Drug Treatment Programs: An Overview

As inevitable as it is, drug abuse is among the major problems of American society nowadays. This problem storms America by breaking families up, destroying lives, and costing billion dollars for health care and such expenses in the process. In fact, the National Survey on Drug Abuse and Health states that more than 20 million citizens suffer from drug addiction. However, almost 100% of these citizens either are in denial or are unaware of their drug disorders. This is the reason why they usually reject any help or treatment related to drug abuse.

The government, however, does not stop with the billions it spends every year. Instead, the government provides the necessary help for all its citizens who have fallen prey to addiction, and this help comes in the form of drug treatment programs. Treatment does not necessarily mean drug rehabs or hospitalization because drug addiction treatment varies depending on the physical status of the patient.

Types of Drug Treatment Program

There are nine types of addiction treatment programs, but the most common are Agonist Maintenance Program, Outpatient Drug-Free Program, Short-Term Residential Program, Long-Term Residential Program, and Medical Detoxification. The first type addiction program is also known as methadone treatment program, for it uses methadone as the primary medication that counters the dangerous effects of opiates. Moreover, this treatment also includes group counseling or psychological therapy.

Meanwhile, the Outpatient Drug-Free Treatment emphasizes the effectiveness of group counseling in curing drug addicts. Aside from a person's drug disorder, this type of treatment also aims to cure that person's psychological health problems. Likewise, the Long-Term Residential Treatment and the Short-Term Residential Programs also aim to cure a person's mental problems and drug disorder. The difference of these two programs from the outpatient treatment, however, lies in the location because the two take place in the patient's residence.

Lastly, medical detoxification is the most unique among the above-mentioned types of addiction treatment. Unlike those methods that focus on the psychological aspect, this type centers on the physiological backlash of drug abuse. Medical detoxification can take place in a rehab or at the patient's home provided a physician is present whenever the addiction treatment occurs.

What the Family Can Do

When the patient does not want to go to drug rehabs for treatment, this is when his family comes in the scene. Convincing can be difficult for the family if the patient is unwilling to seek help, or he is denying about his drug problem. However, there are ways that the family can do to help the patient recover from such predicament.

The most important thing that the family can do is to get help from experts, and this can be done by applying for a family drug intervention. In such case, the family learns about drug intervention which is the process of helping the patient accept his drug disorder and persuading him to overcome such problem by getting professional help.

While some people may argue that only doctors can cure drug addiction, experts believe otherwise. Although drug treatment programs are provided by experts to help drug addicts, the success of the treatment does not depend on the programs per se but also on the patient's peers and more importantly on his family.

sources:
http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/treat/treatment.html
http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/treat/screen_brief_intv.html
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adamgilcrist
Suffering from an addiction. This website has a lot of great resources and treatment centers.

http://www.treatmentcenters.org