Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

According to National Health Statistics, as of April 2021, there were 75,673 opioid overdose deaths in 12 months. These overdose deaths were mainly from synthetic opioids and psychostimulants like methamphetamine. And with opioid addiction becoming a global problem for people worldwide, finding their opioid treatment program can prove to be quite a challenge.

So, here are a few treatment options for people with opioid use disorder.

Evidence-Based Addiction Treatment

For anyone battling an opioid addiction, life can feel quite overwhelming, especially because addiction is quite complex. And with addiction being a long-term condition, the treatment for overcoming opioid addiction should be multi-faced and complex.

It’s essential to develop evidence-based addiction treatment when establishing the proper treatment for opioid addiction. The concept of evidence-based addiction treatment is founded on evidence-based practice, which defines it as the integration of research evidence with patient values and clinical expertise.

Evidence-based addiction treatment specialists use:

  • High-quality, evidence, and external research
  • A professional’s clinical expertise
  • Their client’s needs, values, and interests to determine the best care approach for their patients.

This treatment approach allows opioid rehab centres to gather recent and relevant studies on opioid use disorder. However, it’s important to note that not all evidence-based addiction treatment works for everyone, primarily when used apart from other therapies.

If all of the mental health, social, and physical aspects of opioid addiction aren’t addressed, the evidence-based treatment will not be successful, and the addict may relapse. These treatments should be part of an opioid addiction treatment plan, as they have to be followed before, during, and after an addict quits opioids.

Harm Reduction

Another opioid addiction treatment that has proved to be quite helpful is harm reduction. This type of treatment focuses on helping to reduce the physical and social harms that affect opioid addicts. It also helps in encouraging the addict to quit.

The harm reduction approach is quite helpful for people injecting opioids. The approach includes strategies like needle exchange programs, opioid replacement therapies, safe injection sites, and naloxone for overdose reversals.

Psychological Treatments

In the last decades, psychological treatments have been used to help deal with opioid abuse disorders. The treatment approach focuses on every stage of helping addicts overcome their addiction. This enables opioid addicts to make the decision to change and quit. The different methods that psychological treatments for opioid use disorders use include:

  • Motivational Enhancement therapy

Over the years, motivation has been one of the most effective or crucial psychological predictors for opioid addiction. If you aren’t motivated to quit the use of opioids, there is always a high risk of relapsing, which increases the risk of an overdose.

Motivational enhancement therapy helps people with an opioid use disorder to prepare to quit before they can attempt to do so. This treatment approach guides them through different stages of change. And while there have been various myths around this form of treatment, it has certainly been a supportive approach for opioid addicts.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Another treatment approach that has been quite effective in helping treat opioid use disorder is cognitive-behavioral therapy. This treatment method has proved to be highly effective in treating other psychological disorders, including trauma, depression, and anxiety disorders- All of which can occur due to opioid addiction.

Most people addicted to opioids often have co-occurring mental health conditions like anxiety and depression. Cognitive-behavioral therapy enables patients to change their thinking patterns through the following strategies:

  • Learning how to recognize the distortions in their thinking that creates problems. The patient can then reevaluate those thoughts in the light of reality.
  • Helping the patient gain a better understanding of their behavior
  • Acquiring problem-solving skills that can help them cope with difficult situations
  • Enabling the addict to learn how to develop a greater sense of confidence

Hypnotherapy

This type of psychological therapy uses therapeutic suggestions and naturally occurring mental states to help people with opioid abuse disorder think differently. This form of treatment uses hypnosis to help you access mental states responsibly and ethically, which is quite different from stage hypnosis.

Some opioid addicts have found hypnotherapy quite effective in helping them break through psychological barriers. Others have become empowered to control their thoughts without relying on the use of drugs.

Battling any form of addiction isn’t easy. But, taking that first step to getting the proper treatment can make a huge difference in your recovery. And by having the right information, you can know what treatment procedures work best for you.

By Manali