Detoxification Dependence
December 15th, 2009
Addiction, as usually defined, is a physical dependence on a substance, in the case of drug addiction. The dependency is intense that without the drug the person might be in severe pain or dysfunctional. This is because the drug has already affected the chemical balance in the brain allowing the person’s system to crave for the certain drug in order to achieve sense of balance. This gets worse when the body starts to tolerate the substance that enters the system, thus, resulting to a higher quantity requirement the next time the drug is taken to reach the desired effect.
From its very description, addiction is the state of being enslaved to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, such narcotics, to such an extent that its discontinuation causes severe trauma. This trauma can differ in intensity from intense cravings to life threatening illness (depending on the drug), making it virtually impossible for an addict to quit without aid. Because most withdrawal symptoms can be relieved immediately upon use of the drug that the body is withdrawing from, the want to use that drug is exceptionally high during this time, often resulting in defeat of the healing before it can even begin.
To treat addiction, it always starts with the recognition of it. The treatment process can then be carried on. Treating substance dependence means eliminating the dependency on the drug. This would indicate that the person had to stop taking the drug. However, slowing down the body of an addict from taking in the drug would lead to withdrawal symptoms. It is never easy to deal with these symptoms. However, symptoms will always depend on the type of substance being used. Moreover, to ease the pain of the withdrawal symptoms, detoxification should be done.
Detoxification is a process of cleansing the toxins from the body. In the case of drug addiction, it is the removal of the drug residues from the body and controlling the symptoms of withdrawal. Detoxification is not the whole treatment process but it is the first step towards recovery. Taking away the toxins that have been controlling the body system of the addict should be done first before any behavioral based theraphy which would treat the underlying factors of addiction.
Drug detoxification is referred to as the period of withdrawal during which the person’s body eventually returns to balance after long-term use of an addictive substance. Depending on the addiction, the process will vary.
Detoxification can be for both inpatient and outpatient basis. Inpatient detoxification allows a close monitoring on the patient. With these, the contact to the substance of abuse could be avoided. Meanwhile, outpatient detoxification allows greater social support. In comparison to inpatients, patients in outpatient theraphy retain greater freedom, continue with their day-to-day activities with lesser disruptions. However, with outpatient treatment, there is an higher threat of no improvement because the patient is more likely to be exposed with the substance of abuse.
This drug detoxification process seeks to lessen the severity of the trauma associated with the body’s withdrawal from dependence on a particular drug by medically alleviating and monitoring the intense physical symptoms associated with systematically inducing the withdrawal process. Once the drug is emptied from the system and the pain and discomfort associated with ending its use have been alleviated, the other reasons contributing to the addiction, such as the emotional and psychological issues, can be taken cared of.
Substance dependence is always a serious problem for everybody. More than intensive treatment, self-determination is also a requirement. The treatment process is to be deal very hard everyday.
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