Addiction, as usually defined, is a physical dependence on a substance, in the case of drug addiction. Once an individual gets dependent on a substance, he or she is not able to function well and may feel physical pains when he or she doesn’t take in the drug. The reason is that the drug has already affected the chemical balance in the brain allowing the person’s system to crave for the certain drug in order to achieve sense of balance. This gets worse when the body starts to tolerate the substance that enters the system, thus, resulting to a higher quantity requirement the next time the drug is taken to reach the desired effect.

By its very description, addiction is the condition of being enslaved to a habit , such narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes distress. This trauma can range in intensity from intense cravings to life threatening illness (depending on the drug), making it virtually impossible for an addict to stop without assistance. Because mainly withdrawal symptoms can be relieved immediately upon consumption of the drug that the body is withdrawing from, the want to use that drug is very high during this time, often resulting in defeat of the healing before it can even begin.

To treat addiction, it always starts with the recognition of it. The treatment process can then be carried on. Healing substance dependence means eliminating the dependency on the drug. This would signify that the person had to stop taking the drug. However, inhibiting the body of an addict from taking in the drug would lead to withdrawal symptoms. It is never easy to deal with these symptoms. However, symptoms will always depend on the type of substance being used. Detoxification should be done to stop pains of withdrawal symptoms.

The process of detoxification is the cleansing of the toxins in our body. In the case of drug addiction, it is the elimination of the drug residues from the body and controlling the symptoms of withdrawal. The detoxification process is only the first step to recovery. Taking away the toxins that have been controlling the body system of the addict should be done first before any behavioral based treatment which would treat the causal factors of addiction.

Drug detoxification is referred to as the period of withdrawal during which the person’s body eventually returns to homeostasis after long-term use of an addictive substance. Depending on the addiction, the process will vary.

Detoxification can be for both inpatient and outpatient basis. Inpatient detoxification will agree to close monitoring on the patient. With these, the contact to the substance of abuse could be avoided. On the other hand, outpatient detoxification allows greater social support. In comparison to inpatients, patients in outpatient theraphy retain greater freedom, continue with their day-to-day activities with fewer disruptions. However, with outpatient treatment, there is an increased risk of relapse since the patient is more likely to be exposed with the substance of abuse.

This drug detoxification process seeks to decrease the severity of the trauma associated with the body’s withdrawal from dependence on a particular drug by medically alleviating and monitoring the intense physical symptoms associated with systematically inducing the withdrawal process. When the drug is cleared from the system and the pain and discomfort associated with ending its use have been alleviated, the other reasons contributing to the addiction, such as the emotional and psychological issues, can be taken cared of.

Substance dependence is always a serious problem for everybody. This problem requires serious treatment that requires self-determination, and self-will to be able to overcome the first phase of recovery. The curing process is to be deal very hard everyday.

More info…
New resource from MADD Canada, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse offers fully referenced compendium on alcohol/drug consumption and impaired driving.

alcohol addict