Addiction Treatment; Following the psychiatric evaluation of the patient, neuropsychiatric and psychological tests are performed to clarify the diagnosis.
Following the clarification of the diagnosis in addiction treatment, he is evaluated from a psychosocial perspective and a family interview is conducted. If an outpatient treatment plan is decided upon after the evaluations, he is enrolled in an outpatient treatment program.
Addiction is a treatable brain disease; it must be remembered that addiction is treatable.
The required features for an effective addiction treatment are listed below.
- Revealing the diagnosis or co-diagnoses
- Determining suitability for treatment
- Making initial treatment recommendations and the plan
- Making the plan for psychosocial treatment
- Evaluating risks and contraindications for recommended treatments
- Requesting a consultation from the relevant department if co-diagnoses are suspected.
- A complete history
- Physical examination
- Mental status examination
- Relevant laboratory tests
- Psychiatric evaluation
Addiction Treatment and Substance Screening
In addiction treatment, it is important for clinicians to periodically and regularly screen all patients for substance and alcohol use disorders. Screening is crucial in the medical approach to addiction treatment. Early diagnosis and intervention facilitate treatment. In addition, screening is important for addiction, misuse, or potential side effects when prescribing opioid-containing medications for pain in addiction treatment.
Initial screening should consist of objective screening instruments, laboratory evaluation, and an interview. If addiction (use disorder) is suspected as a result of the initial evaluation, further evaluation should be pursued.
Treatment at the AMATEM clinic must be individualized for the patient.
Furthermore, pharmacological and psychosocial interventions specific to the substance or behavior to which he is addicted differ, meaning the same treatment is not applied. Just like in other chronic diseases, complete recovery—that is, the disappearance of the disease as if it never existed—is not possible in addiction either. It would be more accurate to speak of remission or change instead of recovery.
In addiction treatment, what is meant by change can be defined as the person stopping his use, as well as being able to control his craving for the substance he uses, maintaining an orderly life, coping with negative events he experiences without alcohol or drugs, and developing his strength to cope with stress and his skill in controlling negative emotions.
Stages of the Person in Addiction Treatment
Addiction treatment aims to identify the factors that may cause use in his treatment and to bring these needs to a level that can be met without alcohol and drugs. However, when these points are neglected in addiction treatment and he relapses into use, it is an expected situation for the disease to flare up and rapidly turn into problematic use.
Although recovery in addiction treatment shows some differences from person to person, each stage generally has its own specific characteristics.
- Withdrawal Stage (0-1 month): The initial period is the most difficult for the addicted person who quits alcohol or drugs. This period is when he experiences physical and psychological troubles that we define as withdrawal. During this period, he may experience sudden positive and negative emotional fluctuations.
- Honeymoon Stage (1-3 months): Towards the end of the first month, with the disappearance of withdrawal symptoms and the decrease in the craving to use alcohol or drugs, he thinks that he has recovered and that the addiction problem has completely disappeared. Many things have changed in his life during this period. Having a regular job, an orderly life, and continuous relationships are very good for him.
- Boredom Stage (3-6 months): Towards the end of 3 months, boredom, fatigue, lethargy, and depression may be observed in him. He may lose the existing enthusiasm for change. An orderly life may have bored him, and nostalgia for the past may have begun. Therefore, it is important to understand the difficulty he experiences and to support him, especially during this period.
- New Life Stage (6 months and beyond): Although emotional fluctuations are more frequently observed in the first 6 months, the period after 6 months passes relatively more comfortably in terms of establishing a new lifestyle, making new friends, and searching for new pleasures.
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