Treating Addiction With Medication
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Most people are familiar with taking prescription medications like antibiotics when they get sick. Some people also are prescribed medication to help with a problem like depression or ADHD.
Did you know that some (not all) drug addictions actually can be treated with prescription medications, too? It may seem odd that someone addicted to a drug like heroin would start taking another drug so they can stop using heroin. But, research shows that some people respond very well to what is called “medication-assisted treatment.”
Why Does Medication Help?
If a person is addicted to an opioid (like heroin or prescription pain relievers), medication can help him or her get back to a better state of mind—beyond just thinking about seeking and using the drug. It also can help ease withdrawal and cravings, which can give a person who is addicted the chance to focus on changes needed to recover.
Taking medication for opioid addiction is like taking medication to control heart disease or diabetes. It is not the same as substituting one addictive drug for another. Used properly, the medication does not create a new addiction.
How Does Medication Work?
Medications to treat opioid addiction (like methadone and buprenorphine) affect the same brain areas as the drugs of abuse they are opposing (like heroin and OxyContin)—but in different ways. Anti-addiction medications “trick” the brain into thinking it is still getting the drug, which stops withdrawal. They help the person feel normal, not high, and reduce drug cravings.
Alcohol dependence also may be treated with medication. Three oral medications and one that is injected have been shown to help patients reduce drinking, avoid relapse to heavy drinking, or stop drinking altogether.
Of course, these medications aren’t available over the counter at your local pharmacy. They are dispensed at treatment centers or by primary care doctors approved to prescribe them.
Medication isn’t the only treatment for opioid or alcohol dependence—adding counseling or therapy can help, and the support of family and friends is often crucial to a person’s success. See NIDA’s new treatment resource, Seeking Drug Abuse Treatment: Know What To Ask.
To learn more about medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction, read the brochure, Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opioid Addiction: Facts for Families and Friends.
this helped me alot for a report
Health Literacy is so needed as I worked at USPHS and WHO Asia and one whose focus is on Patient and Health Education. I was in NYC Mobile Health Expo and was the only presenter on patient education everyone else was focused on HIT or Mobile Health Apps or Wellness.
Patient education requires social behavorial tools to have the public be aware of daibetes, smoking and health etc.
I knew that I had to create a way for him to always have a coupon that works. A website that would always be updated, would always have a working [commercial link removed, per guidelines] and would be easy for him to use.
I lived close to people who have had a major drug addiction and thanks to drug treatment have overcome addiction, today lead a normal life.
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One should be carefull with antibiotics! People take them more than they should! Not every flue shold be treated with antibiotics! Anyway,a nice post!
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Probably the so called “medication-assisted treatment” is practiced to replace in the first stages of abstinence of herion addiction, when the organism is in incredible pain and needs additional relieves. Drug treatment is really an option to return to the normal life.
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I do love meditating every morning because there is away it gives me control of my thought and body.Some of the additions i had have just started dropping off.
Why are drug addictions treated with more drugs? The purpose should be to end addiction not trade addictions. I work with many addicts who never seem to get better when treated with more medication. I have not seen it work. Stop the addiction! Get the addict off all drugs and learn to cope without them. If a medication is needed for a disorder, that’s one thing but to continue the cycle in the name of ending an addiction is not fixing the problem