Benefits Of Abusing Medical Assisted Treatment

There are a variety of treatment modalities, both conservative and emerging, that clinicians, therapists, and doctors use to treat heroin and opioid dependence. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), motivational interviewing (MI), 12 step programs, and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) are just a few that have been used in the past, and even today, in the treatment of substance dependence. Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) is yet another form of therapy; particularly for opioid and heroin dependence, that has been around for decades. However, it has recently begun to spark interest and controversy in light of the growing epidemic.

America has a major problem with opioid addicts, and many facilities are helping the addicts by providing safer options to taking the drugs their bodies crave. Methadone clinics are places where people addicted to opioids can receive medicine-based therapy. Opioid use, drugs such as heroin, morphine, and prescribed painkillers, has increased in the US with all age groups and incomes. People become addicted to these drugs when they are prescribed, recreationally used with other addicts, or they are born addicted. Many health institutions are addressing this issue with an estimated 2.1 million people in the United States suffering from substance use disorders related to prescription opioid pain relievers in 2012 and an estimated 467,000 addicted

The United States of America has had a war against drugs since the 37th president, Richard Nixon, declared more crimination on drug abuse in June 1971. From mid-1990s to today, a crisis challenges the health department and government on opioid regulation, as millions of Americans die due overdoses of painkillers. Opioids are substances used as painkillers, and they range from prescription medications to the illegal drug, heroin. Abusing these substances can cause a dependency or addiction, which can lead to overdoses, physical damages, emotional trauma, and death. To ease the crisis, physicians are asked to depend on alternatives to pain management. Law enforcement cracks down on profiting drug-dealers and heroin abusers. People are warned against misusing opioids. The controversy begins for those who suffer from chronic pain, because they depend on opioids. There’s so a correlation to the 1980s cocaine epidemic, and people are upset over racial discrimination. Nonetheless, the best way to avoid this crisis is to recover the people at risk, reduce inappropriate opioid description, and have a proper response.

Opioid use in the US has increased over the years, and this has led to an increase in substance abuse. Substance abuse is not only associated with use of illicit drugs but also prescription drugs. In 2015, of the 20.5 million reported cases of substance abuse, 2 million had an abuse disorder related to prescription pain relievers and 591,000 associated with heroin.1 The increase in substance abuse disorder has led to an increase in opioid related death. In 2015 drug overdose was the leading cause of accidental death in the US with 52, 404 lethal drug overdoses.2

Methadone has been used since the late 1960s to treat heroin addictions. Methadone is a synthetic opioid that is highly addictive and is harder to withdraw from than heroin. Despite 50 years of experience and widespread acceptance by addiction specialists and health agencies, Methadone Maintenance Treatment (MMT) has sometimes been publicly controversial in the U.S. and other countries. MMT is a program in which addicted individuals receive daily doses of methadone as part of a broad, multicomponent treatment plan (Methadone Maintence Treatment, 2002). Critics argue that methadone doesn’t actually help heroin addicts, but just replaces heroin with an equally addictive methadone (Mason, 2013). From my perspective, methadone should not be given to heroin addicts because it does not

Dr. Perry Kendall’s stated in a report that the mortality rate for people in opioid substitution treatment is about half of what it is for those using street heroin. (“globeandmail”) Another doctor, who has been administering the program as part of his family practice for several years states the rate of success is poor, the nature of the work often frustrating and the paperwork required under new rules is daunting. But the reward is the amazing transformation of those who are helped by methadone, says Dr. Jeff White. (“thetelegram”) Equally, a confident experience is expressed from a recovering addict himself, Jared stated to a Newfoundland based newspaper, The Compass that the methadone program had a super positive impact on his life. Going on to say in a separate interview with The Advertiser, that the first year everything went as well as it could have with him not doing any drugs. (“Advertiser”) This is just a few examples on how the methadone program has continued to play a positive impact on lives when given the

The use of opioids and other drugs continues to gradually increase in the United State. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of overdose deaths involving opioids has quadrupled since 1999” (CDC website). Individuals are abusing prescription opioids such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, and methadone. Prescriptions opioids that are supposed to be used as pain relievers, cough suppressants and for withdrawal symptoms are being use by individuals in order to feel relaxed or for the overwhelming effect of euphoria. These types of drugs are to be taken orally, but people are snorting, smoking, and injecting them in order to get a better high. I have personal encounters with opioid drugs and opioid abuser on a regular

Drug and alcohol addiction is a very serious and widespread problem in America, and across the globe. Drug addiction is a constant craving, seeking, and using of a substance, despite the negative consequences it may have on the addict or those around them. When drug use becomes more frequent, it is considered drug abuse. Once an individual’s drug abuse is can no longer be controlled, and they are using the drug to get through everyday life, it beomes an addiction. A person on drugs has an altered way of thinking, behaving, and perceiving. There are treatment facilities all over the world dedicated to help those suffering with drug addictions. All

Methadone treatment is used to treat opioid addiction. Opioid addiction is a chronic medical condition that requires constant use of methadone for a lifetime. Opioid addiction has severe side effects with painful withdrawals and craving symptoms. It takes various approaches to effectively control opioid addiction including methadone medication and counseling. Opiates include heroin and prescription painkillers like morphine and codeine.

Coupled with its effectiveness, MMT is a much safer treatment for clients. Especially when compared to the alternative of having an untreated opiate addiction, as remaining untreated has many severe and even fatal risks. Clients who are part of a MMT program are less likely to be using illicit or prescription opiates, which have an extremely high risk of overdose.(source) Also, methadone is taken orally, meaning there is

The idea behind methadone treatment is to give the addict a means of returning to a lifestyle of

Every time health professionals claim to speak for the rights of others many questions arise within the bioethical community. Although altruism is a motivating mechanism of selfless care for others, it may have a dark side. Involuntary treatment for alcohol and drug abuse is a controversial tool used in medical care. The question of whether or not such treatment can be applied has been an unresolvable issue in bioethics for many years. Main ethical concerns often address questions of patient’s autonomy and health, doctor’s paternalism, and social wellbeing (Sjostrand and Helgesson 2008). The complex and multidimensional issue of

So the treatment should have focus not only on the person’s physical and mental health but also focus on person’s all related issues. If the addicted person completed the whole treatment, then the chances of relapse decreases, but if the person leave the treatment in between then there are chances of relapse increases. So the determination of the person to quit the addiction is most important in the treatment of drug addiction.

The United States currently faces an unprecedented epidemic of opioid addiction. This includes painkillers, heroin, and other drugs made from the same base chemical. In the couple of years, approximately one out of twenty Americans reported misuse or abuse of prescriptions painkillers. Heroin abuse and overdoses are on the rise and are the leading cause of injury deaths, surpassing car accidents and gun shots. The current problem differs from the opioid addiction outbreaks of the past in that it is also predominant in the middle and affluent classes. Ultimately, anyone can be fighting a battle with addiction and it is important for family members and loved ones to know the signs. The cause for this epidemic is that the current spike of opioid abuse can be traced to two decades of increased prescription rates for painkillers by well-meaning physicians.

Mike Alstott knows first-hand how opioids, when used correctly, can play an important role in managing pain and helping people to function, but he is also keenly aware of the growing crisis of opioid misuse and overdose. More American adults are dying from misusing prescription narcotics than ever before. An estimated 35 people die every day in the U.S. from accidental prescription painkiller overdoses resulting from things like not taking a medication as directed or not understanding how multiple