Hallucinogens (Treatments)

Drug addiction is a serious, though treatable disorder, requiring both physiological and psychological treatment. Success in becoming "drug free" is best achieved through formal programs that recognize abstinence may not be possible or realistic for everyone. The ultimate goal of all treatment programs is to enable the patient to achieve lasting abstinence; and the immediate goals are to reduce drug use, improve the patient's ability to function and minimize the medical and social complications of drug abuse.

In general, the more treatments that are given, the better the results. Many patients require other services as well, such as medical and mental-health services and HIV-prevention services. Patients who stay in treatment longer than three months usually have better outcomes than those who stay for a shorter time. Patients who go through medically assisted withdrawal to minimize discomfort but do not receive any further treatment perform about the same in terms of their drug use as those who were never treated. Over the last 25 years, studies have shown that treatment works to reduce drug intake and crimes committed by drug-dependent people. Researchers also have found that drug abusers who have been through treatment are more likely to have jobs.

Through treatment that is tailored to individual needs, patients can learn to control their condition and live normal, productive lives. Like people with diabetes or heart disease, people in treatment for drug addictions learn behavioral changes and often take medications as part of their treatment regimen.

Types of Treatment Programs

There are several types of drug abuse treatment programs. Short-term treatment programs that last less than six months include residential therapy, medication therapy and drug-free outpatient therapy. Longer-term treatment may involve withdrawal (detoxification), pharmacotherapy and residential therapeutic community treatment. Most outpatient treatment options combine counseling and community-based support programs, and do not include medications.

Short-term residential programs, often referred to as chemical-dependency units, are often based on the "Minnesota Model" of treatment for alcoholism. These programs involve a three- to six-week inpatient treatment phase followed by extended outpatient therapy or participation in 12-step self-help groups, such as Narcotics Anonymous or Cocaine Anonymous. Chemical dependency programs for drug abuse arose in the private sector in the mid-1980s with insured alcohol-cocaine abusers as their primary patients. Today, as private provider benefits decline, more programs are extending their services to publicly funded patients. Residential programs monitor and address potential withdrawal symptoms and behavior; incorporate behavior recognition and behavioral modification therapy; and offer counseling, psychotherapy and support groups for the person, and sometimes for their family as well. Medications help with suppressing the withdrawal syndrome and drug craving and with blocking the effects of drugs.

Longer term treatment includes Therapeutic Communities (TCs). TCs are highly structured programs in which patients stay at a residence, typically for six to 12 months. Patients in TCs include those with relatively long histories of drug dependence, involvement in serious criminal activities and seriously impaired social functioning. The focus of the TC is on resocialization of the patient to a drug-free, crime-free lifestyle.

Drug treatment programs in prisons can succeed in preventing a patient's return to criminal behavior, particularly if they are linked to community-based programs that continue treatment when the client leaves prison. Some of the more successful programs have reduced the rearrest rate by one-fourth to one-half. For example, the "Delaware Model," an ongoing study of comprehensive treatment of drug-addicted prison inmates, shows that prison-based treatment including a therapeutic community setting, a work release therapeutic community and community-based aftercare reduces the probability of rearrest by 57 percent and reduces the likelihood of returning to drug use by 37 percent.

Outpatient drug-free treatment does not include medications and encompasses a wide variety of programs for patients who visit a clinic at regular intervals. Most of the programs involve individual or group counseling. Patients entering these programs are abusers of drugs other than hallucinogens or are drug abusers for whom maintenance therapy is not recommended, such as those who have stable, well-integrated lives and only brief histories of drug dependence.

Drug abuse has a great economic impact on society—an estimated $67 billion per year. This figure includes costs related to crime, medical care, drug abuse treatment, social welfare programs and time lost from work. Treatment of drug abuse can reduce those costs. Studies have shown that from $4 to $7 are saved for every dollar spent on treatment. It costs approximately $3,600 per month to leave a drug abuser untreated in the community, and incarceration costs approximately $3,300 per month. In contrast, methadone maintenance therapy costs about $290 per month.

Treatment of HPPD or flashbacks

Because HPPD symptoms may be mistaken for those of other neurological disorders such as stroke or brain tumors, sufferers may consult a variety of clinicians before the disorder is accurately diagnosed. There is no established treatment for HPPD, although some antidepressant drugs may reduce the symptoms. Psychotherapy may help patients adjust to the confusion associated with visual distraction and to minimize the fear, expressed by some, that they are suffering brain damage or psychiatric disorder.

Sources:

• National Institute on Drug Abuse
• Drug Enforcement Administration
• National Drug Intelligence Center