Heroin is a devastatingly powerful recreational drug because it’s an opiate, meaning that it comes from opium poppy plants. In addition to heroin, other common opiates are morphine and oxycodone, but those are regulated as forms of pain medication, whereas heroin is an illegal drug sold by organized criminals. Using heroin can cause a multitude of health issues, including HIV and hepatitis simply by sharing needles.
The Holistic Approach to Heroin Recovery
Prior to undertaking holistic heroin rehab, you should understand the process and how it will aid the entirety of your recovery. After using heroin for a prolonged period of time, users quickly become physically and mentally dependent on the drug for their daily existence.
Because heroin so profoundly takes control of your body, it often isn’t enough to recover by going through detox and then attending a 12-step program. The holistic approach is one that will seek to address your addiction as an entire person.
So, rather than focus on your withdrawal, holistic treatment will go beyond to ensure that your mental wellbeing is addressed. You see, many heroin addicts relapse because they still carry the mental anguish that drove them to be addicted in the first place.
After navigating the difficult first days of withdrawal, the holistic approach will pair you with a counselor to talk through one-on-one sessions. They will work with you in a relaxed manner to help discover your mental and environmental triggers. By addressing your triggers, it will later be possible to ensure that you stay clean long after you have detoxing.
Effects on the Body
First off, it is crucial to highlight that approximately 70% of the 35,000 new hepatitis diagnoses each year can be attributed to heroin users in the US, according to the Foundation for a Drug-Free World. Along with hepatitis, sharing needles can also lead to HIV and then AIDS in some cases. In the long-term effects on body, those diseases will claim the lives of many heroin users.
Another long-term issue of heroin is that it will weaken your breathing, which could later lead to pneumonia and tuberculosis, both of which can kill you if left untreated. Abscesses will also begin to emerge all of your body, and these will become agonizing when they start to get infected.
After using heroin for just a few weeks, the drug will begin to take hold and deteriorate your life around you. Users will find that their mental performance diminishes significantly along with memory, making it difficult to maintain performance in jobs. As a result, many addicts quickly lose their jobs and can no longer maintain a steady routine.
And when the cravings start, the cold sweats, itching, insomnia, and depression will soon become unbearable. Those symptoms will be impossible to hide from the people around you, and there’s no telling what you will be willing to do get a fix.
Inpatient Rehab for Heroin Recovery
Inpatient rehab differs from outpatient rehab in that addicts stay at a treatment facility for the first few weeks of their recovery. The fundamental advantage of inpatient heroin treatment is that it will remove an addict from the chaos of their normal life and place them in a safe environment where they will receive support around the clock.
For many recreational drug users, it’s enough for them to attend outpatient counseling during their recovery. However, the inpatient heroin detox process is much more severe, which requires heroin addicts to receive constant attention from trained professionals.
Due to the highly damaging nature of the drug, it is the medium-to-long-term addicts who are most at need of inpatient treatment at a heroin rehab center. When undergoing heroin inpatient rehab, addicts will actually stand a chance of completing the detox process.
Sadly, the sheer agony of heroin detox sees most addicts relapse or become dependent on medication. Inpatient treatment will also provide psychological support to ensure that the uncertainty doesn’t pose a threat.
Recovery from Heroin Addiction
Medication is often vital in the recovery of many heroin addicts, with drugs like Buprenorphine, Methadone, and Suboxone providing crucial support in helping addicts stay the course.
Unfortunately, though, accessing those medications is a struggle for many addicts in the US. Consequently, there aren’t enough success stories in beating heroin.
Thankfully, efforts are currently underway to improve the level of access to drugs that can help addicts. Some drug courts have adopted a policy of banning the drugs, but that appears set to change.
Amidst all of the stories of relapses and multiple short-term stints at treatment facilities, it is clear that long-term approaches are more effective. As reported by Fox News, Elizabeth Thompson stayed at eight short-term facilities before finally recovering from heroin when she sought treatment at a long-term facility.
The sad truth is that heroin recoveries are few and far between without long-term treatment. And that is why you should seek support from a holistic facility with a long-term philosophy.
