Heroin Drug Rehab Springfield Massachusetts

 

Springfield, Massachusetts Fights Opioid Addiction

 

Springfield Massachusetts is facing an opioid crisis. Since 2000, opioid-related deaths have increased in Massachusetts by 350%.  The most recent rate of increase is several times faster than anything seen before with every community in Massachusetts impacted by the current opioid epidemic. In one year. 2013-2014 opioid-related deaths were recorded in two-thirds of the cities and towns in the state of Massachusetts, including the city of Springfield. For a heroin drug rehab in Springfield MA contact the recovery helpline now.

 

 

Recent research reveals that the percentage of opioid deaths for different age groups shows that young people of Massachusetts are especially at risk. In 2013-2014, opioids accounted for more than a quarter of all the deaths in the people eighteen to twenty-four. For individuals from twenty-five to thirty-five, opioids caused more than a third of deaths. In 2015, roughly two out of every three people who died from opioids were younger than 44.

 

Because the opioid-related death rate in Massachusetts has surpassed the national average, with a dramatically sharp rise in the last two years, the impact of the crisis has led to increases in costs for drug treatment and social services. As a result, the city of Springfield is suing the pharmaceutical companies who have been identified as the impetus of the opioid crisis. Experts have noted that the trend in opioid addiction can be traced to prescription medications legitimately prescribed by physicians for medical conditions from minor to severe, including toothaches and back pain to sports injuries among high school athletes. The highly addictive nature of these drugs created an epidemic of dependency, so that when the legal prescriptions had expired, many now addicted individuals turned to illegal painkillers available on the streets. Making matters worse, cheaper and more readily available heroin replaced pain pills and turned many mildly addicted individuals on pain meds to the lethal and extremely addictive heroin.

 

Among those vulnerable to addiction are those who have been recently released from Massachusetts prisons. They have a short-term risk of death from opioid overdose that is greater than fifty times the risk for the public.  Also, those suffering from a mental illness were more likely to become victims of opioid overdose. The risk of fatal opioid-related overdose is six times higher for anyone diagnosed with a serious mental illness and three times higher for those diagnosed with depression.

 

To avoid overdoses, Springfield is equipping its law enforcement officers and paramedics with Naloxone. As they are first on the scene for most overdoses in Springfield, being prepared with this overdose-reversing drug has been a hopeful development in the war on opioids. An overdose thwarted can mean a second chance for any addict, including detox and rehab and the opportunity for a future sober life.

 

What You Can Do if Addicted to Opioids

 

Having the courage to accept that you have a drug problem is the first step on the road to recovery. If you find it impossible to stop taking prescription medications or you are deliberately taking a higher and higher dose, than mild dependency is gradually shifting to addiction.

 

Symptoms of addiction also include physical characteristics such as extreme tiredness and increasingly poor coordination. You find yourself sicker more often, vomiting and contending with nausea. You may also notice your mental alertness diminishing and your ability to make good decisions failing.  Socially, you feel less inclined to be involved in work and school. Lost employment and dropping out of school may seem like coincidences to someone in the throes of addiction but are red flags that opioid addiction is destroying your life.

 

Your Brain on Opioids

 

With continued opioid use, tolerance builds. More and more of the drug is required to achieve the same high. Also, when a pain medication is being taken, the very pains they were meant to cure, come back more intensely as your body grows accustomed to the painkiller. The greatest risk of all is that the growing tolerance will eventually lead to an overdose. Opioids reduce the performance of the region of the brain that controls respiration, so as you move closer to a potential overdose, shallow breathing becomes worse leading to unconsciousness and possible death.

 

Without the opioid, withdrawals will be experienced. Some intense withdrawal symptoms will include sweating and tremors. Depression sets in, Now the high becomes less important as simply not feeling sick is your only goal.

 

Am I Dependent or Addicted?

 

The difference between dependency and addiction is a matter of degree. Inability to function without the opioid in your system is clearly a sign that a mere reliance on the drug has turned into a critical need for the drug. A doctor can diagnose dependency and addiction. In fact, this medical assessment becomes step one in the recovery process.

 

It is at this point that the options for heroin treatment or the treatment for prescription meds are considered. The initial assessment will help both physicians and recovery specialists determine whether residential inpatient heroin detox and treatment or outpatient programs should be recommended.  The rigorous pre-intake evaluation will also help determine the type of detox that is best.

 

Questions and Answers That Matter for Your Pre-Intake Process

 

The best heroin addiction treatment centers are working hard to provide you with a plan specifically to fit your opioid addiction or dependency. Here are commonly asked questions you can ask your physician or recovery specialist.

 

Q: Why do I need to take a medical exam?

A: Recovery specialists need to know the impact opioid use has had on you medically. If heroin was used, HIV and other diseases transmitted through shared needles may also be present. You may also have pre-existing medical conditions such as diabetes or high cholesterol. All these factors make drug treatment more complex and can affect the treatment plan designed.

 

Q: Why do I need a psychological evaluation?

A: Because opioids and heroin can over time affect the mind, psychologists need to know your psychological health and how it will be impacted by the drug treatment plan. There are also preexisting mental conditions that you might not be aware of, which may be influencing the addiction.

 

1. Why do I need cognitive testing?

A:  Opioid addiction compromises cognitive ability. How well you can listen, communicate and learn all impact your drug treatment program. Adjustments to your drug treatment may be necessary to accommodate your needs if cognitive ability has been weakened by opioid use.

 

Q: I have already agreed to rehab, why am I getting drug-tested?

1. Determining the degree of opioid addiction is necessary. Also, determining if a current opioid is being used in conjunction with other drugs is important for defining a drug treatment plan. Often a combination of drugs is being used which can complicate treatment. Subtle differences in prescription opioids and heroin require recovery specialists to adjust treatment.

 

Q: Why do you need to know so much about my past?

A: understanding the history behind how you ended up addicted offers clues and ideas for treatment. Family history of drugs and alcohol, past experiences of abuse or even deaths in the family can trigger a slip toward addiction. Knowing these important facts about your life can help with heroin treatment.

 

What has been determined in pre-intake becomes valuable information for formulating a customized treatment plan.  As part of treatment, you will also need to know what is expected of you in drug treatment and what you need to learn about your addiction to aid in recovery.

 

Learning How to Make Heroin Treatment Successful

 

Drug treatment is an opportunity for recovery and not everyone who enters drug rehab understands or appreciates the value of treatment. That is why recovery specialists will present the most important aspects of treatment and how they will become a part of your recovery plan.

 

Immediate treatment is critical. Recovery specialists cannot emphasize enough the importance that treatment occur immediately. There is not time to put off a mild dependency that will eventually become an addiction.

 

Know your treatment is specific to your needs. There is no one plan fits all approach in drug rehab. Every plan is based on the pre-intake assessment, so results are not just a part of generic demographic statistics. They are designed to help you personally reach recovery.

 

Psychological treatment may be necessary.  Even if you do not have a mental illness, psychologists and recovery specialists will still look for the root causes of addiction or dependency.

 

Physical treatments are necessary.  Because your health as an addicted person is compromised, nutrition, exercise and even medications may be necessary to improve your overall health as part of a drug treatment plan.

 

Rehabilitation does not end with detox. Too many recovering addicts see detox as the only practical step, walking away from long-term treatment. But detox is just the first phase in a long process to bringing about personal healing.

 

Medications may be necessary. Sometimes prescribed medications from the recovery specialists will aid in the detox process or long-term recovery process. IT must be understood that these are not addictive drugs, rather helpful medications that make withdrawals and drug cravings manageable.

 

There is more than one way to detox. Some detox options may be offered by recovery specialists. Rapid detox is a non-traditional approach that speeds up the recovery process. Though some physicians may find it to be controversial, it has helped some recovering individuals in some cases. For this reason, consideration needs to be given to all detox strategies.

 

Are you committed to recovery? For recovery to work at any level, regardless of the specialists involved and the reputation of the recovery center, personal commitment is key to success. If you are skeptical of treatment or feel that you are not really addicted to opioids, then treatment efforts may be ineffectual. Soul-searching and dedication to recovery come together when a recovery specialist asks you if you are really committed to getting better.

 

How to Deal with Opioid Detox

 

Because detox can be incredibly dangerous, it is not recommended to attempt detoxing on your own. The advantage of having a recovery specialist available is that the detox process can be monitored, and any medical emergencies can be addressed before they become serious. Some recovery professionals may also recommend the sometimes controversial and non-traditional detox method known as rapid detox.

 

Should I Consider Rapid Detox?

 

Also known as ultra-rapid opioid detoxification, rapid detox was originally developed in the 1980s to minimize the time spent hospitalized. Once admitted to a rapid detox center, you will be given naloxone to trigger withdrawals followed by a mild sedative which places you in a state of controlled unconsciousness. The goal is that the body goes through detox while the addicted sleep it off. This can mean detoxing can take only a matter of days rather than weeks. However, many physicians have concerns about this approach.  They feel that by not experiencing the harsh symptoms of drug detox, that the addicted person will be more likely to relapse back into addiction after the detox process. Also many detractors feel that the impact on personal health is a worrisome unknown.

 

Taking on Withdrawals Through Traditional Detox

 

If detoxing off opiates is decided upon using traditional detox methods, be prepared. The body responses violently to the absence of opioids. The symptoms may last for days or weeks and vary based on the individual. It is not uncommon for seizures to occur, which is why having a recovery specialist oversee the detox process is valuable. Some of the symptoms experienced during detox may include tension, runny nose, severe chills and disturbed and fitful sleep, nausea and vomiting, muscle spasms and stiffness, problems with breathing, aching bones, problems concentrating, heart palpitations, excessive sweating and tremors.

 

What Medications are Used During Detox?

 

Because the severity of addiction and type of drug varies, medical professionals have a variety of medications they can turn to help ease the symptoms of opiate withdrawals throughout the detox process.

• Methadone-helps with heroin cravings and is used for heroin detox and long-term outpatient management of cravings.
• Subutex-helps with the moderate to severe physical pain that can accompanying opioid detox
• Subozone – used to ease symptoms of opioid withdrawal
• Naltrexone-helps decrease the intense cravings for opioids and blocks the effects of opioids on the brain
• Antidepressants-helps manage the psychological symptoms during detox which can include severe depression
• Anti-nausea drugs-used to manage the abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting commonly experienced during detox as a withdrawal symptom

 

Is Residential Opioid Treatment Necessary?

 

Though there are occasions when opioid addiction can be treated outside a residential facility, inpatient treatment is generally recommended for most cases.  As the long-term leg of the process of recovery begins, residential treatment will provide the support system to overcome cravings, manage withdrawals past detox and explore personal issues and triggers that may cause relapse.

 

Modifications in your treatment can range from general therapy sessions that will help you begin reconditioning the brain for sobriety, to partial hospitalization treatments that have more of a medical focus for recovery.

 

1. Residential Inpatient Treatment Programs allow residence in the facility where you will approach treatment through a combination of personal therapy sessions and group sessions. You will address opioid addiction at its roots.
2. Partial Hospitalization Treatment Programs are designed for more severe heroin cases in which opioid addiction requires more intensive monitoring, often due to existing medical conditions or from complications during detox that make close observation necessary. In most cases, partial hospitalization patients are eventually moved to residential treatment in the long run.

 

Springfield Inpatient Care Therapy Options

 

Inpatient drug rehab Springfield Massachusetts centers have principles and philosophies behind rehab therapy are varied. There are many traditional therapies that continue to be the foundation for recovery treatment. There are also many innovative approaches that seek different views to understanding addiction and how to overcome it. Therapy will be provided in either individual sessions or group sessions.

 

Individual Therapy Sessions

Therapy in which counselors work directly with you to help you better understand your drug addiction have shown some of the best results for most patients. One-on-one sessions are also highly recommended for anyone already struggling with mental disorders along with drug addiction. Most one-on-one patients may be experiencing depression, socialization disorders or emotional disorders. Often these conditions may be diagnosed during drug treatment.

 

Behavioral Couples Therapy for Drug Abuse

The function of Behavioral Couples Therapy (BCT) is to develop support for abstaining and to enhance relationship performance among married or couples seeking assistance for substance abuse or alcoholism. BCT sees the substance abusing patient with the partner or live-in partner to arrange a day-to-day “Recovery Contract” in which the patient states his or her intent not to drink or use drugs and the partner reveals assistance for the patient’s efforts to stay abstinent. For clients taking a recovery-related medication (e.g., disulfiram, naltrexone), daily medication intake experienced and verbally strengthened by the spouse likewise is part of the contract. Self-help meetings and drug urine screens belong to the contract for a lot of clients. BCT also increases positive activities and teaches interaction skills.

 

Four Benefits of Group Therapy for Opioid Treatment

Along with individual therapy, group sessions provide an effective approach that is also flexible and more economical for treatment centers, as several patients can be treated at once with positive results.

 

Group session benefits include:

1. More support. Simply by having other people around, group sessions can be more affective for supporting you through opioid addiction with encouragement and hope.
2. Airing issues. Group therapy allows complaining and venting of frustrations, expressing the negative emotions that often accompany recovery. Having the opportunity to express opinions and feelings to a group rather than a clinician has shown to help resolve personal issues.
3. Group is motivating. Group therapy has been proven to be more motivating for individual members. Feeling that there are several people behind you driving you to successful recovery can make it more tangible.
4. Renewing social skills. Many of the communication and engagement skills you may once have had as a sober person are often lost when drugs take hold. Group sessions reignite those skills and the positive energy that evoke.

 

Outpatient Options for Opioid Dependency

 

Where mild dependency is the case, outpatient treatment is also an option. Catching dependency before it becomes a serious addiction is key and flexible and economical outpatient programs allow you to work with recovery counselors and group sessions members while being able to go home at night.  Outpatient programs are also ideal for anyone still maintaining responsibilities such as work and school Often, inpatient programs are the next step for residential treatment, as recovering individuals are gradually reintroduced to the sober world with new hope.

 

Outpatient Programs can also be the best place for new group therapies to be tried out. Counselors using both traditional and experimental approaches to recovery will offer options to find the perfect fit for your personal care.

 

The Well-Known Twelve Step Program

Twelve step programs began with the treatment of alcoholics and then showed positive results with other types of addiction. Applications of twelve step programs for opioids addresses many of the same issue that plague anyone with addiction. This highly successful program also offers reachable goals for the recovering that they can work on each day of their life.  The basic principles of twelve step programs develop a lasting support system. As a recovering addict to either opioids or heroin, regular meetings extend the opportunity to establish bonds with other recovering addicts and work through relapse and trigger episodes.

Biofeedback Therapy

With a focus on relaxation techniques, medications and exercise, the goal of biofeedback is to retrain your mind to ignore cravings and focus on sober activities. By handing complete control over to you, the recovering, you begin to master and manage mind and body above and beyond opioids.

Experiential Therapy

Experiential therapy is a non-traditional approach that removes you from the circle of chairs that is typical of group sessions. The approach allows you to explore the world more freely and creatively. Working together as a group, experiential therapy sessions can range from art classes to rock climbing expeditions. The goal is to place the joy of sober activities foremost in your mind, so that drugs begin to lose their sway and influence.

Faith-Based Group Sessions.

Even though most twelve step programs focus on faith as a component of recovery, faith-based group therapy makes it the one and only focus. Using spiritual healing and faith, the goal of this type of therapy is to place the healing power of God above the influence of opioids.

Relapse Prevention

When the issue of drug relapse continues to be a problem, then relapse prevention is an intensive and focused group session with one goal on mind. Overcoming relapses by focusing specifically on triggers, keeping detailed diaries of relapse episode or possible relapse episodes and communicating with other group members works toward the common goal of maintaining sobrieety. Find a sober living house after completing treatment to help maintain people with common goals of staying sober.

 

If you are searching for a heroin drug rehab for detox and treatment for heroin or opiates/opioids contact our helpline now. Inpatient drug rehabs in Springfield Massachusetts offer help for those struggling from substance abuse.