Featured Articles
- Inhalants Are the Most Popular Drug for 12-Year-Olds
- Ecstasy: Too Often a Fatal Trip
- Meth-Lab Victories Prove Fleeting
- Federal Court Says Va. Alcohol Laws Constitutional
- Harsh Truths About Cocaine
- Marijuana, Memory, and the Hippocampus
- Spitzer to Seek Tobacco Taxes from Tribes
- Drugs and Memory
- Moving Out of Drug-Plagued Neighborhoods Helps Girls, Not Boys
- Broad Drug Testing Adopted in Kansas Town
- Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED) Affects up to 16 Million Americans
- Italian Smoking Ban Prevents Heart Attacks, Study Says
- ADHD Drug Abuse Gets Colleges' Attention
- Report Shows Healthy Decline in Smoking During Pregnancy
- New Study Finds Direct Mom-Child Alcohol Link
- Bipartisan Bond Over Addiction Recovery
Methamphetamine Addiction and Treatment
Methamphetamine is a powerfully addictive stimulant that can be smoked, snorted, injected, or taken orally. Methamphetamine has quickly become one of the most widely abused substances in the United States and can have devastating physical consequences. Addictions to methamphetamine can be treated, however, and many people who are addicted can regain their lives and function productively in society. If you or someone you care about is addicted to methamphetamine, it is important to be aware of the damaging affects of methamphetamine abuse and to seek treatment in order to overcome this addiction.
Risks and Consequences of Methamphetamine Addiction
Methamphetamine abuse causes both short term and long term effects that can be medically damaging.
The short term effects of methamphetamine abuse include increased attention and decreased fatigue, increased activity, decreased appetite, euphoria and rush, increased respiration, and hyperthermia. Large doses of methamphetamine can elevate body temperature to dangerous, sometimes lethal levels, and can also cause convulsions.
The long term effects of methamphetamine abuse are a result of the highly addictive nature of methamphetamine. As users become addicted to methamphetamine, they build a tolerance against the affects of the drug, and consequently need more and more to feed their cravings. The results of this chronic use of methamphetamine are physical, emotional, and mental destruction. Chronic methamphetamine users exhibit violent behavior, anxiety, confusion, and insomnia, and can also display psychotic features, such as hallucinations, mood swings and delusions. The risk of long-term methamphetamine use can also cause cardiovascular problems, such as rapid heart rate and irregular heartbeat, and irreversible damage to the small blood vessels in the brain, which causes strokes.
Treatment for Methamphetamine Addiction
Treatment programs for methamphetamine abuse are usually intensive inpatient programs that utilize therapies with techniques to strengthen coping skills in order to work towards successful recovery. However, there are clinical challenges with methamphetamine treatment such as paranoia, psychosis, agitation, and sever craving that usually requires the staff to have more knowledge and skills. Because of this, it is important when searching for a treatment facility to make sure that the program you choose is equipped and qualified to properly treat methamphetamine addiction.
Methamphetamine users are often unable to recognize problems related to their drug use, and as a result techniques to promote change in the patient's thinking must be used. The most effective method of treatment for methamphetamine addiction is cognitive behavioral intervention. In this approach, treatment aims to modify the patient's thinking, expectation, and behaviors to increase skills in coping with the stresses of life.
Methamphetamine recovery support groups are also effective supplements to behavioral interventions and can lead to long-term drug free recovery.
While there are currently no pharmacological treatments for methamphetamine addiction, antidepressants may be used to help ease depressive symptoms that often occurs in methamphetamine users who have recently stopped using the drug.
The length of treatment programs is also an important factor in the recovery of methamphetamine addicts. Methamphetamine users may have a tendency to quickly drop out of treatment programs, but those who continue to along the path of treatment can achieve long-term drug free recovery.
Treatment programs also utilize strategies to prevent relapse, such as drug education, family and group therapies, and self-help groups. In these groups users must learn to identify behaviors and situations that put them at high risk for using methamphetamine. This creates a structure that allows the patient to become actively involved in their recovery and will help to prevent relapse.
Please call (888) 373-4133 to find the right drug rehabilitation center for you or your loved one.
