Meth Addiction Treatment
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Meth Addiction Treatment

Meth Addiction TreatmentMeth addiction treatment can help you or your loved one recover from meth addiction. Please continue to read on to learn about what works well for those in recovery from meth addiction and the types of methods you should to look for in a successful meth addiction treatment program.

What are the challenges facing those in meth addiction treatment?

Recovering from any addiction can be difficult, but chronic meth use affects the brain in ways that make addiction recovery doubly challenging. Meth users face cognitive deficits and very low mood during the initial period of abstinence. Memory, concentration and decision making skills are all severely compromised, making it far more difficult for meth addicts in recovery to follow treatment directions and comply with treatment recommendations.

Meth addiction treatment and recovery takes a long time, and some of the damage done is irreversible. Some meth users will start to see significant improvements after a year or two, but waiting for a year or more to start feeling better can be very challenging when coupled with strong cravings to use the drug. At about 45 days of sobriety, many recovering meth addicts "run into a wall", experiencing a surge in depressive symptoms and finding it very difficult to experience any pleasure. Unless a person is prepared for this sudden intensification of symptoms, relapse is likely.

What are the principles of effective meth addiction treatment programs?

Meth addicts benefit most when engaged in meth addiction treatment programs designed to compensate for some of the cognitive and emotional deficits that occur during lengthy meth withdrawal. Some of the principals of effective meth addiction treatment include:

  • Rehab programs should help recovering meth addicts get back on their feet, with vocational or educational classes and job opportunities
  • Drug rehab programs should offer cognitive behavioral therapy as a primary treatment technique
  • Meth addiction treatment should attend to any health deficits caused by the use of meth (such as dental problems or nutritional deficiencies) and should offer referrals for necessary treatment or direct care
  • Drug rehabilitation should include a substantial relapse prevention component, which teaches how to avoid temptation and to manage cravings that do occur
  • Treatment should include life-skills training within a matrix of programming
  • Drug rehab should last for at least 3 months, or preferably, a year
  • Treatment should offer highly structured and intensive programming, and should respond to needs in all areas of life
  • Residential meth addiction treatment works best for people with long term or heavy meth addictions. A period of inpatient treatment helps people avoid temptation during the initial very risky period. People who inject meth and people with co-occurring disorders will also likely need residential treatment.

Today, there are some very effective meth addiction treatment methods. Here are the top addiction recovery methods that have been proven to help meth addicts recover:

  • Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) – An evidence based therapy that teaches meth addicts to understand why they use, what situations and people trigger cravings to use, how to avoid cravings and how to deal with cravings that do occur. CBT offers real-world techniques and strategies that can be practiced and that are proven to work. CBT should be an essential component of any comprehensive meth addiction treatment program.
  • Contingency reinforcement – Therapists that apply contingency reinforcement principals to meth recovery use rewards as positive reinforcement for meeting treatment goals. Rewards are typically vouchers for things such as a restaurant meal or movie tickets, which are given after positive events, such as a clean drug test. These small positive rewards are shown to help improve treatment retention; and since nothing predicts positive outcome more reliably than a lengthy involvement in treatment, this is very important.
  • Family Involvement –Addicts who stay in meth addiction treatment have a far better chance than those who drop out early. Research proves that family involvement in the treatment process lengthens the time spent in treatment by the addict. Family members can lend invaluable support, particularly during early recovery, when cognitive and emotional deficits may make treatment compliance challenging.
  • Education – Methamphetamine addicts who are taught about the drug, the effect it has on the body and brain, the characteristics of meth addiction, relapse and recovery and the physiological and psychiatric implications of abstinence are more likely to stay involved in treatment than meth addicts who do not receive this education.

Meth Addiction Treatment
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Meth Facts

  • High-Intensity Meth Abuse: The high-intensity abusers are the addicts, often called “speed freaks”. Their whole existence focuses on preventing the crash, that painful letdown after the drug high. In order to achieve the desired “rush” from the drug, they must take more and more of it. But as with other drugs, each successive meth high is less than the one before, urging the meth addict into a dark and deadly spiral of addiction.
  • The Stages of the Meth “Experience”:
    The Rush- A rush is the initial response the abuser feels when smoking or injecting methamphetamine. During the rush, the abuser’s heartbeat races and metabolism, blood pressure and pulse soar. Unlike the rush associated with crack cocaine, which lasts for approximately two to five minutes, the methamphetamine rush can continue for 30 minutes or longer.
  • The Stages of the Meth “Experience”:
    The High- The rush is followed by a high, sometimes called “the shoulder” but more so called “the peak” or “peaking”. During the high, the abuser often feels aggressively smarter and becomes argumentative, often interrupting other people and finishing their sentences. The delusional effects can result in an user becoming intensely focused on a mundane or inconsequential item, such as repeatedly cleaning the same window for several hours. The high can last 4-16 hours or longer depending on how much was taken or how potent the dose was that was taken.
  • The Stages of the Meth “Experience”:
    The Binge- A binge is uncontrolled use of a drug or alcohol. It refers to the abuser’s urge to maintain the high by smoking or injecting more methamphetamine. The binge can last 3-15 days. During the binge, the abuser becomes hyperactive both mentally and physically. Each time the abuser smokes or injects more of the drug, he experiences another but smaller rush until, finally, there is no rush and no high.
  • The Stages of the Meth “Experience”:
    Tweaking- A methamphetamine abuser is most dangerous when experiencing a phase of the addiction called “tweaking” – a condition reached at the end of a drug binge when methamphetamine no longer provides a rush or a high. Unable to relieve the dreadful feelings of emptiness and craving, an abuser loses his sense of identity. Intense itching is common and an user can become convinced that bugs are crawling under his skin. Unable to sleep for days at a time, the abuser is often in a completely psychotic state and he exists in his own world, seeing and hearing things that no one else can perceive. His hallucinations are so vivid that they seem real and disconnected from reality, he can become hostile and dangerous to himself and others. The potential for self-mutilation is high.
  • The Stages of the Meth “Experience”:
    The Crash- To a binge abuser, the crash happens when the body shuts down, unable to cope with the drug effects overwhelming it; this results in a long period of sleep for the person. Even the meanest most violent abuser becomes almost lifeless during the crash and poses a threat to no one. The crash can last one to three days.
  • The Stages of the Meth “Experience”:
    Meth Hangover- After the crash, the abuser returns in a deteriorated state, starved, dehydrated and utterly exhausted physically, mentally and emotionally. This stage ordinarily lasts between 2 and 14 days. This leads to enforced addiction, as the “solution” to these feelings is to take more meth.
  • The Stages of the Meth “Experience”:
    Withdrawal- Often 30 to 90 days can pass after the last drug use before the abuser realizes that he is in withdrawal. First, he becomes depressed, loses his energy and the ability to experience pleasure. Then the craving for more methamphetamine hits, and the abuser often becomes suicidal. Since meth withdrawal is extremely painful and arduous, most abusers often revert; thus, 93% of those in traditional treatment return to abusing methamphetamine.