Addictions are not a sign of a lack of character or willpower. Anyone who is addicted to alcohol or illegal drugs suffers from a mental illness that must be treated with effective therapy. Affected persons can only detoxify in a targeted manner and without life-threatening side effects as part of professional drug therapy, and only here will they learn how to deal with their drug problem after withdrawal. But many addicts shy away from drug withdrawal – they fear stigmatization and feel uncomfortable because they do not know what to expect from treatment. It is all the more important to provide comprehensive information that takes all those affected away from their fear of drug withdrawal.
Why is drug withdrawal important?
The consequences of drug use can be devastating. Among other things, the following threatens:
- Mental and psychiatric illnesses, including psychoses
- Liver and kidney failure
- Cardiovascular problems
- Other physical harm
- Financial difficulties
- Social crash
In addition, prolonged drug use leads to structural changes in the brain. These changes ensure that the addiction solidifies more and more until it eventually determines the entire life of the person affected. The faster people with an addiction disorder pull the emergency brake and go into professional withdrawal, the more effectively they can fight their addiction.
Who Needs Professional Drug Therapy?
Anyone who regularly uses drugs and cannot stop using them on their own should seek professional help and go into drug rehab. This applies to people of all ages, from all social classes and all levels of education. Which drugs are actually taken is also of secondary importance. Anyone who consumes opiates and opioids such as heroin takes cocaine or cannabis smokers can be equally affected by addiction problems. The assumption that so-called soft drugs such as cannabis cannot trigger addiction and the associated problems is long out of date. However, professional addiction therapy as a drug withdrawal treatment should always be tailored to the patient’s personal medical history. The more individually the search history of the person concerned can be addressed, the more positive the results achieved in the treatment.
What happens during drug withdrawal?
Before starting professional treatment, many patients have tried several times to refrain from using drugs. Most drug addicts fail in this endeavor because the psychological side of the addiction or the physical withdrawal symptoms are too strong. However, this does double the harm to addicts. On the one hand, they feel like they have failed and are ashamed. On the other hand, the negative experience of the physical side effects now makes them even more afraid of withdrawal. Both of these can lead to addiction widening even more and drug consumption to increase. In this context in particular, it is important to differentiate exactly what the process of qualified drug withdrawal looks like.
1st phase: motivation
Patients who opt for day-care treatment or an in-patient stay in a rehab center in Islamabad need a strong motivation to abstain in order to successfully endure withdrawal therapy. On the one hand, the motivational phase is about the patient’s willingness to have his drug addiction treated. On the other hand, external motivation can be promoted, for example through discussions with doctors, other addicted patients or therapists.
2nd phase: detoxification
Detox is the toughest step for many patients. After all, they refrain from using drugs and completely detoxify their bodies from the drug and its breakdown products. Anyone who opts for inpatient therapy will receive medication to relieve the withdrawal symptoms during this phase. These can be dosed individually so that the patient is relatively free of symptoms and side effects during the entire period. In the case of outpatient therapy, medication can also be administered, but the doctors only have a limited selection of means at their disposal due to the lack of 24-hour care. In principle, outpatient withdrawal treatment is in any case not advisable, as dangerous complications can arise during withdrawal, such as the development of a seizure.
Additional clinical measures to alleviate side effects include:
- Neuro-electrical stimulation (NES)
- Relaxation exercises
- If the physical condition is sufficiently stable: physical activity
- Sleep hygiene measures
- acupuncture
3rd phase: weaning
In weaning, the psychological side of addiction is treated, the causes of addiction are researched and new, alternative behaviors are found. The patients look for the causes of drug addiction together with the therapist in individually tailored psychotherapeutic sessions and learn about strategies for the time after drug withdrawal. We know that it is easier to keep abstinence if you can classify, understand and work on the causes of the addiction. This is important to prevent possible relapses and to establish permanent abstinence in the patient.
At the same time, psychological and physical concomitant diseases of drug addiction are processed and treated during this time. This also includes possible social consequences such as B. family problems or difficulties at work, so that in many clinics and outpatient facilities discussions with relatives are also on the therapy plan. Comorbidities such as depression, anxiety disorders and psychoses are also treated psychotherapeutically and medically. This also includes a possible drug setting.
4th phase: aftercare
Qualified withdrawal treatment does not end with discharge from the clinic. In order to achieve extensive and long-term rehabilitation of the patient, an individual aftercare concept is also developed. This usually includes further outpatient psychotherapy at the place of residence as well as visiting self-help groups. The aim of this therapy is to offer drug addicts who are now abstinent, as much stability and security as possible for life after inpatient drug therapy. Because insecurity and the feeling of being alone with fears and hardships are considered major risk factors for relapse.
What are the types of drug therapies?
In order to combat their own drug addiction, those affected can choose different ways. You can either go into cold withdrawal at home (we strongly advise against it and please have a doctor clarify the dangers of this form of withdrawal individually), carry out an outpatient drug withdrawal with medical help or opt for inpatient drug withdrawal. Not all variants are recommended or suitable for every addict.
As already mentioned above, outpatient treatment should be treated with extreme caution and should be carefully considered. In addition to the reasons already mentioned, inpatient withdrawal is often easier for patients than outpatient, because they can concentrate better on themselves, are not distracted and are not immediately and continuously triggered by the familiar consumer environment.
Regardless of the withdrawal method, however, the following applies: The basic requirement is always that the addicts have a high level of withdrawal and abstinence motivation. Only if you really want to stop using drugs can drug withdrawal really make a difference.
Cold drug withdrawal
For many addicts, cold turkey appears to be the easiest and most direct way to give up drugs. They detoxify at home without medical or therapeutic assistance by simply stopping the use of drugs. Unfortunately, this idea usually turns out to be dangerous and anything but easy to implement. The body and mind are so used to the consumption of drugs that they react to withdrawal with severe side effects. Depending on the substance consumed, many withdrawal symptoms can occur, including:
- Muscle spasms
- depressions
- Hallucinations
- Sweats
- sleep disorders
The majority of addicts relapse after just a few hours. With hard drugs like opiates, cocaine or crystal meth, this can provoke a life-threatening overdose. This form of detox can therefore not be recommended under any circumstances.
Outpatient drug withdrawal
As with an addiction to alcohol, drug patients can also receive outpatient treatment. However, only if they are not severely physically dependent and are embedded in a stable social or family environment. Then they can withdraw at home, accompanied by a doctor, and are treated with medication against any withdrawal symptoms that may occur. However, even for relatively “stable” patients who seem to get along well with an outpatient detox in their own four walls, medical care and subsequent weaning therapy are important. Otherwise, a relapse can occur after a short time.
Inpatient drug withdrawal
On-ward drug withdrawal is the safest and most effective method of permanently controlling addiction. After the inpatient admission to a hospital, a psychiatric hospital or a private drug withdrawal clinic, professional detoxification with supportive medication takes place in order to specifically reduce withdrawal symptoms (warm withdrawal). The further procedure is decided depending on the specialist clinic.
In a public clinic or a psychiatric clinic, either pure detoxification or a detoxification treatment with subsequent motivational therapy, in which the patient is prepared for addiction rehabilitation through therapeutic treatment, is carried out. The waiting time for approval and a suitable rehabilitation place can be between 4 and 6 weeks. In the meantime, the psychological dependence and the associated craving persist, so that there is a high risk of relapse for the addict.
In the case of inpatient drug withdrawal in a private addiction clinic, physical withdrawal and psychological withdrawal merge seamlessly. The patient remains in the same facility and is continuously cared for by the same doctors and therapists. Because the treatment takes place in one block, it is significantly shorter, more intensive and also more promising than the withdrawal and detoxification in public institutions.
