Treatment of Prescription Drug Addiction
One of the most common forms of addiction in the United States and Canada is that of prescription drug addiction. This type of addiction can be particularly difficult to treat because the addict will often insist that they are justified in taking their large doses of prescription medications. After all, they were prescribed by their doctor. Or several of their doctors. Denial is king here.
Doctor shopping is a common occurrence with prescription drug addicts. If one doctor does not give them what they want, they go to the next doctor. Usually, if the doctor tries to set limits with the amount or frequency of a medication, or stop it altogether, the patient will become irate. If the doctor gives in, great! If not, it's off to the next doctor's office.
Even though they had to "shop for it", somehow getting the prescription is like a justification for taking the medication. "My doctor told me I need this. It's not that high of a dose". "Obviously I need it or the doctor wouldn't have prescribed it to me". Yet, when you look at the person's life, you see it falling apart at the seams. They are a shadow of the person they once were. Relationships are failing. Their job is faltering. Their marriage is full of strife. They no longer seem like the happy and productive person they once were.
As you can see, one of the first steps in treating prescription drug addiction is to get through the denial aspect. Next, you must begin to detox the person off of the prescription drugs. Drug detox for each individual drug has to be considered. With prescription drug addiction, usually there is more than one drug involved.
Experienced professionals are needed to tackle the difficult issues that occur in the early stages of prescription drug addiction. The best drug rehabs are able to offer a holistic, individualized approach to both the drug detox and the subsequent addiction treatment. Denial might be king with prescription drug addiction. But denial, in this case, will eventually kill you.
Doctor shopping is a common occurrence with prescription drug addicts. If one doctor does not give them what they want, they go to the next doctor. Usually, if the doctor tries to set limits with the amount or frequency of a medication, or stop it altogether, the patient will become irate. If the doctor gives in, great! If not, it's off to the next doctor's office.
Even though they had to "shop for it", somehow getting the prescription is like a justification for taking the medication. "My doctor told me I need this. It's not that high of a dose". "Obviously I need it or the doctor wouldn't have prescribed it to me". Yet, when you look at the person's life, you see it falling apart at the seams. They are a shadow of the person they once were. Relationships are failing. Their job is faltering. Their marriage is full of strife. They no longer seem like the happy and productive person they once were.
As you can see, one of the first steps in treating prescription drug addiction is to get through the denial aspect. Next, you must begin to detox the person off of the prescription drugs. Drug detox for each individual drug has to be considered. With prescription drug addiction, usually there is more than one drug involved.
Experienced professionals are needed to tackle the difficult issues that occur in the early stages of prescription drug addiction. The best drug rehabs are able to offer a holistic, individualized approach to both the drug detox and the subsequent addiction treatment. Denial might be king with prescription drug addiction. But denial, in this case, will eventually kill you.
Labels: addiction treatment, best drug rehabs, denial in addiction, drug detox, holistic drug treatment, prescription drug addiction
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