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Benzodiazepines Drug Addiction Treatment

If you are seeking help for yourself or for a loved one, you should be educated on the subject of addiction and/or abusing drugs, medication and alcohol in order to make an informed decision about the correct treatment option. The following facts and information are provided to fulfill this need. We hope you find it helpful. If at any point you have further questions, please feel free to call us (877) 340-3602.

With benzodiazepine abuse, especially those who first started on these drugs through a legal prescription, abuse can occur easily as the person seeking treatment is trying to overcome conditions in their lives through medication as opposed to handling situations which may be causing them. Addiction is a constant and unrelenting effort to obtain drugs in order to alter the feelings and perceptions of the person using them. Simply put, if an individual is basically happy with their life and has the ability to identify and solve problems where they exist, they are far less likely to abuse drugs. Drug abuse is a symptom of other underlying problems. The individual abuses drugs in an attempt to relieve themselves of the underlying problem. Of course the underlying problem goes undetected as their chronic drug use consumes the life of the abuser and the loved ones affected by his or her detrimental and chaotic behavior.

One of the facets regarding long term drug use is that the brain adapts to the presence of drugs and makes adjustments chemically. Because of the chemical changes in the brain due to the constant use of drugs, when a chronic drug abuser attempts to halt his/her drug use, the brain signals the individual that the substance is needed to function. This is a major cause of drug cravings both physically and mentally.

All drug abusers experience drug cravings for some period of time after ceasing drug use. Drug cravings will diminish over time as the individual discontinues the use of drugs and alcohol and the brain function returns to normal. This process can take several months.

Our program addresses the underlying problem associated with drug or alcohol addiction and abuse. We also focus on the restoration of personal ethics regarding responsibility toward family members and others in general.

Unlike other drug abuse rehab centers, we offer different Phases address the different aspects of handling substance abuse:

Drug-free withdrawal - including a detoxification procedure to eliminate drug residuals in the body's system.

Learn how to lead a better life.

Handle suppression and life's ups and downs.

Learn how to change conditions in life.

Final review to ensure the student has completed all phases thoroughly and to develop a battle plan on how to incorporate all that has been learned to their new lives.

Follow up plan: A comprehensive long-term follow-up program designed and implemented to assist the student through the first year of their recovery.
 

By Gary W. Smith
C.C.D.C.
Executive Director
Narconon Arrowhead

Whether a person is genetically or bio-chemically predisposed to addiction or alcoholism is a controversy that has been debated for years within the scientific, medical and chemical dependency communities. One school of thought advocates the “disease concept” which embraces the notion that addiction is an inherited disease, and that the individual is permanently ill at a genetic level, even for those experiencing long periods of sobriety.

Another philosophy argues that addiction is a dual problem consisting of a physical and mental dependency on chemicals, compounded by a pre-existing mental disorder (i.e., clinical depression, bipolar disorder or some other mental illness), and that the mental disorder needs to be treated first as the primary cause of the addiction.

A third philosophy subscribes to the idea that chemical dependency leads to permanent “chemical imbalances” in the neurological system that must be treated with psychotropic medications after the person has withdrawn from their drug of choice.

The fact remains that there is some scientific research that favors each of these addiction concepts, but none of them are absolute. Based on national averages, addiction treatment has a 16% to 20% recovery rate. The message is pretty clear that these theories are just that, theories, and we have a lot more to learn if we are to bring the national recovery rate to a more desirable level.

There is a fourth school of thought which has proven to be more accurate. It has to do with the life cycle of addiction. This data is universally applicable to addiction, no matter which hypothesis is used to explain the phenomenon of chemical dependency.

The life cycle of addiction begins with a problem, discomfort or some form of emotional or physical pain a person is experiencing. The person finds this very difficult to deal with.

Here is an individual who, like most people in our society, is basically good. He has encountered a problem that is causing him physical or emotional pain and discomfort that he does not have an immediate answer for. Examples would include difficulty “fitting in” as a child or teenager, puberty, physical injuries such a broken bone, a bad back or some other chronic physical condition. Whatever the origin of the difficulty is, the discomfort associated with it presents the individual with a real problem. He feels this problem is a major situation that is persisting. He can see no immediate resolution or relief from it. Most of us have experienced this in our lives to a greater or lesser degree.
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