Category Archives: Drug Treatment

Coping With Feelings In The Recovery Process

Posted on April 6, 2011 | Comments Off on Coping With Feelings In The Recovery Process

methadone16It has been said in the treatment and recovery community that addiction is a disease of feelings. What is specifically meant by this is that addicted individuals typically have difficulty coping with emotions and are often triggered by them to use drugs in the traditional chemical coping paradigm.

When individuals enter treatment and begin a personal recovery process, they learn that they have often numbed feelings through long term drug abuse, or escaped emotional discomfort through the ritual of using. Feelings like depression, anger, impatience, loneliness, boredom, guilt, and general stress can act as fuel for drug use.

A strong connection can develop over the years between experiencing emotional triggers and finding relief through opioids or other drugs. This connection occurs so naturally for addicted individuals that they are not aware of this process within themselves. Once they stop numbing feelings and establish drug abstinence, the full force of emotions may begin to come back. This can be a challenging time for people in early recovery as they learn to feel their feelings and to deal with them in healthy, constructive ways.

The answer is not hidden in a quick fix, but in learning new skills & approaches for “dealing with life on life’s terms” (a phrase often used in recovery circles and 12 Step meetings). Opioid replacement therapy alone can provide a certain comfort, hope, and stress reduction for individuals since their physical sickness from opioid withdrawal is eventually eliminated.

However, there is more learning & change that is necessary in order to become mentally healthier, and to develop a true personal recovery which will sustain an individual for the rest of his or her life. This learning involves gaining an understanding of one’s addiction, how to prevent relapse, improving one’s general coping skills, building a support network, and restructuring one’s life such that high risk drug associations are ended (or effectively managed).

Coping with feelings is an essential relapse prevention goal in every recovery program. The counseling component of treatment is an important tool that helps a person learn to experience life … without using illicit substances. Good methadone treatment clinics always provide their clients with counseling. Structured counseling is the single greatest resource available for teaching needed coping skills. Most importantly, choosing recovery is a wonderful decision and the beginning of a new life. Everyday, people decide they are finally ready for a change. Recovery is a positive process. Get started today!

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Posted in Addiction Counseling, Addiction Recovery, Drug Treatment, Methadone, Methadone Maintenance, Methadone Treatment, Opiate Treatment, Recovery, Relapse Prevention

Effective Medical Treatment for Opiate Addiction

Posted on March 31, 2011 | Comments Off on Effective Medical Treatment for Opiate Addiction

nihMethadone treatment has been in existence in the United States since the 1960’s, and it became fairly well-established in the 1970’s particularly in the larger metropolitan cities where heroin addiction was more pervasive. In the 1980’s, methadone clinics continued to emerge across the country since they successfully helped opioid addicted individuals experience dramatic improvement in their lives.

During the 1990’s, this expansion continued and the efficacy of methadone treatment became further substantiated through research. Eventually, full endorsement occurred by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). In November of 1997, the NIH converged to make a formal, consensus statement for this purpose:

To provide health care providers, patients, and the general public with a reasonable assessment of the effective approaches for treating opiate dependence.

A 12 member panel, assisted by 25 experts, had coordinated a study. Various professional fields were represented including psychology, psychiatry, family medicine, behavioral medicine, epidemiology, plus participants from the general public. This group shared with the world their conclusions in a single, definitive, all-encompassing statement, which read:

Opiate dependence is a brain-related medical disorder that can be effectively treated with significant benefits for the patient and society, and society must make a commitment to offer effective treatment for opiate dependence to all who need it. All opiate-dependent persons under legal supervision should have access to methadone maintenance therapy, and the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy and the U.S. Department of Justice should take the necessary steps to implement this recommendation. There is a need for improved training for physicians and other health care professionals and in medical schools in the diagnosis and treatment of opiate dependence. The unnecessary regulations of methadone maintenance therapy and other long-acting opiate agonist treatment programs should be reduced, and coverage for these programs should be a required benefit in public and private insurance programs.

This endorsement further validated what many addiction professionals had known for years, that methadone maintenance was an extremely beneficial therapeutic intervention. As time rolled forward into the new millennium, 2000 and beyond, methadone clinics continued to be established in areas where no opioid treatment had previously existed, including America’s smaller rural areas and modest-sized towns.

Today, methadone and buprenorphine (suboxone) treatment are more readily available than ever. A major focus of many opioid treatment programs is to now treat a client’s co-occurring disorder(s) either within the OTP clinic itself or though a local referral to another mental health provider/specialist. A substantial number of addicted individuals suffer from depression, bipolar disorder, generalized anxiety or panic attacks, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or other psychiatric illnesses which can be successfully managed once properly diagnosed.

While some communities are reluctant to embrace methadone treatment & methadone clinics, this can change with education & time. Treatment changes lives for the better, and allows addicted individuals to become more responsible and more productive. It was highly beneficial that the NIH publicly recognized the validity of methadone maintenance. This was a positive, and justified, large step forward in advancing help for opioid addicted people everywhere.

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Posted in Drug Treatment, Methadone, Methadone Benefits, Methadone Clinics, Methadone Programs, Methadone Treatment, Opiate Addiction, Opiate Treatment

Methadone Plus Counseling Equals Treatment

Posted on March 16, 2011 | Comments Off on Methadone Plus Counseling Equals Treatment

methadonetruthThe two primary components of opioid addiction treatment are opioid replacement therapy (methadone or suboxone) and behavioral health counseling. Each of these therapeutic interventions address very different aspects of one’s addiction. And one intervention, without the other, is generally not sufficient to promote lasting recovery from opioid addiction. Both must work in unison to produce meaningful, lasting change.

When entering treatment, most clients are initially very focused on their physiological dependency to opioids and the associated withdrawal symptoms that emerge when their drug supply runs out. Recurrent opioid withdrawal takes priority over most all other considerations. Consequently, addicted people place much emphasis on their methadone dose due to its ability to provide relief from painful opioid withdrawal. There is such a clear connection between methadone dosing and symptom relief that clients often assume that dosing alone is the complete answer to their addiction problem.

However, this is a false & inaccurate conclusion. Real recovery involves not just the absence of withdrawal symptoms, but deliberate changes in thinking, attitude, and behavior. Without improvements in these areas, a majority of clients will relapse again and again, and consequently be unable to sustain progress over time.

There is an old saying in the recovery field that goes “You can’t go back to being the same person you were … because that person became addicted.” What is meant by this is that one cannot afford to remain stuck with the same old ways of thinking and living. It was those old ways that led down the addiction path. In order to experience lasting quality recovery, one must adopt new approaches to living and coping with life. It is the development of these new approaches, skills, and tools that will allow a person to deal with life using healthy methods … instead of drugs.

Counseling not only teaches key skills for managing life, but aids clients in developing inner resources that will empower them to achieve new things that were previously not attainable. Many clients dedicated to personal recovery become much more complete people, more capable, and ultimately more satisfied. Addiction sucks the life out of individuals day by day, but recovery brings people back in contact with life & opportunity, and opens doors that were previously shut tight. Counseling is an extremely important piece of the recovery puzzle. Counseling facilitates positive change and positive results.

Use counseling to learn more about yourself. It will allow you to become better educated on managing the disease of addiction, and it will strengthen you in numerous ways, if you let it.

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Posted in Addiction Counseling, Addiction Recovery, Buprenorphine, Drug Treatment, Methadone, Methadone Benefits, Methadone Maintenance, Methadone Programs, Methadone Success, Methadone Treatment, Opiate Treatment, Relapse Prevention, Suboxone

Methadone Treatment Clients Aim For Better Lives

Posted on March 12, 2011 | Comments Off on Methadone Treatment Clients Aim For Better Lives

methadone-recoveryI just read a news article about a proposed methadone clinic that is being met with community resistance, this time in Dade County, Georgia. The county is located in the northwestern tip of the state, and would provide treatment to people living in north Georgia, southern Tennessee, and northeastern Alabama.

Somewhat disturbing were several comments by readers of the article in which the proposed clinic was forecasted to be harmful to the community. One person wrote that clinics “do not help people”, and another writer stated that the clinic “would bring more unsavory characters into the county.”

A second article on the Dade County clinic, with an accompanying news video, showed an interview with a local store manager in a neighboring county. This store manager is located across the street from an existing methadone clinic. In the interview, the man said “Keep you eyes open and your ears open and watch out for people … because that (methadone) is some bad stuff.” The TV interviewer then asked the man had he observed any problems related to the clinic’s operation and he responded “I’ve not noticed any real bad things or anything happening around here.” He then goes on to say later in the interview “They’re (methadone clients) not causing any trouble.”

The TV interviewer for News Channel 9 also added that a number of local people she had interviewed for the piece (who did not want to appear on camera) confirmed that the clinic “had not had a negative impact on the area.”

This exemplifies the irrational fear & unjustified public condemnation of methadone that is often the norm in small communities. The reality is that the store owner referenced above had not seen anything troubling (per his own account), and the others interviewed said the clinic had brought no negative impact to the area. Think about that.

These community members, many of whom are obviously harboring unwarranted fears and suspicions, would most likely change their opinion of methadone clinics & methadone clients if they could simply meet them. The condemnation of those we do not know is an age-old problem, as are hate, harsh judgment, and fear of the unknown.

Discrimination is something that Americans have faced before. Discrimination against addicted people seeking help is sort of odd logic. Most people seem to believe that addiction is something far away and removed from their communities and their lives. But it isn’t.

Importantly, methadone maintenance blocks the effects of other opiates, stops withdrawal sickness, helps addicted people feel better emotionally, and allows them to go to work, raise their families, pay their mortgage, and become productive again. That clinic across the street is not a drug haven. It is a place where people, with good intentions and genuine hope, begin to reclaim their lives. They’re willing to step onto a new path leading to a drug free life. Is this really so terrible?

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Posted in Drug Treatment, Medication Assisted Treatment, Methadone, Methadone Clinics, Methadone Maintenance, Methadone Programs, Methadone Treatment, NIMBY

The Future of Methadone Treatment

Posted on March 7, 2011 | Comments Off on The Future of Methadone Treatment

methadonefutureThe total number of U.S. private and publicly funded methadone clinics has risen substantially just in the last few years. Moreover, opioid addiction treatment is receiving increased attention across the country as organizations like SAMHSA, NIDA, ASAM, and CARF become familiar acronyms to everyone working in the addiction treatment field.

We now have various suboxone formulations with increased availability, in addition to methadone, and new products aimed at treating opioid addiction are being researched and periodically released (such as Vivitrol). A generic version of suboxone is said to be on the horizon too thus becoming a more accessible & affordable option for many. The message is out that opioid addiction is a disease which can be successfully treated & managed using a combination of medication and behavioral health counseling approaches.

Methadone programs received a quality boost in 1999 when the U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services identified methadone as a useful “clinical tool” in the treatment of opioid dependency. Provisions were then drafted & implemented which required all methadone programs to become independently accredited in order to establish a clinical standard of care.

Leading medical and educational institutions, such as Duke University, have committed to researching effective addiction treatments and are consequently advancing our knowledge of ways to deal with addictive disease. Organizations like JoinTogether.org are bringing relevant news to America on a daily basis in regard to addiction problems and solutions.

If the last 20 years are any indication, then the future of opioid addiction treatment will only improve. What used to be regarded as a “heroin only” isolated problem contained in the big cities, is in reality a fairly widespread problem affecting many everyday families in every American town regardless of its size.

The good new is that people all around the country are getting well. They have tools available for coping with addiction. The power of the internet is helping people tap into useful addiction recovery resources. The future brings continued promise, and many possibilities.

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Posted in Drug Treatment, Medication Assisted Treatment, Methadone, Methadone Maintenance, Methadone Programs, Methadone Treatment, Opiate Addiction, Opiate Treatment, Suboxone