Drug addiction is a treatable disorder that affects millions of Americans. People can gain the strength and balance to overcome drug addiction through individualized treatment, support groups, or recovery centers.
Treatment options may include counseling, support groups such as psychotherapy, and various medications to help suppress the withdrawal symptoms. Recovery programs aim to sustain lasting abstinence, but the immediate goal is to reduce the patient’s use of drugs.
Today, several types of treatments for drug addiction: Short-term residential methods, medicated therapy, outpatient drug-free treatment, and therapeutic communities. These options vary significantly in cost, but many are free altogether.
Drug Addiction And Recovery Options
Short-term inpatient treatment
Short-term residential treatment involves a 3 to 6-week inpatient phase ending with outpatient therapy. Through the 12-step program, outpatient therapy often includes support groups such as Narcotics Anonymous and Cocaine Anonymous.
Inpatient treatment requires the addicted person to live at the treatment facility. There are thousands of these centers across the country, and they have a wide range of programs and prices.
Some centers are located in major cities, while others focus on placing the addicted person deep into the natural environment or on a ranch. As many of these programs are expensive, what’s most important when choosing a center is that it fits your price point and has solid reviews and recovery numbers from former patients.
Outpatient treatment
Outpatient treatment for drug addiction utilizes clinic visits rather than living on-site. This program is for those with relatively stable and well-integrated lives, except for abusing drugs. Outpatient treatment usually allows for the recovering addict to continue living at home.
Depending on the type of addiction and treatment required, the recovering addict will visit the treatment center 2-7 times per week for 4-8 hours.
They will receive individualized counseling, attend group sessions, and do the transformative work of starting to structure a new life free of drugs.
For many drug addicts, outpatient treatment is the best option for convenience and cost.
Opiate Abusers
For opiate abusers, this type of therapy can be tricky because of their need for a medical detox stage. Methadone, a potent synthetic narcotic drug, C21H27NO, is less addictive than morphine or heroin and is often used to substitute these drugs in addiction treatment programs.
Methadone programs are usually more successful with patients with opiate dependence. Still, the best results typically come from inpatient programs that provide counseling and medical care.
Sober Living Communities
Sober Living Communities are residential programs where patients reside in home-like environments between 6-to-12 months. This treatment is encouraged for those whose abuse has driven patients to create criminal acts or become highly introverted due to addiction.
This treatment aims to create a drug-free, crime-free, secure social environment.
Often referred to in the past as Halfway Houses, many recovering addicts use this type of treatment after graduating from medical detox or inpatient care.
Suppose a person is committed to recovery but not ready to return to their original living arrangement. In that case, sober living is an essential option to consider.
Sober living requires residents to remain sober and submit to regular drug testing but usually offers more freedom than most inpatient programs.
Again, the price range is significant; you could expect anywhere from $100 to $2500 monthly, depending on location and service. Although, the majority will fall between $500 to $800 per month.
Narcotics Anonymous
Drug addiction can severely impact the abuser’s life and the lives of those around them. If you or someone you know abuses drugs contacting your local Narcotics Anonymous organization is a solid first step.
In 1947, Narcotics Anonymous sprouted from the Alcohol Anonymous movement in the early 1940s. You can find Narcotics Anonymous organizations almost anywhere. Globally they hold over twenty thousand meetings a week in over sixty countries.
A pamphlet called “The White Booklet” describes Narcotics Anonymous as “a nonprofit community for whom drugs have become a major problem.”
Recovering addicts who meet regularly help each other stay clean
Like its predecessor, Narcotics Anonymous derived much of its success from a twelve-step program. Like AA meetings, people meet and are encouraged to share their personal experiences and guide each other toward a solution.
The program encourages its members to participate with complete abstinence from all drugs, including alcohol. Studies have shown that members are more likely to succeed in dealing with their addiction by observing strict abstinence.
If you are interested in joining NA, you must first have an authentic and true desire to quit. Typically, upon calling your local service office, a member of NA will ask to speak with the person struggling with addiction, and things will progress.
There is no fee for NA services as the community is self-sufficient based on donations. Please contact your local NA organization if you or someone you know currently struggles with drug addiction.
Federally Assisted Drug and Alcohol Treatment Centers
For many homeless people, life can move from self-imposed isolation to episodes of depression and drug abuse.
Fortunately, the federal government works through community health centers nationwide that help the homeless by directly providing primary care services, including alcohol and substance abuse counseling and treatment.
It is essential to recognize that most people suffering from severe addictions to drugs and alcohol problems rarely become homeless because of their addiction.
They become homeless because they lost their job or became ill or disabled. People also become sick from the unrelenting stress associated with living in extreme poverty.
Federally Qualified Treatment Classifications
Today, there are several approaches to treating drug addiction. They include short-term residential care, outpatient drug-free treatment, and therapeutic communities.
Short-Term Residential
Short-term residential treatment usually requires a 3 to 6-week inpatient phase leading to outpatient therapy. Outpatient therapy is typically some form of twelve-step program and often includes peer support group participation.uu
Outpatient Drug-Free
Outpatient drug-free therapy relies on clinic visits and individual and group talk therapy rather than medications. The outpatient drug therapy approach works best for patients with a solid friend-and-family support network. Outpatient drug-free treatment is not recommended for those patients with life-threatening addictions.
Therapeutic Communities
This treatment classification is used for those whose substance abuse has made them violent to themselves or those around them. Therapeutic communities are essentially residential programs. Patients typically reside in the facility between 6 to 12 months.
People Learning How To Recover From Addiction
More on Federally Qualified Treatment Centers
The US Department of Health and Human Resources qualifies Community Health Centers. They are community-based patient-directed organizations that serve people with no or limited access to basic health care services, including the homeless and residents of public housing.
Community Health Centers see and treat more than 1 million homeless people a year and nearly 190,000 public housing residents. They also serve the health needs of almost 862,000 farmworkers and their families.
Community Health Centers only ask you to pay what you can afford based on your income.
Health centers provide mental and emotional health and substance abuse care and treatment.
To locate a center near you, visit the Community Health Centers website.
