Recovery from heroin addiction can be achieved by undergoing different therapies, which may include behavioral therapy, pharmacological treatments, or a combination of both. Both medications and behavioral therapy help in restoring the normalcy of behavior and brain function to a certain extent. These therapies, other than promoting recovery, also helps in increasing employment rates and decreasing chances of developing criminal behavior, HIV, and many other diseases linked to heroin addiction. Read on to know more about the treatments.
Pharmacological treatment or medications
It has been found that medicinal drugs used for treating heroin addiction offer assistance in two ways. They ensure that the patient keep taking part in the treatment programs and also decrease drug use.
When individuals addicted to heroin quit the habit, they start experiencing withdrawal symptoms such as diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, pain, etc. These health issues become severe in some. Medications might make this stage of detoxification easier for these people. They help in easing craving and give the patient the power of dealing with other physical symptoms that often force an individual to relapse.
Medications formulated for treating heroin addiction target the same receptors that the drug (heroin) targets. The only difference lies in the fact that those medications are safer; they don’t trigger the detrimental behaviors we associate with drug abuse. Doctors primarily use three kinds of medications for enabling recovery; they are:
1. Agonists, which work by activating the heroin/opioid receptors2. Partial agonists, which activate the same receptors, but produces much smaller responses3. Antagonists, which work by blocking the receptor reducing the rewarding experience offered by the drug
Doctors decide on the type of medications to be used after assessing a series of factors including the particular medical needs of a patient. Examples of medicinal drugs used for treating addiction to heroin are Methadone, Buprenorphine, Naltrexone, etc.
Behavioral therapy
Like medications, behavioral therapies used for promoting recovery from addiction to heroin can also be of several types. These therapies might get delivered both in residential and outpatient settings. Over the years, it has been found that approaches like cognitive behavioral therapy and contingency management have been highly effective in helping heroin addicts to give up drug use. The results offered by these therapies have been particularly impressive when they are used in cognition with medications.
Cognitive behavioral therapy works by modifying the behaviors and expectations the patient has from drug use. It also assists the patient in developing skills to cope with different life stressors. Contingency management, on the other hand, rewards patients with points if their drug test turns out to be negative.