Drug treatment or drug rehabilitation is the term for the medical treatment for dependency on substances such as drugs and alcohol.
Sober College helps Young Adults Lead Normal Lives after Addiction
The aim of any drug treatment is to be able to get the subject out of the addiction to these substances and minimize any physical, mental, legal or financial consequences that may have occured due to drug usage.
There exist various types of drug addiction treatment methods. Drug addiction help comes in the form of residential treatment (in-patient), outpatient, support groups, care centres and recovery houses. The newer rehab centres offer specific programs based on age and gender. Like different programs for men and women, there are different programs for adolescent, teen, college and young adult as well.
Drug addiction is a very serious illness and the addict has intense cravings for drugs and at times exhibits compulsive drug seeking no matter what the situation may be. Drug addiction may start off in the adolescent stage of life itself. Once the person gets a taste of the drug, usually there is no turning back from it, and it becomes a compulsive habit to use and seek drugs. Drug treatment is sometimes the only way out for a person with a severe case of drug addiction.
Drug addiction and abuse has so many dimensions, and hampers the normal functionality of a person, hence drug treatment is not very simple. Many substance abuse treatment programs make use of various approaches, each one targeted at a particular aspect of the illness and its consequences. Drug addiction disrupts student and college life as well as employment. Students with drug addiction usually do not perform well scholastically. This is because drug addiction is a brain disease; it interferes with the reasoning ability of a person and much more. Drug treatment is a process that happens over a long period of time. Drug addiction is a chronic illness and simply by stopping a person from using drugs for a few days will not cure him or her.
There is one method of drug treatment that seems to be very beneficial to the addict. This is a cognitive based model. In this treatment, the therapist assumes that the addict has a fundamental set of beliefs that has led them to drug addiction. Most common beliefs lie on the lines of ‘I am undesirable’. The addict usually suffers from a low self-esteem and this way, when the therapist can find out what that is, it is easier to bring the person out of drug addiction.
The Story of Drug Abuse in one Young Adult
by Sam M.
Growing up in the beautiful city of Santa Barbara, I had all the opportunities a teen would ask for. I had sports, plays, friends and a caring family. I had a perfectionist mind set when I was young and if I wasn’t perfect in something I was doing I would beat myself up about it. I would put pressure on myself to be the best. Little did I know at the time that this would be a detrimental mindset during the time I was an adolescent.
When I was a young adult in junior high I had much insecurity that would reveal itself when socializing. I wanted to be cool and fit in, and to an extent, I did but I never felt secure inside. I was always looking for something that I could not find: acceptance and freedom from the restraints of my insecurities.
In high school I found what I was looking for, something that made me feel safe inside and the thought that everything would be OK regardless of me insecurities. Drugs were that entity for which I had been searching for so long. I started drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes at 15 for social purposes and loved it, acceptance and freedom were present during times of intoxication. No more worrying about what to say and what people thought of me. I didn’t realize that I was in the early stages of alcoholism and nicotine addiction. My using would progress to finding a new friend group that cherished my favorite thing to do: party and use. Smoking weed and getting loaded is what I would do every weekend, then it was off to Isla Vista (the college town for UCSB) where partying was a number one priority. I was showing many addiction symptoms: using was the only thing I cared about. I was slowly developing an addiction to numerous substances. I was taking a pro-hormone steroid again trying to be the biggest and baddest, even when it came to using. I had developed an addiction to marijuana, alcohol and steroids, a prescription drug addiction, while also using ecstasy, cocaine and heroin. I had multiple addictions that were all getting out of control. Using got to the point where there was no more partying there was only me and two friends in a small apartment getting high on whatever was out there. My drug addiction had torn down whatever I managed to make out of my life. I had lost the trust of my family and was going down a path that had no end insight.
My psychotic break occurred when I stopped taking steroids; I thought I was a prophet who was going to save the world in 2012 during the apocalypse. I had no idea at the time but that was my rock bottom, having no real sense of reality. I have been to four psychiatric hospitals and was diagnosed with a bi-polar disorder. My substance addiction has taken me to dark places but having been there I am now able to appreciate the light.
Now in rehab and three months sober, Sober College has taught me that there is a bright side of life in sobriety. Staying sober is going to be an enormous challenge, however today I am willing to accept that challenge. My insecurities are still there however today I am willing to accept those insecurities and not try to fight them. I am an addict just trying to stay sober and enjoy life.
