You can find these lines listed on the internet or in the phone book. Help from your health care provider, family, friends, support groups or an organized treatment program can help you overcome your drug addiction and stay drug-free. Those who seek help for either drug abuse and/or addiction or another mental disorder should be evaluated for both and then treated accordingly.
Treatment and recovery options
- Two groups of synthetic drugs — synthetic cannabinoids and substituted or synthetic cathinones — are illegal in most states.
- It becomes a cycle; you seek out these experiences because they reward you with good feelings.
- For more information about treatment for mental disorders, visit NIMH’s Health Topics webpages.
- Treatment may involve an inpatient or outpatient program depending on each person’s situation.
- SUD exists on a spectrum and may be mild, moderate or severe.
- In maintenance therapy, a prescribed medication (like methadone) is substituted for a highly addictive drug (like heroin) to prevent withdrawal and cravings, and as part of a harm-reduction strategy.
Naloxone hydrochloride nasal spray is currently available both over-the-counter and by prescription, under different brand names. Prescription options include Kloxxado (8 mg/spray), Rextovy (4 mg/spray), and Rezenopy (10 mg/spray). Narcan (4 mg/spray) and ReVive (3 mg/spray) are brand names available OTC. Synthetic cannabinoids, also called K2 or Spice, are sprayed on dried herbs and then smoked, but can be prepared as an herbal tea.
Substance Use Disorder vs. Substance Abuse
SUDs and other mental health conditions are caused by overlapping factors such as genetic vulnerabilities, issues with similar areas of your brain and environmental influences. Fortunately, SUD is a treatable condition when you receive the right support. Treatment options can vary from person to person, but may include rehabilitation (or, rehab), detoxification and withdrawal management, outpatient programs, and medication-assisted therapies.
Addiction is a treatable disease
The cost of rehab for substance use disorders can vary by the treatment center, the level of care needed, and whether your insurance may be able to cover the cost of rehab. Find out if your insurance provider can help you with affording rehab by filling out our online form below. Substance use disorders are complex but treatable conditions that cause a person to lose control of their use of substance use. With the proper treatment, people can overcome drug rehab success rate statistics substance use disorders and find a new way to live. However, to receive a proper diagnosis for SUD, more than a blood or urine test is necessary. You’ll need to seek support from a psychiatrist, psychologist, or a licensed substance use counselor.
For more information on evidence-based guidelines visit Addiction Medicine Primer. A healthcare professional may screen for psychiatric symptoms to rule out other disorders. In the United States, about 17 million people had both yellow eyes after drinking an SUD and a mental health disorder in 2020.
Recovery may involve medication to help with cravings and withdrawal as well as different forms of therapy. It may even require checking into a rehabilitation facility. In detoxification, you stop taking the substance(s), allowing them to leave your body. Depending on the severity of the SUD, the substance or an alternative may be tapered off to lessen the effects of withdrawal. You can go through detoxification in both inpatient and outpatient settings.
If you do start using the drug, it’s likely you’ll lose control over its use again — even if you’ve had treatment and you haven’t used the drug for some time. Evidence-based guidelines can assist doctors with choosing the right treatment options. These guidelines help evaluate a patient’s clinical needs and situation to match them with the right level of care, in the most appropriate available setting.
Healthcare providers may recommend cognitive and behavioral therapies alone or in combination with medications. A provider will also ask about your mental health history, as it’s common to have an SUD and a mental health condition. For some substances, such as opioids, the withdrawal symptoms are so severe that they create significant motivation to continue using them. With physical dependence, your body has adapted to the presence of the substance, and withdrawal symptoms happen if you suddenly stop taking the drug or you take a reduced dosage. It involves continued substance use despite negative consequences. Addiction to substances happens when the reward system in your brain “takes over” and amplifies compulsive substance-seeking.
Learn more about NIMH’s commitment to accelerating the pace of scientific progress and transforming mental health care. Learn about NIMH priority areas for research and funding that have the potential to improve mental health care over the short, medium, and long term. There are several levels steve harwell liver disease of intensity of substance use treatment. The medications and treatment program recommended will be based on each individual’s situation. Once you’ve been addicted to a drug, you’re at high risk of falling back into a pattern of addiction.
Drug addiction, also called substance use disorder, is a disease that affects a person’s brain and behavior and leads to an inability to control the use of a legal or illegal drug or medicine. Substances such as alcohol, marijuana and nicotine also are considered drugs. When you’re addicted, you may continue using the drug despite the harm it causes. If your drug use is out of control or causing problems, get help.
Signs and symptoms of drug use or intoxication may vary, depending on the type of drug. The risk of addiction and how fast you become addicted varies by drug. Some drugs, such as opioid painkillers, have a higher risk and cause addiction more quickly than others.
Substances — such as alcohol, stimulants and opioids — affect your brain, including your decision-making ability. These changes make it hard to stop taking the substance, even if you want to. If you or a loved one has substance use disorder, talk to a healthcare provider as soon as possible. A trained provider can help guide you to the treatment you need. Substance use disorder is a mental health disorder in which a person continually uses drugs or alcohol even though it is causing physical, psychological, and/or personal harm. The causes of substance use disorder are unknown, but risk factors have been identified.
It also is essential that the provider tailor treatment, which may include behavioral therapies and medications, to an individual’s specific combination of disorders and symptoms. It should also take into account the person’s age, the misused substance, and the specific mental disorder(s). Talk to your health care provider to determine what treatment may be best for you and give the treatment time to work. Symptoms can be moderate to severe, with addiction being the most severe form of SUD. Substance use disorder is a complex mental health and brain condition.
Substance use disorder can significantly impact your health, relationships and overall quality of life. It’s crucial to seek help as soon as you develop signs of SUD. The Division of Intramural Research Programs (IRP) is the internal research division of the NIMH.
What’s important is to start prevention of substance use at an early age. Maintaining sobriety after treatment for substance use is no small undertaking. It’s a lifelong journey involving continually learning how to apply new coping skills to everyday life. Physical addiction appears to occur when repeated use of a drug changes the way your brain feels pleasure. The addicting drug causes physical changes to some nerve cells (neurons) in your brain. Neurons use chemicals called neurotransmitters to communicate.