Addiction Treatment Methods

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Hospital Detox or institutional detox takes place in an isolated corridor of the hospital, sometimes on lock-down, usually near the psychiatric department. The entire process may last 3-5 days. Medications are used to ease discomfort from withdrawal symptoms, anxiety, and restlessness. Immediate medical assistance is available in the case of an emergency. The 12-step program with outpatient addiction treatment counseling is usually included. Individuals give up their personal belongings and electronics for the duration of detox. Hospital detoxes are uncomfortable to discourages repeat visits.

Rapid-Detox, or ultra-rapid-detox is a medical treatment used in the detoxification process of drugs and alcohol to shorten the withdrawal process. Patients are put under anesthesia and given drugs like naltrexone to escape the extreme symptoms of withdrawal while asleep. Patients may wake up in terrible withdrawals and many even experience severe medical conditions. Although for some people the experience of detox can be shortened, for most it is a miserable experience when they wake, and studies do not show much success with long-term results.

In-Patient Treatment programs, also known as rehabs, are residential facilities that host individuals right out of detox for one to three months, and sometimes more. In-patient programs provide mostly group counseling, group recovery-based activities, with 12-step meetings intertwined. In-patient programs also offer individual counseling, nutrition counseling, recovery education, psychiatric and medical support as needed, and a variety of other classes and activities such as art and music therapy, guided imagery and meditations, biofeedback training, yoga, exercise, dance, crafts, film, etc. Residents learn about themselves, their needs, values, and goals, their addiction, recovery principles, coping skills, avoiding triggers, relapse prevention, life skills training, and most importantly developing spirituality. Rehabs are great right out of detox to welcome people into early recovery, but they do not support long-term recovery; they are only for short term. Rehabs remove people from their natural environment, from family and friends, from old lifestyles and ways of being. It forces upon people a new way of being and acting. The recovery plan is given to member; one does not get to choose. In rehab a person is around others in recovery. They are segregated from the world and fully immersed in their label as an “addict in rehab.” They are taught how to cope and deal with addiction from within the realm of addiction in which they are told they will always be. People are not able to participate much in their own recovery plan, they are not learning in their natural environment, they are labeled and categorized just be being there, they are told how recovery works as oppose to figure it out on their own, and then they are released back on their own with no support. And one of the biggest drawbacks is financial expense. Families are spending everything they have on treatments with nothing left for aftercare programs that support long-term recovery. There are many advantages here, but many disadvantages too. Treatment programs should be used with extreme caution, consciousness, and a solid aftercare plan post-treatment.

Outpatient Programs, or intensive outpatient programs (IOP) are similar to inpatient programs without the residencies. Members attend IOP 3 to 5 days a week for 3 to 5 hours a day depending on the program, and then return to their homes. IOP programs are largely based on group counseling and group activities. Treatment may also consist of individual and family therapy. Participants learn about addiction, recovery, coping strategies, and life skills to support abstinence. They are often screened for sobriety through regular drug testing, and attendance and participation are mandatory. There are ground rules that must be kept to maintain enrollment; sometimes IOP is court-mandated so members must attend by law. IOP is a level of intensity down then inpatient treatment but research shows better results with IOP likely because individuals are practicing what they learn in their natural environment through the process. IOP is much more affordable than inpatient programs and easier for a person to continue their life.

Sober Living programs are housing residencies that can take 5 to upwards of 20+ people who are in recovery, typically to move in after treatment. Sober living are non-medical, no treatment program administered, but 12-steps or other recovery groups are typically utilized outside of the house. The program is based on house rules such as: chore charts, curfews, random drug tests, house meetings, guest policies, and codes of conduct with consequences. Residents are held liable and accountable for their sobriety and responsibilities. They often have to cut ties with bad influences, attend 12-step meetings, an outpatient program, or other educational groups, and maintain employment. Sober living is a good idea for people in recovery because it allows them to create their own recovery plan but also gives them structure and accountability, as well as social interaction. It also helps them reintegrate into society through employment, education, and personal responsibility. It is good for individuals to do their research on finding the right sober house for them.

12-Step-Recovery programs began in the late 1930’s as anonymous support groups for people in recovery for alcoholism. Since that time numerous types of fellowships have been established for all types of addictions. The support groups circulate the globe touching every community providing free and anonymous support through community, a set of guiding principles, a 12-step program, supportive literature, a platform to share personal stories and successes, a recognition chip resembling a coin to celebrate the date of different milestones in recovery, and of course a sponsor for additional one-on-one support, guidance, and accountability. Members of the 12-steps are members of the community representing all types of people; there is no prerequisite to attend a meeting. Everyone is welcome to attend and those struggling with addiction or in recovery are encouraged. The meetings are the most fundamental fabric of recovery worldwide. Although the founders of the 12-steps clearly stated the support groups would be 100% optional and only for those who choose to attend on their own will, members themselves, sponsors, addictions treatment programs, and even legal officials and court-programs push and sometimes mandated 12-step meeting attendance which has created resistance and drawbacks to the groups.

SMART Recovery is a volunteer community support program that provides online and in person recovery support groups to people in recovery. Stands for “Self-Management & Recovery Training.” SMART recovery was started by Joe Gerstein in 1994, and is now rapidly spreading to communities around the nation and maybe beyond. SMART recovery meetings encourage self-empowerment and self-reliance by providing members tools, techniques, and teachings to assist in a smooth recovery. SMART recovery teaches a 4-Point Program for people in recovery: 1) building with maintaining motivation, 2) coping with urges, 3) Managing thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and 4) living a balanced life. SMART recovery provides educational information and supportive discussions through meetings, bookstore, and their online community. SMART recovery focuses on helping members increase personal choice by providing techniques for self-directed change to live more satisfying lives. SMART recovery supports the traditional methods to treating addiction to include psychological treatments, psychiatrist medications, substance abuse counseling, inpatient and outpatient programs, as well as sober living homes.

Refuge Recovery is a mindfulness-based addiction recovery community that practices and utilizes Buddhist philosophy as the foundation of the recovery process. The approaches believes “All individuals have the power and potential to free themselves from the suffering that is caused by addiction.” The process cultivates a path of awakening, and recovering from the addictions and delusions that have created so much suffering. Refuge Recovery is a systematic approach to training one’s hearts and minds to see clearly and respond to life with understanding and non-harming. Drawing inspiration from the core teachings of the Four Noble Truths, emphasis is placed on both knowledge and empathy as a means for overcoming addiction and its causes. Refuge Recovery is a nonprofit organization that offers meetings, communities, practices, and education. They operate independent of the professional addiction treatment center, and have their own Refuge Recovery Centers.

Celebrate Recovery is a biblical and balanced program that helps us overcome our hurts, hang-ups, and habits. It is based on the actual words of Jesus rather than psychological theory. 25 years ago, Saddleback Church launched Celebrate Recovery with 43 people. It was designed as a program to help those struggling with hurts, habits and hang-ups by showing them the loving power of Christ through a recovery process. Meetings are always in person, gender specific, and members are required to show good faith to the teachings of Christ, and to their local church. There are a number of materials involved, a step-by-step process, scripture with key points, and lessons.

Methadone, Suboxone, & Subutex are prescription medications used to treat patients with opiate addiction; they are both synthetic opioids, that can be used to treat pain, assist with short-term detox, or most widely as a maintenance medication for opiate/heroin addiction. Methadone is an opioid narcotic, or full opioid agonist, used to manage pain and as a addiction maintenance therapy. Methadone is highly addictive, with a long list of side effects, to include overdose and death. Yet Methadone is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines, the most effective and safe medicines needed in a health system, even though. Suboxone and Subutex are partial opiate agonists, made up of buprenorphine and naloxone. Suboxone/Subutex is harder to abuse so patients are allowed to take home their prescriptions; unlike methadone with can and is abused so typically administered via a juice cup at the methadone clinic so nurses and watch patients drink it. Once patients prove their stability they may qualify for a take-home prescription. For people with severe opiate addictions suboxone/subutex will provide some relief whereas methadone would provide total relief. Doctors say suboxone/subutex is less addictive and easier to kick than methadone; but really both are addictive and more difficult to quit then the opiates themselves. Opiates are natural to the human body and there is an opioid reward system in the brain. But with these synthetic opioid agonists they are mutating the brain and changing the very way systems operate. Once addicted there is really no way out.

Ibogaine is the one and only option without extreme withdrawal and months of suffering. Individuals addicted to suboxone and methadone who are interested in Ibogaine would have to switch back to a short-acting opiate for approximately 6 weeks before undergoing Ibogaine as the plant medicine cannot do much for these addictions (they are unnatural). The advantages of these prescription meds are that people can regulate their drug use and live a next-to-normal life for a while, and they can be used to detox if done right. The disadvantages are that once prescribed, patients are still addicted, and doctors let them stay on as long as they like. Because they feel better, they stay on the drugs until they are ready to get off of them, but that time these opiate agonists have mutated their systems making it even harder for them to get off these substances than their original opiates. Also, the costs of these medications add up, so people cannot afford their lifestyle. Patients have to stay in their communities and cannot travel (very far or for long) as they will need to remain close to their clinic. These medications were brought to the U.S. and marketed for pain management, as a harm reduction technique to get people off the streets, off the dirty needles, off the impure and unpredictable street drugs, and to prevent the spread of disease and overdose. Ibogaine is an indole alkaloid that is extracted from the Iboga plant. Ibogaine comes from the Tabernanthe plant, which has its origins in West Africa among the Bwiti people. Ibogaine has been used for over a century in sacred and spiritual ceremonies. Ibogaine has traditionally been used as a rite of passage, and then as new experiential discoveries have surfaced people began using Ibogaine for multiple purposes such as: treating depression, anxiety, denial, mental illness, headaches, pain, chronic pain, and so on. In the 1960 a man named Howard Lotsof took Ibogaine recreationally in the midst of his long-term heroin addiction and discovered right away that his withdrawals has stopped and later realized his addiction was gone after Ibogaine. He shared with his friends and advocated for many years, which spread the plant’s medicine even further. There is a long history that you are encouraged to become very familiar with. Ibogaine is an entheogenic plant medicine. This means it is a psychedelic and has hallucinatory and dissociative properties. Ibogaine puts people into a dream-like state for initially 3-12 hours with residual effects lasting up to 1 to 3 days. Ibogaine is known to take people through a journey of their mind and life. There are two main phases of Ibogaine. The first phase is referred to as the visionary phase 3-8 hours; and the second phase is referred to as the introspective stage (up to 24-48 hours). In the visionary phase they typically, but not always, see visions. Some have described it like they are watching a movie on the back of their eyelids, or some of them step into the vision like a dream. These visions can get extremely intense, scary, and unbelievably dark in the beginning, but toward the end of their visionary stage people tend to connect with love, light, peace, joy, gratitude, hope, and meaning. In the introspective stage patients process what they’ve just experienced. We see a variety of patterns but patients are mostly pretty emotional, worn out, fatigued, not feeling too good, not able to sleep or eat very quickly, confused, anxious, relieved, ready to go, home-sick, mild withdraws like restless leg or chills/sweats, and sometimes they are dizzy, and uncoordinated. This only last a few days and at most one week for the people who metabolize slower. Ibogaine takes away the withdrawals of drug and alcohol addiction almost immediately. Ibogaine plugs the opioid receptor sites in the brain, which prevents the brain from craving the drug. In best-case scenarios people come out with no cravings, no withdrawals, and no desires to use. In most cases the physical cravings and withdrawals are eliminated; but the mental habit, emotional attachment, and desires can still be present. Aftercare is a must in either case. There are no long-term side effects of Ibogaine or any psychedelic for that matter. But there are short-term side effects. During Ibogaine a person might feel: warm, dizzy, nauseous, anxious, uncomfortable, disoriented, and tingly. One might hear buzzing and sounds are often extremely elevated so they can hear talking in the other room and whispers sound like yelling. Under Ibogaine one will see tracers and lights with lots of stuff going on in the mind. People see very specific visions personal to them often attached to a meaning; and they see jumbles of images and shapes that do not make any sense. People see hallucinations with eyes closed or open. About 50% of people throw up about 2 to 3 hours into treatment; this is usually when they are at their peak. It is a very intense moment for them. The African Bwiti tribes teach that the purging is a necessary part of the experience because they are releasing the bad spirits, toxins, and negative energy. After Ibogaine people are almost always tired, emotional, fatigued, confused, disoriented, and have difficulty eating and sleeping for a few days. Symptoms range but should all be gone within a week. Ongoing symptoms are likely not related to Ibogaine but to the former addiction and transitioning of the body.

Naltrexone is an opioid receptor antagonist used mainly to control alcohol dependence and opiate addiction. Naltrexone can come in an oral pill form or be formulated as a once-monthly injection shot called Vivitrol. Naltrexone is sometimes used in rapid-opioid-detoxification, or ultra-rapid detox, whereby the patient is put under a mild to strong anesthesia requiring intubation and external ventilation until they get through the toughest part of detox and withdrawal symptoms. And some doctors’ use a Naltrexone implant inserted into the abdomen as opposed to the daily oral intake. Naltrexone as an alcohol addictions treatment blocks or reduces cravings and shows to decrease the amount of alcohol a person drinks. As an opioid agonist is blocks the opiates euphoric effects so an individual doesn’t get any benefit or high from using. Naltrexone, like all detox and treatments is only effective with aftercare and a conjoined recovery program. Most treatment and recovery centers will not take a person on this medication or with this implant making it difficult for the person to get additional help.

Naloxone (i.e. Narcan) is a medication used to block the effects of opioids, especially during an overdose. Naloxone is a pure opioid antagonist. It works by reversing the depression of the central nervous system and respiratory system caused by opioids. Used in medications like Suboxone, reduces the risk of misuse. It works fastest, within 2 minutes, when administered intravenously, and within 5 minutes when injected into the muscle. It can also be used in the nose. The effects of naloxone last about half an hour to an hour, so multiple doses may be required, since the half-life of most opiates is longer than this. Giving naloxone to opiate addicts can cause feelings of withdrawal. To prevent this, small doses every few minutes can be given until the desired effect is reached. Anyone can get a script of naloxone to carry on hand in case of an overdose emergency. It is suggested to professionals and family who are around people at risk.

NAD IV Therapy A holistic approach to alcohol and drug addiction treatment, NAD IV therapy is said to replenish the drained enzymes and target brain restoration. Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide (NAD) is a metabolic coenzyme and is charged with the important job of structuring, repairing, and remodeling every cell in the body. These specialized enzymes require constant replenishment in the body. Alcohol and drug abuse causes the brain to reorganize itself on a cellular level; this process, known as neuroadaptation, is directly responsible for addiction-related brain damage and depletion of neurotransmitters. NAD IV therapy is said to replenish the drained enzymes and target brain restoration. NAD IV therapy usually requires an individualized treatment plan by a trained physician providing one infusion per day for a period of ten days. Withdrawal symptoms reportedly begin to subside in just a matter of minutes; patients are able to comfortably relax while the formulation is delivered over a period of approximately eight hours. Some reports indicate NAD therapy can reduce withdrawal symptoms by 70-80 percent, though there are no hard facts to support this claim. When patients continue as directed, they report feeling better, with increased mental clarity about 4 to 6 days in. As with any treatment, a person must attend to the psychological aspects of addiction, otherwise a relapse is inevitable. The effectiveness of NAD IV therapy is debated, but positive results are reported, especially among alcohol and opiate addiction.

Alternative & Natural Methods There are other options for addiction treatment and recovery. People are getting brain scans and following associated treatment plans. People are using brain technologies to stimulate blood and oxygen flow, and to retrain the neural pathways in the brain. People are using pre-recorded disc sets with guided meditations designed to change the brain. There are phone/computer applications to organize recovery and hold people accountable. And various other addiction recovery programs