What Is Substance Abuse Treatment?

If a person in your family is addicted to alcohol, heroin, cocaine, prescription medications, marijuana, or other drugs, then it will affect your family. Millions of people living in the United States are dependent on either alcohol or drugs. But with substance abuse treatment, there is hope. Many people recover completely. There are many symptoms of a person who is addicted to drugs or alcohol. One of the major symptoms or signs is that the person will continue to use that drug or alcohol even though there have been major negative consequences because of that use. Instead of acknowledging where the problem actually resides, they will blame other people or situations even though the problem is their addiction. For instance, a person could say that the reason that they got fired was because the managers or owner is stupid. Or a person might say that the reason they got a driving under the influence ticket was not because they were drinking and driving, but because the cops were targeting them specifically.

Some of the biggest signs are not always immediately evident. For instance, a person will develop a high tolerance, which basically means that they will need more and more of the drug or alcohol in order to get drunk or high. Another sign is if they crave the drug or alcohol. They will have a very strong need to keep using the drug and will often be anxious or irritable if they are not able to assuage their craving. Another major sign is if the person has a physical dependence on the drug that they are using. What this means is that they will actually go through withdrawal symptoms if they do not have access to the drug or alcohol. These withdrawal symptoms include sweating, shaking, nausea, and major anxiety. People with these signs probably need substance abuse treatment.

Many different people can provide substance abuse treatment. These programs have specially trained professionals and caregivers that are certified or licensed to counsel and treat people for their addiction. Some of these counselors might actually be people who have recovered from addiction to a drug or to alcohol. The professionals might be a mix of counselors, doctors, nurses, social workers, psychologists, and psychiatrists. When a person enters a program, they usually go through an assessment. This test will help the professionals figure out the type of treatment that will be the best for them and then it helps them figure out what kind of plan they will use. There will also be frequent reassessments to figure out how well the person is going through the program and if the plan needs to be altered in some fashion to better serve the patient. The plan might include a medically supervised withdrawal. This basically means that the person will be monitored while the put their body through detoxification. The reason that it needs to be monitored by medical professionals is that going through that process can be dangerous, and a person might have convulsions, hallucinate, or other dangerous things.