Substance Abuse Tag

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Past Experiences Are More Than Just Memories

There is an idea just popularized–but has been around for thirty year–that congealed into a little phrase that I hear all the time. And it just sort of dawned on me–I did not use to hear that ten years ago when I was working in treatment and recovery. 

 

You will hear therapists, clinicians, and facilitators at treatment programs or in transformational programs talk about “being in your body”. 

 

Growing up, I do not remember hearing that phrase because I felt I was always in my body, you know–so nobody ever stopped me. 

 

Make sure you are “in your body”. That phrase sort of crept in on the scene and–at least in LA where I live–we accept it as like saying something real. But what exactly does that phrase mean? 

Trauma’s Effects on the Body

I related it to a very famous somatic psychologist therapist. His name is Peter Levine. He talks about trauma in the body.

 

The notion is we have realized that our brain or nervous system does not just consist of what is happening in our head. Our nervous system actually runs through our entire body. And then, actually, our whole body is one system.

 

So when we go through a trauma–whether it be emotional trauma or physical trauma–the imprint of that experience is not just like a little invisible memory that you hold in your mind. It is actually imprinted in the nervous system, which means it is imprinted in the body. 

 

Some of the ways that people adapt to traumatic experiences is to dissociate. Dissociate means to compartmentalize, to move away from, to separate from a particular experience one is having. 

Dissociation: A Common Example

So, for instance, every night my whole body shuts down and goes into just like a temporary hibernation. We call that sleeping. Now, if I was awake for that whole process, I think I would be terrified…

 

I cannot move, everything is happening automatically. Weird things are floating through my mind…but I actually dissociate and move away from that experience of sleep into the realm of dreams and deep sleep. 

 

So that is an adaptation towards an incredibly uncomfortable state–to dissociate. But what can happen in trauma is… 

 

I can dissociate, meaning step away from an experience in such a way that when I come back, there is an experience that I have not fully processed. That starts to symptomize. Then how I adapt is a little bit complex. 

 

But I adapted this experience without knowing that I adapted the memory of that experience. It is actually in my brain, nervous system, and entire body. 

 

And I can have so much trauma in my experience that I kind of dissociate from my body altogether, which means I do not have the head, heart, body connection that I want.

 

I am not fully conscious of what is happening in my system. I am sort of just checked out–maybe living in my thoughts and ideas–but I am not really here…fully present. 

The Importance of Being Fully Conscious

To be alive means to be fully in your body and fully present because we are embodied beings. 

 

So you do not feel fully alive unless you are fully in your body. That notion of “in the body” is a reminder for everybody that we have the capacity as human beings to flee to the thought that, “Hey, do I want to bring that back to what is really going on?”

 

Or to address a variety of “being in the body” questions like:

 

“Well, how do I know what is really going on?”

 

 “How fast is my heart beating right now?”

 

“How am I feeling throughout my body?” 

 

“Why am I breathing really shallow? What is going on with that?”. 

 

And so it is bringing consciousness back to the ground of our being…the body.

 

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Facing Challenges And Building Resilience

There is a German term. It is called Zeitgeist. It means the spirit of the time. And in this time, one word that I started to hear more in the last three to five years that is pointing to an important reality is the notion of resilience and being resilient.

 

And I think the reason why that idea has become more popular as of late, at least in modern Western Society–Los Angeles in my case–is that the basic needs and the amount of toughness necessary for my very existence has gone down quite a bit.

 

Has Society Made Us Weak? 

And so we live in these boxes and we drive these cars with airbags and everything is kind of safe. We live actually in a very protected life and so we have not had to be as tough or as resilient. But in terms of mental health, and difficulties, and interpersonal relationships–people have struggled as much or more than they ever did. 

 

And so that term has come back because we have noticed that people–I am going to use a strong word–are weak. They have a hard time handling difficulties in their interpersonal, work, or life skills in general. 

 

Not physical difficulties and demands necessarily–but the kind of demands that we deal with every day. 

 

And so because of that, people say, “Well, you know, we have got to learn how to be more resilient. We have to teach our kids how to be more resilient.”

 

What is Resilience?  

And the notion of resilience relates to fortitude, a certain amount of strength. Resilience relates to the idea of being able to bounce back from something. I get impacted but I can bounce back and still be strong. 

 

The notion of resilience has to do with consolidation on an emotional level. That something might impact me. And emotionally, you know, I kind of go to pieces for a minute, but I can bring all those pieces back together…and bring them forth in the next moment. 

 

And for me, I am definitely one of those people that have concern about the direction that our society is going in. I have a bunch of children. I work with a lot of young people. I try to teach them to be resilient, to be tough, to be able to deal with the things that life throws at them.

 

How to Become More Resilient

The question of how to be more resilient is a very simple…with a very simple answer. You have to go through difficulties. You have to teach people that it is okay to go through difficulties and that that is a natural and important part of life. That is how you become resilient.

 

If the difficulties are above your level, then you need to go through those difficulties with support. But ideally, just enough support so that you have to put in your own effort. Not so much support that you are being enabled through every difficulty. 

 

So that is what I do with my children. You know, I want them to go through particular challenges that are just at their level. Not that I cannot, you know, figure that out perfectly, but I am gauging what is just the level of challenge where they have to exert effort that is maybe a little more than they think they can. 

 

Right? Because I want them to be able to have that sense of ‘I can go through difficult times, or difficult things, or challenges and it can be really hard and I could think I am not going to make it… but I can’. 

 

Because that is the experience of resilience. Wow. I cannot believe I got through that. You know. Wow. Now, look at me, look at my ability to do that.

 

 

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What are Guru’s Actually Selling?

I was speaking in a previous video about the relationship between alienation and marketing. There is actually a brilliant sociologist, psychologist–a member of the hated Frankfurt group–Erich Fromm. And I really suggest you read his books. He was quite popular in the ’60s and ’70s. Then postmodernism hit…He kind of died out in terms of popularity.

 

But one of the things he noticed was in the 1960s people began to sell Eastern mysticism and spirituality. It became a thing. Fromm researched the difference between authentic teachings from the East–the Buddhist and Hindu teachings–and people marketing bullshit. 

Commercializing Eastern Traditions: Paying for Inspiration?

The problem he spotted back in the ’60s was the influx of translations of the books coming from the Eastern tradition. I do not think he could possibly imagine the reality that we live in now. 

 

If I go through my Facebook feed, the amount of people trying to sell me inspiration and motivation… it is absolutely unbelievable. 

 

The amount of people out there selling to you…Give me some money, I will help you find motivation. What a very interesting thing to sell. It’s a very important thing. How do I find energy and motivation or dynamo so that I can live a good life? That’s super important. But I did not think it was something that you could sell to somebody else.

 

Somebody could inspire me. I could be walking down the street or in a class and have a teacher, my wife, or my kid…and there could be a moment where somebody inspires me. It could be the person working at Trader Joe’s. I am often impressed by the people working at Trader Joe’s. Like wow, you guys are really in here killing it. I find that inspiring. 

 

But I did not think that they would turn around and say, “Hey, I can sell you some of this inspiration for a few dollars.” 

 

And I think it is super problematic for reasons that Eric Fromm noted…there is the real deal out there.

 

If you buy into those people, programs, or traditions, it may engage you in such a way that you transform your life for the better. Some of the best of those, by the way, are free. Not all of them. But some of the best of them are free. 

 

Everything is Hypnosis…Trance States…

And much of it is just crap. The problem is it can work for a second. Like a friend of mine is a psychologist and hypnotherapist. She says everything is hypnosis. All states are trance states. We are always in some kind of hypnosis.

 

Because everything is hypnosis, one of the ways we refer to that is the placebo effect. It means we can engage in an activity for a short period of time and actually get hypnotized into thinking that we have changed…but we have not changed at all in the core. 

…Until You Have the Courage to Go Deeper

But if we look at our ancestors and the traditions that we came from, we know on some level what are the ways that allow us to fulfill our destiny as a whole, soulful human being. Discover the blessings in the world that are often overlooked.

 

We know those things. We even know the constellation of activities within our life and the orientation towards those activities that we should have in order to become who we should be. 

 

I do not need an advertisement on Facebook to tell me what a meaningful life is…and neither do you. 

 

You actually know what it is if you decided to stop and think about it for 10 minutes.

 

We are in a reality now where we have to wade through a lot of crap. And that is just what it is. But I guess the good news is that there is so much crap out there that when you find the real deal, you really appreciate it.

 

 

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The Effects of Viewing Ourselves As a Commodity

I often think that you can understand the trends of what’s happening in the mental health and substance abuse world. Meaning, what kind of drugs are people using right now. We’re probably a little past the middle of a terrible opioid epidemic. The trends of anxiety are becoming a more common psychological phenomenon that we’re talking about a lot. So why is this the case now as opposed to 10 years ago? 

Our Culture Plays A Big Role in Substance Abuse 

In my mind, those disorders are directly in relationship to what’s happening in the culture. The culture is moving too fast, everybody has anxiety. It’s like wow, okay, everybody’s using heroin. 

 

Why are they using heroin? Well, heroin is one of those drugs that slows you down. Kind of slows down your heartbeat, slows down your system until you kind of nod off. 

 

Well, to me, that’s adaptation. It’s an adaptive response to a society that’s moving too quickly. I think many of the ills that we’re all suffering have to do with a society that’s moving too fast on so many levels. The complexity that is required of us to function well in society. The amount of information that’s out there and that’s constantly being beamed into our lives. 

 

It’s just happening so fast; how could I ever understand what’s really going on? 

 

There are social norms that contribute to what’s happening in those realms, and there’s kind of a one-to-one correlation between all these things. It’s not always completely exact.

Propaganda, Marketing, and Algorithms 

These have been going on for some time now–which maybe has to do with some of the blooming of psychedelic work that’s happening. 

 

My dates could be off, but let’s say the 1950s, coming out of World War II, coming out of sort of national propaganda. There begin to be in the corporate world that concerted effort towards understanding marketing, understanding ideology, and understanding propaganda. How to get people to do and believe certain kinds of things. It became a kind of science in the corporate world. 

 

That’s continued and been refined through the decades. We have companies like Facebook and Google that have algorithms tracking what we’re doing and feeding certain kinds of messages. Drawing us in to consume more and more content–to buy more things so that other people can make more and more money. 

 

An interesting side effect of a society that begins to think about the value of everything in relationship to being bought and sold on a marketplace. Thinking about almost all things as a commodity. How much is it worth? 

 

So, that very notion, meaning society as a marketplace, that begins to shape our consciousness. I’ve talked in previous videos about spirituality and the consciousness of the enlightenment. I could talk about the addictive consciousness, but there’s also a marketing consciousness. 

Understanding the Marketing Consciousness

In a world where everything can be bought and sold on the market, what about me? Can I be bought and sold in the market? I mean, both literally, that’s happening. But also, like my personality, say when I’m going into a job interview. What am I doing? Well, I’m trying to sell myself. 

 

What might I be doing here? I’m trying to sell myself and my ideas to you. In this case, however, I’m actually not. I’m trying to offer something of value, an education, but there are so many domains in which I’m selling myself. 

 

What happens when a human being begins to orient themselves in a way where they’re thinking about themselves unconsciously as a commodity? 

 

Well, we kind of know what happens, and I think Karl Marx was right about this, that the result of that is some form of alienation, some sort of disconnection from self. That’s in hyperdrive with social media and people taking pictures of themselves. Everybody has their own commercials basically that they’re marketing to everybody. We are in the hyperdrive marketing space. I don’t even think we understand that. 

 

And in that space, what does that do to the consciousness of the people that are engaging in that? Well, they start to think about themselves as things that need to be marketed to other people, and that’s where their value lies. 

 

Do you like my picture? Literally. 

 

And in that sense, I don’t have much of a self, or at least I’m not connected to it because I’m just a commodity. I’m a thing that’s bought and sold in the marketplace like anything else. And what is the result of a human being that becomes alienated and disconnected from themselves? You don’t feel good. 

 

Feeling Disconnected and Substance Abuse

It doesn’t feel good to be disconnected, unplugged, un-whole, right? And what do human beings do when they don’t feel good? They begin to try to find ways to feel good. We usually call those vices if they’re unhealthy. You can see the direct relationship between the trajectory the United States has been on–and some other countries–in terms of marketing, etc., now in hyperdrive and people using drugs and alcohol. 

 

Well, if I’m just the thing, who cares if I stick a needle in my arm? 

 

If we really think about that in a deep way, imagine somebody, or maybe know somebody, sticking a needle in their arm and pushing the plunger using heroin, the syringe, until they pass out. 

 

For me it’s very metaphoric. I’m so disconnected from myself. I’ve lost so much value for my existence that I just want to disappear. It’s almost symbolic, like being nailed to a cross. It’s like, “Don’t you see how disconnected and how much pain I’m in?”

 

We have different coping mechanisms. Sometimes we cope by becoming workaholics–we get obsessed with our projects. The gym is an example. Which is all fine, but the root symptoms that we’re treating are the same: alienation, demoralization, disconnection, shame wounds, not feeling like we have a place, not knowing where we’re headed, not knowing what this is all about.

 

These deep existential issues. So, it’s always wise to look around what’s happening in society. It’s easy to look at somebody who’s suffering from addiction and say, that person sick, that person has a real problem going on. It’s much more difficult to go; actually, the whole society’s sick, and the fact that there’s so much addiction is a symptom of a larger societal ill.

 

 

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What does it mean to be vulnerable?

Being Vulnerable in Recovery

If you come to treatment or you are coming to recovery, one word you will definitely hear is vulnerability. The importance of being vulnerable in the therapeutic relationship–particularly in treatment–is something you might hear from a spouse as well. 

 

On the one hand, I think it is a word a lot of people have heard–definitely in California. On the other hand, it is a word that is often misunderstood. I think the way people automatically take the idea of being more vulnerable is allowing people to see and feel a certain domain of my emotional life, allowing people to see my sensitivity, allowing people to see my compassion, allowing people to see my sadness. It is what we think about when we hear the word vulnerability.

 

What is Vulnerability?

One definition I like that a friend of mine–Mordecai Finley–uses is: vulnerability actually is not about letting people see your softer emotions, it is allowing yourself to affect and be affected by other people. 

 

Vulnerability is on some level a certain amount of emotional openness that is not appropriate for every area of your life. For instance, when I am walking into Wells Fargo going cash a check, there is just no need for me to be vulnerable. 

 

Why is it Important to be Vulnerable?

 

In my home life with my wife, with my children, in a therapeutic process, in a transformational process, in an intimate moment with a friend or lover–in those moments being able to allow what is going on with that person to affect me. Often we will call that empathy, and also knowing that I am affecting another person.

 

That interpersonal exchange, that is the essence of what vulnerability is about. I think it is important–not just for a recovery process–but I do not think you can have a healthy life or healthy meaningful relationships without vulnerability. 

 

 

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Transparency in Treatment: What Does it Mean?

When you are entering into recovery there are a few terms or words, ideas that you will hear over and over again. And they are outlining the contours of the space we are inhabiting when we are working on ourselves to transform–when we are engaging in recovery, when we are looking at optimal well-being. 

 

Transparency in Treatment

In treatment in particular, one of the terms that they will use is “transparency”. And I will talk about the value of therapeutic transparency. What they mean when they say that is being able to talk about what is happening internally. 

 

First of all–this piece is really crucial–be clear. Understand what is happening inside of yourself. When you understand what is happening inside of yourself and being able to articulate it out loud so that you can be supportable or get the kind of support you need

 

Transparency as a Metaphor

They use transparency, obviously, as a metaphor. Meaning make yourself see through, so that I can understand what is going on, so I can come in and help you. 

 

I mean, on the one hand, that is an essential and completely valuable way of approaching transformation especially with outside support. On the other hand, you cannot take it completely literally, because we all actually have a right to privacy. 

 

What does Transparency Really Mean?

Really what we mean when we say “be transparent”, is share about the important therapeutic processes and things I need to know, the information that I need to help you. But those things that are private, that you are not comfortable sharing, or that maybe do not fit in this domain that you are working on, you can keep those to yourself.

 

 

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Medication Assisted Treatment

Medication assisted treatment (including Suboxone and Vivitrol)

 

Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) is using pharmaceutical medications, prescribed medications to help treat active addiction. 

 

It’s different than just the psychiatric medication that you use to treat underlying conditions of depression and anxiety. MAT treatment is a specific classification of drugs that are used to affect the addiction directly. And so there are agonists and antagonists drugs that provide an effect similar to the drug you were using, but allow you to be more functional and reduce the harm around the habit. You don’t break the habit you use something that’s like a derivative of that substance that would be like subtext for opiates or methadone. 

 

It’s a similar molecular structure and has similar effects but you can manage it better and you don’t deal with all of the negative repercussions or most of the negative repercussions of using heroin. 

 

Then there are the blockers that stop the effect or deter people from using certain substances and abuse of a trial. That’s that classes of drugs. And basically, that’s it’s come into treatment in recovery very strong.

 

It started with methadone a few decades ago, and then Suboxone a couple decades ago has become very popular. 

 

And it’s understandable. Basically, we’ve been in the midst of a pretty serious opiate epidemic and people are dying. You have city officials, county officials, government officials, parents, loved ones and society as a whole having a conversation about what we do about this. 

 

There are lots of research studies that show that people have a better chance of achieving recovery if they use medication-assisted treatment. 

 

Those studies are complex and I want to get too into that. They’re complicated questions to ask about those studies and their different opinions. It’s not univocal, and everybody has the same opinion. But I want to look at it in general. So what’s going on here? How do we think about this? 

 

You deal with different perspectives on MAT

 

So if I’m a government official, and there are thousands of people dying in my district, or in my state, or in my city. I’m thinking, “How do I stop people from dying?” I’m gonna take 100 million dollars, and I’m going to put it into what statistically is the most beneficial thing, medication-assisted treatment, people have to stop dying. And it’s really all the government can do.

 

The government can’t assign an individual therapist, a psychiatrist, long term treatment, isolate people on an island, the government doesn’t have the ability to do nuanced individualized care. 

 

For each and every person who suffers from addiction, the government can’t assign treatment to even 5% of the people who need it. 

 

So I think, how do we stop an epidemic?  On that level, it makes perfect sense and I get it. On the individual level, it’s much more complex. I’ll give an easy example. If somebody is a poly substance abuser, let’s say somebody is 23 years old, they use and this is not uncommon. opiates or methamphetamine or cocaine or alcohol or marijuana. 

 

That’s a lot of young people, they use all kinds of stuff, whatever they get their hands on. They also lack discipline, and they lack a lot of structure and maturity. So they actually don’t know how to do basic things like make their bed. That’s something like 60% of the population and people in treatment right now. They don’t know how to live well. 

 

One of the things I’ve concerned about with Suboxone is the difficulty in getting off of Suboxone.

 

If you go look up, get off of Suboxone and go read the personal forums. You will see how incredibly hard it is. It’s kind of scary. It takes about 45 days, let’s say you’ve been on Suboxone and you started at a 12-milligram dosage, which is normal. And you’ve gotten all the way down to one milligram after three years. 

 

Then you decide, this is getting in the way of my growth, my psychological well being, and I don’t want to be dependent on this anymore. It’s been years. I’ve seen people want to get off one milligram of Suboxone, that it was a 45-day taper meaning take a little tiny bit just less than one milligram, little less over 45 days, and then another month without the substance to get through we call the acute and then sub-acute detox phases. 

 

Then you’re no longer having the physiological symptoms, but you’ve got months and sometimes even a year to deal with the underlying issues and depression that comes up after having been on this substance for so long. 

 

I’m really concerned about putting thousands or hundreds of thousands or millions of people on Suboxone medication over long periods of time. 

 

What that looks like if there are negative psychological effects down the road. I don’t think we know. Some experts say to never take people off Suboxone. Once they’re on for two or three years. You leave them on it forever. But there’s nobody that’s been on Suboxone for 50 years. It hasn’t been around that long. We don’t know what that means and what that looks like. We still use Suboxone individually. 

 

It’s up to the treatment providers to figure out how to effectively administer Suboxone in smart ways.

 

Then to compile that data and share it with the rest of the community.  

 

Vivitrol is another option

 

I’m a huge fan of Vivitrol, Vivitrol is a blocker, and what Vivitrol does is two things, it stops you from being able to get high immediately from opiates. You can do it in an injectable form, which is a little frightening, but it lasts a month. 

 

On the one hand, it physically stops you from being able to do your substance of choice. On the other hand, it’s psychologically really helpful if I’m obsessive, but I know I can’t get high. And I’m willing to get into recovery, it’s a great message to send to myself. You could do Vivitrol with very little side effects for a year and a half, or six months.

 

Even with Vivitrol, we don’t know the long term psychological effects.

 

It’s been around 20 years, but they’re not great research and study on this stuff. And everybody’s very different with how they respond to the medication. I’m in favor, in general, of anything that helps people recover and get better, and of course, in favor of people not dying. But we also have to weigh these different claims. And figure out how we use medications in a way that’s effective for individual situations. That’s not an easy task. It’s going to be everybody working together and having conversations like this about medication-assisted treatment.

 

 

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Medication Assisted Treatment for Substance Abuse

Overcoming addiction isn’t easy. Those struggling with addiction often require a comprehensive approach addressing substance abuse and underlying causes.  Addiction professionals use a variety of tools and evidence-based treatments to guide an individual towards a successful recovery.

 

Counseling and behavioral therapy can be effective for addressing underlying issues and triggers. Also, developing a strong support network is crucial for helping an individual through hard times and preventing relapse.

 

Can medications help with addiction? 

 

Evidence says medications can be extremely helpful for some types of substance use disorders.

 

Medication assisted treatment (MAT) is one of the many tools addiction professionals may use to help those with chronic and/or severe addiction. MAT can save lives and help get individuals focused on their recovery.

 

Addiction is a disease affecting the brain and body. Without proper treatment, it only gets worse–destroying relationships, families, careers, physical & mental health, and life itself.  Those diagnosed with cancer or diabetes wouldn’t think twice about taking medications to treat their conditions. Why should treating addiction be any different?   

 

It shouldn’t. In fact, agencies like the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry, The National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the Centers for Disease Control all recommend MAT as a first line treatment for opioid and other substance use disorders. 

 

What is Medication Assisted Treatment?

 

Medication assisted treatment (MAT) uses a combination of behavioral therapy and FDA-approved medications in the treatment process. Studies have shown MAT is effective in helping those struggling with opioid, alcohol, and other addictions.

 

MAT helps to relieve withdrawal symptoms and psychological cravings. These medications also help to safely restore chemical imbalances caused by substance abuse. 

 

But isn’t that just substituting one drug for another?

 

This is a common misconception of medication assisted treatment. As you probably know, substance abuse can destroy your physical, mental, and emotional health. The medications used to treat opioid and other addictions are provided at safe doses that do not affect a person’s mental, physical, and daily functioning. 

 

In short: MAT replaces drugs that can destroy your life–and kill you–with safer medications that ultimately help you.  

 

MAT gives those struggling with opioid or alcohol addiction a chance to release the suffocating hold these substances create. Combining MAT with behavioral therapy allows a person to refocus on a life that is free from the dangerous substances taking control of the body and mind.  

 

Doctors prescribing these medications closely monitor individuals to ensure they are given safe, therapeutic doses.

 

What Medications are Used for MAT?

 

For those struggling with addiction to opioids like heroin, oxycodone, codeine, morphine and hydrocodone, the following drugs may be used in different situations:

  • Methadone
  • Buprenorphine
  • Naltrexone
  • Naloxone 

 

Drugs like methadone and buprenorphine activate opioid receptors to help suppress cravings. Naltrexone, on the other hand, blocks the sedative and euphoric effects of opioids. In fact, naltrexone prevents a person from getting that “high” feeling from opioids or even alcohol.

 

Naloxone (Narcon) serves a different purpose. It rapidly reverses the effects of an opioid overdose. It’s been used by first responders, police, and addiction professionals to save lives of those overdosing on opioids. 

 

MAT may also help those with alcohol addiction by using:

 

  • Acamprosate
  • Naltrexone
  • Disulfiram

 

Acamprosate, for example, helps to restore the disrupted changes in the brain caused by chronic alcohol abuse. This safe, well-tolerated drug has been used to treat over 1.5 million patients throughout the world. In fact, acamprosate is safe even when a person suffers a brief relapse. 

 

As with any drug, you want to make sure the doctor reviews your complete medical history and current medications. Discuss any potential side effects and risks of using MAT drugs. Also, be sure to consult with your doctor or treatment team before stopping any medications.

 

Medications used to treat addiction are not “magic bullets” that quickly make your addiction go away. You still have to do the personal work to address causes, triggers, and moving forward. MAT does, however, provide an opportunity to counteract some of the physical and neurobiological effects of abstaining from your drug of choice.

 

What are the Benefits of Medication Assisted Treatment?

 

As a part of a holistic drug treatment program, MAT medications are safe, cost effective ways to help manage addiction. They can also:

  • Reduce the risk of potentially fatal overdoses
  • Keep you engaged in treatment
  • Reduce cravings
  • Help stabilize your mood and emotions
  • Prevent engaging in dangerous or criminal behavior
  • Help with your social and occupational functioning
  • Reduce risk of contracting HIV or hepatitis C due to unsafe needle use
  • Improve birth outcomes among pregnant women with substance use disorders

 

Common Medication Assisted Treatment Myths

 

MAT research and data proves better outcomes and significant reductions in relapse. Still, some individuals–and even practitioners–are reluctant to embrace MAT.

 

But why?

 

For some, they may not have the correct information. Others may feel completely abstaining from any drugs is the best method of recovery. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) states that MAT is “greatly undersused.”

 

We already talked about why medication assisted treatment is more than replacing one drug for another. Here are a few other MAT myths that need to be debunked:

  • MAT only provides short term results. Individuals using MAT for up to 2 years have the greatest rates of long-term success.
  • MAT is only for those with a chronic, severe substance use disorder. MAT uses a variety of medications that can be modified to fit the unique needs of most patients–especially those struggling with opioids.
  • MAT makes overdose more likely. MAT helps to prevent overdoses. Once someone detoxes from opioids, even one brief relapse can cause a fatal overdose. MAT helps reduce cravings and gives those struggling with opioids a safer alternative.
  • MAT keeps a person from experiencing a full recovery. MAT allows a person to function better and enjoy a better quality of life so they can focus on the personal issues contributing to their addictive behaviors.

 

Is Medication Assisted Treatment Right for You?   

 

Looking for addiction treatment in a values-based program that emphasizes dignity, respect, and compassion? Recover Integrity gives men dealing with life-threatening addiction a chance to refocus and recenter their lives on what is truly important.

 

When appropriate, Recover Integrity uses the latest, evidence-based medication assisted treatment as part of their holistic recovery program

 

Tried 30-day programs with little or no success? Our exclusive, extended care addiction treatment for men offers an opportunity to comfortably address your issues and move past the dark tunnel of addiction.

 

Call (310) 294-9030 to get help now. 

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