Treatment Terms

Re-ha-bil-i-tate:

Restore to effectiveness or normal life by training.

Ad-dic-tion:

Compulsive physiological and psychological need for a habit-forming substance.

Drug:

A chemical substance, such as a narcotic or hallucinogen, that affects the central nervous system, causing changes in behavior and often addiction.

News Releases


Drug Rehab - Sauna Method

08/05/2009

There are different methods utilized in substance abuse counseling to bring about positive moral change in an addict. Probably one of the most commonly used is the Twelve Step approach practiced by the Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous groups.

In this method, steps 4 and 5 and steps 8 and 9 deal with life inventory of the wrong deeds done and who was affected by them. In addition to this, the addict then makes up the damage done as a result of these negative actions.

This method is effective in recovery so long as the person's addiction has not progressed to the point where the individual has lost his or her ability to confront and communicate or to identify and solve problems. If an addiction persists long enough, an addict will lose even the basic social skills needed to perform in group therapy and to admit their wrongdoing.

In cases where drug addiction began in the adolescent years, individuals have not had the opportunity to develop these life skills. As a result, they do not perform as well in a Twelve Step program or other traditional treatment settings. In these cases, the addict needs to be educated or re-educated in these basic life skills before there can be any real hope of success in raising moral standards and permanent sobriety.

When conventional approaches are not working with a drug-addicted person, there are effective alternatives to pursue in recovery before one gives up. What has not proven effective is substitute drug treatment, e.g. methadone, anti-depressants or other prescribed medications designed to mask the symptoms of addiction mentioned in this series of articles. This, in effect, just trades one addiction for another. It does not aid the addicted person in developing the life skills necessary to raise their moral values or their quality of life. Nor does it provide them with the necessary tools to remain sober. Thus relapse becomes inevitable.

It is now acknowledged by the medical community that drugs do store in the body in the form of metabolites and that the chemical imbalances created by drug addiction are nutritionally driven. Further, nutritional program components have been added to just about every type of treatment method and are recognized as a valid form of therapy in chemical dependency treatment.

For more information go to: www.drugaddictiontreatment.ca
 

Written by Gary W, Smith, C.C.D.C.

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