The stages of withdrawal may consist of acute and post-acute. These stages have side effects from the addiction displaying signs, symptoms, and dependency phases even during the final withdrawal stages. Therefore, the associated concerns may be geared around having several withdrawal symptoms more than likely to cause an individual to be prone to having a relapse. Although the first stage is acute, it may consist of a person experiencing physical withdrawals. The second stage includes mental and emotional encounters since the brain is progressively returning to normalcy as a physical state of being. It may cause a client to be susceptible to relapse during this time since the client brain or reward system is not being currently compensated
by the urges or triggers that normal rewards the effects of having an addiction. In the post-acute stage, the illness of the brain reminds the person of the pleasurable sensation despite the harm it may cause mentally and emotionally through the over-taken urges and triggers. The reason a client may also become susceptible is due to the addiction and the dependency to function on a daily basis since it alters the way they may feel mentally, emotionally and physically. When experiencing a pleasurable feeling instead of fear, discomfort, and pain. The habit or behavior leaves a sense of being rewarded instead of distress or disturbance and when a person experiences coming down from a high. The person may encounter having withdrawal symptoms and to prevent those ill feelings, it normally requires the person to seek more pleasure to fulfill their addiction. This is why a client is more susceptible than others to potentially relapse over and over again. Eventually, without seeking proper help, the individuals may struggle with having a hopeless recovery.
Greg is an individual who has experienced a traumatic event while being intoxicated while being on the job. Greg was a paramedic and had come to a bad accident where a five-year-old boy was injured. The young boy had several injuries and Greg was responsible for providing him with the proper care. The unfortunate part is that Greg was intoxicated while on the job and he was not thinking clearly while making decisions involving the boys care; as a result, the boy’s death could have been prevented. This event turned Greg’s life upside down, this never would have happened if Greg would not have been intoxicated while being on the job.
Many of the problems associated with early sobriety do not stem directly from psychoactive substances. Instead they are associated with physical and psychological changes that occur after the substances have left the body. When a person regularly uses psychoactive drugs, the brain undergoes physical changes to cope with the presence of drugs in the body. When the drugs are removed from the body, the brain craves the drugs that it has become accustomed to and as the brain attempts to rebalance itself without the presence of psychoactive drugs the person often experiences feelings of confusion, pain, and discomfort. The symptoms that are experienced immediately after stopping drug use are called acute withdrawal. But often the symptoms do not stop at acute withdrawal. After the body makes initial adjustments to the absence of drugs, the changes that have occurred in the brain still need time to revert back to their original state. During this period, a variety of symptoms known as Post-Acute Withdrawal Syndrome (PAWS) begin to occur. In the book Uppers, Downers, All Arounders, published by CNS Productions, authors Darryl Inaba and William Cohen define PAWS as “a group of emotional and physical symptoms that appear after major withdrawal symptoms have abated” (Inaba & Cohen, 2011).
There are many different comprehensive instruments that are used by clinicians as structured or semi-structured interviews. These instruments determine many different aspects of addiction and treatment. One such instrument is the Addiction Severity Index. The ASI attempts to gather valuable information about a person’s life that can help to identify what may contribute to their substance abuse problems.
Research studies have shown that a comprehensive aftercare program can substantially increase a client’s chances of success in recovery.
It is imperative for a counselor to identify these qualities and know how to navigate an addict through these phases. Addiction has psychological, neurological, and spiritual elements that are important to understand in order to provide quality counseling. Psychologically, an individual suffering from addiction will often practice various methods of self-deception: denial & repression, rationalization, hiding, delaying tactics, breakdown, and collusion. Habits are formed in three stages. During stage one, a person learns that a specific behavior either provides pleasure or pain relief. Stage two is when a person actively seeks the effects of that behavior in everyday life, causing the formation of the habit. Finally, in stage three, a person is now dependent on the effect of the behavior and develops feelings of distress when the behavior and feeling are not easily
In relation to drug abuse, relapse is resuming the use of a chemical substance or drug after a period of abstinence. The term can be said to be a landmark feature of a combination of substance abuse and substance independence. The propensity for dependency, repeated use, and tendencies that take the form of the substance being used, are some of the issues that drug users’ experience. Substances that enhance most severe tendencies in users and pose high pharmacological efficacy, are those that are cleared quickly from the body, in addition to those that bring out the highest tolerance. There can be increased substance tolerance with the increasing dependency in relation to drug in question, and withdrawals and cravings when the user stops.
Before the addiction is in full swing, there are various stages the user will experience. There are many stages that the user will go through. The first stage would be experimentation. At this point, the person is not considered a user, yet. They are curious about the substance, the effects and the attraction that others also have in the substance. They may have friends or family members that talk about it. It may have been a case of peer pressure the first time the person uses the substance, or the person may try it as a coping mechanism to deal with stressful situations, such as the loss of a loved one, or a job. For some individuals it goes no further than the experimentation stage, for others it begins the “recreati...
The traditional, abstinence-focused addiction treatment believes that recovery is only possible if the addictive substance is completely removed from the life of the individual it affects. This model is rooted in the concept of addiction as a progressive, chronic and fatal disease that emphasizes inevitable
Addiction is a dependence on a substance where the individual who is affected feels defenseless and unable to stop the obsession to use a substance or prevent a particular behavior. Millions of Americans have addictions to drugs, alcohol, nicotine, and even to behaviors such as obsessive gambling. Pharmacotherapy is a treatment process in which a counselor can use a particular drug to counter act an addictive drug or behavior. Not all counselors agree with this type of treatment. However in order to provide a client with an ethical treatment and unbiased opinions they should be made aware of all scientific evidence of different treatment options. “Thus, attention to addiction pharmacotherapy is an ethical mandate no matter what prejudices a counselor may have” (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2008, p. 196). Some particular pharmacotherapy’s a counselor may use for the treatment of addiction are Bupropion (Wellbutrin, Zyban), Disulfiram (Antabuse), Naltrexone (ReVia, Depade), Methadone (Dolophine), and Buprenorphine (Temgesic, Suboxone).
George F. Koob defines addiction as a compulsion to take a drug without control over the intake and a chronic relapse disorder (1). The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association defined "substance dependence" as a syndrome basically equivalent to addiction, and the diagnostic criteria used to describe the symptoms of substance dependence to a large extent define compulsion and loss of control of drug intake (1). Considering drug addiction as a disorder implies that there are some biological factors as well as social factors.
Silverman, K., Roll, J., & Higgins, S. (2008). Introduction to the Special Issue on the Behavior Analysis and Treatment of Drug Addiction. Journal of Applied behavior Analysis, 41(4), 471-480. Retrieved June 12, 2011, from the proquest.com.navigator-ship.passhe.edu database.
Watching anyone struggle with addiction is indeed difficult, and being connected personally may be even more so. Loosing family or loved ones, and friends to addiction and eventually jail or possibly death can be devastating. The effects are wide spread and touch many lives often felt very deeply for a long time, some for a lifetime. What can be done to help these people, to assist the families and society is ever evolving. This group of addicted offenders should be targeted for intensive and rigorous treatment. Courts and prosecutors have increasingly been making an effort to identify such addicts, and to induce them to enter into criminal justice based treatment.
Drug addiction is more complicated than medicine thought in previous years. It’s not because someone is weak or unable to control themselves. They are chemical such a dopamine in the human body that makes the process difficult. The brain works in a neuropath way and drug interrupt the normal process which stops the frontal lobe to work as it should. Treatment isn’t done right and patients tend to repeat their habit after they get out of rehab. Psychological treatment is not as effective as chemical injection for dopamine to reward the brain. However, even after the treatment is complete, it will be a life struggle to stay away from drugs since the brain will always look for a simpler way to reward itself.
Yijun, L., von Deneen, K. M., Kobeissy, F. H., & Gold, M. S. (2010). Addiction and
"Withdrawal Symptoms for Drug and Alcohol Addiction: Physical, Emotional." Addictions and Recovery.org - Relapse Prevention and Coping Skills. Web. 14 Dec. 2010