What Is the Best Substance Abuse Treatment?

Excessive drug use or alcohol consumption can lead to loss of control over your life. Once you become a drug addict or an alcoholic, you need treatment to regain sobriety. Unfortunately, many people start using drugs as a way of having fun during their university or college years. However, this habit leads to an addiction that many people battle with many years after school.

Substance abuse can be defined as overindulgence or dependence on an addictive substance, especially drugs or alcohol. When a person becomes addicted to a drug or alcohol, they experience many withdrawal symptoms when they try to stop using it. But, how do you tell that you have a substance abuse problem?

Signs of Substance Use Disorder

You have a substance abuse problem if you exhibit the following symptoms:

• Using a drug or alcohol to feel “normal”.
• Having mood swings or memory loss.
• Suffering unpleasant emotional and physical symptoms when you attempt to stop.
• Struggling with daily activities like completing homework or attending classes.  
• Continued use even when the negative effects of the drug or alcohol are apparent.

When people have the symptoms of substance use disorder and need assistance, they may wonder, what are the top rehabs in the country? That’s because they help to recover from addiction and regain control over their life.

Why Students Turn to Substance Abuse

Most teenagers encounter alcohol and drugs in high school for the first time. However, this is just the beginning because some of them become addicts in colleges and universities. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, adolescents or students take drugs for varied reasons.

Major among them include:

• To experiment- Most adolescents and teenagers are motivated by their peers to try new experiences with drugs. Because using drugs or drinking alcohol is portrayed as daring or thrilling, most learners are easily motivated to experiment with them.
• To enhance performance- Modern society is very competitive. Students are under constant, intense pressure to perform academically and athletically. As such, they may use substances like illegal and prescription stimulants hoping they will enhance their performance.
• To feel better- Once they join high school, college, or university, some students experience social anxiety, depression, and stress-related disorders. Others can have physical pain after sustaining injuries during sporting activities. As such, they may use drugs as a way to lessen distress feelings. Stress can particularly play a major role when it comes to the use of drugs and recovering after leaving a drug rehabilitation center.
• To feel good- When a person abuses an addictive drug, it interacts with brain neurochemistry to produce pleasurable feelings. People experience different levels of euphoria intensity depending on how they use a drug and the amount they use.
• To fit in- Most students use drugs just because their peers are using them. They fear that failure to use drugs will make their peers reject or exclude them from their social circles.

In addition to these reasons, some students use drugs as study aids. Some of the drugs used by students for this purpose include Ritalin and Adderall. Essentially, some learners believe that these substances will help them study better. Unfortunately, continued use of these drugs leave students with an addiction for which they have to seek treatment.

Possible Treatment for Students with Substance Abuse Problem

When you or your friend has a substance abuse problem, you should seek help from a drug or alcohol addiction rehab immediately. That’s because the longer you continue to abuse the addictive substance, the harder it will be to recover from addiction.

Each student with addiction is examined individually to determine the most appropriate treatment. Factors that determine the most effective treatment for students with substance abuse problems include the abused drug, addiction severity, the amount of the used substance, and duration for which it has been used or abused.

Each rehab offers different programs to its patients. Nevertheless, most treatment programs include the following elements:

• Detoxification that clears the body of the addictive substances or drugs.
• Intensive therapies
• Counseling
• After-care support

Drug rehab facilities offer different addiction treatments to give recovering addicts adequate time to uncover and even process issues and feelings that caused addiction. During recovery, patients are allowed an opportunity to work towards a drug- or alcohol-free life. Because when struggling with drug abuse or alcoholism most people feel isolated, rehab facilities include support groups in their recovery process. It’s important to note that each facility is unique. Therefore, choose rehab to seek treatment from carefully.

How to Choose the Best Rehab

Choosing the right treatment facility is a critical factor when it comes to substance abuse treatment.

Here are tips to help you choose the best rehab:  

• Be assessed by a substance use disorder expert- Not everybody needs an intensive residential or outpatient program. Therefore, to determine what program or treatment facility is ideal for you, have a physician assess you first. This can be a certified doctor, a psychiatrist with experience in treating addiction, or a licensed clinical social worker.
• Check the resources of the facility-Most addicts have co-occurring conditions like anxiety and depression. It is, therefore, important to choose a facility that has resources for treating addiction and such conditions.
• Find out if the facility uses medication -Perhaps, you or a loved one has an opioid addiction and you want to take prescription medication as a treatment. In that case, find out if the facility offers such medication.
• Longevity- Look for a facility that has been offering treatment for addiction for at least 5 years. This will enable you to check the track record of the facility to know whether it’s what you are looking for.
• Avoid a facility that guarantees success- Guaranteeing success for an addict or an alcoholic is impossible. Success in recovery depends on whether a person follows the prescribed treatment plan or not. What’s more, recovery from addiction is a lifelong process.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, almost 20% of students in high school were offered, given, or sold drugs within the learning institution’s property. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism reports that about 4 out of 5 college students consume alcohol. What’s more, the use of prescription drugs, illicit drugs, and marijuana is increasing.

Fortunately, many addiction treatment centers cater to the needs of addicted students. If you, a friend, or a family member has a substance abuse problem, follow these tips to choose the best facility.