Author: John Carter
Treatment for Substance Use Disorder Kaiser Permanente
Follow-up care can include periodic appointments with your counselor, continuing in a self-help program or attending a regular group session. Because addiction can affect so many aspects of a person’s life, treatment should address the needs of the whole person to be successful. Counselors may select from a menu of services that meet the specific medical, mental, social, occupational, family, and legal needs of their patients to help in their recovery. When people enter treatment, addiction has often caused serious consequences in their lives, possibly disrupting their health and how they function in their family lives, at work, and in the community.
Additionally, medications are used to help people detoxify from drugs, although detoxification is not the same as treatment and is not sufficient to help a person recover. Detoxification alone without subsequent treatment generally leads to resumption of drug use. MFTs are trained to diagnose and treat mental and emotional disorders, substance misuse, and addiction within the context of marriage, couples, and family relationships. Addiction medicine physicians are specifically trained in a wide range of prevention, evaluation, and treatment methods for helping people with SUD and addiction. Our addiction medicine research is helping both members and nonmembers get better, more effective treatment.
- Blood, urine or other lab tests are used to assess drug use, but they’re not a diagnostic test for addiction.
- Counseling can help members with SUD explore the reasons behind their drug or alcohol use and come up with new, healthy coping strategies.
- Self-help support groups, such as Narcotics Anonymous, help people who are addicted to drugs.
- Counselors may select from a menu of services that meet the specific medical, mental, social, occupational, family, and legal needs of their patients to help in their recovery.
- MFTs are trained to diagnose and treat mental and emotional disorders, substance misuse, and addiction within the context of marriage, couples, and family relationships.
Many, though not all, self-help support groups use the 12-step model first developed by Alcoholics Anonymous. Self-help support groups, such as Narcotics Anonymous, help people who are addicted to drugs. Addiction medicine is about more than just clinical care — it’s about acceptance and understanding. This is a place where you can be honest about your substance use and what you want to do about it. You can talk to anyone on your care team about your drug or alcohol use — there’s no wrong door.
Medical Professionals
Behavioral therapies help people in drug addiction treatment modify their attitudes and behaviors related to drug use. As a result, patients are able to handle stressful situations and various triggers that might cause another relapse. Behavioral therapies can also enhance the effectiveness of medications and help people remain in treatment longer.
Treatment enables people to counteract addiction’s disruptive effects on their brain and behavior and regain control of their lives. Kaiser Permanente primary care physicians are trained to screen for possible alcohol misuse at every appointment and connect members who need support to addiction medicine specialists. Call your local mental health or addiction medicine department or reach out to your personal doctor. Even after you’ve completed initial treatment, ongoing treatment and support can help prevent a relapse.
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For some people, it may be safe to undergo withdrawal therapy on an outpatient basis. While relapse is a normal part of recovery, for some drugs, it can be very dangerous—even deadly. If a person uses as much of the drug as they did before quitting, they can easily overdose because their bodies are no longer adapted to their previous level of drug exposure. An overdose happens when the person uses enough of a drug to produce uncomfortable feelings, life-threatening symptoms, or death.
It’s just another way they’re looking after your health — no different than taking your blood pressure and sharing the results with you. The goal is to help you understand the risks, empower you to make informed choices about your health, and help you take whatever steps you’re ready to take. Explore Mayo Clinic studies testing new treatments, interventions and tests as a means to prevent, detect, treat or manage this condition. The self-help support group message is that addiction is an ongoing disorder with a danger of relapse. Self-help support groups can decrease the sense of shame and isolation that can lead to relapse.
Relapse rates for drug use are similar to rates for other chronic medical illnesses. If people stop following their medical treatment plan, they are likely to relapse. Counseling can help members with SUD explore the reasons behind their drug or alcohol use and come up with new, healthy coping strategies. It can be especially effective for members who also have a mental health condition, or who started using to deal with distressing emotions, trauma, or excessive stress. We offer inpatient and outpatient treatment programs for members with more severe problems with alcohol or drugs.
What to expect from your doctor
Different types of medications may be useful at different stages of treatment to help a patient stop abusing drugs, stay in treatment, and avoid relapse. In an opioid overdose, a medicine called naloxone can be given by emergency responders, or in some states, by anyone who witnesses an overdose. The goal of detoxification, also called “detox” or withdrawal therapy, is to enable you to stop taking the addicting drug as quickly and safely as possible.
When people become physically dependent on alcohol or drugs, it’s not safe for them to stop drinking or using without medical supervision. Our addiction medicine care teams can help members with severe SUD stop drinking or using drugs safely and comfortably. This doesn’t treat SUD, but it’s an important first step toward recovery for the members who need it. For people with addictions to drugs like stimulants or cannabis, no medications are currently available to assist in treatment, so treatment consists of behavioral therapies. Treatment should be tailored to address each patient’s drug use patterns and drug-related medical, mental, and social problems.
CADCs provide individual and group therapy to help people living with addiction. They’re trained in counseling, relapse prevention, and helping patients recognize patterns and make healthy changes. Psychologists specialize in the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of mental health conditions, SUD, and addiction. They’re trained in a variety of evidence-based treatment methods designed to improve emotional and interpersonal well-being. Like treatment for other chronic diseases such as heart disease or asthma, addiction treatment is not a cure, but a way of managing the condition.
How do behavioral therapies treat drug addiction?
These medicines can reduce your craving for opioids and may help you avoid relapse. Medicine treatment options for opioid addiction may include buprenorphine, methadone, naltrexone, and a combination of buprenorphine and naloxone. These advanced practice clinicians support patients through the diagnosis and treatment of a variety of conditions. They work closely with doctors and care teams to provide medical services and counseling for mental health, substance misuse, and addiction issues. A psychiatrist is a medical doctor who specializes in mental health, including substance use disorders. They’re trained to understand the complex relationship between mental health and substance misuse and how to deliver evidence-based treatment for addiction.
Specific details can vary, but programs typically involve a combination of individual and group therapy, educational sessions, and self-help and peer support meetings. Withdrawal from different categories of drugs — such as depressants, stimulants or opioids — produces different side effects and requires different approaches. Detox may involve gradually reducing the dose of the drug or temporarily substituting other substances, such as methadone, buprenorphine, or a combination of buprenorphine and naloxone. For diagnosis of a substance use disorder, most mental health professionals use criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), published by the American Psychiatric Association.