Substance Abuse
Substance abuse has a range of definitions related to disaproval over use or overuse of mood altering substances. These fall into four main categories: Substance abuse may lead to addiction or substance dependence. Medicaly, dependence requires the development of tolerance leading to withdrawal symptoms.Addiction Addiction implies that a drug dependency has developed to such an extent that it has serious detrimental effects on the user (referred to as an addict). They may be chronically intoxicated, have great difficulty stopping the drug use, and be determined to obtain the drug by almost any means. The term addiction is inextricably linked to society's reaction to the user, and so medical experts try to avoid using it, preferring dependence instead. Inpatient Treatment is most often residential in that they require that the client live within the facility during treatment. Inpatient treatment centers and programs are a higher level of care than outpatient programs and provide more intensive services and treatment than lower levels of the care continuum.Binge Drinking: According to a rent study conducted by Kathryn Graham, et al of the University of Western Ontario psychology department "Depression is most strongly related to a pattern of binge drinking," Binge Drinking is defined in the study as consuming at least 5 alcoholic beverages at one sitting. Whether Binge Drinking resulted in the development depression or whether depression contributed to a persons binge drinking was unclear in this study. Xanax Addiction - As one of the class of drugs benzodiazepines Xanax has been shown to be a dangerous drug to withdraw from. The reason that Xanax withdrawal is dangerous is that as a CNS depressant that slows neural activity in the brain when the drug is abruptly stopped brain activity can rebound and accelerate out of control. Prolonged Xanax users should not attempt to withdraw from the drug without medical supervision.Residential Treatment is a level of care that entails that the client live (resides) within a treatment facility for a specified duration of care; most often 28 days. Residential Treatment Programs and Centers usually include group and individual therapy sessions and span the confinement continuum from open campus to lock down facilities.Drug Rehabilitation Drug Rehabilitation is an umbrella term for a variety of processes by which a person addicted to a drug stops using that drug. These processes can vary from cold turkey to the use of substitute drugs which do not have the same action upon the state of consciousness as the original drug to which the person was addicted. Heroin Rapid Detox As an Opioid heroin use escalates as the body’s tolerance for the drug increases. The increased tolerance is the cause of many overdose deaths given that the heroin user may be injecting 3 to 5 times the lethal dose in order to maintain their high. Rapid detoxification from high tolerance heroin use is extremely dangerous and can be fatal. Relapse for a heroin user after some period of absence can also be fatal as their tolerance level is no longer present and the same amount used during their last episode prior to a period abstinence will often kill the user. |
Counseling for Today's Issues in Massachusetts
