or alcohol. Heroin ( INN: diacetylmorphine, BAN: diamorphine) is a semi-synthetic opioid synthesized from Morphine, a derivative Amphetamine, and related drugs such as Methamphetamine are a group of drugs that act by increasing levels of Norepinephrine, Serotonin, and Dopamine Cocaine ( benzoylmethyl ecgonine) is a Crystalline Tropane Alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the Coca plant Nicotine is an Alkaloid found in the Nightshade family of plants ( Solanaceae) which constitutes approximately 0 In Chemistry, an alcohol is any Organic compound in which a Hydroxyl group ( - O[[hydrogen H]]) is bound to a Carbon It also explains why more of the drug is needed to get the same effect with regular use. The abrupt cessation of taking a drug can lead to withdrawal symptoms where the body may take weeks or months (depending on the drug involved) to return to normal. Rehab is usually very important in becoming clean.

Psychological dependency

Psychological dependency is addressed in many drug rehabilitation programs by attempting to teach the patient new methods of interacting in a drug-free environment. In particular, patients are generally encouraged or required not to associate with friends who still use the addictive substance. Twelve-step programs encourage addicts not only to stop using alcohol or other drugs, but to examine and change habits related to their addictions. A twelve-step program is a set of guiding principles for recovery from Addiction, compulsion, or other behavioral problems Many programs emphasize that recovery is a permanent process without culmination. For legal drugs such as alcohol, complete abstention—rather than attempts at moderation, which may lead to relapse—is also emphasized ("One drink is too many; one hundred drinks is not enough. Moderation is the process of eliminating or lessening extremes A relapse (etymologically "who falls again" occurs when a person is affected again by a condition that affected them in the past ") Whether moderation is achievable by those with a history of abuse remains a controversial point but is generally considered unsustainable.

Types of treatment

Various types of programs offer help in drug rehabilitation, including: residential treatment (in-patient), out-patient, local support groups, extended care centers, and sober houses. Newer rehab centers offer age and gender specfic programs. ^[1]

Pharmacotherapies

Pharmacotherapies should not play a part in drug rehabilitation. Certain opioid medications such as methadone and more recently buprenorphine are widely used and do not show efficacy in the treatment of dependence on other opioids such as heroin, morphine or oxycodone. Methadone ( Dolophine Amidone Methadose Physeptone Heptadon and many others is a synthetic Opioid, used medically as an Analgesic, Antitussive Buprenorphine (or colloquially "Bupe" is a semi-synthetic Opiate with partial agonist and antagonist actions Heroin ( INN: diacetylmorphine, BAN: diamorphine) is a semi-synthetic opioid synthesized from Morphine, a derivative Medical uses Morphine can be used as an analgesic in hospital settings to relieve pain in Myocardial infarction pain in Oxycodone is an Opioid Analgesic Medication synthesized from Thebaine. Methadone and buprenorphine are maintenance therapies used with an intent of stabilizing an abnormal opioid system and used for long durations of time though both may be used to withdraw patients from narcotics over short term periods as well. Ibogaine is an experimental medication proposed to interrupt both physical dependence and psychological craving to a broad range or drugs including narcotics, stimulants, alcohol and nicotine. Ibogaine is a naturally-occurring Psychoactive compound found in a number of plants principally in a member of the dogbane family known as iboga ( Some antidepressants also show use in moderating drug use, particularly to nicotine, and it has become common for researchers to re-examine already approved drugs for new uses in drug rehabilitation.

Criminal justice

Drug rehabilitation is sometimes part of the criminal justice system. Criminal justice is the system of practices and organizations used by national and local governments directed at maintaining Social control, deterring People convicted of minor drug offenses may be sentenced to rehabilitation instead of prison, and those convicted of driving while intoxicated are sometimes required to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. Drunk driving is the act of operating and/or driving a Motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol and/or Drugs to the degree that mental and Alcoholics Anonymous ( AA) is an informal meeting society for recovering and recovered alcoholics, with the stated purpose to help its members "to stay sober and There have been lawsuits filed, and won, regarding the requirement of attending Alcoholics Anonymous and other twelve-step meetings as being inconsistent with the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the U. S. Constitution, mandating separation of church and state. ^[2][3]

Diseased person model

Some psychotherapists question the validity of the "diseased person" model used within the drug rehabilitation environment. Psychotherapy is an Interpersonal, relational intervention used by trained psychotherapists to aid clients in problems of living Instead, they state that the individual person is entirely capable of rejecting previous behaviors. The term person is used in Common sense to mean an individual Human being. Further, they contend that the use of the disease model of addiction simply perpetuates the addicts' feelings of worthlessness, powerlessness, and inevitably causes inner conflicts that could be resolved if the addict were to approach addiction as behavior that is no longer productive, the same as childhood tantrums. The disease model of addiction describes an Addiction as a lifelong Disease involving biologic and environmental sources of origin Behaviour therapy is a form of Psychotherapy used to treat depression, Anxiety disorders, Phobias, and other forms of Psychopathology A tantrum is an Emotional outburst of ill humor or a fit of bad temper wherein the higher brain functions are unable to stop the emotional expression of the lower (emotional and Most drug rehabilitation programs do not utilize any of these ideas, inasmuch as they are seen to contradict the assumption that the addict is a sick person in need of help.

Counselling

Traditional addiction treatment is based primarily on counseling. However, recent discoveries have shown that those suffering from addiction often have chemical imbalances that make the recovery process more difficult. Often, these imbalances may be corrected through improved diet, nutritional supplements and leading a healthy lifestyle. Some of the more innovative centers are now offering a "Biochemical Restoration" process to supplement the counsellings portion of treatment.

Historical Approaches to Substance Abuse Treatment

Disease Model and Twelve-Step Programs

The disease model of addiction has long contended that the maladaptive patterns of alcohol and substance use displayed by addicted individuals are the result of a lifelong disease that is biological in origin and exacerbated by environmental contingencies. The disease model of addiction describes an Addiction as a lifelong Disease involving biologic and environmental sources of origin This conceptualization renders the individual essentially powerless over his or her problematic behaviors and unable to remain sober by himself or herself, much as individuals with a terminal illness are unable to fight the disease by themselves without medication. Behavioral treatment, therefore, necessarily requires individuals to admit their addiction, renounce their former lifestyle, and seek a supportive social network who can help them remain sober. Such approaches are the quintessential features of Twelve-step programs, originally published in the book Alcoholics Anonymous in 1939 ^[4]. A twelve-step program is a set of guiding principles for recovery from Addiction, compulsion, or other behavioral problems These approaches have met considerable amounts of criticism, coming from opponents who disapprove of the spiritual-religious orientation on both psychological ^[5] and legal ^[6] grounds. Nonetheless, despite this criticism, outcome studies have revealed that affiliation with twelve-step programs predicts abstinence success at 1-year follow-up ^[7].

Client-Centered Approaches

In his influential book, Client-Centered Therapy, in which he presented the client-centered approach to therapeutic change, psychologist Carl Rogers proposed that there are three necessary and sufficient conditions for personal change: unconditional positive regard, accurate empathy, and genuineness. Person-Centered Therapy (PCT also known as Client-centered therapy or Rogerian Psychotherapy, was developed by the humanist Psychologist Carl Rogers Rogers believed that the presence of these three items in the therapeutic relationship could help an individual overcome any troublesome issue, including alcohol abuse. The therapeutic relationship, also called the helping alliance the therapeutic alliance and the working alliance refers to the relationship between a Mental health professional Alcohol abuse, as described in the DSM-IV, is a psychiatric diagnosis describing the use of Alcoholic beverages despite negative consequences To this end, a 1957 study ^[8] compared the relative effectiveness of three different psychotherapies in treating alcoholics who had been committed to a state hospital for sixty days: a therapy based on two-factor learning theory, client-centered therapy, and psychoanalytic therapy. Person-Centered Therapy (PCT also known as Client-centered therapy or Rogerian Psychotherapy, was developed by the humanist Psychologist Carl Rogers Psychoanalysis is a body of ideas developed by Austrian physician Sigmund Freud and his followers which is devoted to the study of human psychological functioning and behavior Though the authors expected the two-factor theory to be the most effective, it actually proved to be deleterious in outcome. Surprisingly, client-centered therapy proved most effective. It has been argued, however, that these findings may be attributable to the profound difference in therapist outlook between the two-factor and client-centered approaches, rather than to client-centered techniques per se ^[9]. The authors note that two-factor theory involves stark disapproval of the clients’ “irrational behavior” (p. 350); this notably negative outlook could explain the results.

Psychoanalytic Approaches

Psychoanalysis, a psychotherapeutic approach to behavior change developed by Sigmund Freud and modified by his followers, has also offered an explanation of substance abuse. Psychoanalysis is a body of ideas developed by Austrian physician Sigmund Freud and his followers which is devoted to the study of human psychological functioning and behavior Sigmund Freud (ˈziːkmʊnt ˈfʁɔʏt born Sigismund Shlomo Freud (May 6 1856 &ndash September 23 1939 was an Austrian Psychiatrist who founded Substance abuse is the overindulgence in and dependence of a Drug or other chemical leading to effects that are detrimental to the individual's physical and mental health This orientation suggests that the main cause of the addiction syndrome is the unconscious need to entertain and to enact various kinds of homosexual and perverse fantasies, and at the same time to avoid taking responsibility for this. It is hypothesised that specific drugs facilitate specific fantasies and using drugs is considered to be a displacement from, and a concomitant of, the compulsion to masturbate while entertaining homosexual and perverse fantasies. The addiction syndrome is also hypothesised to be associated with life trajectories that have occurred within the context of traumatogenic processes, the phases of which include social, cultural and political factors, encapsulation, traumatophilia, and masturbation as a form of self-soothing. ^[10] Such an approach lies in stark contrast to the approaches of social cognitive theory to addiction—and indeed, to behavior in general—which holds that human beings regulate and control their own environmental and cognitive environments, and are not merely driven by internal, driving impulses. Social Cognitive Theory, utilized in Psychology Education and Communications posits that portions of an individual's knowledge acquisition can be directly related to observing Additionally, homosexual content is not implicated as a necessary feature in addiction. The term " addiction " is used in many contexts to describe an obsession compulsion or excessive Physical dependence or psychological dependence such as

Cognitive Models of Addiction Recovery

Relapse Prevention

An influential cognitive-behavioral approach to addiction recovery and therapy has been Alan Marlatt’s (1985) Relapse Prevention approach. See also Cognitive Therapy Cognitive Behavioral Therapy ( CBT) is an umbrella-term for psychotherapeutic systems that deal with cognitions interpretations ^[11]. Marlatt describes four psychosocial processes relevant to the addiction and relapse processes: self-efficacy, outcome expectancies, attributions of causality, and decision-making processes. The term " addiction " is used in many contexts to describe an obsession compulsion or excessive Physical dependence or psychological dependence such as A relapse (etymologically "who falls again" occurs when a person is affected again by a condition that affected them in the past Self-efficacy is the belief that one is capable of performing in a certain manner to attain certain goals Self-efficacy refers to one’s ability to deal competently and effectively with high-risk, relapse-provoking situations. Outcome expectancies refer to an individual’s expectations about the psychoactive effects of an addictive substance. A psychoactive drug or psychotropic substance is a Chemical substance that acts primarily upon the Central nervous system where it alters Brain Attributions of causality refer to an individual’s pattern of beliefs that relapse to drug use is a result of internal, or rather external, transient causes. Finally, decision-making processes are implicated in the relapse process as well. Substance use is the result of multiple decisions whose collective effects result in consumption of the intoxicant. Furthermore, Marlatt stresses that some decisions—referred to as apparently irrelevant decisions—may seem inconsequential to relapse, but may actually have downstream implications that place the user in a high-risk situation.

Consider Figure 1 as an example. As a result of heavy traffic, a recovering alcoholic may decide one afternoon to exit the highway and travel on side roads. This will result in the creation of a high-risk situation when he realizes that he is inadvertently driving by his old favorite bar. If this individual is able to employ successful coping strategies, such as distracting himself from his cravings by turning on his favorite music, then he will avoid the relapse risk (PATH 1) and heighten his efficacy for future abstinence. A coping skill is a behavioral tool which may be used by individuals to offset or overcome Adversity, Disadvantage, or Disability without correcting or If, however, he lacks coping mechanisms—for instance, he may begin ruminating on his cravings (PATH 2)—then his efficacy for abstinence will decrease, his expectations of positive outcomes will increase, and he may experience a lapse—an isolated return to substance intoxication. So doing results in what Marlatt refers to as the Abstinence Violation Effect, characterized by guilt for having gotten intoxicated and low efficacy for future abstinence in similar tempting situations. This is a dangerous pathway, Marlatt proposes, to full-blown relapse. Figure 1 presents a schematic diagram, adapted from Marlatt & Gordon (p. 38) ^[12], that has been modified to present examples of the cognitive and behavioral processes that may occur at each juncture of the model.

Cognitive Therapy of Substance Abuse

An additional cognitively-based model of substance abuse recovery has been offered by Aaron Beck, the father of cognitive therapy and championed in his 1993 book, Cognitive Therapy of Substance Abuse. Aaron Temkin Beck (born July 18 1921 is an American psychiatrist and a Professor emeritus at the department of Psychiatry at the University Cognitive Therapy (CT is a type of Psychotherapy developed by American Psychiatrist Aaron T ^[13] This therapy rests upon the assumption that addicted individuals possess core beliefs, oftentimes not accessible to immediate consciousness (unless the patient is also depressed). These core beliefs, such as “I am undesirable,” activate a system of addictive beliefs that result in imagined anticipatory benefits of substance use and, consequentially, craving. Once craving has been activated, permissive beliefs (“I can handle getting high just this one more time”) are facilitated. Once a permissive set of beliefs have been activated, then the individual will activate drug-seeking and drug-ingesting behaviors. The cognitive therapist’s job is to uncover this underlying system of beliefs, analyze it with the patient, and thereby demonstrate its dysfunctionality. As with any cognitive-behavioral therapy, homework assignments and behavioral exercises serve to solidify what is learned and discussed during treatment.

Emotion Regulation, Mindfulness, and Substance Abuse

A growing literature is demonstrating the importance of emotion regulation in the treatment of substance abuse. Emotional self-regulation, also known as Emotion Regulation or simply ER is being able to properly regulate one's emotions For the sake of conceptual uniformity, the this section uses the tobacco cessation as the chief example; however, since nicotine and other psychoactive substances such as cocaine activate similar psychopharmacological pathways, ^[14] an emotion regulation approach may be similarly applicable to a wider array of substances of abuse. Proposed models of affect-driven tobacco use have focused on negative reinforcement as the primary driving force for addiction; according to such theories, tobacco is used because it helps one escape from the undesirable effects of nicotine withdrawal or other negative moods. In Operant conditioning, reinforcement is an immediate increase in the strength of a response following a change in environment Nicotine withdrawal is a term used to describe symptoms a person who is Nicotine dependent experiences when they suddenly stop or significantly reduce their nicotine intake OR ^[15] Currently, research is being conducted to determine the efficacy of mindfulness based approaches to smoking cessation, in which patients are encouraged to identify and recognize their negative emotional states and prevent the maladaptive, impulsive/compulsive responses they have developed to deal with them (such as cigarette smoking or other substance use). Mindfulness is concentrated awareness of one's thoughts actions or motivations ^[16]

References

External links

Drug Rehabilitation at the Open Directory Project