Opiate Addiction in Harlingen, TX

At our drug and alcohol addiction rehab for opiate addiction in Harlingen, we tell our patients that they need to understand what they suffer -- an illness, a mental and physical disorder. It is something that can only be met with the appropriate medical attention. If someone you know struggles with an addiction to opiate prescription painkillers, the nature of the problem at hand is something you need to keep in mind -- it takes medical attention to help them.

Can Addiction Be Escaped with Willpower?

Addictions to opiate/opioid painkillers often come about when a doctor writes out a prescription for them, for a genuine health issue. When a patient's mind harbors fundamental psychiatric disorders or psychological issues, it isn't uncommon to see them manifest as soon as access to such painkillers is established. Substance abuse and addictive behavior result.

Many people, believing addiction to be all about willpower, will try to use the force of their will alone to get out of their habit; some do succeed.

In most cases, however, success tends to be of the technical variety, and not the real kind. A relapse or return to addiction will usually occur within months. In some, the addiction is simply replaced with another addiction -- to eating, gambling or even marijuana.

Thorough treatment at an opiate addiction rehab center is the only way to decisively deal with such an addiction. It ensures not only that the habit is terminated, but that the fundamental impulse leading to it is addressed, as well, so that the patient achieves sobriety, not sublimation to other forms of addiction.

Getting Past Denial

Addicts tend to be in denial about their addiction. It isn't something that they do on purpose -- it is, instead, the way their brains react when affected by drugs. Drugs have a way of changing thought and mental processes in several ways. While simply attempting to have a reasonable conversation with an addict rarely works, repeated attempts can help, if done with sufficient sensitivity.

At our center for opiate addiction in Harlingen, we recommend the use of professional intervention. Professionals with training help friends and family gently get their addicted loved one get past the veil of denial, and bring them into rehab.

The First Steps of Rehab

At our center for opiate addiction in Harlingen, the first thing that we do when we welcome the patient in, is to ensure that the problem in question really is addiction; there are other, less harmful relationships possible to substance abuse.

If the problem in question is substance abuse alone, there still is considerable help needed. Treatment tends to focus on psychiatric and therapeutic intervention to ensure that fundamental problems are addressed.

If our assessment team of addiction specialist do determine the presence of addiction, there is considerable work needed. To begin, we thoroughly investigate the addiction to build a detailed picture of the condition of the patient. We look at the patient's physical, mental and emotional health. Then, we begin to put together a treatment plan for addiction treatment in Harlingen.

Treatment begins with detox, a phase immediately following drug withdrawal. The brain, when chemically adapted to the presence of drugs, tends to have a very hard time coping with sudden chemical changes of any kind. It's important to go through this process in a careful way to ensure minimal discomfort. Among other things, patients face/body aches, digestive issues, abdominal cramping, anxiety and agitation.

Quitting cold turkey is not the right approach, risk of relapse is highest with such patients. It's important to go through the process in a safe, medically valid method. The rehab may offer you methadone or buprenorphine as part of a drug replacement course, in addition to medications for symptomatic relief.

Once medical detox successfully concludes, we recommend that the patient take an often lengthy but completely necessary course of therapeutic intervention. Therapists look into the reasons a person's mind may drift towards substance abuse.

If the patient suffers from a painful condition and needs painkillers, it can be a problem for rehab. Physicians are tasked with finding other, effective ways in collaboration with the doctors or other treatment officials.

Opiate addiction rehab is a course that requires careful expertise. In many cases, inpatient drug rehab in Harlingen is essential. You should come in and talk to our addiction experts for information specifically aimed at the condition. A call is all it takes (877) 804-1531.