Helping a Heroin Addict - Choices For Opiate Addiction
For those living in England with heroin addiction, help is not really available from the National Health System ( NHS ) although the first place opiate addicts and family usually go to is their GP. In my view the system is flawed as the impetus is on sending the heroin addict to the methadone clinic. What we end up with is a bunch of zombie like drug addicts who continue to be a burden on society and to the social network. The drug addict still enslaved. Private residential rehabilitation is the other option. Let’s look at all the “options” available.
“What we end up with is a bunch of zombie like drug addicts who continue to be a burden on society and to the social network. The drug addict still enslaved. Private residential rehabilitation is the other option. Let’s look at all the “options””
I agree that there are other options but tghis statement seems to try to close down one of the major options calle Medically Assisted Treatment.
I have many friends who are living fine lives, raising families, and are actively involved in advocacy, all because of methadone. If you met them, you would not even know that they are taking a medication for their disease.
They come from all walks of life. Some are heroin users, others became addicted to pills. In the US, there are approximately 260,000 patients being treated with methadone in 1,203 registered and certified OTPs.
“For example, Stoller and Bigelow (2006) [3] note that the actual prevalence of heroin addiction is difficult to estimate, but that the Office of National Drug Control Policy estimates that in the US “hardcore” heroin addicts number between 750,000 and 1 million. Accordingly, it is quite reasonable to assume that undiagnosed heroin and non-hardcore opioid abusers bring that number well above the 1 million person mark.”
Source:
http://www.baltimorehealth.org/info/CEanal_bupre_final.05242007.report%202.pdf
And we have not touched those who take pain medications addictively.
There are others who have found help through other types of treatment.
There are tons of ways to get help for a drug addiction, the question is being able to find the right treatment for you. Drug addiction is a very serious issue, that should not be left untreated, because when left untreated the consequences and effects will continue to worsen over time. Drug addiction treatment really can make a change in an addicts life, and for those who are addicts, you should not be afraid to seek professional help because I can promise you that it will help! You will in fact be a changed person, where you do not want those drugs anymore, you will be clean, healthy, and happy.