Treatment For Crystal Meth Addiction
Crystal meth also known as ice, speed and crank is a powerful stimulant drug capable of producing an intense, euphoric high. The effects wear off quickly, which is why crystal meth is commonly binged. 2
This pattern of use can hasten the development of dependence and addiction in users, due to the relentless changes in brain chemistry. Over time, meth depresses certain parts of the brain effects that can only be fully reversed by re-introducing crystal meth.1
If youre considering quitting crystal meth, recovery options include:
What Are The Signs Of Addiction To Methamphetamine
Addiction means losing control over your use, finding it difficult to stop using the drug, with cravings and a compulsive drive to keep using, despite adverse consequences. You can have a physical craving or a psychological need.Watch out for the following 4 key ‘Cs’:
- compulsion
- cravings
- continued use despite consequences.
If you have been using methamphetamine often, you might not notice how much it is affecting you. Ask someone you trust if they think it is harming you and your life.
You are likely to be addicted if you are:
- using more methamphetamine than you used to
- finding it hard to stop using
- missing school, work or family commitments
- always thinking about it.
If youre not sure, test your drug use.
Come To Reality With Your Addiction And Decide To Take Action
In many cases, drug addiction happens as a result of trauma in your life. However, there are many other cases when it happens almost by accident. An example of this is athletes who get addicted to painkillers. Either way, the first step to coming out of an addiction is facing the truth.
It can be easy to tell yourself that you dont have a real problem or that its not causing any damage, but these lies actually deepen your addiction. Admitting that there is a problem and being willing to reach out for help is the first step to recovery. It takes courage and strength to admit this to yourself and to anyone else, so dont diminish the importance of this first step.
Here are a few more tips to help you come to terms with your addiction.
Reflect on How Drugs Impacted Your Life
Think about the first time you tried drugs and what you were feeling. Ask yourself these questions:
- Have I seen my family recently?
- Have I seen my friends recently?
- Does my drug use make me feel shame or guilt?
- Have I broken the law because of these habits?
- Have I tried to stop and failed?
- Are these habits taking my life in a direction that I want?
You cant outsmart your addiction. But these questions can help you think about the difference between the life that you want to have and the life that you will have because of drugs.
Think About the Positive Changes When You Quit
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What To Do When You Relapse On Meth
Meth relapse is common, so if you relapse, remember that you are not the only person to do so. If you know someone who has been abstinent for a significant period of time, call him or her. Explain that you relapsed and need help getting back on track. Another option is to immediately check yourself into a detoxificationprogram or attend a Narcotics Anonymous meeting.
As soon as you realize that you have relapsed and you do not want to continue on the path of meth use, it is time to take action. Rather than beating yourself up or assuming that you cannot stay sober, focus on what you can do to regain control. You have several options, including:
- Reaching out to your sponsor.
- Increasing your attendance at 12-step meetings.
- Journaling about all the reasons you have to get sober and maintain your recovery.
Common Meth Craving Symptoms
Before we talk about how to reduce cravings, lets talk about some symptoms you may experience during crystal meth recovery.
Methamphetamine is extremely addictive because it blocks the re-uptake of the feel-good neurotransmitter dopamine to receptors in the brain. At the same time, it causes the body to produce more dopamine, giving users the feeling of euphoria while high. Once you stop using, its common not to feel normal sensations of pleasure like you used to. Over time, meth users become dopamine deficient and develop a higher threshold for these natural feel-good neurotransmitters. Thats because the drug rewires users brains to require much greater levels of dopamine in order to feel normal, let alone happy. As a result, people in recovery may experience the following symptoms:
- Sadness or depression
- Paranoia or psychosis
- An extremely strong urge to use
Studies from the U.S. National Library of Medicine found that methamphetamine users often exhibit cravings at least five weeks after final usage. Of all these withdrawal symptoms, the last one is perhaps the most dangerous for those in recovery. That urge to use often comes with a romanticized sense of what it felt like to be high and how being high again, just once more, would be worth the consequences. But its important to remember that no matter how strong the urge is, youve worked too hard on your recovery to turn back now.
Keep reading for ways to take control of your life and squash the cravings.
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The Effects Of Crystal Meth
For some people, the fear of detox and withdrawal is enough to prevent them from wanting to get sober. However, there are significant medical, psychological, and social consequences of using crystal meth. Although they vary from person to person, the short- and long-term effects of crystal meth may include:1
- Anxiety.
- Rapid, irregular heartbeat.
- Violent behavior.
Over time, the effects of crystal meth take their toll on the body and mind. This makes the decision to consider treatment especially important. Making the decision to get help can be scary but consider the consequences of not working through this fear. Continuing to use crystal meth puts you at risk for short-term and long-term consequences, some of which can be fatal.
The Scope Of Meth Addiction In The United States
If you have an addiction to meth, a substance use disorder, you may feel all alone and like nobody understands what youre going through.
According to the Centers for Disease Control , from 2015-18, 1.6 million people used meth at least once. Nearly 900,000 of those 1.6 million faced an addiction to meth.
When people step away from you during your addiction struggles, leaving you with a feeling of loneliness, its easy to feel like nobody understands. Please remember there are many out there who have these struggles along with you, and there is hope for recovery.
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Causes And Risk Factors For Meth Addiction
People try illegal drugs for a number of reasons, mostly involving being dissatisfied with their lives. Other reasons people abuse drugs include fitting in with peers and friends, escaping an unpleasant situation, relief from boredom, to rebel from authority, and to experiment. While methamphetamine use is often used to solve a problem, the drug abuse and consequences become the problem.
Genetic: research has shown that certain individuals have a genetic predisposition to develop a substance abuse problem or addiction. This is especially true for people who have a first-degree relative, such as a parent or sibling, who are addicted to a substance of abuse.
Biological: some researchers have proposed that methamphetamine abuse may be the result of lower levels of dopamine in the brain. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that has a large effect on the pleasure feelings we receive from seeing our children or eating a great meal. This biological makeup could make people who abuse methamphetamines desire the euphoric feelings caused by increased levels of dopamine released by methamphetamine use.
Psychological: as many mental illnesses and other conditions can cause a decrease in feelings of happiness, many turn to substance abuse as a means to control their symptoms. In addition, methamphetamine, like other drugs of abuse, leads to the disruption of normal levels of dopamine in the brain, so that over time a methamphetamine user is unable to feel pleasure without using meth.
Addressing The Dangers Of The Drug
A meth treatment program that will help set them up on the road to long-term recovery from meth addiction involves intensive support for their physical, psychological, emotional, and behavioral symptoms, as well as the constructive development of long-range coping strategies. Particularly for the psychological symptoms of withdrawalthe cravings and possible psychosis, paranoia, depression, suicidal ideation, anxiety, and aggressiona medically supervised detox can ensure the safest and most comfortable transition away from the drug.
Once someone has gotten clean, the risk of relapse is high. A long-term residential treatment program can help them to build a foundation for sustained recovery. With cognitive behavioral therapy and other psychotherapy modalities, peer support, holistic therapies, and family involvement, clients discover strength from many corners of themselves and their livesenough to help them manage the triggers and stressors that drove them to use in the past.
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What Are The Effects Of Meth Withdrawal
Taking meth in a prolonged and repeated manner can result in an individual developing a physical and psychological dependence on this substance. As a result, when they stop or dramatically reduce their meth intake, they will typically experience a range of distressing and unpleasant meth withdrawal symptoms. These can include:
- Intense cravings for meth
- Extreme fatigue
- Headaches
At Manor Clinic, we offer a rigorous detox programme. The purpose of detox for meth addiction is to remove all traces of meth from an individuals body, whilst controlling withdrawal symptoms in a medically managed environment. Following detox, patients are then equipped to commence with intensive therapy to address the psychological components of their addiction.
How To Let Go Of A Drug Addictask For Support
Once your loved one is ready to begin the journey on the road to recovery, there are several ways you can help and support them during the process. First and foremost, it is crucial to find the right drug abuse treatment program for their needs. There are many drug rehab centers offering a variety of services, so take some time to research the benefits of addiction treatment, the type of programs available.
Look for an trusted treatment facility that provides evidence-based programs aligned with your loved ones specific circumstances. For example, do you believe your loved one might have other co-occuring mental health conditions such as anxiety or depression? Seek a program that has the capability to address mental health disorders as well as addiction such as a dual diagnosis treatment program.
Ultimately, when youre analyzing to how to let go of a drug addict you love, as tough as it may be you have to let go of fear. Loving an addict frequently means that youre tormented with persistent fear, and that can lead you to feel hopeless or depressed. You have to try and work on letting go of those feelings and taking care of yourself while moving forward.
How to Let Go of a Drug Addict? No one deserves to live in an environment of fear and pain. If youre ready to leave, were here to help.
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Deal With Life Pressures
With the busy and stressing world were living in, people feel like getting a reward at the end of the day is a good thing to do. Well, having a reward for a day well spent is not a problem, rewarding yourself with a drug is. Drugs only make life more stressful but most people come to realize this when it has turned sour.
To prevent using drugs as a reward, you need to discover new ways to handle stress and relax your mind and body. You can read a book, take up exercising, help the needy or do something productive. Doing these things will relax your mind and eliminate the feelings of drug use to relieve stress.
How Addiction Impacts The Whole Family
We all refer to drug addiction as a family disease because the suffering, turmoil, and ups and downs involve not only the addicted individual but the whole family. Partners or spouses of a substance abuser are frequently on the frontlines, and the effects of drug addiction can be quite devastating to their mental, emotional, and even physical health.
If you are the partner of a drug addict, you are most likely to undergo an immense amount of emotional pain as you watch your loved one fall deeper into the throes of drug addiction. You will surely try to help them clean up their messes, take on the stress of their drug addiction, or at least try to solve problems connected to their drug addiction.
It is really tempting to share and try or carry the burden of their drug addiction and guard them against future harm, but your loved one is actually the only one who has the power over their drug addiction. Definitely you can attempt to encourage them to accept drug rehab. However, eventually, they are accountable for their own life. Do not take on the extreme weight of thinking that you are in control of their drug addiction or you are to blame for their drug abuse.
The most crucial thing you can do as a spouse or a partner is to take care of yourself. In a study of 100 family members of drug addicts, researchers found that those who coped with their loved ones drug addiction by quietly tolerating their behavior had the lowest scores of psychological well-being.
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Take Our Am I A Drug Addict Self
Take our free, 5-minute Am I A Drug Addict? self-assessment below if you think you or someone you love might be struggling with drug addiction. The evaluation consists of 11 yes or no questions that are intended to be used as an informational tool to assess the severity and probability of a substance use disorder. The test is free, confidential, and no personal information is needed to receive the result.
Treatment For Methamphetamine Addiction In Southampton
At Manor Clinic, we understand that whilst meth addiction is a very serious condition, it is also treatable. Our team of addiction specialists possess extensive experience in providing evidence-based treatment for your meth addiction, and are dedicated to helping you every step of the way towards achieving a full and sustainable recovery.
We recognise that it can be difficult to take the first step towards recovery from a meth addiction. Thats why we aim to make this process as smooth as possible by offering a free, no obligation addiction assessment, allowing you to discuss your unique concerns with one of our specialists, in a confidential and non-judgemental environment. This initial assessment will begin to help you to identify the underlying causes for your addiction, and is the first step towards developing a personalised addiction treatment journey.
We also offer a comprehensive, medically assisted withdrawal detoxification programme at Manor Clinic, as an important first step in your meth rehab programme. During detox, all traces of methamphetamine will be removed from your body in a carefully monitored environment and under the close supervision of trained specialists. We will also help & support you to manage the unpleasant withdrawal symptoms that you experience when you no longer have meth in your system.
Detox involves:
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How To Beat Drug Addiction
by dmoakler | May 18, 2020 | Addiction Help
Dealing with drug addiction can make good people do things they never wanted to do. It can damage careers and relationshipsbut there is no one who is helpless or hopeless. By accepting your addiction, reaching out for help, and changing your habits, you can find sobriety and recovery. Read these eight tips to find out how to beat drug addiction and avoid relapses.
Admit You Have A Problem
The first step in quitting drugs is to admit that you have a problem. If youre not sure, ask yourself the following questions:
- Are you taking drugs first thing in the morning or to get through the day?
- Do friends or family worry or complain about your drug use?
- Do you lie about how much youre using?
- Have you sold possessions or stolen to pay for your drug habit?
- Have you participated in dangerous or risky activities, such as driving under the influence, having unprotected sex, or using dirty needles?
- Do you feel that youve lost control of your drug taking?
- Are you having problems with relationships?
If you answered yes to any of these questions it might be time to accept that you have a problem and ask for help.
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Lean On Friends And Family For Support
Find the people in your life who will be willing to walk through recovery with you. Not every one of your friends and family members will be willing to tell you when you arent making good decisions.
Having loving, supportive friends and family will help you through this journey. If you find that your friends and family arent as supportive and involved as youd like, dont give up. You can develop a supportive group of people who will help you get through your addiction, even if its not easy to find them.
Crystal Meth Withdrawal Symptoms Timeline
According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition , crystal meth withdrawal symptoms can begin anywhere from a few hours to a few days after the most recent dose. 3
Theres no telling exactly how long these symptoms will last. It all depends on:
- Your bodys physiology and your general level of health.
- How often you used crystal meth.
- The length of your addiction.
- The amount of crystal meth you abused.
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