Nothing can be more discouraging than to put so much time and effort into amphetamine addiction treatment only to return to drug use months, or even years later. Like most all forms of addiction, the propensity for relapse remains long after a person stops using the drug. In effect, addiction acts in much the same way as a chronic disease, so relapse events are not that uncommon at all.
While a relapse episode can be disheartening, what you do from here pretty much determines how things will play out in your recovery process. For this reason, it’s especially important to re-engage in the amphetamine addiction treatment process before a bad situation becomes so much worse.
Amphetamine Addiction Treatment Objectives
Amphetamine addictions range from illegal substances like ecstasy to prescription stimulant medications, such as Adderall, Ritalin and Concerta. Within a short period of time, amphetamines take over brain chemical processes, creating a state of physical and psychological dependency, according to Semel Institute.
More than anything else, recovering addicts contend with the psychological effects of the drug, which include:
- Drug cravings
- Emotional drug-using cues and triggers
- Mood swings
- Inability to feel content or happy in the absence of the drug
In the absence of needed treatment supports, any one of the above effects can slowing, but surely drive a person back to drug use. Amphetamine addiction treatment helps a person overcome the drug’s physical effects and develop strategies for dealing with its hold over one’s thinking, behaviors and emotions.
Relapse Potential
The damaging effects of amphetamine addiction essentially deplete vital neurotransmitter chemicals in the brain. This imbalance will continue to impair a person’s physical and psychological well-being until the brain can repair and resume normal functioning.
Until that time, feelings of depression, irritability and restlessness will prevail on a day-in, day-out basis, according to the Center for Addiction & Mental Health. These conditions underlie the high relapse potential that amphetamines leave behind. Considering the powerful effects amphetamines wield, it’s important not to let a relapse episode discourage your recovery efforts and goals.
Treatment Needs
Behavioral
Therapy can help an amphetamine addict change negative behaviors.
A relapse event develops out of the types of thinking and behaviors that encourage drug use. Oftentimes, a person may not even notice these changes in mindset taking shape inside his or her daily life.
Amphetamine addiction treatment uses drug counseling, group therapy and support groups to help you develop the types of routines and behaviors that support drug-free living. After a relapse episode, resuming or increasing counseling and therapy sessions can help you get back on the right track. Attending support group meetings on a more frequent basis can also help.
Medication Treatments
Heavy amphetamine use does real damage to the emotion-based centers of the brain. With long-term drug use, it’s not uncommon for full-blown psychological disorders to develop alongside an addiction problem.
If you continue to experience feelings of severe depression or anxiety for months into the recovery process, antidepressant and/or anti-anxiety medication can go a long way towards relieving emotional turmoil in your daily life. Likewise, an amphetamine addiction treatment program can evaluate and diagnosis your situation to see if medication treatment will help.
If you or someone you know have experienced a relapse and don’t know where to go from here, please feel free to call our toll-free helpline at 800-816-1059(Who Answers?) for more information. Our phone counselors can also connect you with treatment programs in your area.
