Alarmingly, across the United States, addiction to opiates has become a health crisis and one that needs our attention immediately. There are far too many of our brightest, and best minds are lost to this dangerous path of substance abuse.
Most of them don’t know how considerably an addiction problem is.
Over the past several years, recovery centers have been operating to help manage the issue. In addition to rehab clinics, along with medical centers, are fighting at the front line of substance abuse. While rehab and recovery have helped many people over the years, experts are beginning to wonder now if most popular methadone clinics are genuinely useful.
Do these clinics help with the battle against opiate addiction, or do they contribute to this growing epidemic? Or is the reality of addiction and recovery and the journey towards sobriety more complicated than we all know?
What are Methadone Clinics?
To manage the addiction to substances abuse, medical facilities known as methadone clinics distribute medications to help with this crisis. At these clinics, methadone is administered, which is a hefty medication and most famously used to replace opiate addiction. These clinics can either be public or private. You will pay more money if you choose to get your methadone from a private clinic versus an open clinic (where anyone can enter). The thought behind methadone clinics is that they can provide a legal chemical to manage addictions, which is, it would be said, a better option overall for those who use.
These clinics focus on the fact that addiction is a disease, and that can be treated with methadone use if the medication is necessary. But, the truth is that an addict once uses methadone; they will experience a decrease in cravings towards opioids along with having the ability to avoid withdrawal symptoms. In addition, using methadone will block the effects of using opioids. This means that people who take methadone will not experience dangerous and severe reactions.
Everyone, from business people to homeless, women, or men, will be able to stop at a methadone clinic and receive the help that they need to begin their journey towards recovery.
Methadone Clinic Treatment Methods
Just like the rehab centers in Oklahoma, methadone clinics focus on utilizing a variety of methods to help a person overcome their addiction. When first entering the centers, a person will undergo a complete medical and physical exam. This examination will help gauge a person’s health to make sure that their body is healthy and robust enough to receive methadone at the clinic. Sometimes, if someone has heart issues, this may cause dangerous complications.
In addition to physical exams, mental exams will be completed as well. This will assess the addict’s level of dependency along with the effect that their addiction has on the following situations:
- Medical
- Legal
- Social
The biggest idea behind clinics and rehab facilities is to teach people how dangerous the dependency is on these drugs and help them understand the role their addiction plays on their health. Once the medical and mental assessments are completed, the doctors may then decide to move forward with prescribing methadone.
The dose of methadone that is prescribed will vary on multiple factors, such as the severity of the dependency. Therefore, if some are highly reliant on the use of opioids, their dose is likely to be higher than someone who has a lower addiction rate.
The idea with methadone and using it to treat addiction is to use the smallest dose needed to prevent symptoms of withdrawal. Physicians who prescribe methadone don’t want their patients to get high; then, they are trying to get them to quit. Using methadone will also decrease the dangers of overdosing, along with experiencing severe reactions.
Over time, the dose of methadone that someone is on will be adjusted to help them completely overcome their dependency on opiates. Gradually, methadone is decreased over many months until it is no longer needed at all.
How Rehab Centres Different from Methadone Clinics?
When an addict chooses to enter a drug and alcohol rehab in Oklahoma, they should have a facility treatment plan that offers in-patient stay to treat their addiction. The behaviors that an addict experiences both, mentally and physically, would be tracked by professional staff during a stay at a rehab facility. During treatment, the origin of your drug use is uncovered, and various plans will be put into place for one to avoid triggers in the future.
Along with this, detoxification will take place during your stay at rehab so that you can begin your journey to sobriety clean of toxins. During detox, you may receive methadone at a rehab facility. However, in a methadone clinic, the mental aspect of addiction is not so heavily focused on.
There are counselors available at methadone clinics; you will not receive around the clock care at the clinic as you will in rehab.
Finally, methadone’s clinics are outpatient and do not typically offer any in-patient treatment as rehab facilities will.
Get the help you need from a Clinic rehab centers
Both methadone clinics and rehab centers have their place in the war against addiction. The use of methadone may still be controversial, and the results may be mixed, which has been shown that there are more positives than negatives with these clinics.
However, treating only the physical side of addiction is not all that is needed to fight dependency on drugs.
Methadone clinics do offer therapy, but they cannot provide comprehensive care for dual diagnosis as rehab centers can. If you are ready to overcome your addiction and reclaim a happy and healthy life that doesn’t involve drugs, the team at United Recovery Project in South Florida is ready to help you. They have professional staff, that are caring and experienced. Also, they can help you understand both the mental and physical elements of your drug abuse and help you become sober again.