The Right Steps for Drug Addiction Recovery
Many statistics and surveys are done every year to track American public health, in many fields ranging from chronic back pain to mental illnesses to infectious disease. This also involves drug use, as the unfortunate truth is that many Americans abuse drugs or alcohol regularly. Many American adults, and some adolescents, are addicted to heroin or other painkillers, or they are alcoholics. These habits may greatly impact a person’s life for the worse, or even result in an accidental overdose. The good news in all this is that recovery is always possible, and heroin treatment centers can be found all across the United States. Heroin detoxing takes some time, but it will work, and a drug addict may also use a methadone clinic locator to find methadone clinics for help. While a drug itself, methadone may go a long way toward easing an addict out of their drug habit. How often are Americans abusing drugs, and when is it time to use a methadone clinic locator?
Americans and Drug Abuse
People around the world abuse drugs for a number of reasons, but they often face the same consequences. For one thing, drug abuse means spending a lot of money on this habit, which may ruin the addict’s personal finances. They may even resort to stealing and selling items to fund that habit, and this is made worse if the addict loses their job (which may be likely). Drug or alcohol abuse may also result in violent behavior or a drastic personality change, which may shatter the abuser’s home life.
Worse yet, drug abuse can kill. On record, many Americans die each year from accidental drug overdoses, and this is the nation’s leading cause of accidental deaths. Over 50,000 people died this way in 2015 alone. And as of 2015, around 591,000 Americans were living with a heroin use disorder. Close to 155,000 of them were young adults, and 6,000 were adolescents. The next year in 2016, around 948,000 Americans reported using heroin within the last 12 months. Not all of them were necessarily full-blown addicts, but this shows how often drugs are abused. Many heroin addictions started out with prescription painkiller abuse with over the counter drugs. Fortunately, the road to recovery is always available, and addicts may use a methadone clinic locator or find detox centers nearby for help.
Getting Clean of Drugs
It is never too late for an addict to seek help. Some addicts may use a methadone clinic locator or undergo detoxing on their own volition, while others may have just experienced an intervention. In any case, the addict is discouraged from attempting a detox home alone, since this may prove dangerous. Detoxing may result in many unpleasant side effects from withdrawal, and dangerous medical complications may arise. Therefore, addicts should visit proper clinics when they are looking to get clean.
One option is to use a methadone clinic locator and visit a methadone clinic. Methadone is a prescription drug that helps the addict stop feeling cravings for heroin, and if methadone is used as directed, the addict may soon get clean of their heroin abuse disorder. This opens the way to further help, such as counseling.
An addict may also look for detox centers in their area, and look them up online. How does this work? An addict will visit and check themselves in, and they will spend a few days and nights at the clinic to detox safely. This patient will be under medical supervision the entire time just in case there are any dangerous complications, and nurses and doctors will be available to help. The patient will have to endure unpleasant withdrawal symptoms as they allow the drugs to leave their body, and they may experience anything ranging from insomnia to nausea to goosebumps to chills or a fever. They might even suffer seizures (an example of why this process should be monitored).
Only after the patient is clean can they go on to further steps. A clean addict may undergo therapy and counseling for emotional support, and the patient may learn how to adjust to a new, drug-free lifestyle. This might also include assistance with finding housing or gainful employment if necessary.
