Addiction Treatment; After the psychiatric evaluation of the patient, neuropsychiatric and psychological tests are performed to clarify the diagnosis.
After the diagnosis is clarified in addiction treatment, the person is evaluated psychosocially and a family interview is conducted. If an outpatient treatment plan is decided after the evaluations, the person is admitted to an outpatient treatment program.
Addiction is a treatable brain disease, it should not be forgotten that addiction is treatable.
The characteristics required for an effective addiction treatment are listed below.
- To reveal the diagnosis or comorbidities
- Determine eligibility for treatment
- Making initial treatment recommendations and plan
- Planning for psychosocial treatment
- Assess risks and contraindications for recommended treatments
- If comorbidities are considered, ask for consultation from the relevant department.
- A complete history
- Physical examination
- Mental status examination
- Relevant laboratory tests
- Psychiatric evaluation
Addiction Treatment and Drug Screening
In addiction treatment, it is important that clinicians periodically and regularly screen all patients for substance and alcohol use disorders. Screening is very important in the medical approach to addiction treatment. Early diagnosis and intervention facilitate treatment. In addition, screening for addiction, abuse or possible side effects is important when prescribing opioid-containing drugs used for pain in addiction treatment.
Initial screening should consist of objective screening instruments, laboratory evaluation and interview. If addiction (use disorder) is suspected as a result of the initial evaluation, further evaluation should be initiated.
Treatment in an Amatem clinic should be individualized to the patient.
In addition, pharmacological and psychosocial interventions differ depending on the substance or behavior to which the patient is addicted, and the same treatment is not applied. Just like other chronic diseases, it is not possible for addiction treatment to be completely cured, that is, for the disease to disappear as if it had never happened. Instead of recovery, it would be more accurate to say improvement or change.
In addiction treatment, what is meant by change can be defined as the ability to control the desire for the substance used, to continue a regular life, to cope with negative events without alcohol or drugs, to cope with stress and to control negative emotions.
Person's Stages in Addiction Treatment
The aim of addiction treatment is to identify the factors that may cause the person to use and to ensure that these needs can be met without alcohol or drugs. However, when these points are left incomplete in addiction treatment and the person relapses, it is expected that the disease will exacerbate and return to problematic use in a short time.
Although recovery in addiction treatment varies from person to person, each period usually has its own characteristics.
- Abstinence Period (0-1 month): The first period is the most difficult for the addict who quits alcohol or drugs. This is a period of physical and mental distress, which we define as withdrawal. The person may experience positive and negative sudden emotional ups and downs during this period.
- Euphoria period (1-3 months): Towards the end of the first month, when the withdrawal symptoms disappear and the desire to use alcohol or drugs decreases, the person thinks that he/she has recovered and that the addiction problem has completely disappeared. During this period, many things have changed in his/her life. A regular job, a regular life, stable relationships are very good for the person.
- Boredom period (3-6 months): Towards the end of 3 months, boredom, fatigue, weakness and depression may be observed. The person may lose the enthusiasm for change. Regular life may have bored the person and they may start longing for the old. For this reason, it is important to understand and support the difficulty the person is experiencing, especially during this period.
- New life period (6 months and beyond): Although emotional ups and downs are more common in the first 6 months, the period after 6 months is relatively comfortable in terms of creating a new lifestyle, making new friends and seeking new pleasures.
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